Adobe Offering Photoshop CC and Lightroom for $9.99/Month to All Users Through December 2 [Updated]

[iMikeT]

So what you are really saying is that essentially over the last 8.5 years you paid $7.45/mo, for which a significant amount of time you worked with outdated technology and without Lightroom.

Personally, I think the CC offer for photographers is a better deal.

And yes, for a photographer that outdated technology is a big thing. Not so much because the stuff inside PS, but all the more between LR3 and LR4 or CameraRaw 5/6 v CameraRaw ⅞, ie process version 2003/2010 v process version 2012. The math and rendering of the current version is so much better and so acutely visible when working with photos that I don't know why any serious photographer, pro or not, would want to keep working with the old stuff.

The back and forth about which model is better is becoming pointless in my opinion.

Bottom line, Adobe shot themselves in the foot by completely shifting to a subscription model and alienating their core users. Many core users have drawn a line in the sand and the more core users actually stand firm, the more Adobe will be forced to make the necessary changes to satisfy their base. If not, well we see it happening now with Adobe being forced to expand their $9.99 deal to all users to make up for losing much of their base.

 

[macmacgoose]

I use all the Design Premium products sparingly. I've been using CS3 for the past decade. Student pricing. Still works perfectly fine for my purposes. Since I wasn't going to be a student soon, I splurged on CS6.

I also still use Word 2003 and 2007, even transferring licenses between my Mac and PC.

So no thank you CC and Office 365.

 

[flux73]

The good thing about the subscription model for a user is that you always have the latest version. The bad thing about the model for a user is that the software developer is less motivated to improve or upgrade it - they're not going to get paid anymore than they're already receiving from you. So if everyone uses it, there's suddenly zero reason for them to work on a new version.

 

[throttlemeister]

The good thing about the subscription model for a user is that you always have the latest version. The bad thing about the model for a user is that the software developer is less motivated to improve or upgrade it - they're not going to get paid anymore than they're already receiving from you. So if everyone uses it, there's suddenly zero reason for them to work on a new version.

What's the incentive to continue paying if there is no innovation? The software market is very fast paced, and one of the reasons for Adobe to do this is so they can update faster. Their goal is to push out 3-4 updates per year, instead of the previous once every 18 month cycle. If they slack off, there will be others that are more than happy to show how its done and take away customers while they're doing it.

 

[rei101]

Wow, good deal! I imagine 20 GB of cloud storage by itself is typically around $10 a month. So you getting two industry leading pieces of software for free for a year.

You sound like an Adobe fake profile so much.
You are the only one saying is a good deal and you are a newbie.

I wouldn't be surprise Adobe hiring a company to put post in their favor in specific forums using fake profiles.

 

[Verita]

You sound like an Adobe fake profile so much.
You are the only one saying is a good deal and you are a newbie.

I wouldn't be surprise Adobe hiring a company to put post in their favor in specific forums using fake profiles.

That would be nice wouldn't it. I too wish they were paying me, but I'm simply sharing my opinion on the value of the software itself and the bundled services. I don't like renting my software just as much as the next guy, but this is a reasonable price.

 

[Liquidstate]

Adobe has clear goals

Adobe has clear goals.

Most importantly, lock up all of its users into complete dependency on a monthly fee. Make them continually pay for "upgrades" without giving them the option to stay with what they have.

Why? Because Adobe's most successful apps are mature, and that means there's increasingly less to upgrade.

For example, in the past, Photoshop upgrades were significant, and users were highly motivated to buy them. Now, Adobe is bloating their apps just to say they have a new version. And the users are realizing all they need is what they have.

Locking up the users has a secondary purpose. Now they own your work. Much like the cloud owns your content. If you don't pay the monthly, you can't open your own files on your own machine.

And once Adobe has gotten enough of its user base to shoot up its monthly fee heroin, the pusher is going to increase the price.

Like some of the other people on this forum, I use PS intermittently. It's just part of my workflow. But when do I use it, I use it intensely. So I can’t use the cheapo consumer version.

So I don't want to be forced to pay an increasingly higher monthly fee for "upgrades" that are actually bug fixes for an app that I don't consistently use.

