Comments on: Creative Suite 6 subscription plans announced

By: ChickieD

ChickieD — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:55:00 +0000

To get it go to Google, then select More > Even More. It’s listed under the Media category.

By: ChickieD

ChickieD — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:53:00 +0000

I also highly recommend Picassa to the average person looking to doctor up photos. It is free and easy to use. The straighten tool is better than the one in Photoshop – I always straighten first in Picassa then import into Photoshop.

http://picasa.google.com/intl/en/#utm_source=en-all-more&utm_campaign=en-pic&utm_medium=et

By: DMStone

DMStone — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:27:00 +0000

I used to work as a designer, starting with a 2-year-old cracked copy of the CS, in six months with a little study I was doing pre-press design on three computers each with the full paid for suite. You can make a strong argument that the ubiquity of Adobe software due to piracy has made it the market leader.

That being said, most people don’t have any business using the most up-to-date versions. The worst art we received was from universities with the current software using a bunch of newfangled tools and effects which couldn’t be processed by our printers, thusly, most my job was recreating their effects with an older version so that the files would work.

By: Jon Loss

Jon Loss — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:14:00 +0000

In a changing job landscape where independent contractors are becoming par for the course this allows freelancers a way to stay up to date without huge up front costs. Most professionals are becoming pluralist and need access to different software on a project by project basis and this also accommodates that. I, for one will be taking advantage of the subscription.

By: ocatagon

ocatagon — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:38:00 +0000

Yes, the idea is there are a lot of users that only need Photoshop occasionally, like for annual projects, and aren’t going to pay for the outrageously priced software package. This is intended to serve that infrequent customer and expand their user base.

By: ocatagon

ocatagon — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:36:00 +0000

I am a graphic designer and if I never had a pirated copy of Photoshop and Indesign I would never have learned the software and never gotten the job I have today.

Or else I would have mastered some free Photoshop clone and then recommended using it at my work rather than pay for some Adobe software I didn’t know how to use.

By: jeligula

jeligula — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:09:00 +0000

I’ve worked as a professional graphic artist since 1994, having attended the Art Institute of Seattle starting in 1987 (I took a detour into the US Marine Corps before starting my career). I have to say that I don’t like the way things are going here. Cory writes about the demise of general computing and this is the start of it. Once the subscriptions are locked in and the desktop PC goes the way of the dinosaur, all data will be stored in the cloud. With the subscriptions and cloud storage, scanning every piece of work for copyright infringement will be automatic. And we can look to the charges being arbitrarily applied with no recourse for challenging them. No proof of infringement will be needed, either. The accusation will be enough.

By: McGreens

McGreens — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:02:00 +0000

Not to mention the fact you can only back-save one version.

By: Brainspore

Brainspore — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 04:03:00 +0000

Hell yes it did. For most of Quark’s run you needed third-party plugins just for simple features like collecting files for output or high-res page previews. All that came standard in the first version of InDesign at a small fraction of the price.

By: Brainspore

Brainspore — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 03:59:00 +0000

For 99% of consumers, absolutely. Just as most people don’t need the full version of Final Cut Pro for editing home movies if they can get a copy of iMovie.

For professionals… not so much.

By: Brainspore

Brainspore — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 03:54:00 +0000

@inkfumes:disqus So don’t go with the subscription plan option and don’t upgrade any more often than you have to—problem solved. But that option does sound like it might be a good idea for many professionals who are in a different situation than you are.

By: tyger11

tyger11 — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 03:52:00 +0000

That’s so racist!

By: tyger11

tyger11 — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 03:51:00 +0000

If you’re renewing or upgrading from something else (my Photoshop subscription from last year qualified), you may qualify for an even lower rate – $30/mo for the first year, for the whole suite. That is a pretty great deal.

By: tyger11

tyger11 — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 03:48:00 +0000

Last year’s Photoshop subscription yearly month-to-month price was $40/mo. It’s now going to be $20/mo. The price automatically reduces if you do nothing, and you get the new version. Last year’s CS subscription yearly month-to-month was over $100 ($120? Can’t remember). Now it’s going to be $50/mo (or $30/mo for the first year if you are renewing from a qualifying product – the plain Photoshop subscription qualifies!). These are -SIGNIFICANT- price cuts; you just haven’t been paying attention.

By: tyger11

tyger11 — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 03:46:00 +0000

Actually, that’s not a bad idea. But maybe I think that because I hate Word, and think fewer people should be using it. :)

By: tyger11

tyger11 — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 03:45:00 +0000

And while they’re in design school, they can qualify for the educational version of the Adobe products. And afterwards, once they get employed, they either get the Adobe product purchased for them by their employer, or they can buy or rent it for themselves. Problem solved. Thanks, Adobe!

By: urbanspaceman

urbanspaceman — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 03:16:00 +0000

Photoshop. Meh. Stupidly overpriced, needlessly complicated.
http://gimp.org

By: NelC

NelC — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 02:45:00 +0000

Umm, no, actually. I’d subcontract the job to somebody else who has the software and knows how to use it rather than buy and learn it myself, if I had such a need.

By: pjcamp

pjcamp — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 02:13:00 +0000

Hello GIMP!

