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

Explorer ,
May 07, 2013 May 07, 2013

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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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Guest
May 07, 2013 May 07, 2013

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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?

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Explorer ,
May 07, 2013 May 07, 2013

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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.

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Guest
May 07, 2013 May 07, 2013

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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.

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Enthusiast ,
May 08, 2013 May 08, 2013

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Adobe blogs have said that ACR for PSCS6 will continue to be updated with new cameras, but not with new features.  Unclear how long the new cameras part will continue.

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LEGEND ,
May 07, 2013 May 07, 2013

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You may have missed some details.

It's $9.95/month for the first year, $19.95/month after.  I read that as $120/year then $240/year.  I'm not sure where you got your $600 figure.  This is for a single product:  Photoshop CC with what used to be Extended functionality (there are no longer two editions, you always get 3D).

Yes, I realize this is still a price increase over what Photoshop standard used to cost if you kept up to date with upgrades to all the releases.  It's about a wash with the Photoshop Extended upgrade pricing.

There is of course Photoshop Elements for those who don't want or need the full functionality of Photoshop.  Much as that may seem insulting, Elements is actually not a half bad editor.  Only thing is you can't do layers AND high bit depth editing at the same time - but that's not a kiss of death.  It's quite possible to create very nice images using 8 bit editing; you just have to think about what you're doing a bit.

It's probably fantasy to think that 3rd party developers are going to be able to "keep Photoshop CS6 current" through plug-ins, scripts, actions, etc.  Yes, you might find someone may create a deconvolution tool or something to rival some of the added plug-ins, but nobody's going to be able to make Camera Raw a filter, or add features to the 3D subsystem, or make UI improvements.

-Noel

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Community Expert ,
May 07, 2013 May 07, 2013

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I'm curious to see what deals will be available for the various plans down the road. I dropped over a grand to upgrade the entire Suite seven months ago, which was a tough economic pill to swallow these days, because I didn't want to miss the "One version back" policy next time. Now, it looks like there won't be a next time.

Damn, I remember how I used to LIKE Adobe.

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Community Beginner ,
May 07, 2013 May 07, 2013

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I feel your pain Semaphoric.   Purchased *two* CS6 licenses around the same time.

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New Here ,
May 07, 2013 May 07, 2013

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I don't rent a house to live in I bought one best plan it yours, I don't lease a car I bought it its mine to do as I please. This is what I do with cameras, lens and computers. And yes it does close me money when I buy a new car but I trade in or sell the old one so it helps. At the end of 2 years under this new plan I will have paid 360 bucks and the joy of using photoshop so how am I better off? If an the end of the 2 years I don't ant to upgrade I don't and stay with what I have. Your way I have nothing unless I keep paying how nice is that and no I don't want elements to pay you guys 80 buck fir a second rate program. If you do this many of us will find other ways to do what we do without photoshop.

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LEGEND ,
May 07, 2013 May 07, 2013

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First off, it's not "my way", it's Adobe's subscription policy.  I certainly didn't encourage them to set this policy.

Personally I still feel more comfortable with buying perpetual licenses, much like the rest of the folks here.  But I don't see the subscription model as completely evil either.  What I think is significantly missing is an exit strategy - where Adobe might provide you the ability to run (e.g., as a "perpetual license") an older version upon exiting the subscription model.

In my personal case, I've always bought every upgrade to Photoshop, going back to the early 1990s.  With Photoshop CS6, out of the goodness of Adobe's hearts (a perk for helping out here) they upgraded me to Photoshop CS6 Extended, so I've begun to dabble in 3D.  Now I've found I'd rather not do without 3D capability going forward.

Since, for various reasons, I have always planned to continue upgrading Photoshop, the subscription plan is not unattractive to me.  The price - for me - isn't prohibitive.  I know that everyone's needs are different, and so this is going to seem like a bad change to a lot of others.

But I don't think it's the end of the world.

-Noel

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LEGEND ,
May 07, 2013 May 07, 2013

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Noel Carboni wrote:

…I don't think it's the end of the world…

Of course it isn't.  It's just the end of my relationship with Adobe.

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Guru ,
May 07, 2013 May 07, 2013

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Well, the car and house analogy is not quite fitting. Adobe products have always been a license, with restrictions on what could be done with the product. The Cloud License, can in theory, result in more usable and bug-free apps. I think this move was inevitable.  I do think the price it a bit high, I'd like to see Adobe revisit it. But this will not be nearly as bad as some are predicting.

