My Trial is limited to 7 days, Why?

[kerryn76068829]

Just loaded the photography trial and it says 7 days only? I am pretty sure I am going to purchase, but would like to take advantage of the full trial,

Thanks

[Test Screen Name]

I feel that educators expecting their students to use free trials is talking the mickey. Though I have heard of educators issuing cracked versions. They should be struck off.

[BC947]

Very disappointing to see that the Lightroom/Photoshop trial is now 7 days from the expected 30 days.

I currently use ACDSee Ultimate to manage my 10's of thousands of images. ACDSee performs very well as a DAM (digital assets management) program and is substantially cheaper then Adobe. However,  from reading reviews and blogs I've had Lightroom/Photoshop envy for sometime and want to take a serious look at the Adobe industry standard to see if I should make the switch. Some blogs say that the ACDSee's DAM works better/faster than Adobe's, but the image editing/retouching is much better with Adobe, something that I am very interested in.  

However, with an evaluation period of only 7 days the decision is likely made for me - stay with ACDSee. I'm not going commit myself to an expensive annual subscription just for testing purposes.

[Terri Stevens]

I have not used ACDsee  so cannot compare with Photoshop/Lightroom, but programs don't get to be market leaders just because they come from big name companies they also need to prove themselves in a working environment. Many of us here think 7 days is too short to adequately assess the software, but others look on it as rather like watching a trailer for a movie on YouTube-you tend to know if you will like it very quickly. You can in fact get a three week free trial by a  slightly surreptitious method -simply run your seven day trial and when it expires subscribe to the Photographic plan at $10/month. Use the product for 13 days and then cancel. Adobe have a no quibble money back guarantee in these circumstances and will refund your $10 to whatever credit card you used.

[jmegafauna]

It would have been nice to know this before I installed it to get ready for when I can use it next week.

[Terri Stevens]

take a look at my post in this thread from 21st September.

[perfect_Sunset0D4D]

I just downloaded the 2017 Indesign Trial, which it said upon startup that I have 7 days to use it. My laptop battery power ran out just after I opened it so I had to reopen the programme half an hour later. Now it says my trial has expired after being in the programme for 5 mins prior to my laptop shutting down! Can anyone help me as to how I can reactivate this trial? I cant see anythin in the creative cloud pop up box?

[Peru Bob]

Make sure that your system clock is set correctly.

[jaynim]

I run a business out of my house and am here almost all the time and 7 days isn't enough to decide if I like a program, let alone try and figure out the basics if it is something I've never used.  I will move away from all Adobe products if this is the case, I downloaded a 7 day trial of Premiere because I was looking at trying out some different video software and I have never used any Premiere Product prior to this.  My trial then ended 2 days early and customer service couldn't even help me, and because of this I never even got a chance to use it.  Customer Service then told me to actually PURCHASE it so I could continue trying it and then ask for my money back in 14 days.  Um, but sorry no, a software company that doesn't know how to manage a trial properly or know how to extend a trial correctly? I'm not gonna now pay you to mess up even further than you already have....  Hopefully it decreases their sales, and maybe they'll see the stupidity, but I doubt it.  I am not a Hollywood director or anything so I can accomplish my videos and am happy with Corel anyway and its cheaper so I can't complain.

[Terri Stevens]

I agree that 7 days is too short a time to evaluate software that can take years to learn before becoming competent. I would go for 14 days as that should be sufficient to get a flavour of what is on offer and know it installs properly with your hardware, but the trial period doesn't seem to have had any impact on sales with big increases in sales reported last year.

I think the reality is that if you are in the market with a real need  for a photo-editor like Photoshop or a NLE like Premiere you will buy it irrespective of a trial being available. In the early days of personal computing there were no trials, if you needed Lotus 123 or Wordperfect you just bought it. What customer service told you is the best way to do it as you then get 21 days for free. The trial mechanism cannot be easily reset, if it could the pirates would learn the trick and piracy would be an even bigger problem than it already is-and that's bad enough.

[jaynim]

I was in the market for video software, so adobe clearly doensnt know what their doing, but I was also shorted several days and looking at everything probably didn't even have 7 days because I didn't have my clock set right on my computer.  I understand that trips the system but seriously not everyone has their clock set right, I just didn't have it set up to change with dlst and hadn't fixed it, cause I only go on my computer for certain things and don't rely on that clock.  They should be able to tell the difference in a software product with having the clock set wrong or intentionally change it to scam days. Also maybe I am one of the few that takes the full 30 days but when I am legitimately deciding, it takes sometimes more than a week.  I think the issue with adobe has less to do with trying software and more to do with the market that uses its product, that they cant tell the difference between the type of people that use their products.  Many people especially in schools and businesses are taught their skills on adobe products and it is the norm, so of course people will decide in less than a week, I am a photoshop person and know how to use it so its not an issue, but when I start going into other products it takes me time to learn them and more than a week if I am comparing it to another product....

[gener7]

When I first got Photoshop 5, Adobe had Photoshop LE, a minimalist Photoshop that was replaced with Elements. If you wanted to play with the real deal, you could download the demo which had the Save and Print modules removed, but no time limit.

I don't know what to say about a 7 day demo, but for those new around here, we are volunteer forum help and have little say in Adobe's demo policies, whether we think they are fair or not.

I wonder if it would be reasonable to suggest a CS6 download for those who want 30 day tryouts?

[jaynim]

It really is unfortunate that you have no say or ability to suggest changes, especially since you probably have a majority of the contact with actual customers and users. I don't have a problem using cs6 at all and probably what I will actually end up going to. I don't actually care for the pay as you go model myself and would prefer to go to a product that is paid for. I think the model that Adobe has gone to is unfortunate as not everyone wants to pay a monthly or yearly fee, this puts a ticking time clock on their products, which every software has at some level, but it can be done at our discretionary pace and not theirs.

