Adobe releases subscription-only Photoshop CC

I buy my automobiles, I never lease them, and I'm not going to lease a software license. I'm not going to let someone hold the software I use ransom for monthly cash collections. Someone must be taking drugs to think anyone wants to go along with this mob mentality. If I purchase a license I can upgrade or not when I decide, not the company, that there is some feature that is worth my additional cash outlay. With the subscription model you have no say, you either pay the monthly ransom or loose all functionality of the software, not just loss of the ability to upgrade and or get new features...and once they have you down that path they can raise the monthly ransom as much as they want and you either pay or loose the functionality of your software. I have been skipping every other upgrade since CS3 and was looking forward to CS7 but have now upgraded to CS6..this will most likely be the last Adobe product I ever expend money on unless they abolish this software hostage model.

It seems Adobe is allready lying again to us.

I recently upgraded to creative suite 6 because they would end the posibility to upgrade mid of june, according to their E-mail.

So i upgraded and i tried out on their site if i still could order CS6. It is still possible to perchase cs6, despite their statement that sales for the upgrade would close mid june!!!

It seems Adobe tries to milk the cs6 cow also as much as possible.

...and so it begins, instead of working on real features, they throw a few lousy minimal "revisions" to the people subscribed in order to justify the $$$$ they are spending every month on... nothing. Sweet deal for Adobe, crappy one for the addicts who subscribe to that garbage.

Instead of changing the name from CS to CC, they should have changed it to FU.

It looks like CS6 is my last version of Photoshop (and other applications in the CS Designer series). I will NEVER rent software. I can't believe Adobe is asking us to pay $600 per year FOREVER, just to have access to new features. I would like access to the new Camera Shake Reduction feature. But I will not pay $600 PER YEAR FOR LIFE, just to have continued access to that one new feature. If necessary, I'll keep an old computer running, just to keep my CS6 running for the rest of my career. No sweat.

Bring back the upgrade path. I used to love Adobe. Now I HATE them. I have bought every Photoshop version since PS6, and every CS version of the designer suite. But Adobe will get no more of my money. We'll both be sorry about that.

Very disappointing that Adobe is choosing a cloud only pricing model. In response, our photo club will be spending time to educate and train our members on alternative software options to Adobe.

Give feedback to Adobe with where you spend your money$$$

Disappointed customer

I am also very annoyed with this new step - wondering if people from Adobe are reading this? (one could hope)

Never again, Adobe. Finding other editing suites to work with. Enjoy the huge reduction in customers due to poor short-sighted decisions on your part.

I suggest that a mod ban this character calling himself 'tell the truth' and purge the thread of his posts. His infantile drivel is hurting this discussion, causing it to lose any pretensions of being taken seriously.

TO ADOBE : if you saw 65% lost of your profit then the solution is simple.

1. drop the cc thing.
2. ask for forgiveness public from the global community (SONY did it in the recent past) .
3. change the cc name to CS7
4. fire the employees who are behind the cc fiasco.
4. change the price of Photoshop from 800$ to 200$ .

Do you know how many new customers will buy from you then?

1. You will have way more than four times the customers you have now.
2. You become a software hero.
3. Everyone will respect ADOBE because you will approve
that big companies actually HEAR the global community. AND CARE.

I really don't understand ADOBE ...
Don't you want to make money?
Don't you want to have faithful and happy customers?

This is simply logic , its not rocket science....

To the loud people screaming about how Adobe sucks, you're doing your side no favours. You might want to tone it down a bit if you hope to be taken seriously.

If we say yes to adobe now, we will be saying yes to all other software companies starting with all your plug-ins!!! so think better before signing for the CC !

Unlike other markets--video games, operating systems, microprocessors--Adobe software has long been unrivaled in it's market. Apparently, they didn't like the distinction of having a monopoly on a much beloved software.

They obviously decided to do what they think is best for us and have thrown themselves off a cliff.

Kind of sad.
After many, many years only to be forced, because of Adobe's greed, to move to a different software.
I guess I will look at it as an exciting new adventure with a NEW software package.

Having downloaded Photoshop CC, I can honestly say that even if this was available as a CS7 upgrade I would be seriously underwhelmed by it. If I was upgrading it would only be to safeguard my upgrade privileges. As it is I no longer have to worry about that (relief). If this is the best Adobe can come up with after over a years development by their brightest and best then I am not surprised they are moving to a subscription model with such haste.

DEATH TO CREATIVE CLOUD!!!

As a matter of principle, I have no intention of sharing my photos over the Internet with Adobe or anyone else, no matter what the price.

Sooo, all of the sudden, impure thoughts come to mind, such as visits to places where copyright violations are the coin of the realm. Not that I would do it, of course, nor that I am advocating it -perish the thought...

