Adobe Launches iPad Creative App Bundle for $14.99 per Month

[VeryVito]

To be fair... Photoshop was never for casual or hobbyist users. None of Adobe's software was.

Photoshop used to cost $700... and $249 for upgrades. And the entire Adobe Suite was $2,600... and $1,300 for upgrades. Most people who bought it did so for business purposes. Thus it was a business expense.

Now that Adobe has switched to subscriptions... they're still geared towards professionals. Their focus hasn't changed.

You're right... the casual user doesn't want to pay an exorbitant amount of money for something they only use once or twice a month.

And that's why Adobe now offers one-time payment software specifically for the casual user: Photoshop Elements

Or they can use any of the wonderful packages from a variety of other companies... Affinity, Pixelmator, etc... for a one-time payment.

Though I must say that the $10/mo subscription to Photoshop/Lightroom is a hell of a deal. It's a small monthly fee and you get continual updates and new features during your subscription.

With the old model... you'd pay $700 for Photoshop and be stuck with the same version unless you paid $249 every couple years.

Or you could subscribe for $10/mo and get new versions when they're released.

You'd have to subscribe for over 5 years to equal the same amount of money you spent on the one version of Photoshop.

Sure, but it's the you'd have to that bugs me.

I made my living for years using Adobe products, and I faithfully upgraded from 2.0 to 3.0, 3.1 to 4...5... 6.5... 7.... CS... CS3... CS5... when and if *I* felt they'd innovated enough to invest in an upgrade (often skipping a release or two of a particular product that still worked fine). I'd have no doubt stayed on that train, but they decided the upgrades should be bought when THEY wanted payment, rather than when I thought payment was warranted. And for the first several years, I never saw anything that seemed to warrant the ransom they were now demanding.

Frankly, there ARE better options now, even if price were not a factor here (Thanks to Adobe, though, as our company would have never explored these options if Adobe hadn't favored its investors over its users): In the years since the subscription plague began, we've moved to Final Cut and Motion for video production; Affinity for photo, print and pre-press work; Sketch and Figma for UX/UI, and Screenflow for training and e-learning asset production -- and it's all arguably better in many respects.

As an old-timer, I'll admit I DO miss working within the old Flash Studio every once in a while, but even Adobe doesn't have anything as cool as old Macromedia Studio MX, these days.

 

[jelliottlein]

To be fair... Photoshop was never for casual or hobbyist users. None of Adobe's software was.

Photoshop used to cost $700... and $249 for upgrades. And the entire Adobe Suite was $2,600... and $1,300 for upgrades. Most people who bought it did so for business purposes. Thus it was a business expense...

With the old model... you'd pay $700 for Photoshop and be stuck with the same version unless you paid $249 every couple years.

Or you could subscribe for $10/mo and get new versions when they're released.

You'd have to subscribe for over 5 years to equal the same amount of money you spent on the one version of Photoshop.

Agreed. It's really a very affordable expense as a pro. Now that they've added access to the Adobe Font library it's an even more irresistible deal.

I own all the Affinity apps, and I'm no longer a "pro" in the sense that I am no longer employed primarily as a designer, but the fonts plus certain abilities in InDesign not yet available in Affinity Publisher (and my wife's sewing pattern design needs handed by a plugin for Illustrator and not yet available in Affinity Designer) keep me paying Adobe. That may change in the next year or two, but so far it hasn't. We both use the Affinity apps in parallel with the Adobe apps nearly daily at this point, and on one subscription (2 devices, 1 household).

It's awfully nice to be able to download a rarely used app any time I need it too, such as Premiere, After Effects, etc. And if a long stretch ever goes by without use (such as a long summer vacation), I can cancel the subscription payments until I need it again without losing anything.

Overall it's a pain to give out $50/month now that I'm no longer billing projects at $150/hr as a freelance designer, but it's such a small portion of our budget and more useful than many other things we spend similar or more on regularly.

PS: It may just be comfort/muscle memory, but I still prefer Adobe apps to Affinity with the exception of Publisher. I just can't switch fully out of InDesign until they add footnote support; and then I'd still be stuck on fonts unless I spend a thousand or so on separate licenses for fonts I use daily or keep my Adobe sub.

 

[mansplains]

To be fair... Photoshop was never for casual or hobbyist users. None of Adobe's software was.

Photoshop used to cost $700... and $249 for upgrades. And the entire Adobe Suite was $2,600... and $1,300 for upgrades. Most people who bought it did so for business purposes. Thus it was a business expense.

Now that Adobe has switched to subscriptions... they're still geared towards professionals. Their focus hasn't changed.