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Explorer ,
May 08, 2013 May 08, 2013

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I assumed I would need the whole Creative Suite in order to continue my current 'workflow'. I assume that Photoshop will no longer include Bridge, since Bridge is the bridge between all Creative Suite applications. What about Adobe Camera Raw (ACR)? Will that be included in Photoshop or must I subscribe to the whole Creative Suite in order to stay current with ACR?

It appears to me that a standalone Photoshop will be very restricted and everyone will be forced into purchasing the whole Creative Suite at $49.99/month or so.

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Participant ,
May 08, 2013 May 08, 2013

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Stand alone PS CC comes with ACR and Bridge.

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Explorer ,
May 08, 2013 May 08, 2013

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What happens if I don't subscribe and later want to subscribe? Must I then make a lump sum payment of subscription fees from the time that CC only version of Creative Suite was implemented?

Say I decide to subscribe in January 2015. Must I then make a lump sum payment of all subscription fees from July 2013?

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LEGEND ,
May 08, 2013 May 08, 2013

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vince heying wrote:


Say I decide to subscribe in January 2015.  Must I then make a lump sum payment of all subscription fees from July 2013?

No, of course not.

When you subscribe to a magazine, do you have to pay for all the issues that have been printed since it was possible to subscribe?

What restrictions do you envision?  I believe Photoshop is much the same package as it was with the perpetual license (it certainly includes Camera Raw).  Obviously there are changes to all the components for the 14.0 release - I assume to make them better.  I missed part of the MAX announcement so I don't know what they showed entirely.

-Noel

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Explorer ,
May 08, 2013 May 08, 2013

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When I subscribe to a magazine, I can decide not to renew my subscription. I can even renew my subscription an issue later without penalty.

If this analogy applies to Photoshop then I can subscribe for a year, get my updates and then not renew. A year later I can renew without penalty, just as I can with a magazine.

Adobe's policy in the past was that I could renew my license for a discounted price If I owned certain previous versions. If I did not qualify then I had to pay the full new purchase price.

Based on this policy I believe we will find Adobe will have a policy to penalize customers who do not maintain a continuous subscription.

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Participant ,
May 08, 2013 May 08, 2013

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Uh oh.  Looks like Hitler isn't too pleased about this either...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67Iw9q2X9cU

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Guru ,
May 08, 2013 May 08, 2013

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Uh oh.  Looks like Hitler isn't too pleased about this either...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67Iw9q2X9cU

That's pretty darn funny.

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New Here ,
May 08, 2013 May 08, 2013

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In bad taste (youtube video) but hilarious.  But I will not buckle in.

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Community Expert ,
May 08, 2013 May 08, 2013

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67Iw9q2X9cU

Who would have ever guessed that  a Hitler spoof http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67Iw9q2X9cU  would be giving us more joy then Adolf no meant Adobe.

Taste bad smell worse? Thank you evil one made my day.

JJMack

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LEGEND ,
May 08, 2013 May 08, 2013

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This isn't new; you've been able to subscribe by the month for some time now.  If you subscribe monthly, then cancel your subscription for 6 months, then subscribe again, there has been no lump sum penalty.  The month-by-month subscription price is simply higher than if you're willing to commit for a year.

-Noel

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Explorer ,
May 08, 2013 May 08, 2013

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That is a big hole that I bet Adobe soon closes. I could then subscribe for one month of PS and download the update. Then unsubscribe until I want another update - say six months later. Then resubscibe for one month. Rather than paying $200 every two years I would pay $80 every two years if I resubscribed every six months.

I just cannot see a BIG corporation allowing that to happen.

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LEGEND ,
May 08, 2013 May 08, 2013

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Doesn't work like that, Vince.  You don't get to keep using the version you downloaded.  You get to keep using it as long as you pay for the subscription.

-Noel

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Guest
May 08, 2013 May 08, 2013

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The way I read it you could use it for 99 days after paying the last subscription.  This assumes a yearly contract.  A little foggy how this would work as assume you would have to pay the entire year in advance?  If that is the case why would you have to verify every 99 days as you have already paid for year?

If you rent month to month you could get a month free unless you are paying for a month in advance with the contract.

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