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Known Participant
May 7, 2013
질문

How can I afford to use Photoshop when it costs $600/year?

  • May 7, 2013
  • 5 답변들
  • 20650 조회

I am a hobby photographer.  I have used Photoshop 4, 5, and 6.  Using Photoshop has generally cost me about $100/year or $200/2 years.

I, as is true of many hobby photographers, have enjoyed using PS to edit my images. I use only PS from the Creative Suite.  I use functions  that only PS provides, such as, layer masks.   It seems I must stick with Photoshop 13 (CS5) and hope that there will be addons to keep it current.  Any other suggestions?

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5 답변

Participant
May 8, 2013

I always bought PS and LR latest version. I will still use it until it is useful. Then I will look for an alternative.
From now on I won't buy any Adobe products anymore. I won't invest also in my Adobe products trainigs, books or magazines.
I totally
lost all my trust to this company called Adobe.

Photography is a hobby for me.

It is always great for a company to affect the customers emotions. And my will keep a while. Lots of talks about this customer treatment will follow at water coolers, barbeques etc.

This business move will be one of the most negative examples in the last couple of years.

No More Adobe!!!!

Participant
May 8, 2013

I agree with the sentiment.  This new pricing model kills my relationship with Adobe.

I've owned Photoshop or CSx for awhile now.  I could always buy it and now matter how long I kept it it would work, even if I never pay another dime.  I would only buy a new version if something was compellingly awesome.  But now Adobe just compels me to pay.  And to add insult to injury, if I stop paying, even if I've paid in for 3 years ($720)  I LOSE ALL OF IT.

Additionally, this is more expensive, not less.  At $20 a month they've just hiked the price for me.  AND I CAN'T KEEP IT.

If anyone knows where I can go complain to Adobe about this I would.  But I'm sure they made their decision and don't care about someone like me.

I'll use the S/W I've paid for until it quits working, buth then I'm guessing GIMP is my next step.  This move by Adobe sucks.

PhotoRoy1
Known Participant
May 8, 2013

I just read the FAQ of the blog you mentioned Noel and it answered my question. You still get to download the software on to a local machine. If you have a year prepared subscription you only have to go online every 99 days to confirm your subscription. The rest of the time you can work offline. So the speed of processing depends on your machine and OS and not on the speed of your connection.

Roy

Participating Frequently
May 8, 2013

photoline, gimp, on one's perfect photo suite,

Participant
May 7, 2013

I share your pain as a hobby photographer, I finally bit the bullet and switched from Gimp to Photoshop CS6 less then a year ago. As I am in the US often I bought a US version, now they want to rip me off with a $400 a year subscription for PS alone (EU Prices are a near criminal rip off, 600 a year is probably AU prices right? Edit, I just noticed AU is no longer being robbed, only EU is over 50% more expensive now). Guess no upgrades on Photoshop, I still use Lightroom as my workflow start so I don't have problems for some time.

Most fun will be my developers at work, I am not signing off on cloud software due to medical regulation, so no more PS upgrades for the design team... that will not be popular for certain. Finance will love it though, we will save tens of thousands in license costs by going Gimp

Inspiring
May 7, 2013

The problem is not the Cloud. The problem, as I see it, is the pricing. Adobe will greatly benefit from moving to a continuously upgraded Cloud service (I assume more difficult to pirate). And I believe Adobe users could benefit  as well from this continuous cloud setup.

BUT, the price of Cloud access is much more than one would pay for a perpetual license, even if the user upgraded every 18 months. For example, the CS6 Web and Design Suite is $1900. And upgrades run about $375 every 18 months. So in 10 years as professional user, who keeps up to date with each version, would spend about $3800. Compare that to a 10-year Cloud license of $6000.

I don’t know who placed the price-point, but in my opinion this Cloud pricing model  hurts the “mid-range" user the most. Someone who uses maybe 3 or 4 Adobe apps. Which I believe is the majority of Adobe's clientele.  Bad call by Adobe Marketing IMO.

Evil Edison
Known Participant
May 7, 2013

The biggest problem with the pricing is that it is based on the Master Collection.  If you use MC then it is a pretty reasonable deal but I completely understand that people who only use a few of the apps (or the smaller suites like Production Premium and Creative) are feeling ripped off.  Maybe Adobe needs to offer bundles of products at a lower price--like $30-$35 a month.  Better yet, how about an option to bundle a certain number of apps a-la-carte?

May 7, 2013

vince heying wrote:

  It seems I must stick with Photoshop 13 (CS5) and hope that there will be addons to keep it current.  Any other suggestions?

PS13 is CS6, but your hope will not be realized as there will be no updates to it.  Gimp?

vince heying작성자
Known Participant
May 7, 2013

I made two mistakes in my 'question'.

I know Photoshop 13 is CS6. A typo.

Also, what I meant by addons is not Adobe updates; but rather what I meant is addons from sources outside Adobe. There are addons to Elements to provide functions that Adobe does not provide. There may be a whole industry outside Adobe to keep Photoshop 13 up to date.

May 7, 2013

For many non-power users the additon of new bells and whistles is not an incentive to buy.  Many would be very happy with Photoshop 7 if it was compatible with current OS and compters.  The real stinker seems to be the need to keep ACR current as many buy new cameras and want to shoot RAW.  One can convert to DNG format, but for many that is not an attractive proposition.  Currently there is no answer how long CS6 ACR will be updated.