The reason Adobe is offering this low introductory price is the same reason pushers will supply their victims for a low price at first.

Remember this when you are screaming through the phone at the pusher.

 

[Tech198]

"introductory" is the key.

Don't expect prices to be like this for-ever...

Companies like to keep it low to attract attention. Then after they get a big kettle of fish, they jack up the pricing, and maybe disable/remove a few features..

Basically, under control of the master... I'd rather do it with knowledge my data will still be here thanks. Particularly after Adobe last out-break.

We all say all this hacking is bad, but yet...... how many of us actually change ? Not even one.... That just proves we say it, but we don't wanna know until its too late.

 

[throttlemeister]

Now they own your work. Much like the cloud owns your content. If you don't pay the monthly, you can't open your own files on your own machine.

Basically, under control of the master... I'd rather do it with knowledge my data will still be here thanks. Particularly after Adobe last out-break.

This is just ignorant BS and FUD. If you don't like it, fine, but at least get your fact straight and stop spreading nonsense.

1) Your files are not in the cloud, they are on your machine.
2) You own your files, not Adobe
3) LR does not touch your files and they remain in whatever format you imported them into LR at the time, in the location you put them in.
4) LR - by default - exports to PS as TIFF, which can be read by any application that can read image formats.
5) PS returns files to LR in the same format as it received them, so if you sent it as TIFF, it will come back as TIFF as per default.
6) The native file extension for PS files is PSD. These can be read by virtually any program that can read image formats. Even Mac OS X Preview can read PSD files. As does every other program that may to some extend or not be a competitor to PS. There is no such thing as not being able to read PS files.
7) As far as price, we will have to see. You do realize no corporate lawyer will allow them to say "price is $9.95 forever until eternity", right? Once you don't like it anymore, cancel. We've already established that its not an issue with your files.

So, ffs, stop the BS. If you want to spout off against Adobe, at least show some respect to the rest of us by taking the time to learn and know what you are talking about. Just screaming about vague underbelly feelings without basis in fact does yourself and the rest of the people reading a disservice.

 

[Liquidstate]

This is just ignorant BS and FUD. If you don't like it, fine, but at least get your fact straight and stop spreading nonsense.

1) Your files are not in the cloud, they are on your machine.
2) You own your files, not Adobe
3) LR does not touch your files and they remain in whatever format you imported them into LR at the time, in the location you put them in.
4) LR - by default - exports to PS as TIFF, which can be read by any application that can read image formats.
5) PS returns files to LR in the same format as it received them, so if you sent it as TIFF, it will come back as TIFF as per default.
6) The native file extension for PS files is PSD. These can be read by virtually any program that can read image formats. Even Mac OS X Preview can read PSD files. As does every other program that may to some extend or not be a competitor to PS. There is no such thing as not being able to read PS files.
7) As far as price, we will have to see. You do realize no corporate lawyer will allow them to say "price is $9.95 forever until eternity", right? Once you don't like it anymore, cancel. We've already established that its not an issue with your files.

So, ffs, stop the BS. If you want to spout off against Adobe, at least show some respect to the rest of us by taking the time to learn and know what you are talking about. Just screaming about vague underbelly feelings without basis in fact does yourself and the rest of the people reading a disservice.

Good. A strong response.

First of all, I am mainly talking about PS and AE files and the graphics industries. Photographers have options for LR.

After you subscribe, Adobe has control over whether you can OPEN your PS and AE application files on your own hard drive, based upon whether you are paid up. That (access) is essentially the same as ownership. An application that won't open is worthless.

In other words, the control of YOUR files is now completely dependent upon Adobe's application. So who owns the files now?

In fact, you don't even own the stand-alone application. You rent it. By clicking the agree button on the licensing agreement, you are not allowed to sell it. After a certain point (I don't have the time to dredge up when this transpired), there are NO legal used copies of stand-alone PS or AE. These apps are only licensed to the original buyer.

So, at this point, if you don't have a recent legal stand-alone copy of PS or AE (I do), then you have essentially ceded control of your graphics business to Adobe. At this point, there are no professional options for PS or AE. Especially since Adobe bought Macromedia and ended development of Freehand.

