RIP Photoshop CS, hello Photoshop CC, only available to rent

I heard the news and have decided to upgrade my copy of CS5 to CS6 and that's where I will stop. ; As a hobbyist, I could "justify" upgrading every 3 releases as was allowed prior to the introduction of CS6, but I can't justify renting at 3.5 times the cost of my old upgrade path or 1.2 times the annual upgrade path. ; When I exceed the limitations of CS6 I'll be looking for other options which will hopefully have developed by that time.

Unfortunately Adobe isn't the only company that has gone the subscription route. ; Autodesk was one of, if not the first to go that route with their AutoCAD software packages. ; Several years ago they went to a subscription model where you pay an initial license fee (about $7K) for each license and then pay an annual subscription which is $1K per license in order to receive the new and "updated" software package every year. ; They aren't the only ones that have gone that route either, we use Bluebeam which is a PDF software that is geared to the design & construction industry. ; The result has generally been that products are rushed out to keep up with the need for an annual release schedule and often are full of bugs that are fixed over the course of the year just to b replaced by new ones when the new version rolls out. ; Sometimes I think Autodesk is using all of us as their quality control department. ;

The upside is great for the software company in the annual subscription path because it guarantees them a steady income stream. ; And it works well for companies like Autodesk that are for all intents and purposes the only design software in town. ; Adobe doesn't fit that mold as well though because there are alternatives that are available. They are also unique in that where The Autodesk license leaves you with a working copy if you ever decide to end your subscription, Adobe does not.

I think they lost a lot of customers today. ; The question will be whether it was enough to hurt them long term or do they retain enough users that the higher license fee evens things out for them. ; We'll have to wait and see...

 

I just heard about this monthly fee thingy. Is it only for CS? I mainly use LR for everything even though I have a bootleg version of CS5 that works perfectly. I've used it once i think.

First Pentax..... now Adobe! I just purchased a K-5II in February and this past week Pentax decided to raise the prices of some of their lenses by as much as 30%. Good thing I already had my 43 f1.9 ltd. I paid $589 from Adorama and a few days later it's $749. What are they thinking?

 

It is only for the Creative Suite Programs (photoshop, illustrator, indesign, etc.). Lightroom and Photoshop Elements are still perpetual licenses for now...

 

Start calling you Bootleg Harry ; ;D ; I may or may not have done the same ; 8)

 

I think Adobe is nuts doing this. I got PhotoShop CS6 last year using my daughter's Edu discount (actually, she got it and I am I keeping it for her on my computer. I am such a good Dad.). If and when I sit down and learn PS CS6, I am sure I will enjoy it for many years to come. ;

Adobe must feel they only need professionals and organizations who rely on their products every day to keep their bottom line and investors happy. ; LR and PSE will be for the masses.

Still find Aperture with a couple of plugins meets most of my needs. I do wish Apple would take this opportunity and come out with a new version with some of LR's tweaks. ; I know LR keeps adding Aperture tweaks. ; BTW, Aperture is only $80 bucks with (so far) free upgrades for life and, yes, it is only for MAC OS systems which limits its market.

Other Mac PS alternatives are Pixelmator and Acorn.

 

Adobe just lost me. I'll stay with Photoshop CS6 for as long as possible. If Lightroom, which I'm just learning an liking, also goes subscription I'll go back to Aperture. I will never pay for a subscription software, especially one that makes me have to be online so it will work.

Erich

 

Erich, ; you don't have to be online for the Creative Cloud to work. They're giving you cloud storage and using the cloud to push down updates, but the software still resides on your computer. You only have to go online every so often (I think I read once every 180 days) for it to verify that your subscription is still active

 

Yeah, I saw that since posting. Still, I only updated every 3 versions or so, so this is more expensive for me. Not to mention the current version does everything I'd ever need.

Erich

 

Erich, you're absolutely right about the cost. The only way it makes sense is if you we're using the entire suite and upgrading at every release. The people who did that will save money on the subscription, ignoring the fact that when you stop paying you can't access any Adobe proprietary files.