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JJ5C39
Known Participant
November 15, 2021
Question

Subscription plan confusion (PS, Bridge)

  • November 15, 2021
  • 3 replies
  • 387 views

Hello everyone,

 

I'm a bit confused about the plans:

  1. "Photography" 20GB: Lightroom, Lightroom Classic & Photoshop for $9.99/month
  2. "Photography" 1TB: Lightroom, Lightroom Classic & Photoshop for $19.99/month
  3. Photoshop: $20.99/month (100GB)

They can all be used on desktop and iPad (also offline, correct?), so why would anyone get the third option if 2. offers more for less money? What's the difference, apart from the obvious (+Lightroom + Classic)? Is is only about Fresco?

 

I also noticed that "Creative Cloud All Apps" lists Bridge, even though that one's free (even with the non-subscription-based PS Elements). Can PS that's included in plan 1, 2 or 3 not hook into Bridge correctly, e.g. for changing Camera Raw settings directly?

This topic has been closed for replies.

3 replies

Abambo
Community Expert
AbamboCommunity Expert
Community Expert
November 16, 2021

1 -- is a special bundled offer for photographers to stay competitive against competition. Most photographers take probably this option, when they do not work cloud based with Lightroom. As a bundle of Lightroom Classic and Photoshop, it's really an opportunity against the old perpetual license, where you got Photoshop alone for $700-$1000 (the expensive version corresponds initially to the subscription version).

2 -- makes cloud based Lightroom usable as it adds 1Tb of cloud space, which is enough to keep a not too active photographer happy. Raw files take very easily more than 40 Mb per picture, so with the standard 20Gb cloud space for 1, you run out of space faster than you can shoot. I personally don't use Lightroom, I use Lightroom Classic, as that fits my workflow better and makes me more flexible with my 5Tb+ photo database. 

3 -- is simply the single app plan as also available for Illustrator, Indesign or most of the other CC apps. It probably only nakes sense for the monthly plan (not the annual plan, paid monthly). There may be special reasons (like Teams and Enterprise plans) to take the Photoshop annual subscription, for an individual user, it does not make much sense. But hey, it would probably cost Adobe more to take away the Photoshop single app plan here. And one or the other may still have a need for it. 

 

Bridge is basically a useful file browser and asset manager. It's not sold on it's own, and it does not work without a compagnion license. I use bridge a lot in a multi user environment, where multiple users work the raw files and other data (like Illustrator files, Indesign etc). Lightroom Classic can't be used in such an environment, as Lightroom Classic is unfortunately single user. It has some really nice features, like an unparalleled batch renaming. 

ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer
    J
    JJ5C39Author
    Known Participant
    November 16, 2021

    Thanks for the explanations!

    I'm not interested in cloud based stuff, everything in the "Photography" plan can be used completely offline too, right? Tbh, I'd rather buy the full PS for $200-300 as a software that I can keep as long as it still runs on my PC and that then eventually stops receiving updates than pay so much for a subscription based thing because I don't use it regularely enough to justify spending that much on a single month/per year.

    I use Bridge to export images with the changes saved in the xmp files. So far I've been using Elements (which is the "buy once, keep forever" software I prefer) to make said changes but there are problems I've not been able to fix yet and I'm not sure if they can be fixed. It looks like I need the PS integration into Bridge (like working options in the "Edit -> Developer Settings" menu) and I downloaded the PS trial but these specific settings still didn't work (error that there's no valid license), so I'm not sure if it's because of the trial or because Bridge needs something else. Do you know?

    Abambo
    Community Expert
    AbamboCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 16, 2021
    quote

    Thanks for the explanations!

    I'm not interested in cloud based stuff, everything in the "Photography" plan can be used completely offline too, right?


    By @JJ5C39

    Yes. You only need an internet connection from time to time to renew your licence (about every 90 days for annual subscriptions). https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/internet-connection-creative-cloud-apps.html

     

    The Photoshop price was $700 (Photoshop standard)-$1000 (Photoshop extended, the version included in the subscription) for Photoshop alone, no Lightroom attached. Lightroom 5 did cost around $160. I did explicitly take the Photography plan at a time when you could still buy the programs as standalone perpetual licences because Photoshop was included in the bundle. You will need anyhow to update your programs from time to time because the older software does not support newer cameras. There are workarounds, but to be honest, after half a year of working around (at my workplace), I was happy that I got my upgrade authorized. That were always ugly discussions as we needed to prove the necessity for the upgrade and the costs for upgrading our 4 licences were not to neglect. With the CC subscription, we're spending the same money, but we stay up to date all the time.

     

    I agree, for non-professionals, the reasoning may be different, but don't forget: those are professional tools. And there is a reason why the Elements line is still available on a perpetual licence basis.

     

    As for your Bridge/Photoshop Elements problem, I would refer you to the respective fora.

     

    ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer
    John Waller
    Community Expert
    John WallerCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 15, 2021
    quote
    1. Photoshop: $20.99/month (100GB)

    They can all be used on desktop and iPad (also offline, correct?), so why would anyone get the third option if 2. offers more for less money? What's the difference, apart from the obvious (+Lightroom + Classic)? Is is only about Fresco?

     

    Option 3 is known as the Single App plan for Photoshop. In a nutshell, yes, Fresco Premium is the only extra benefit.

    https://prodesigntools.com/compare-photoshop-lightroom-photography-plans.html

     

    Another minor advantage is that you have the option to pay for the Single App plan on a month-by-month basis (at a higher fee per month) and cancel at any time without penalty. The price you've quoted is for an annual plan, paid monthly.

     

    The other plans are all 12 month commitments with early exit fees. No month-by-month option is available.

     

    I would speculate that there are far more Photography Plan subscribers than Photoshop Single App subscribers.

      J
      JJ5C39Author
      Known Participant
      November 16, 2021

      Thanks! I already looked at the plan comparison page yesterday but only the "Photography" plan showed up in the middle, the other two headers were empty. Looks like the fixed it since then.

      John T Smith
      Community Expert
      John T SmithCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      November 15, 2021

      I can't comment about your 2+3 but 1 is a special that Adobe offers - The special photography plan is somewhat like a 'loss leader' advertisement to get you into a grocery store to buy the items on sale, while hoping that you will decide to add other purchases... the photoshop in the special plan is exactly the same as the photoshop sold as a single product for a higher price

       

      SOME programs work on an ipad https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/system-requirements.html

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