You're right... the casual user doesn't want to pay an exorbitant amount of money for something they only use once or twice a month.

And that's why Adobe now offers one-time payment software specifically for the casual user: Photoshop Elements

Or they can use any of the wonderful packages from a variety of other companies... Affinity, Pixelmator, etc... for a one-time payment.

Though I must say that the $10/mo subscription to Photoshop/Lightroom is a hell of a deal. It's a small monthly fee and you get continual updates and new features during your subscription.

With the old model... you'd pay $700 for Photoshop and be stuck with the same version unless you paid $249 every couple years.

Or you could subscribe for $10/mo and get new versions when they're released.

You'd have to subscribe for over 5 years to equal the same amount of money you spent on the one version of Photoshop.

I agree with this. When Adobe first announced a subscription model I was wary since it's easy to continuously charge for software and claim continuous updates while the updates aren't substantive. I stand by Affinity software, own all of it on Mac and iPad, and own their books. You can definitely produce professional work with them, and they don't price their software differently for businesses. I've made money from using Affinity. However, with Adobe's professional market push for several years, most agencies you work with will be using industry standards like Adobe, Sketch, Avid etc. So as an independent contractor you could do a six month gig and only pay for Adobe during that time, and then write it off anyway. Perpetual Affinity is still cheaper and I love Serif, but Adobe as a subscription is fantastic for several reasons.

 

[vicviper789]

Oh boy! Another subscription I can’t wait to sign up for!

 

[satchmo]

I agree with this. When Adobe first announced a subscription model I was wary since it's easy to continuously charge for software and claim continuous updates while the updates aren't substantive. I stand by Affinity software, own all of it on Mac and iPad, and own their books. You can definitely produce professional work with them, and they don't price their software differently for businesses. I've made money from using Affinity. However, with Adobe's professional market push for several years, most agencies you work with will be using industry standards like Adobe, Sketch, Avid etc. So as an independent contractor you could do a six month gig and only pay for Adobe during that time, and then write it off anyway. Perpetual Affinity is still cheaper and I love Serif, but Adobe as a subscription is fantastic for several reasons.

Yeah basically go Adobe if you're working at a place where the company has CC licenses. It's the industry standard.

Serif is a great option for the individual/small business who might be more price conscious.
That's not to say they can't also go the Adobe route, but you just have to make sure your numbers warrant the expense.

 

[sir1963nz]

I hate subscription models. Makes me not ever want to use their software again and look elsewhere.
Some things (most things)should be one time payments with a possible smaller upgrade fee for new software every year or two.

And I avoid the "In App Purchases" stuff too.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Sure, but it's the you'd have to that bugs me.

I made my living for years using Adobe products, and I faithfully upgraded from 2.0 to 3.0, 3.1 to 4...5... 6.5... 7.... CS... CS3... CS5... when and if *I* felt they'd innovated enough to invest in an upgrade (often skipping a release or two of a particular product that still worked fine). I'd have no doubt stayed on that train, but they decided the upgrades should be bought when THEY wanted payment, rather than when I thought payment was warranted. And for the first several years, I never saw anything that seemed to warrant the ransom they were now demanding.

Yep... it seems to bug a lot of people on the forums.

I still think it's a great deal if you make money with the software. As we've established... Adobe is great for professionals... but not so great for hobbyists. Nobody in their right mind would pay $2,600 for Master Collection for casual use.

But now professionals can pay ~$600 per year and they get the new features as they are released. Sometimes twice a year.

I remember one day I didn't have Content Aware Fill in Photoshop... and the next day I did!

And Premiere (finally!) uses my NVidia RTX video card for encoding. Woohoo!

The update cycle has been greatly improved since the move to subscriptions. Adobe developers used to have to queue up their updates for the next big release in 2 years. And if a feature wasn't ready... it was pushed-off for another 2 years or whatever. And you had to pony up more dough to upgrade to the next version.

Now... updates come when they are ready... included in your subscription.

The old way was paying a buttload of money up-front... but you could sit back and never pay another dime and use the same version forever.

The new way is paying a more reasonable smaller monthly fee... and getting continual updates.

I think the biggest complaint is Adobe discontinuing perpetual licenses completely. At least Microsoft will still let you buy a copy of Office and use it forever.

That said... I'm a happy Adobe CC subscriber. I can pay the month subscription fee with one hour of work.

And considering there are more people using (and paying for!) Adobe software than ever before... maybe they're onto something.

Still... I get why people don't like it. Thankfully we're in an age of amazing software alternatives.

 

[heikkipekka]

Not including Lightroom Mobile is a dealbreaker. It's their best iPad app.

