Adobe Elements Photoshop & Premiere Upgrade Retailer Help

[Dick Hertz]

I have Photoshop and Premiere Elements 2022 and was looking at upgrading. I found the upgrade for both that I had in the past, but it's quite near what it costs new. And now I see that 2025 has a 3 year license, which means that it can go silent one day too. I looked around the forum and saw that 2024 was the final year that the license was offered as it had been in the past and that it's only available from retailers.

Unfortunately I can't find any retailers and only people offering 2024 upgrade versions on eBay and other places that I'd find suspect. Is there any official list that you might have for retailers? At the moment, I'm considering this or migrating elsewhere and dealing with the learning curve for what is surprisingly an even lower cost. I'm very confused why Adobe has done this and I have to wonder whether this is signaling the end of the line for this great but aging software.

[Greg_S. · Accepted solution]

It's my understanding that the main retailers are not allowed to offer Elements 2024 any more.  I can't say for sure, but you may have a problem with activating a license that you buy on eBay or similar sites.

I don't think that the new 3 year license is signalling the end of the line for Elements.  Far from it.  It is the pathway forward for most software publishers.  Yes, there are a couple of photo editors that have permanent license offerings.  But most have some form of subscription license, particularly those that have fully featured programs.

And while the 3 year license is not what many folk desire, the actual annual cost is fairly modest.  We have also been assured that the Organizer will continue to work after the 3 year license expires.

[Dick Hertz]

Hi Greg and thanks for your honest answer. I was afraid of this and couldn't find anyone else selling it either.

End of the world, no, but it seems the end for me here, which is sad. I've been reading comments by other customers elsewhere and I have to wonder whether this is Adobe taking a look at whether this will bend or break the customer base. Adobe's price is their calculation of their premium + a 3 year commitment is up front. If you're amortizing that cost over 3 years you're right. But the competition is a very good product that is more polished than this but with a learning curve and it's better and perpetual.

I had Adobe Creative Suite and Acrobat Pro since they came out so many years ago. Once Adobe went to the cloud, the monthly cost was just too much to justify occasional use and I ended up with good alternatives. The last for me was Elements

I had Adobe Creative Suite and Acrobat Pro since it came out but have since found alternatives once it went to the cloud and the monthly cost was just too much to justify occasional use of some features. The last for me was Elements. Organizer working isn't really a draw for me. For now it seems I've got a clear decision and we'll see what the future brings. Thanks and regards to all the folks I know here.

[JonathanSW1]

Something similar for me too.  I wasn't looking to upgrade but PS Elements & Premiere 15 for no obvious reason suddenly reported I had to upgrade to PS 2025 and that I had activated on more than 2 PCs.  I still have the same PC.  After several hours with support they said the servers no longer show records of the activations so they can't reset.  They offered a discouint for PS 2025 which you can get anywhere so I have just uninstall all PS software and will be moving elsewhere.  A subscription is fine if you use the product regularly but it is not reasonable for infrequent use.

[johnpax]

same here, ubnfortunatelly adobe is doing everything posibble to take more money from us!!!! theyre really greed and belive me, that CC cloud is really bad and the updates are useless!!!! 

[Greg_S.]

@JonathanSW1 ,  I am reasonably confident that your Elements 15 programs did not report that you had to upgrade to Elements 2025.  You probably received a popup message saying that Elements 2025 is now available and do you want to try it.

And despite what you may have been told by Adobe Support, a number of users have confirmed that it is possible to overcome the too many activations message by disconnecting your computer entirely from the internet and activating your legacy program offline in accordance with the instructions found in this HelpX Article.

[JonathanSW1]

In effect it does.  I tried offline activation before and it didn't work for me.  I tried again today, as a last attempt before going to Corel, and it still doesn't work.

It still goes to the same screen below:

I have the serial numbers and 3 products are showing in my Adobe account under Products - Première Elements Ver 9.0; Photoshop Elements Ver 13; and Premiere Elements Ver 15. 

But re-entering the serial number has no effect as it is telling me I have to deactivate on one of my devices.  Despite this being the only computer I installed PS on. 

It was working fine one day and the next day it wasn't.  I did notice a new app called Adobe Genuine Service had installed around the time things went awry - 8 Feb 2025 - perhaps this is the problem or is just a coincidence.  I have tried uninstalling it but it wont uninstall

I would gladly deactivate on another device but I am told I have no activated devices.

As I said before after using Chat help and getting a phone call from support I was told the only option I have is to upgrade to PS 2025.  So whilst the help screen may not be telling me I need to upgrade Adobe support are.

[Glenn 8675309]

that only applies to creative cloud apps such as photoshop.

[Glenn 8675309]

"It  can go silent"- nope it will go silent.

PSE 2025 is on sale right now:   Works out to about $1.67 a month-- simply cannot be beat.
Why look for old unsuported versions when with the newest version you get the latest tools? 



 

[Greg_S.]

@JonathanSW1 Did you disconnect your computer totally from the internet when trying to activate offline? How did you do that?

While you may have only installed the program on one computer, if you upgraded that computer from Win 10 to Win 11 without deactivating it, that will count as two activations.

You may also want to reconsider switching to Corel photo and video editors.  They are EOL since about 2022.  Aludo, the company that bought out Corel, only seems to be developing the drawing program and is switching to a subscription service with that.

[JonathanSW1]

The PC I use is only connected by ethernet and I removed the cable.  I did upgrade to Win 11, on the same PC, so must have been that then. I did ask support if that could be the problem and they didn't confirm - just kept saying I had activated 2x and they couldn't do anything about it. 
I don't particulalry want to stop using PSE but am out of options and can't justify £10 - £20 a month for all the use I will get out of it.  Corel Paint Shop Pro 2023 with the bundle is only £46 and should do for years to come. 

Thanks for taking the time to try and help.

[Greg_S.]

I try not to spend other people's money, but as Glenn has indicated, Elements is currently on sale in the United States.  The photo and video editing bundle costs about $100 for a 3 year term license.  I see that the price in the UK is still the regular £130.49.  But, I don't understand how you are figuring out that it costs £10 - £20 a month.

[Dick Hertz]

I decided to keep the version I had and not upgrading. I also ended up getting a competitive program that is excellent, more full featured even though I don't like the workflow. 

It's unfortunate that Adobe went to a SAAS model which doesn't work as well for individuals and smaller business with less frequent usage. I used Adobe products for decades. I moved to Elements when Photoshop became SAAS, which has now become the same. While the cost might work out better for the user overall, the fear of losing the use of the program is what can be a difficult barrier to overcome.

[JonathanSW1]

I think I was looking at the cloud offerings for the £10/£20 & for photoshop!  However, £130 is still expensive for Premiere compared to a one-off cost of £50/£80 with another company for maybe 6 years.  I know I upgraded to Win11 but that was in September last year so it still seems odd to me that I was suddenly being told in February that my version of Premiere was now a 3 month trial ultimately meaning I have to upgrade to a time Ltd subscription.