Adobe Creative Cloud Is Awesome!

[Chosen Few]

I just wanted to give a heads up to all my fellow texture artists. For anyone who wants to own Photoshop, but the $1000 price tag had been keeping you from it, I'm pleased to report that that cost barrier has been demolished.  You  can now get it via subscription for only $20 a month!

If you happen to prefer GIMP, either because you just like it better, or because you'd rather not spend any money at all, that's fine, of course.  But if high cost was your only reason for not gettting Photoshop, your world just got a whole lot brighter.

 

Here's my story.  My CS4 Master Collection has been getting a little long in the tooth of late, so I finally decided to explore my upgrade options today.  I was expecting to have to spend $1000-2000 to buy the upgrade, like I've been doing every couple of years with Adobe, for as long as I can remember.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I was able to get the full collection (and more) as a subscription for only $30 a month! 

For new customers, it's apparently $50 for the full suite, which is stil extremely reasonable, or as I said above, it's $20 for a single application.  The $30 deal is a promotion for existing Creative Suite customers.

Surely, this was too good to be true, so I called Adobe to basically ask, "What's the catch?"  I said to the nice lady on the phone, "Is there any benefit at all for my if I give you $1500 right now instead of $30 right now?"  She replied, "No, none at all."  Well, twist my arm!

So, I forked over my 30 clams, I'm now downloading the entire CS6 suite, and I couldn't be happier.  Adobe has introduced a real game changer with this subscription pricing model.   I encourage everybody here to jump on it.

 

 

Disclaimer:  I'm not affiliated with Adobe, I don't own stock, and I don't benefit in any way whatsoever if you decide to listen to my advice on this or not.  I posted this strictly as a courtesy, and because I'm excited and wanted to share.

 

[Rolig Loon]

Wow!  That is great news, Chosen.  Thank you.  I have in fact been putting off the upgrade because I can't justify the cost, as an amateur texture artist.  This puts it back within reach.  :smileyvery-happy:

[Maeve Balfour]

Thanks for the heads-up too, Chosen! :matte-motes-smile:

I've been happily using the CS1 suite (primarily Photoshop) since I purchased it waaay back in 2004. I've often looked longingly at the new features of subsequent CS releases, but have never been able to justify the high price tags for my purely hobbyist usage. I can now reconsider my options... heck, $30 per month is less than I pay per month in my SL tier! Hmm... consider me sold!

Nice move Adobe! :matte-motes-smile:

[Drongle McMahon]

Chosen, CS5 was apparently released about three years ago. So you must have had CS4 for at least three years, I suppose. At that rate, the full new user photoshop cost is $20 x 36 = $720 over three years (assuming no increase in rent!), and at the end, you have nothing. I looked up a wole lot of UK cloud  prices vs purchase prices and that seems cto be about the same for everything; old fashioned license = 3 years cloud rent. Fo me, I am unlikely to want to upgrade in less than three years, and I want to have something I can use indefinitely without incurring new or continuing expense. So I don't like the creative cloud at all. For others, the balance may be different, especially if immediate fubds are a problem. For Adobe, it's clear enough that they will benefit from steady and predictable income rather than uncertain surges at each release. I would have thought that might have been worth an even lower rental price. Now, if it was a mortgage instead of a rental....

[Chosen Few]

I had similar feelings at first, Drongle, which was part of the reason I had put off making this decision as long as I did.  A film project which requires Premiere CS6 gave me the push I needed to get off my butt about it, and finally decide which way to go.

Your math got me curious, so I took a look at my Adobe order history, and apparently I bought the CS4 Master Collection on December 1, 2008.  So, it's been about four and a half years.  I didn't realize it had been that long, but still, when you consider that I did upgrade every step of the way from CS1 to CS2 to CS3 to CS4, as well as purchased individual programs before the Creative Suites existed, plus Macromedia suites before Adobe bought them, it more than averages out to $1000-2000 every 2-3 years.  Even the fact that I skipped over CS5, didn't save me anything in the long run, since Adobe gades their upgrade prices, charging more to upgrade from older versions than from newer ones.

There's a slight flaw in your 3-year math, by the way.  With Creative Cloud, you get Photoshop Extended, which costs $999 to buy.  So, at $20 per month it would take a little over four years to equal the purchas price, not just three.   And for the suite, it's even a little longer.  The Master Collection costs $2599 to buy, which is four years and four months worth of (regular) subscription fees.  I don't know if four instead of three makes any difference to you or not;  just wanted to be accurate.