Yes, the PS and AE files are on your hard drive, not on the cloud. Note that I said "MUCH LIKE the cloud owns your content." It was an allusion, not a direct statement.

You did know that all of your files in clouds are owned by whoever owns the cloud servers, right? They can pretty much do anything they want with them. You might want to read the recent article on the BBC News website about the dangers of uploading your files to a cloud. Woz himself is now warning people about the cloud concept.

Regarding file opening, yeah, PSD files can be opened, one way or another, by everyone. But that is the file as it exists. You can't open the Adobe application to WORK on the file unless you are paid up.

Cancel? Oh, you mean stop working on images at a pro level? Because there are no pro application alternatives.

So now someone is going to say, well, if you are not making enough money to pay Adobe, get into another biz. Well, I am in another biz, but since I was previously in media for two decades, I'd rather make my own graphics without paying Adobe tribute money for bug fixes.

The price is going to become as much as they can charge. That's business. And since they don't have any pro level competitors for PS or AE, they can pretty much set the fees for as much as the market can bear. That's after the low introductory price. Your options at this point. None.

But hey, there's more. What happens when Adobe's subscription system has issues with some subscriptions? Can't happen? It happened to Avid. Some people were locked out of their own files for two weeks.

So yeah, I posted a strong message. But that's because not many people are paying attention to the small print.

Hopefully, there's enough cited detail in this post to factually support the initial strongly worded post.

 

[MRU]

$9.99 for everyone*

*EU customers charged 12.29 Euro ($16.55)

If Adobe offered anything like US pricing for EU customers, I'd have signed up for a package a long time ago - I had my wallet at the ready for this deal, and put it away again as soon as I saw the EUR/USD disparity.

Adobe can go and ream themselves with a rusty fork before I give them money under these circumstances.

-- Pete.

EU students & teachers can avail of the whole suite for €19.95 PM - which is a better deal than €12.29 for just PS & LR

 

[GoingDark]

A big motivation for software-as-a-service is that it essentially eliminates piracy - you can't pirate a service.

Photoshop is probably one of the most pirated pieces of software on earth, since many casual users or hobbyists who don't rely on photoshop for their jobs balk at the $650 price tag. These are people who can be swayed with a $9.99 subscription model, and for Adobe, that's an extra $9.99 of revenue that they never would have received.

For the end user, the only existing, verifiable down side is for someone who doesn't plan on upgrading within 65 months (the time it would take for $9.99 to turn into the $649 up-front cost of a "perpetual license" of Photoshop). This is a group that consists of very few people.

Then there is the theoretical, hypothetical situation that seems to be the crux of most cloud-hater arguments: "sure, it's $9.99 now, but what's to stop Adobe from charging you a billion dollars a month in the future once they've hooked you into their ecosystem?"

This is a situation that effectively doesn't exist right now, and therefore isn't an argument right now. It only becomes an argument if and when Adobe actually does this.

So until Adobe pulls a bait-and-switch like that, this remains a great deal and a win-win for both consumers and Adobe.

 

[Liquidstate]

A big motivation for software-as-a-service is that it essentially eliminates piracy - you can't pirate a service.

Photoshop is probably one of the most pirated pieces of software on earth, since many casual users or hobbyists who don't rely on photoshop for their jobs balk at the $650 price tag. These are people who can be swayed with a $9.99 subscription model, and for Adobe, that's an extra $9.99 of revenue that they never would have received.

For the end user, the only existing, verifiable down side is for someone who doesn't plan on upgrading within 65 months (the time it would take for $9.99 to turn into the $649 up-front cost of a "perpetual license" of Photoshop). This is a group that consists of very few people.

Then there is the theoretical, hypothetical situation that seems to be the crux of most cloud-hater arguments: "sure, it's $9.99 now, but what's to stop Adobe from charging you a billion dollars a month in the future once they've hooked you into their ecosystem?"

This is a situation that effectively doesn't exist right now, and therefore isn't an argument right now. It only becomes an argument if and when Adobe actually does this.

So until Adobe pulls a bait-and-switch like that, this remains a great deal and a win-win for both consumers and Adobe.

This sounds like what Adobe itself would say, if re-worded in brochure-talk.

