Can I get Lr just for a couple of months?

[default8cp77g4meb3y]

I am going to be needing Lr for a couple of months, but since it is a yearly subscription, I'm not sure I can just pay a couple of months and then cancel it free of charge/fees... 

Anyone in a similar situation? 

Thanks!

[richardplondon]

If you really only wanted Lr (I assume, Classic but could be the other) subscription for such a short time there is a way - as below. However it costs! A year of Photography plan is (these are all rough numbers) $120, but you can cancel early and get up to 6 unused months of that period rebated - to my knowledge, and may vary in different countries. So that would be $60 total outlay.

The other way is that Lr and LrC are included in the All Apps package and that CAN be subscribed to month by month rather than as an annual plan. If besides Lightroom you also needed several other Adobe applications too, that may work for you. Other Adobe applications when subscribed individually, cost you typically $20 per application per month on an annual plan or I think $30 per month on a monthly plan. But you can't have Lightroom Classic individually in this way, and even if you could, two months would still be $60 and you wouldn't get PS as part of that.

All Apps is $50 per month on an annual plan / $75 per month on a monthly plan. So if you needed unlimited Adobe apps for just two months the total outlay would have a $150 ceiling. One could not scratch the surface of more than one or two of those apps within that time, though, unless already fully up to speed.

[dj_paige]

If you really only wanted LrC (I assume, Classic) subscription for such a short time there is a way (as below). However it costs more per month than a whole year of the Photography plan does - or Lightroom plan with storage, of that is what you meant - which is otherwise the commitment. If a year of Photography plan costs (these are all rough numbers) $120 then you can cancel early and get up to 6months of that unused subscription period rebated - to my knowledge, and may vary in different countries. So that would be $60 total outlay.

I am skeptical, this doesn't sound right to me. If you agree to the subscription, you agree to pay for one whole year, even if you are paying monthly, you are committed to a one-year subscription. If you cancel early, there is a penalty. If you use it for 6 months at $10/month and then you cancel, you still owe $60, and the penalty for cancelling early is that you still have to pay one-half of the amount owed, which is $30. So you pay for six months of use which is $60, plus another $30 penalty, that's $90 for six months. 

https://www.adobe.com/legal/subscription-terms.html

Cancellation Terms

You can cancel your subscription anytime via your Adobe Account page or by contacting Customer Support*. If you cancel within 14 days of your initial order, you’ll be fully refunded. Should you cancel after 14 days, you’ll be charged a lump sum amount of 50% of your remaining contract obligation and your service will continue until the end of that month’s billing period.

[richardplondon]

Oops, you are quite right: if the OP uses the package for say both of the 2 months mentioned, but advising of cancellation after one month, then there might be 7 months to pay in total (not 6) - the first two months used, plus 50% due on the remaining ten months.

I hadn't realised the remaining months were payable straight away, but thinking it through, I can imagine that further distributed payments (during time when no service was being received) might be so hard to chase up, as to be unprofitable.

[dj_paige]

I'm not sure I can just pay a couple of months and then cancel it free of charge/fees... 

There are penalties if you cancel before one year.

[DdeGannes]

Just a thought, if you subscribe to the Photography Plan and pay for the first year and then Cancel the subscription.
You then cannot have access to PS, Lr (cloud-based), sharing and syncing facilities.

However you have full access to the Library Module features in LrC, so you can manage image files, import files to LrC including supported raw images, utilize the "Quick Develop" features and export.

What I am not sure of is, if it's possible to utilize Print and the like or if it's possible to update the application to access support for new Camera models to import raw images?

[richardplondon]

I am pretty sure that continued use of Lighroom Classic after ceasing the plan, requires that you leave your same Adobe Account in place and continue to sign into that. The program then determines whether your Adobe Account currently does, or does not, show a subscription plan running - which would allow full usage of LrC / permit PS to start. So failing that, you get constrained usage of LrC (does permit printing IIRC) and PS will not start. The free mobile apps should continue working. I am doubtful about Portfolio, Spark and suchlike.