Well, at least for a couple weeks. Adobe initially launched the Photoshop Photography Program in September to support the needs and workflow of photographers who use CS3 or later. This small stipulation, however, limited quite a few photographers and several of you weren't too happy about it. But valid from Nov. 20 (9:00 a.m. PST) through Dec. 2, 2013 (11:59 p.m. PST), everyone qualifies, not just those who owned prior Adobe products.
The Program offers access to Photoshop CC and Lightroom 5 (plus respective feature updates and upgrades as they are available), 20GB of cloud storage and Behance ProSite, all via Adobe Creative Cloud all for $9.99/month as an annual subscription.
You can sign up for the program at Adobe.com.
Upon the expiration of this limited offer, the Photoshop Photography Program will continue to be available for $9.99/month to those photography customers who own a previous version of Photoshop Photoshop Extended, or Creative Suite, version CS3 or later (CS3.x, CS4, CS5.x, or CS6). This offer expires Dec. 31, 2013. For more information on the Photoshop Photography Program, visit Adobe's FAQs.
A common question involves what the price will be after the first year. Adobe says "Customers who sign up by December 31, 2013 will be able to continue their membership. This price is not a special introductory price for your first year only; it is the standard price for this level of membership. But if you cancel your membership in the future, you will not be able to re-join at this special price."
With this now in place (and the inclusion of the adorable graphic they sent over) and with the knowledge of issues regarding security in the past, are any of you sitting on the fence swayed to join the program?
That sounds like a great idea! Let's hope that it works out. Thanks very much, Jaron!
Also, I just noticed that the "Terms" page and the "Renewal" section of the purchasing page say two different things: "After the first 12 months, we will automatically renew your contract based on the current price of the offering" on the "Terms" page and "The price is valid for a full 12 months. After that, we'll renew your contract automatically, at the then-current price of the offering, unless you cancel. The price is subject to change, but we will always notify you beforehand" on the purchasing page. The difference between "current" and "then-current" is huge, and it seems very suspicious to me...
can you give me the links to the pages with conflicting information?
Okay. Would you like me to look for the pages that people commented on with transcripts of conversations with Adobe customer support team representatives?
Yeah could you? If for no other reason than that I'm really curious to see this.
Sure! Here are several links with relevant comments, beginning with the one with the transcript: http://petapixel.com/2013/11/20/adobe-opens-cc-photography-program-every..., http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/20/adobe-expands-10-per-month-photograph..., and http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/21/5129060/adobes-special-9-99-per-month.... Also, it might be useful to review the comments from the original announcement of the Creative Cloud Photoshop Photography Program on Adobe's blog: http://blogs.adobe.com/photoshopdotcom/2013/09/photoshop-photography-pro.... I know that there are a lot of comments, but there are a lot of issues involved with this whole deal... I hope that that helps!
Sure! Here they are, beginning with the one with the transcript: http://petapixel.com/2013/11/20/adobe-opens-cc-photography-program-every..., http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/20/adobe-expands-10-per-month-photograph..., and http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/21/5129060/adobes-special-9-99-per-month.... There are plenty of other posts on numerous websites voicing similar concerns, and not just about pricing, too. Also, it might be worth it to look back at the comments on the original Adobe blog post announcing the Creative Cloud Photoshop Photography Program: http://blogs.adobe.com/photoshopdotcom/2013/09/photoshop-photography-pro.... I know that it's a lot of comments to sift through, but this is, as you said, a "cluster"! I hope that that helps.
Sell your copy to one of the whingers on here who are terrified that Evil Adobe are going to take away their Photoshops with an epic 99c price rise after a year.
Adobe listens and make possible to gain access to the latest photography software just for $10/mo. That's great! I don't see any reason not to like that. I wish that Adobe would make smaller subscription packages for special needs, just like prior to CC, Design Standard, Web Premium, Production Premium, etc.
Yeah I was very tempted too, but the idea of loosing the capability to edit if I lay off payments is an issue. I can and do still use CS3 with perfect functionality to this day, haven't paid more or had to make payments or wondered if I should continue paying. It's just ready to use.
I'm just worried about the future pricing. Adobe has been very vague in language on the pricing of this deal after the first year as to whether or not it will increase. Some are providing evidence saying that it will switch to the single-app price (thus $20 each instead of $10 total), while others are saying that it won't increase by quoting Adobe's claim on "current price" renewal. I'm very confused, and I won't pay for this subscription until I know for sure that the price will most definitely not increase after the first year! I'm trying to contact Adobe's customer service online, but it's currently unavailable due to a high number of people trying to access it (people that probably have similar questions to mine).