Yap, and not including Adobe Comp is telling that they don’t consider it worthy enough to be included in a DESIGN bundle.

I love InDesing on my Mac and do most of my work on it. Would love to be able somehow have that page layout option on mobile on iPad as well. Adobe Comp is kinda cool but in the end not real tool for actual tasks for me. InDesign for iPad would be.

 

[Okasian]

Adobe has been price exclusionary for quite a while now and therefore I only pirate Lightroom Classic on the rare occasions I need to use my VSCO Film presets.

I’ve paid for the superior Affinity Photo, Designer apps as they surpass Photoshop and Illustrator regarding performance and functionality. The only thing missing is Photoshop ‘Actions’ but that has been replaced with ImageMagick and some python scripts for the most part.

 

[aesc80]

Waiting for iPad Pro Model...

I too would like to see the model holding an iPad Pro

 

[ArPe]

Yep... it seems to bug a lot of people on the forums.

I still think it's a great deal if you make money with the software. As we've established... Adobe is great for professionals... but not so great for hobbyists. Nobody in their right mind would pay $2,600 for Master Collection for casual use.

But now professionals can pay ~$600 per year and they get the new features as they are released. Sometimes twice a year.

I remember one day I didn't have Content Aware Fill in Photoshop... and the next day I did!

And Premiere (finally!) uses my NVidia RTX video card for encoding. Woohoo!

The update cycle has been greatly improved since the move to subscriptions. Adobe developers used to have to queue up their updates for the next big release in 2 years. And if a feature wasn't ready... it was pushed-off for another 2 years or whatever. And you had to pony up more dough to upgrade to the next version.

Now... updates come when they are ready... included in your subscription.

The old way was paying a buttload of money up-front... but you could sit back and never pay another dime and use the same version forever.

The new way is paying a more reasonable smaller monthly fee... and getting continual updates.

I think the biggest complaint is Adobe discontinuing perpetual licenses completely. At least Microsoft will still let you buy a copy of Office and use it forever.

That said... I'm a happy Adobe CC subscriber. I can pay the month subscription fee with one hour of work.

And considering there are more people using (and paying for!) Adobe software than ever before... maybe they're onto something.

Still... I get why people don't like it. Thankfully we're in an age of amazing software alternatives.

We talking to this generation who grew up on cheaper than ever software, piracy and all you can eat streaming. A generation who wants to be driven around by a 5 dollar an hour slave Uber driver. A generation who wants fast **** food delivered to them by a3 dollar an hour Uber slave.

These people have no sense of value. They want everything free or dirt cheap and they want be a millionaire easily too.

Years ago we worked our asses off for much less money and we paid nearly $1500 for a Photoshop CD or $12000 (!) for Maya.
We paid 3 bucks a night for a low res VHS and $25 for a DVD. Back further we paid over $40-50 to buy a VHS movie back when the annual median salary was $10K a year.

Our clothes costed more and were higher quality, lasted longer. Now you buy some cheap **** top or socks from the stores and it’s broken after three months. Because people just want cheap cheap cheap and they don’t think.

 

[bousozoku]

Rebelle looks good, but I'm not impressed by the website. No indication of requirements, and no sign of it on the App Store. It's 2021. I don't need something like a one-click updater when App Store updates takes care of all that.

I'm running Rebelle 3 on my mid-2012 MacBook Pro with Catalina and 16 GB of RAM but I have not used it extensively.

 

[trinket]

I’m not surprised it doesn’t include Lightroom - they need to keep that revenue stream high! They’d be wanting people to pay extra. Apple do the same thing with their bundled services.

Speaking of revenue streams - at the moment do you have to subscribe twice to use Lightroom on an iPad and a laptop/desktop (that is, one subscription per device)? Or do they have a bundle licence deal where I can use Lightroom and other apps on both devices with the same subscription?

 

[macsareveryinteresting]

anybody please inform if can run in m1

Hate to break it to you but no. It only says iPad. Sorry.

 

[Neuporabno]

I care!
I hate subscription models too!

Affinity over Adobe any day.

You’re not forced to use them! Use alternatives. Why complain about things you don’t need to use?

 

[Neuporabno]

Hate to break it to you but no. It only says iPad. Sorry.

That’s why he is asking… M1 can run some ipad apps 😉

 

[macsareveryinteresting]

That’s why he is asking… M1 can run some ipad apps 😉

But this one can’t.

 

[Altivec88]

You guys that are Pro-Subscription do realize that when you stop paying, you lose the ability to open your work. That is not okay. Adobe is for a big companies that don't care about this but for us smaller companies, freelancers or personal users, losing access to your work just because, you want to retire, or switch to different software later on, or you have some down months because of a pandemic, this is a big deal.