By: mike k

mike k — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 01:37:00 +0000

ugh, this is gonna suck for enterprise users who are usually stuck behind heinous proxy and security. Jeeze, if there were something as good. (f-you and your “but what about GIMP”)

By: catherinecc

catherinecc — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 01:17:00 +0000

Quark also sucked.

By: inkfumes

inkfumes — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 01:04:00 +0000

But I don’t have a design studio or print shop, I am just a one man show… hence the jist of my comment…

By: Daemonworks

Daemonworks — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:40:00 +0000

It would be better for a lot of people if they’d make lower-priced subscriptions where the user can pick for themselves which software they want, rather than getting the entire suite.

By: bobarctor

bobarctor — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:27:00 +0000

The industry wouldn’t exist today if kids hadn’t been pirating the software 15 years ago. Period.

By: Nicky G

Nicky G — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Cards on the table, part of my living involves selling Adobe software for a living. And other pro-media software, and hardware, and fun stuff. Yay. I used to not be able to stand Adobe. They have made significant strides in the past few years in dramatically improving their relationship with reseller/integrators like me, and more importantly, their end users. They seem to have given up on trying to take over all video on da interwebs (bad) and go back to concentrating on making best-of-class software for creative professionals (good).

A few points.

Adobe software is not overly expensive. A huge number of people who think Photoshop is overpriced can get away with Elements or Lightroom, which are EXTREMELY inexpensive.

InDesign single-handedly forced down the price of production-level layout software. Remember something EVIL called Quark? InDesign is a godsend compared to that overpriced shite. Thank Adobe for that. And think about how many PHYSICAL GOODS a single seat of InDesign replaces. It used to be many, many times more expensive to do layout using physical tools, one or two orders of magnitude easily. Adobe was a huge part of bringing those prices down.

How about for photographers? Try building a dark room with all of the various pieces of equipment that Photoshop and Lightroom replace. A top of the line Mac Pro plus Master Collection is TONS cheaper.

Don’t even get me started on digital video. The color grading/correction application Speed Grade that is now bundled with Production Premium CS6, a “free” add-on? A few months ago that software was over $25,000 — yes, just for the software! And that level of software replaces the, get this, MULTI-HUNDRED-THOUSAND dollar workstation setups that 5-10 years ago were COMMON for full-fledged color grading and correction. I tend to sell Production Premium for about $1500. That gets you Speed Grade, PLUS Premiere Pro 6 which Adobe has finally invested massive amounts of energy in making “pro-grade”, plus their media transcoding application (or you can buy Episode Pro by itself for $1000 from Telestream, if you want) plus Photoshop, plus InDesign, oh and let’s talk about DVD/Blu-ray authoring via Encore, oh yeah, and the multi-track digital audio recording and editing application that is bundled with the package…..

Yeah. Adobe is NOT expensive. I can think of dozens of pieces of software that are an order of magnitude OR TWO more expensive that cater to the creative professional market. Shit, there are dozens and dozens of PLUGINS that cost way more than Master Collection.

I hate it when people whine about pro-level software that costs $1000-$2000 being “too expensive” — especially when it’s practically given away to EDU. If you want to do graphic design, digital photography, layout, video editing, color correction and grading, audio mastering, disc authoring… and you can’t afford CS6 Production Premium or Master Collection, plus a Mac Pro, you need to SERIOUSLY think about pursuing another career. The cost of entry for any of these fields is as low as its ever been, literally CANNOT get any less expensive, and these companies to still exist to make this software. Adobe has probably been one of the biggest forces in bringing the cost of entry for creative professionals DOWN, not the other way around.

Now, these subscription OPTIONS (not requirements, options) are fantastic for freelancers, and the companies that hire freelancers. You know, the MOST cost-sensitive folks int he creative industries. They can pay to use software for a given project or temporary hire, and not have to pay for it when it’s not in use! Hell, this may be one of the most empowering moves any software company has ever made when it comes to bringing down costs for creative professionals! Adobe should be applauded for coming up with more OPTIONS for their users. Bitch and moan when it stops being optional. But the Adobe I’ve seen over the past couple of years generally seems interested in making their users happy.

By: marukosu

marukosu — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 22:57:00 +0000

And, in fact, many of us started on 3 year old pirated copies and then switched to the latest suites once we got ourselves into real jobs.

As a teacher and writer (that is, not a graphic artist), I know I’d definitely not be a fan and a customer now if I hadn’t had the chance to screw around with PS and PageMaker for free as a kid.

By: emergentjlr

emergentjlr — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 22:12:00 +0000

Every major application is available to purchase separately from getting a Creative Cloud subscription. There are a handful of products that are more or less utilities (and mostly web based) that require a monthly subscription of a few dollars, and have already been subscription based. I still don’t see the problem.

By: Will Bueche

Will Bueche — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 22:09:00 +0000

That’s like saying that Word is only for authors, and everyone else should go stuff it.

By: Will Bueche

Will Bueche — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 22:00:00 +0000

Agreed. But Adobe like being exclusive. Adobe would rather sell one unit at $500 than five units for $100 each. Even though in this age of no-packaging, they’d make just as much money (maybe more) by selling their products affordably. They make wonderful products, but they’re obscenely overpriced.

By: First Last

First Last — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 21:35:00 +0000

And when you say “you can still purchase the full suite of products” you mean apart from the six products that are only available through the subscription service.