 

As for the notion of "having nothing" at the end, I do see your point, but I can't quite agree with it.  If we were talking about renting a house, or some other tangible item that lasts for decades or centuries, I'd most certainly agree.  But with software, you always have to upgrade sooner or later.  Like it or not, it's got a shelf life, either way.  The difference is that with a purchase you're stuck with the version you bought, whereas with a subscription, you're up to date the whole way through.

Speaking of that, one of the big selling points for me on the subscription, which we haven't yet talked about, is that you're no longer bound to the CS release schedule for new features.  Adobe makes them available to subscribers immediately, as soon as they're finished.  For example, several new features for Photoshop (and for a dozen other programs) popped up less than 12 hours after I joined.   So far, I'd say I'm getting my money's worth, on the service end.

[Codewarrior Congrejo]

interesting calculation.
Thanks for doing that.

I was aware of the cloud for a while now, but since i didnt need an update for my CS5.5 i never got around to actually do the math and check if it's worth to consider.

On the other hand for a few reasons i am still one of those people who want to have full control on when and how to update their software.

Regarding all the plugins and addons i am using, it is frustrating when you reopen your program and 50% of the addons report as no longer functional due to not being able to run with the latest version. And not every plugin or addon provider can keep up with the update speed of big companies, so you are kinda stuck waiting for it, and often they also can't include their updates into the procedure of the other software so you need to update it manually.

Whilst surely not every update of adobe breaks all addons and is just minor bugfixes or changes - some do.

When i have the full software package i can  at least decide to stick to that one for as long as i need to or until a certain addon is available for a later version too.

Plus (just a bit of pointy fun here) i actually dislike when every new feature is being implemented right away into my versions. If i want to do 'beta-testing' i'll sign up for it ; ) (i guess you know what i mean, sometimes they really use the direct consumers as silent beta testers before putting it into the full paid versions)

But in general, and under certain circumstances i think it's a good deal from what i have seen.

[Helium Loon]

I still use Photoshop 7.0 from back in the late 90s.  It still works just fine.   What abou those of us who tend to keep and use software without paying for unneeded (for us) upgrades every few years?

 

No, I don't need another monthly fee to add up for years.  And what about buying an older version for cheaper?  Not possible with the new 'cloud-based' apps.  When I bought PS7.0, it was already a couple of years old.....and I got it for $99.....and I'm still using it.

 

Yes, I've worked with newer versions.  And I don't need MOST of the features.  Some are useful, but there are other standalone programs that do those features, and usually better (like 3d painting.)

 

And I own it.  As long as windows can still install it, and run 32-bit apps like it, I will continue to use it.

 

A single cloud subscription, for 4 months, would cost more than I paid for that.  And I couldn't use it anymore if I stopped paying.  That's not owning software.  That's renting it.  No thanks.

 

[Chosen Few]

---

Helium Loon wrote:

What abou those of us who tend to keep and use software without paying for unneeded (for us) upgrades every few years?

---

What about you, indeed.  Quite obviously, this thread doesn't apply to you.  For those who are neither going to buy nor subscribe, the entire topic is irrelevant.

Remember the part where I said, "if high cost is your only reason..."?   Well, for you, it's not the only reason.  As you stated throughout your post, you simply don't want the new features, which is fine, for YOU.  I thought it rather self-evident that my message was aimed at people who DO want that stuff.

[Chosen Few]

Well stated, as always, Code.  I don't necessarily disagree with any of your points.

To be clear, though, subscribers do have the option not to keep up to date if they don't want to.  The subscription comes with an application manager, which tells you when updates are avaialble, and what's in them.  If you don't want it, simply don't click the Install button.

The only potential catch is I'm not sure if there's an official way to roll back, if you decide you don't like a new change.  For those who are very concerned about that, I guess setting a system restore point prior to each installation would be a good idea.

 

As for the involuntary beta testing thing, I do know what you mean, but I've got no reason (so far) to see it as an issue with Adobe in particular.  I was asked to join the closed beta for one of their programs about a year ago.  Even though the chatter in that group is entirely on point, the sheer amount of it has been so extensive that I've actually had to tune most of it out, or I literally would not have time for anything else. 

From what I've seen, Adobe's commitment to not releasing anyhting until it's ready is amazingly thorough.  This has opened my eyes to why sometimes newer versions of their programs have missing features that later reappear.  If an older feature doesn't work perfectly with the newer version, they won't include it, until it's been fixed.  

Of course, that has made me angry in the past, when I've bought an upgrade, only to find that some of the features I use aren't there.  (Auditon CS5, anyone?)  But now I at leat understand why it happens.  With the company's income being largely dependent on the CS release schedule, they have to keep that schedule more or less set in stone, and sometimes full development of any particular thing simply cannot fit within it.