My companies used Adobe software for over a decade. We had no problems paying the crazy upgrade fees for all our multiple copies, but as soon as subscription happened, Adobe hasn't seen a cent from us. Losing access to our files down the road trumps any possible feature they may be better at. Call us less "Pro" or what ever you want but we are doing really well without Adobe.

Subscription software promotes lazy development because they have a steady stream of income regardless of what they put out. This unacceptable business model only works because of the nonchalant users letting it happen. I wish more people would grab a back bone and stop the proliferation of software developers switching to this not good for the user model.

 

[Michael Scrip]

You guys that are Pro-Subscription do realize that when you stop paying, you lose the ability to open your work. That is not okay.

We realize it.

It's the same sorta thing where if you stop paying your Verizon bill... your iPhone can't make phone calls. And if you stop paying your Comcast bill... your internet at home doesn't work. Or Apple Music bill... or Microsoft 365 bill...

Adobe isn't tricking us. We're obviously aware of what a subscription means.

And it's not that we're "Pro-Subscription"... it's that we're "Pro-Adobe"

Look... I learned Photoshop back in college. In the 90's. And Premiere Pro and After Effects in the 2000's. I like it. I'm comfortable with it. And it's an industry-standard.

Adobe changed their pricing model. So I adapted to it. I didn't run away to Affinity or Resolve... though I certainly could have.

I like what I like! And since there are more people using and paying for Adobe software now than ever before... clearly I'm not alone.

When I get to the point where I'm no longer using Adobe products to make money... I probably won't want to open old PSD file anymore either.

But I hear what you're saying.

Subscription software promotes lazy development because they have a steady stream of income regardless of what they put out.

That was the initial fear when their subscriptions were first announced. Adobe is already getting our money every month... so why would they bother improving their software anymore?

And yet there are plenty of features that were added to Premiere Pro since I've been a subscriber. I didn't have the Lumetri Color Panel or the Essential Graphics Panel when I first started using Premiere. Or countless other features in Photoshop, After Effects, etc. We usually get two major feature updates every year.

In the old days you'd have to wait two years to get new features. And that's after you paid for the upgrade.

Again... we understand what's going on. And some of us actually like it.

But for those who don't... there is plenty of great software out there!

 

[DeepIn2U]

Just some references: Affinity Designer & Photo now 10 USD (one-time) each after a 50% discount

Do you mean Affinity Designer & Affinity Photo -or- Affinity Designer & Photoshop (Adobe)? Can't tell as I don't use any of these apps and still learning to draw.

 

[richpjr]

When I get to the point where I'm no longer using Adobe products to make money... I probably won't want to open old PSD file anymore either.

The irony is you can use non-Adobe products to open PSD files. And if you wanted to switch to non-Adobe products, you can always export to other formats with a little planning before the changeover.

Every product you buy has some risk with it. Serif is not a big company and only has a hundred or so employees. What if something like COVID wiped them out and the app stopped working with new versions of operating systems?

I can understand why people use other products and don't like subscriptions but it's pretty humorous to read some of the replies. And Adobe just keeps selling more and more subscriptions, raking in more and more money. Clearly the subscription model isn't nearly as widely despised as some here seem to think and more and more companies are following suit.

 

[Altivec88]

We realize it.

It's the same sorta thing where if you stop paying your Verizon bill... your iPhone can't make phone calls. And if you stop paying your Comcast bill... your internet at home doesn't work. Or Apple Music bill... or Microsoft 365 bill...

Adobe isn't tricking us. We're obviously aware of what a subscription means.

And it's not that we're "Pro-Subscription"... it's that we're "Pro-Adobe"

Look... I learned Photoshop back in college. In the 90's. And Premiere Pro and After Effects in the 2000's. I like it. I'm comfortable with it. And it's an industry-standard.

Adobe changed their pricing model. So I adapted to it. I didn't run away to Affinity or Resolve... though I certainly could have.

I like what I like! And since there are more people using and paying for Adobe software now than ever before... clearly I'm not alone.

When I get to the point where I'm no longer using Adobe products to make money... I probably won't want to open old PSD file anymore either.

But I hear what you're saying.



That was the initial fear when their subscriptions were first announced. Adobe is already getting our money every month... so why would they bother improving their software anymore?

And yet there are plenty of features that were added to Premiere Pro since I've been a subscriber. I didn't have the Lumetri Color Panel or the Essential Graphics Panel when I first started using Premiere. Or countless other features in Photoshop, After Effects, etc. We usually get two major feature updates every year.

