Adobe Beefs Up Stock Photo Library, Tips PowerPoint Plugin

Adobe got into the stock photo and video arena two years ago when it acquired Fotolio, and today it announced new partnerships that will bolster its Adobe Stock collection: news images from Reuters; sports photos from USA Today; 400,000 images from Stocksy; and a Microsoft PowerPoint plug-in.

Adobe Stock has increased its collection from 40 million to over 90 million assets in two years, according to the product's VP, Claude Alexandre. That covers still images and video, including 4K-resolution content.

The USA Today collection covers NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NCAA, MLS, and pro golf, for starters. These assets from what Adobe calls the Editorial Collection, will come with licensing prices ranging from $49.99 for a small standard-licensed image to $499 for a premium, full-resolution shots under an enhanced license.

Adobe teamed with Stocksy because of its "edgy, vibrant, contemporary imagery," Alexandre said.

New to Adobe's Sensei AI-powered search are aesthetic filters, which will let designers search for photos using other photos—drag an image onto a target to find similar ones—and filter searches with sliders for things like Vivid Colors and Depth of Field.

"We're trying to replace searching with words with searching more naturally and more intuitively," said Alexandre. "It's difficult with words to describe the feelings or emotions of what you're looking for."

Adobe Stock has long been integrated into the company's Creative Cloud applications such as Photoshop and Illustrator, but Adobe will now integrate its products into a third-party application—Microsoft PowerPoint—for the first time.

The plugin lets PowerPoint users search with the new visual features, license media without leaving the presentation software, and combine visual with text search. The add-in, which puts a button on the program's Insert menu, will enable presentation creators to go way beyond the included clip art for more polished results.

The Reuters content, Stocksy content, updated Sensei search technology with Aesthetic Filters, and the PowerPoint plugin are all launching today, while the USA Today Sports content will be available soon, according to Adobe.

About Our Expert

Michael Muchmore

Contributor

My Experience

I've been testing PC and mobile software for more than 20 years, focusing on photo and video editing, operating systems, and web browsers. Prior to my current role, I covered software and apps for ExtremeTech and headed up PCMag’s enterprise software team. I’ve attended trade shows for Microsoft, Google, and Apple and written about all of them and their products.

I still get a kick out of seeing what's new in video and photo editing software, and how operating systems change over time. I was privileged to byline the cover story of the last print issue of PC Magazine, the Windows 7 review, and I’ve witnessed every Microsoft misstep and win, up to the latest Windows 11.

I’m an avid bird photographer and traveler—I’ve been to 40 countries, many with great birds! Because I’m also a classical music fan and former performer, I’ve reviewed streaming services that emphasize classical music.

Technology I Use

For everyday work, I use a good-old Dell tower with 16GB of RAM, a 12th-gen Intel Core i7 processor, and an Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti GPU that runs on Windows 11. I pair it with a 4K Lenovo ThinkVision P27u-10 monitor and a Logitech MX Vertical mouse. For offsite work, I use a 2024 Microsoft Surface Laptop with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor. Camera-wise, I moved to mirrorless from a Canon EOS 80D with a Canon 70-300mm IS USM lens. I now have a Canon EOS R7 with a 100-400mm lens, but I miss my DSLR for several reasons.

In order of usage, the software I turn to most frequently is the Edge web browser, Slack, Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft 365, Firefox, Brave, and WhatsApp. I use the Windows Phone link app to see everything on my Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra phone, which has excellent telephoto capability.

For fitness monitoring, I have a Fitbit Charge 6 and use an Anker Smart Scale P1. I’m also a streaming fan, so I subscribe to both Amazon Music Unlimited (especially for its Dolby Atmos content) and Qobuz (for its high-res sound quality and classical catalog). I recently added a Vizio 5.1 Soundbar SE, which sounds surprisingly good given its low price. To holler commands instead of using a remote control, I have the Amazon Fire TV Cube in the living room, which lets me verbally tell the TV what I want to watch. It hooks up to an LG B4 OLED TV. I have a Sonos One speaker in my kitchen that also ties in with Alexa, as does the Echo Dot 2 With Clock in my bedroom. For serious listening, I have B&W 601 speakers plugged into a Conrad-Johnson Sonographe amp and preamp, with a Cambridge Audio AXN10 streamer as source. For reading, I also have a Nook GlowLight 3.

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