I'm guessing this is yet another reason why they decided to do the subscription service.  They still get to offer the suite as a suite, but they have a lot more freedom to let each program develop at its own pace.

[Ciaran Laval]

If any of you work in education there may be further discounts available, even for your own usage.

[Chosen Few]

Good point, Ciaran.  In case anyone's wondering, Adobe's educational discount pricing can be found here. 

Creative Cloud subscription is offered at 40% off.  Purchases are 60-70% off, which may or may not be better deal, depending on your needs.

 

It's worth noting that Adobe appears to have changed their license terms for students.  It used to be that if you use the products for commercial work, you'd no longer be eligible for the student discount.  The logic was that your commercial work deos not magically bcome less commercial, just because you happen to be in school.  However, according to Adobe's FAQ page; they've relaxed that riule, and you can now do commercial work with a student license, no problem.

Here's the relevant quote:

---

Adobe wrote:

Can I use my Adobe Student and Teacher Edition software for commercial use?

Yes. You may purchase a Student and Teacher Edition for personal as well as commercial use.

---

 

 

[Crysantha Lafleur]

Just an FYI, after having a lengthy discussion in a chat with a sales rep at Adobe.. When you get Cloud, you get the rights to use all those wonderful CS6 and all the bells and whistles with extended etc.. BUT.. and here is the Gotcha.. if you ever cancel your account, you have to pay a penalty of no less than 50% of whatever the going rate is for the Cloud Rent for the remainder of that year.. ANDDDDD   You no longer have CS6 or all the stuff you have in Cloud.. like.. you are renting CS6 et all.. you are not owning it.   

 

So if you are good with renting the product and don't have any desire to buy it.. but are prepared to pay the 49.99 per month after the first year for as long as you want to use CS6 et all.. it might be a good deal... 

This kinda reminds me of the Sprint phone plan.. sounds good until it isnt anymore...

[Chosen Few]

It would seem we have different philosophies on these things, Crysantha.  Where you see a "gotcha", I see a perfectly reasonalbe, very standard, and very much expected, business practice.

If you aren't comfortable with the concept of subscribing, that's fine.  Go ahead and buy the products outright, just like before.  Nobody's stopping you from doing that, and Adobe will be more than happy to keep you as a purchase customer.  Nothing has changed for anyone, in that regard.

 

That said, there's an interesting discussion to be had here, I think.  Let me try to respond to your concerns, since I do feel pretty strongly that the subscription is a better option for most users. 

The items you appear to take issue with are the annual commitment, and the things that happen if you cancel early.  Let's talk about each.

 

1.  The Annual Commitment

By referring to this as a "gotcha", you seem to be implying a couple of  things.  One is that it's something the company tries to keep hidden, and the other is that it's somehow bad for us users.  In my own experience, neither of these is the case.

The fact that the subscription pricing is based on a one-year commitment is clearly marked in all the literature, and was said aloud by the Adobe phone rep I spoke with, within literally the first few seconds of the conversation.  So, it hardly came a surprise to me. 

I'll take your word for it that your own phone conversation was lengthy (mine was, too), but I can't help but doubt that a delay in getting to the subject of the annual commitment was what necessitated the length.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but in all likelihood, you probably discussed many other things, as well as that, throughout the whole of the conversation.

As for the implication that a term commitment is inherently a bad thing, it's not.  Subscriptions, by definition, are intended for people who use products or services regularly, after all.  Adobe's is no different from any other, in that respect.  

It makes perfect sense from a practical standpoint that any company would ask for a term commitment from a customer, in exchange for offering thousands of dollars worth of products and services, for just a hanful of dollars each month. I'd have been truly shocked if Adobe had not reqiired that sort of commitment from me.  The only part of it that I found surprising was that it was only a year.  I would have expected two or three years, at that price point.

Surely you didn't expect they'd set it up so that a casual user could just pay $20, whenever he or she feels like doing something with Photoshop this month, and then skip it next month when he or she feels like doing something else, did you?  That would be an unsustainable business practice.  Quite frankly, those types of stick-and-move people aren't the kind of customers Adobe should want.

 

On a side note, I actually wanted to pay the whole year in advance. There was no way to do that directly, though, which seems awfully silly to me.  Adobe's billing system for Creative Cloud apparently is only set up for monthly payments, no annual option.  The phone rep suggested I throw the annual cost onto a prepaid moneycard, and just use that as the card to bill.  I thought that was a great idea.  I plan on picking one up at Walmart as soon as I get a chance to get over there.  I'll plug the card number into my Adobe account, and then I'll cut up the card, so I can't spend the money on anthing else.