No Doubt, Photoshop is one of the most pirated applications. Especially internationally. And I detest this situation. Adobe worked hard to produce some of the best applications ever created, and they should make a good profit for their work. And in theory, subscription might reduce this. But the hackers will likely find a way around it. As it is, stand-alone buyers have to provide authenticated serial numbers to Adobe to activate the application. And that's not stopping it.

It is pretty clear that Adobe cut the price in half because the core market is balking. Tech198 and iMikeT have it right.

Using your math, after Adobe reverts back to its original pricing, I believe it was $19.95 a month, 65 months of use costs $1,296.75. That is around double the cost of stand-alone PS. And that was Adobe's original pricing.

No one is worried that Adobe will jack the price up to "a billion dollars a month in the future." That is needless exaggeration. What we are worried about is, after they go back to the original pricing, then they will raise it from $19.95 a month to $24.94 a month, etc. Again using your 65 month example, that would be $1,621.75. Now, for the same product, we would be paying $1,000 more for the same period of use. And so on.

It is not a matter of "if and when Adobe actually does this." Adobe has stated that the $9.95 is an INTRODUCTORY price. That means they WILL do this.

And this is just one of the reasons why core users are balking.

Adobe has already proven they are vulnerable to serious hacking. Plus, when I go to the Adobe site, the site itself is often balky and unstable. Especially when I go into my account. Of course, Adobe is going to say we fixed it and it's safe now. But securing an international site is extremely expensive. So now that cost will be added to software development cost.

And what happens if the hackers break into Adobe again, and the site's authentication system goes down?

Now you may not be able to open your own files on your own computer, while you are facing a serious media deadline. Clients don't like to pay for ads that don't run. And printers don't like it when press dates are missed.

Please don't say print is dead. And please don't say this can't happen.

 

[brand]

I've been using CS3 for the past decade.

CS3 wasn't even until April 16, 2007 so there is no way that you have been using it for the past decade. Might want to get your facts straight before spouting off.

 

[rainbowsofwhite]

Wow, they're getting desperate....

What a joke.

I think I'll just keep using CS6...like "forever".

 

[Kebabselector]

Extending the deadline does seem a bit desperate. I was fairly tempted with the current offer, but as I own LR5 already I decided against it. Pixelmator (although limited) is an o.k. substitution (I know it's not for everyone).

 

[Rossatron]

i wanted to get photoshop for my mac (i got a student discount) but the whole "rental" thing isn't gonna fly
so i got pixelmator. i guess there are features I'm missing, but as I'm not a hard-core professional, it works just fine for me.

 

[skinned66]

No sale. Still a horribly misguided software strategy IMO. Like Office 365...and all other traditionally stand-alone instanced software that has become an online "service" with little-to-no value added besides the "pleasure" of being billed monthly in perpetuity.

I understand the added value is subjective; but that's what the value is to me and I'll find alternatives which provide no income to them until they smarten up. I'm not a customer they're looking for.

 

[undesign]

No sale. Still a horribly misguided software strategy IMO. Like Office 365...and all other traditionally stand-alone instanced software that has become an online "service" with little-to-no value added besides the "pleasure" of being billed monthly in perpetuity.

I understand the added value is subjective; but that's what the value is to me and I'll find alternatives which provide no income to them until they smarten up. I'm not a customer they're looking for.

Same here. I'm sticking to CS6 for as long as I can.

 

[Jessica Lares]

Next year will be my third year on the subscription plan. The TypeKit integration has been awesome. But what I like most is that you can downgrade to CS6 versions too (and use them alongside the CC ones), which was useful for my weekend college class this semester.

It's already been said that they'll be getting Creative Cloud next year. So more people will be jumping on board by the end of January. I expect another extension of the special pricing because of that.

 

[padapada]

i wanted to get photoshop for my mac (i got a student discount) but the whole "rental" thing isn't gonna fly
so i got pixelmator. i guess there are features I'm missing, but as I'm not a hard-core professional, it works just fine for me.

Same here.

 

[koban4max]

wow i'm surprised that people would fall into subscription.

 

[mizzouxc]

No Thanks

Not interested in a monthly payment for my software.
In addition, this makes it easier to forecast their revenues. What's next, 24 month contracts for software subscriptions?