Is this access to the photography tools only (essentially CS6 + LR5), or does it include access to the entire cloud (essentially the equivalent of the pre-cloud master suite with illustrator and after effects etc...)
photo tools only...did you have a chance to read the article above??
Photoshop, LR5, and some other misc. behance stuff.
I did read the article and thought that's what it was saying, but then I clicked on the CC FAQ link and it wasn't nearly as clear...
ah, I see that is a mess. sorry mate.
I believe it is just photoshop and lightroom though. full cloud with all the adobe suite is more like 49 or something per month.
Yeah exactly. They say this is a "Photographer Bundle" and photographers generally don't need Illustrator and After Effects. Generally.
Adobe has been so wishy-washy on this model it's ridiculous. They clearly aren't hitting their estimated numbers. Future pricing is anyone's guess..their only loyalty is to shareholders.
Feeling the same way, Greg. I was anxious about the deal for CS3 owners until I saw this, now I know their model is failing or at least doing poorer than expected. I hate being fished for, baited, or stuck between a rock and a hard place (forced subscription to maintain my business).
Not going for it.
No subscriptions for me. In my opinion the best move is have a current computer with CS6 & do raw conversions with a separate software & it should last a good several years since PS is a mature software. Personally use a hybrid workflow of drum scanned LF film & digital editing. Theoretically I could use a dedicated offline computer & CS6 as long as the computer hardware keeps working.
that's a good idea, a fellow photographer friend of mine just purchased cs6, and LR5, and I'm thinking although it's a bit of a jump for me (CC pricing is SOO tempting from a cost perspective), in the long run it should prove beneficial.
what software do you use for raw conversion?
I shoot large format film which gets scanned so no raw files to work with. I do have a Cannon dslr & use their DPP raw converter. You might want to look into Capture One for conversion..I hear good things about it from the MFD guys.
Can someone please help me with this....
I'm living in South Africa, but it seems like the Adobe people here don't really know what's going on either. Am I able to purchase and use this offer in S.A? I asked the local Adobe representatives, and some say yes, and some say so, some say they use IP Tracking to ensure it cannot be used outside of the U.S if it's bought through adobe.com.
They sell CC for teams through the Adobe agents here, but it works out to ZAR 6000 p/a and there are no other offerings. Through this offer mentioned above, it works out to ZAR 1200 p/a so I'm sure you can see why it's important.
Does anyone have any insight?
Sharing your pain Tim
Still no Special offer for students.. Before CC, there was about 80% off for students, now there is nothing. Guess Adobe just doesnt care anymore...
It's $10/month Photo_Tom... the price of a couple of Lattes... can't afford that?
Did you read my post at all? My Point was, that they do not care about students anymore.. And since you brought it up: that is 12,29 Euro per month, which makes 147,28 per year. this is almost the Price i paid for my student's Version of CS6 (which is the same as the regular version). And I dont need every update of PS, so I quess I will use CS6 for at least 5 years. 5 years of CC subscriptions would be 737,4 Euro. This is about 570 Euro more than I paid for CS6. This is a massiv Price increase! Plus all the Problems with renting the Software...
If $10/month is a good deal for you (and I think for many People, e.g. professional photographers, it is), that's fine.
All I am saying is, that they have no deal for students anymore, and they had a pretty good one befor CC..
Plus: the "cant-afford-10-per-month"-argument is nonsense.. you could use that for everything, and suddenly, you are spending 3000$ a month...
It still doesn't make any difference with the one issue that keeps me from signing up: NO. EXIT. STRATEGY.
Damn, why can't they just offer a buyout option after three years or so and be done with it so we can get on with things? It's not a matter of price anymore - it is the fact that I don't trust Adobe with regard to future pricing.
Being from Europe we have been at the wrong end of the stick for a long time when it comes to pricing of Adobe software. They charge up to twice the amount that U.S. customers pay for the exact same software downloaded in the exact same way with the exact same support because pricing is based on "customer research that assesses the value of the product in the local market" - that is, what they can get away with charging.
For a company that has a de facto monopoly in the professional market (and yes, Scott Bourne, they do have that - I have yet to see an ad agency around here that is not using Adobe software almost exclusively) I am not comfortable with putting all my eggs in their basket and trust them not to take advantage of their position in the market.
All I need is the option to be able to leave when Adobe decides to increase their prices if I don't find that the increased price is on level with the benefit I get from the software, and when I leave I want to keep the software that I have paid for so far during my three year contract or however long the buyout option would state, allowing me to continue opening and editing those multi-layered, plugin-modified, man-hour-eating files that I created during the time I used the software.
Allow me that option and I am signing up at once, and will be very happy to do so.
Deny me that option and I will keep assuming that you are just waiting for enough people to sign up before the other shoe drops.
