Shutterfly acquires a photo and video storage firm

Shutterfly expands its photo sharing and storage with an acquisition.

Shutterfly Inc. has acquired ThisLife, a web-based company that offers photo and video organization, storing and sharing. The acquisition expands Shutterfly’s ability to offer organization and storage capabilities on web and mobile devices, the company says. Terms were not disclosed.

The combination of ThisLife’s organization and storage technology with Shutterfly’s product creation tools will position Shutterfly as a “full-service solution for storing, organizing and sharing life’s most important memories,” says Jeffrey Housenbold, Shutterfly’s president and CEO.

ThisLife’s employees, including founders Andrea and Matt Johnson, will join Shutterfly, No. 53 in the 2012 Internet Retailer Top 500.

In the coming months, Shutterfly will incorporate ThisLife’s technology into its platform to enhance storytelling and improve product creation, the company says. Consumers will be able to preserve, organize and share their memories, from multiple sources, including Facebook, Picasa, and iPhone and iPad devices from Apple Inc., No. 3 in the Top 500 Guide.

ThisLife’s fees are $3 per month for every 25,000 images or 100 gigabytes of data for storing photos and videos, and $6 per month for the same amounts of photos or data with the addition of sharing and organizing technology.

The ThisLife purchase follows other recent acquisitions, including Photoccino, a developer of technology for photo ranking, analysis and organization, and mobile app developer Penguin Digital, as Shutterfly broadens is technology base.