In an effort to expand its Creative Cloud offerings, Adobe Systems Inc. ( ADBE - Analyst Report ) announced the acquisition of privately-held Behance last week. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

New-York based Behance is a social media company that lets designers, artists and other creative professionals to build and showcase a web portfolio without having to manage a website. Thecompany has one million members and also hosts portfolios for LinkedIn Corp (LNKD), AdWeek, AIGAand all the leading design schools.

The Creative Cloud service allows people to download various Creative Suite applications like Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, store work online and share files with others.

The Behance deal represents a significant step by Adobe to bolster its stake in the Creative Cloud space. Creative Cloud already offers creative professionals the tools, services, syncing, storage and private sharing features they need. The Behance acquisition will also add public sharing and communications features to Adobe's Creative Cloud service.

With the addition of Behance services, Adobe would gain a comprehensive set of tools, which would make it easier to manage and share images and information about artworks and photos in the cloud, giving more flexibility to casual and professional users.

Adobe’s strategic acquisitions and continued innovation have given it a strong market position on which we remain highly optimistic. Last year, Adobe acquired IRIDAS technology, which helps video editors to manipulate color and light for any type of content, including professional film and television, thus enhancing its Creative Suite portfolio.

Adobe is one of the largest software companies in the world and its fourth quarter results beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate on both the top and bottom lines. The company’s revenue was $1.153 billion, up sequentially as well as year over year, attributable to increased adoption of Adobe’s Creative Cloud and Adobe Marketing Cloud.

While the company’s technological prowess is commendable, the company lowered its fiscal 2013 guidance considering the faster uptake of Creative Cloud subscription. Additionally, the company faces strong competition from Apple Inc. ( AAPL - Analyst Report ) and Microsoft Corp. ( MSFT - Analyst Report ) . Hence, currently, Adobe carries a Zacks #5 Rank (Strong Sell).