In the old days you'd have to wait two years to get new features. And that's after you paid for the upgrade.

Again... we understand what's going on. And some of us actually like it.

But for those who don't... there is plenty of great software out there!

The services you mentioned are not comparable. Those are consumption services. Creation software is a completely different animal. If I spend months creating something using my time, at the very least I want the ability to open that file up.

I appreciate you understanding my point of view but as your response states, you are more Pro Adobe than Pro Subscription. I don't think given the choice, you would choose that route or maybe you would. Some companies offer both models and ideally that's the best route professional developers should take.

In your scenario, putting up with subscription and its future consequences is worth it to you. If all you use it for is work and like you said when you're done, you're done. Great... Subscription works out okay for you. Some of us though like to use this stuff for our personal projects as well as work. For example, using premier to edit your own home family videos. What happens when you had enough and want to stop working and can't justify the subscription cost anymore. Are you okay with losing access to your life long edits. This is just one example, which again, you may not care about. But some of us do and that doesn't make me any less pro.

Like you find that the benefits are worth it to deal with the consequences of subscription, I choose to deal with the consequences of not using any subscription software. I get it. There are some features Adobe has that I miss that aren't available in any other software and its deinitely a pain to learn new software when you are already use to something. To me, its worth finding a way to work around those missing features then to lose my work later on. In the end, it's what ever works best for every person. I am doing fine without Adobe and you are fine using them, so win win.

 

[Altivec88]

The irony is you can use non-Adobe products to open PSD files. And if you wanted to switch to non-Adobe products, you can always export to other formats with a little planning before the changeover.

Every product you buy has some risk with it. Serif is not a big company and only has a hundred or so employees. What if something like COVID wiped them out and the app stopped working with new versions of operating systems?

I can understand why people use other products and don't like subscriptions but it's pretty humorous to read some of the replies. And Adobe just keeps selling more and more subscriptions, raking in more and more money. Clearly the subscription model isn't nearly as widely despised as some here seem to think and more and more companies are following suit.

You are completely right.. There are risks with any software and I have had many instance where the developers went under. The point is, my software didn't mysteriously stop working. All future development stops but I can still open my past work. Although Adobe is large, other developers doing subscription aren't. What happens when a piece of subscription software you rely on stops working the next day because the developer went bankrupt and shut its servers down. Sorry, subscription is just not something I can bare to support.

 

[Michael Scrip]

The irony is you can use non-Adobe products to open PSD files. And if you wanted to switch to non-Adobe products, you can always export to other formats with a little planning before the changeover.

Every product you buy has some risk with it. Serif is not a big company and only has a hundred or so employees. What if something like COVID wiped them out and the app stopped working with new versions of operating systems?

I can understand why people use other products and don't like subscriptions but it's pretty humorous to read some of the replies. And Adobe just keeps selling more and more subscriptions, raking in more and more money. Clearly the subscription model isn't nearly as widely despised as some here seem to think and more and more companies are following suit.

Yeah... the PSD thing was just something that popped into my mind after all this talk about Photoshop. It probably wasn't the best example though.

I was just trying to comment on the idea that once you stop paying for the Adobe subscription... all your hard work made with Adobe projects are lost forever.

I understand that... but it's not something I am, personally, worried about.

And yes... you can always export projects into other formats. Good point!

 

[Michael Scrip]

Some of us though like to use this stuff for our personal projects as well as work. For example, using premier to edit your own home family videos. What happens when you had enough and want to stop working and can't justify the subscription cost anymore. Are you okay with losing access to your life long edits. This is just one example, which again, you may not care about. But some of us do and that doesn't make me any less pro.

I understand that.

It's funny though... I follow a lot of Youtubers in the video production field.

Many of them have made the switch from Adobe to Final Cut... or from either of those to DaVinci Resolve or whatever.

But I can't recall any of them complaining about not being able to open old Adobe projects after they stop paying the Adobe fee.

You're right about priceless family edits though. I can totally see that. I would suggest archiving all the original footage. At least you'll have the footage even if you can't open the Premiere project file anymore. And of course backup the final video.

Is there are way to export a Premiere project to an EDL file or XML file? At least that's something.

The services you mentioned are not comparable. Those are consumption services. Creation software is a completely different animal. If I spend months creating something using my time, at the very least I want the ability to open that file up.

You're right... that's why I said they are "sort of" the same.

Adobe has gone from "software as a product" to "software as a service"... SaaS

Meaning... the software doesn't work anymore if you stop paying.

That's why I made the (awkward) comparison to those other types of subscriptions.