[jaynim]

Also as far as I can find myself, Adobe has gone strictly to the CC model in its entirety. If you know where to find a cs6 demo with a 30 day trial I would love the link, because I cannot find it anywhere, and I've looked quite extensively.

[gener7]

Download Adobe Creative Suite 6 applications

[jaynim]

Awesome, thanks!

[Peru Bob]

Just keep in mind that Adobe stopped selling CS6, although you can get it as part of Creative Cloud:

Creative Cloud now includes Creative Suite Master Collection and Design Premium features

[Andreas Urra]

I think the move to 7 days is very unwise, especially in regard to students and universities that do not run dedicated computer labs for video work, i.e. where students cannot be provided hard- and software and have to work with their own computers.

We often have groups of students with small video projects that would span about 30 days. The departments cannot afford to buy licenses for students and the university won't. The university's policy cannot force or expect students to buy software. The 30 day trial was ideal for such seminars. Seven days are no option anymore.

By now, we have to look for viable alternatives that we can recommend to our students. So far this leads to a migration towards DaVinci Resolve and Lightworks.

I cannot imagine that this is in the interest of Adobe. Especially with the market offering so many free or low cost alternatives (FCP, Resolve, Fusion, Incscape, GIMP, etc.)

[Peru Bob]

Andreas Urra wrote:

The university's policy cannot force or expect students to buy software.

Don't they require them to purchase books?

I really don't see any difference between books and software.

[ProDesignTools]

On average, the price of college textbooks costs over $1,000/year, for 3-4 months of use apiece. The first 12 months of an All Apps Creative Cloud membership for students costs $239, which could be the cost of one book and doesn't seem so bad by comparison

It's not uncommon for an individual book to cost more than $200, and some have price tags that go as high as $400, the report said. Exact numbers are hard to come by, but the College Board recommends that students budget about $1,200 a year for textbooks and supplies.Feb 10, 2016

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/students-are-still-saddled-soaring-textbook-costs-repo...

[Andreas Urra]

Thank you for caring. And I for my part see your point. Only, I have limited leverage and did get my share of bruises arguing.

As for the books, the policy is to provide as much as possible by the library. As for providing software on a bigger scale, it gets really complicated. It is out of my field of jurisdiction, so I am a voice among many.

[Test Screen Name]

I think it's pretty outrageous that educational institutions should expect to exploit presales trials for wholesale student use. Students or colleges somehow manage to pay for tools, materials, chemicals, paper, ink. Why on earth should they expect software - uniquely - to do this for free? Monthly rental now makes this entirely viable; if we were in the days of $500 outright purchase we have difficulty.

[Terri Stevens]

I must admit I fully agree with you. When I read Andreas' post I decided out of politeness not to comment on his pure audacity in suggesting trials should be 30 days to facilitate students. I bet those same students have phone contracts costing three times as much as a Photographic Plan subscription-if they can afford a phone to chat with someone in the next room then they can afford to invest in something that will serve them well in a future job. I'm starting to think Adobe might be on to something in keeping the trials short.

[Andreas Urra]

Dear Terri, dear Test Screen Name,

thank you for your clear statements. And thank you also for not attacking me personally. I agree and argue the same way.

Only, we find ourselves between a rock and a hard place with what we are expected make work and what we are given to work with. This is all I can say here. Again, I agree and happily pay for my personal software im my private life.

[foothillcollege]

"Exploiting" is not an accurate description. Colleges and Universities buy CC licenses for their campus labs. That's fantastic for the students that are on-campus, but they do not buy CC licenses for the growing number of students in online, distance education programs. Which is very discriminatory to the distance students, students that need distance education are ofter too far from campus to use the facilities there. Schools also do not buy licenses for on-campus students to use on their personal computers. So if a student goes to the computer lab and all computers are in use, it's "tough luck" for them. They can't work on their own laptop even while they are on campus, and forget about doing homework at home.

Claiming the cost of a license is less than textbooks overlooks that it is much more popular to rent textbooks for the duration of the course at a fraction of the cost of buying the textbooks. Renting a textbook is for the most part cheaper than a monthly CC license. Also the rental period ends when the course ends. The CC license has to be purchased for the year. This really discriminates against part-time students and students in community colleges or other schools where they might be taking classes one semester and not the next semester, or students that need to spread out their education over many years. Which means they would be paying for the subscription for many years before they are employable and able to earn enough money to afford it. The educational subscription price is also only available to students for a limited number of years regardless of whether they are still enrolled.

[Terri Stevens]

I find it very difficult to understand the cost argument here. If I wanted to become a driving instructor I wouldn't expect Ford to give me a car for virtually nothing to practice on for a couple of years. If I wanted to be an airline pilot I doubt if Boeing would lend me a 747, so why is it such a surprise that a software company like Adobe behaves as a commercial entity? Yes a penniless artist could create a work of art with Adobe software but that's not why it primarily exists-these are commercial products that are used to produce things to be retailed by advertisers, media companies , marketeers, film makers, political parties even the adult entertainment industry. Anyone who has a message to deliver has a use for design software and is generally well remunerated. I'm in the United Kingdom where it costs around £9000 /$11,000 a year in tuition fees to just attend a university. A rough calculation shows a subscription to the full Creative Cloud academic version accounts for around 2% of a years tuition fee. Any organization can accommodate those kinds of costs , even if it means an associate professor needs to take a slight pay cut, after all he doesn't have anything to teach without the software. I'm sympathetic to kids at school as the fees are not as high, but I know plenty of children with subscriptions to Netflix  and Amazon Prime which costs the same as Photoshop each month -it's all a question of priorities.