 

2.  Cancellation

This a total non-issue to me, and to everyone else I know who's made the decision to subscribe.  We use the products literally every single day, and nothing short of worldwide devestation would cause us to stop using them.

That said, it's still worth talking about, of course.  Your issues appear to be the fee, and the fact that you'd lose access to the programs and any data you've stored on Adobe's servers.  Let's go point by point on these.

The fee is less than I was expecting.  Asking for half the remining term cost is hardly unreasonable, especially when you consider that at most it's only 10% of the purchase price:  $100 for a single title, or $250 for the suite.  (If someone cancels in the first month, there's no cost, per Adobe's standard 30-day trial policy.  To be charged the maximum cancellation fee, the customer would have to cancel in the second month.)

While of course, every customer's first instinct is to want all fees to be zero all the time, I think we all also understand that there's no practical way for that to happen.  Like it or not, cancellation fees on subscriptions are a necessary fact of life.

It's worth keeping in mind that Adobe is taking a not unsubstantial risk with the one-year term.  As we discussed earlier, it takes at least four years of subscription fees to equal the purchase price.  If someone cancels any sooner than that, the company loses money.

In the unlikely event that I were to cancel, I would do it it the end of the year, BEFORE I commit to another year.  In the even more unlikely event that I just wanted to get the heck out, and be done with the whole thing, then I'd just suck it up and pay the fee.  Either way, I'd still end up spending less than I would have had I bought the suite, like I always did before.

 

Losing access to cloud storage upon cancellation is absolutely to be expected.  The same thing would happen if you cancelled any other remote storage service. 

That's why I NEVER archive anything in the cloud.  Cloud storage is good for sharing and collaboration, but it should not be used for archival purposes, ever.  If you want to make sure you can keep somthing forever, store it locally, always. 

For what it's worth, I don't plan on using Adobe's cloud storage.  Between Dropbox, Google Drive, and other services my various clients insist on using, I've already got way more stuff in way more places than I'd prefer.

 

That just leaves the part about losing access to the products and services.  Of everything you mentioned, this is the only one I can relate to.  I definitely understand that the transition away from the purchase model we're all so used to is uncomfortable.  I felt that same discomfort initially, and to a certain extent, I stil do.  Old paradigms die hard.

But when I ask myself to think rationally aboyt WHY it's uncomfortable, I cannot come up with a good answer.  I subscribe for lots of other things, and it doesn't bother me, so why should this be any different?

If I cancel my Norton subscription, my security software won't work anymore.  When I cancelled my WoW subscription, I could no longer play the game.  If I stop paying my cable bill, none of my internet-dependent software will function.  If I don't pay my electric bill, nothing in my house will work at all.  If I don't regularly buy gasoline, my car won't work.  Etc., etc., etc.  My Adobe subscription is just one more item on an already very long list, so again, why should it feel like a whole new thing?

The only anwer that my brain can conjure up is, "It just does."  I can't base my business decisions on such a flimsy answer.  I have to work wth facts, logic, and the reality on the ground.  In this case, the reality is I'm spending less, and getting more, in comparison with my previous history.  Logically, this makes the subsciption the only sensible way to go, from here on out.  The discomfort over the paradigm shift will eventually go away.  The money savings and the other benefits will remain.

 

 

Here's the bottom line.  If you personally don't intend to use Adobe's products on a regular basis, then subscribing would not be in your interest.  Neither would buying, for that matter (unless you've got unlimted money, in which case it doesn't really matter which way you go).  The very casual user is better off with less expensive alternatives.

For those of us who DO intend to keep using the products regularly, the subscription makes an awful lot of practical sense. 

 

 

 

By the way, at the risk of going off topic, I'd be curious to hear what you meant by "sounds good but isn't anymore", in regard to Sprint.  In the last several years, the only service they've stopped providing has been annual phone upgrades.  (Now it's an upgrade every two years, just like with every other carrier.)  Nothing else has gone away or changed, at least not for me.  Has your experiece been different?

Sprint remains the only carrier in the US to offer truly unlimted everything.  All others either cap or throttle your data after a certain limit is reached, which is extremely not cool, in my book.  That's why I've remained a Sprint customer for so many years now, myself. 

I've had no reason to feel like the plan they offered me merely sounded cool, but didn't stay that way.  They've delivered everthing they promised me.

Would you mind explaining what you meant?