So much moaning! You're either in two camps. Those who used to buy and upgrade CS suites every year or those that didn't. If you're not a constant upgrader, then you are obviously happy to "own CS6" indefinitely which is a very mature version of Photoshop and sure to handle anything you throw at it for a very good long while yet.
If you're a constant upgrader, its the god damn cheapest deal in the history of Photoshop! Instead of $650 every year for a new CS version, it's only $120 a year AND you get Lightroom!
Its an amazing time to be able to afford software that was well out of my reach even 2 years ago. Even if adobe doubles the cloud price for photoshop in 12 months time, it's still 74% cheaper than owning a copy of CS6. If you bought Photoshop CS6 today, you would literally have to own it for 5.4 years before the cloud became more expensive than it. Do you guys really wait 5.4 years between Photoshop upgrades?! And if you do...WHAT?!
Anyone yes... except if you live in South Africa :(
Or Croatia...
This actually seems like a great deal, especially since it is available for everyone! Let's look at it compared to buying the traditional (non-cloud) software at the student-teacher discounted price (which one of the cheapest options). If you sign up for the Photoshop Photography Program, you get Photoshop CC and Lightroom 5 (plus a few other small perks), with updates and upgrades for free, for $10 per month, which is $120 per year. If you buy the box or dowload versions of of the education-priced versions Photoshop CS6 and Lightroom 5, it costs you $350 and $80 for a total of $430. That is the equivalent of 3 years and 7 months of the Creative Cloud deal, but you don't get the same upgrades and such. What that means is that this deal is in many ways better than going with the traditional versions, as long as the price remains the same (and Adobe says it will). I mean, the only real concerns should be security, being bound to a yearly contract, and any problems related to cloud-based subscriptions at this point.
I'm just worried about the future pricing... Adobe has been very vague in terms of language on the pricing of this deal after the first year as to whether or not it will increase. I'm very confused, and I won't pay for this subscription until I know for sure that the price will most definitely not increase after the first year! I've been trying to contact Adobe's customer service using the online service, but it's currently unavailable due to a high number of people trying to access it (people that probably have similar questions to mine).
Well, I'm still worried about future pricing... On the sign-up page, it says, "The price is valid for a full 12 months. After that, we'll renew your contract automatically, at the then-current price of the offering, unless you cancel. The price is subject to change, but we will always notify you beforehand." What does that really mean?
Pricing, promises, if you do, or you don't own.. exclusive to.. Photoshop world people only..
Where is this going? It seems to me that Adobe has made a pretty bad error and they are scrambling to try and retrieve revenue. This subscription thing wasn't the best move by a long shot.
BUT... more importantly. The system breach they had a month or so ago, when first reported involved 3 million user accounts. That was THEN.
It has come to light that it was not 3 million as first reported, it was 32 MILLION accounts and the source code for 3 or 4 programs. They seem a little per-occupied with making the dollar and trying to zip little features out the door on this lame cloud updater, than they do looking over their own internal issues. I'm not buying into any of it. I do not believe this system of doling out software piecemeal is going to float.
So what happens if I join, edit images for a year,...decide I want out? Can I not edit those images again in CS5.1 which is what I have now?? Are they lost forever or uneditable(is that a word???)?
Are you saving your photos as .psds? Because if so, then yes. Otherwise, i don't think it makes a difference. jpeg, tiff, dng, etc still open in other programs.
What if you have a previous version of Photoshop and/or a previous version of Lightroom? Can't you just re-install it and put in your serial number? Or, since Adobe is offering CS6 "indefinitely," can't you just buy it after you cancel your Creative Cloud account if it's important enough to you?
This will work if you never update your OS or computer in the future. The next OS update might render any of your apps useless! Same for CS6. Luckily it still works with OS X Mavericks.
David
what about this?
There are actually conflicting messages: "After the first 12 months, we will automatically renew your contract based on the current price of the offering" (from the terms page) versus "The price is valid for a full 12 months After that, we'll renew your contract automatically, at the then-current price of the offering, unless you cancel. The price is subject to change, but we will always notify you beforehand" (from the purchase page). The difference between "current" and "then-current" is a very significant one!
Does anyone have any idea when Adobe's online customer service will be available again? I've been trying to use it since I heard this news, but, every time I try, it says, "Adobe phone support is experiencing high call volumes and long wait times. We appreciate your patience while we work to restore service. For immediate help, please use our online resources."
When you go to sign up, under Renewal it says:
Renewal
The price is valid for a full 12 months. After that, we'll renew your contract automatically, at the then-current price of the offering, unless you cancel. The price is subject to change, but we will always notify you beforehand.