Adobe buys on-demand imaging outfit Scene7

Adobe Systems on Thursday said it reached an agreement to acquire Scene7, a move meant to help Adobe offer online media delivery services.

Scene7 offers rich-media hosting services, specifically for delivering images to Web sites.

Adobe said the acquisition helps expand its interactive-publishing services. Earlier this year, CEO Bruce Chizen said the company intends to offer an online version of image-editing application Photoshop sometime this year.

"This acquisition will help Adobe build out a robust Internet infrastructure, allowing us to further develop Scene7's brand name customer list and accelerate the online availability of technologies relied on by millions of creatives worldwide," John Loiacono, Adobe's senior vice president of creative solutions, said in a statement.

Financial terms of the acquisition, which is expected to close at the end of May, were not disclosed. Scene7 CEO Doug Mack is set to become vice president of creative solutions at Adobe.

Although Adobe is one of the largest vendors of packaged software, company executives say online services will play a larger role in Adobe's offerings.

The timing of the acquisition comes only a few days after Microsoft announced an early version of an online video distribution service called Silverlight Streaming. The service aims to complement Microsoft's Silverlight browser plug-in, which can be used for displaying rich media such as videos.