What happens to my work when I cancel my subscription?

[Pauls_Sloss]

Assuming I have subscribed to Creative Cloud for some years, and some circumstance leads me to cancel my subscription, what happens to my work after cancellation. How do I open these native files (.indd, .ai, .psd) ?

If I am a subscriber to Creative Cloud, can I share native files with someone who has CS 6 or will the files be incompatible?

[hyadav · Accepted solution]

If you cancel your paid membership you will still have access to the free level of membership, which provides 2GB of storage. You will have a 90-day grace period to download your files to your local machine, and delete online files to get your cloud storage down to 2GB (or to purchase additional storage separately if you choose). If you leave more than 2GB of files in your cloud storage for more than 90 days, you may lose access to some or all of your files.

Please refer the below FAQ and it will answer most of your queries:

http://www.adobe.com/in/products/creativecloud/faq.html

-Harshit yadav

[Pauls_Sloss]

I don't think you have understood my question, and it is not answered in the FAQ. If I cancel my subscription, I lose my work. I won't be able to open the files, because I no longer have any software that can open them.

Is this correct?

[Doesofskaipod]

Yes, that's correct, but you have paid the same amount of money as you would pay for a non-time-limited version. That's a really consumer-friendly distribution way. Sorry for my bad english, im german, and do my very best.

[Kartikay_Sharma]

Hi Pauls,

Once you cancel your subscription, the product installed on your system would work fine for the consecutive 30 days as a trial version. Once those 30 days are up , your files and softwares would still be there but the software would then be giving you a pop up window requesting you to purchase the subscription . Without doing that , the product wouldnt work .

"If I am a subscriber to Creative Cloud, can I share native files with someone who has CS 6 or will the files be incompatible?"

For the above mentioned question,Yes ! you are able to share your files (your projects) with another user who has CS6.

i hope this helps.

Kartikay Sharma

[Dave Merchant]

Incorrect.

• As of right now (with Creative Cloud running CS6 apps) most of your files are compatible, but any Cloud-only features you have used in your work are of course not supported in the perpetually-licensed version.
• When the new version (CC) ships, only some of the applications will include support for saving files into CS6-compatible formats. CS6 will officially become a legacy version at that time.

Kartikay_Sharma wrote:

"If I am a subscriber to Creative Cloud, can I share native files with someone who has CS 6 or will the files be incompatible?"

For the above mentioned question,Yes ! you are able to share your files (your projects) with another user who has CS6.

[Pauls_Sloss]

Thanks Kartikay, the FAQ says:

"New features added to the above list after Creative Suite 6 may not be supported in the exported file, or supported by the Creative Suite 6 application."

So I expect this collaboration would be fairly limited between a CS user and a CC subscriber.

[SteveRuddy]

Kartikay_Sharma wrote:

Hi Pauls,

Once you cancel your subscription, the product installed on your system would work fine for the consecutive 30 days as a trial version. Once those 30 days are up , your files and softwares would still be there but the software would then be giving you a pop up window requesting you to purchase the subscription . Without doing that , the product wouldnt work .

Yep unlike a magazine subscription which leaves you with the magazine when the subscription expires. Your software will be ripped from your hands with no recourse. I would be fine if there was an option to keep using the software at it's curret state with no cloud or update benefits. I would even be ok if this option had certian subscriptiuon lenght requirements. If not I maybe using my CS6 for a long time saving in tiff and looking elswere.

[Dave Merchant]

A magazine 'subscription' is not a valid comparison. With Creative Cloud you are buying a temporary license to use something for a month/year but ownership of the product is never transfered - you should compare it with renting a car; which of course is not yours to keep.

Even with a boxed copy and a perpetual license you are purchasing only the license to use the software.

[Pauls_Sloss]

That is a legal interpretation which overlooks the practical impications. The perpetual licence gives you effective access to your own work, (native files) in perpertuity. Effectively this would be as long as you can maintain a system that can run the software that created your own work.

Creative Cloud now throws the spectre of temporary access to your own work. This is new to me, and I can't make a decision to even try Creative Cloud because that will deem my native files temporary.

The rental analogies floating around these discussions don't apply because whatever you create with/in a rental is still accessible after you finish with the rental. With Creative Cloud, the work created is interdependant with the software rental and can't be accessed after the rental has been discontinued.

[rainschub]

Exactly. It´s not only a rental method for software.

It´s like rental your own files and work.

Absolutely unacceptable without a Buy-out solution!!!

[CheleyPaige]

That's what I'm trying to figure out... So there's no "buy" option anymore?? I'd much rather drop a few hundred dollars and have a static version of the software than have a hostage situation if I can't afford to keep the subscription down the road. I already own an older version of Photoshop, and I was hoping to buy an updated version, but this new business model doesn't sit well with me. Thinking I just need to look elsewhere.

[Nancy OShea]

Photoshop Extended is by subscription only.

However, Photoshop Elements can be purchased.

Frequently Asked Questions | Adobe Photoshop Elements 2018

Nancy

[benwiggy-zkwsX0]

Note everyone who subscribes to the Creative Cloud will have CS6 to fall back on. For them, they will be left high and dry if they quit their subscription.

While some files are easily converted to other formats, or read by other software, some formats are not -- particularly InDesign.

I will use CS6 until it stops working on newer OS versions, and then I'll look for alternatives.

[skydiver119]

People will have CS6 to fall back on....unless Adobe puts in some 'feature' into all their programs, and shock of shocks, that feature isn't backwards compatible and sorry, doesn't work. Will they? who knows, could they? sure.

Just like the common response to 'i'll lose access to my work, won't i" and adobe responds 'as long as you save your work in a non-propriatary format, you'll have access'....ok, who puts in the ability to save to a non-propriatary format???? The very same folks that want you to continue to pay a monthly sub to access your files.

Honestly, if someone wants long term access to their files then they should never use CC7. Because you'll never know what obstacles have been written into the code until it's too late.

[dayglowdave]

Just save your work to your machine, don't store it on the cloud unless you need to work on it remotely.

[Cinemartian]

convert them to jpegs save to hard drive and no

[CarolynHenry]

Link no longer works...

[John Waller]

If you're referring to the FAQ link on the first page, it works for me.

Try: Adobe Creative Cloud FAQ

[Clover_Indigo]

But am I still able to use the software installed on my computer without a subscription? Like, can I just save my work onto my computer like the good ol' days?

[John T Smith]

No, you may not use rented software when you stop paying the rent

[ProDesignTools]

But yes, you can still save all your work onto your local disk drive, just like always... The newer CC releases are still desktop tools that run on your computer and not in the cloud, just like the old CS versions.

See:

The 10 Most Common Myths About Adobe’s Creative Cloud (CC)

[Nancy OShea]

<But am I still able to use the software installed on my computer without a subscription?>

Yes.  However Creative Cloud software often contain new features that do not exist in legacy CS versions.  With that in mind, you may find that some new projects are not backwards compatible with older software. 

[ProDesignTools]

Nancy's right, and some apps are more backwards compatible than others. For more details, check out this guide with a tool-by-tool breakdown and suggestions:

Are Adobe Creative Cloud (CC) Files & Projects Backwards Compatible?​

[Victoria Bampton LR Queen]

You convert them to standardized formats before you cancel, if you don't have other software that can understand them.