I refuse the "shake down". I refuse to be taken hostage and I refuse to deal with hostage takers.

After 15 years... I'm done with Adobe.

An honest question for those of you upset with this: why not just use another product? There are plenty of imaging editors out there that will read your Photoshop files. Some of them are free and open source. Some are free and web based, although those tend not to be as powerful.

As I see it, Photoshop, like any premium product, has the right to charge what it likes, how it likes. The consumer has the right to accept or reject their value proposition. I accept it, myself, and actually prefer it, but you all have choices. Why not just choose instead of going on about how awful it all is?

http://www.gimp.org/
http://www.corel.com/corel/product/index.jsp?pid=prod4900069
http://pixlr.com/editor/
http://www.sumopaint.com/app/

Installed the trial version of photoshop CC as I was interested to know whether camera shake reduction could help salvage a few important photos that had a little too much shake. Sadly I didn't find it very helpful and therefore will be sticking with CS5 - the software I own

It's not 'cloud based'. In fact it has nothing to do with cloud storage or cloud based computing. Adobe just calls it that way for marketing reasons as it's a cool term right now.
What it really is, that you don't get a copy of your software, instead you have to buy a subscription plan to be able to use their software. They increased the price significantly (after the initial discount) and they give you no option to choose if you want to pay for a certain update or not. To use the software you will have to continue to pay from now on until the end of the days. You don't have the option to say, OK I'm happy now I will continue with what I have for the next 2 or 3 years.

All this talk about 'cloud' is nonsense, because that's not at all what Adobe is offering. It's a forced subscription plan that is very one sides and not to the end user's advantage.

I hate the cloud based concept. I will not be using it, but I do accept it is probably the way things will be in the future. What I want is for customers to have the choice. The advantage of fully cloud based editing (what Adobe is implementing at this moment is not there yet) is that high power editing can be achieved on low power machines.

Even those who continue to use their present software will not fail to see the advantage of editing and processing files when working “in the field” using something like an ipad. The ability to be working in another country, being able to upload and edit files for your client agency in London to view and approve using a device that fits in the back of your camera bag.

Those not familiar with the idea of cloud based software can get a feel for by using the online free editor at http://pixlr.com/editor/

As I've posted, I'm going to spend the money I'd normally spend on CS7 (and not for Creative Cloud now) on other stuff. First off: Nik Collection -- which is great! But I find I have to hunt around the internet for instruction. Lynda.com has some useful video.

Question: workflow. It seems clear after a day with it that the best possible workflow for these plugins is as a smart filter in a photoshop Smart Object. However, I'm trying to keep my workflow from being locked into proprietary Adobe formats, for reasons that will be obvious to many who post here.

My solution for now is to work with the smart object/smart filter, but also save it as a flattened tif.

Any Nik users? Workflow advice? Other advice for keeping a flexible workflow but not being locked into proprietary formats?

To those who say protesting doesn't work and the cloud is the future, have a look at this attempted parallel move from Microsoft and the backtracking

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2013/06/xbox-one-drm/

In addition to requiring daily authentication, it effectively tied a disc to a single console so games could not be shared freely amongst friends, resold privately, etc. Complete rethink.

As for the notion that it's just a few DPR users complaining about this, Adobe's Q2 earnings call reported sales down 10% and profit down 65%, so it's going to be very interesting over the next few quarters to see how this will play out longer term once anything exceptional that was happening in this quarter gets factored out.

Personally, I get by with Elements and LR. I aspired to owning the full blown PS, but maybe never would have actually bought it because of the large up front price. However, I will never go down the subscription route even with the supposedly low entry price.

I understand all the CC/cloud/Death to Adobe hoohaa, but ... how well does the Camera Shake Reduction feature work?

Want to hear a decent model: Adobe could go to a cloud model. They could charge an amount equal to essentially "forcing" everybody to upgrade every 18 months. Price: $10 a month. Prepay a year, $99. Give existing owners a free period of subsription based on their version: CS6=free 18 months, CS5=free 6 months. Nothing for CS4 and earlier.

Would such a model attract 2 times as many users? (or slightly more due to bandwidth, storage customer svc costs which eat into the costs). I don't know.

Oh well, not going to happen. So here's my idea: convert my raw files to TIFF, JPG or DNG in Lightroom and use CS5 for the next 5-10 years, by which time a suitable competitor will arise...likely in the freeware space.

Adobe is dead to me.

Yeah, monthly payments are great. For people who don't "get" finance. At the end of the day you have to ask "how much is the total cost". I've seen so many young people suckered into "payments" they could afford for cars and for car insurance (from low life insurance companies where the broker would finance the insurance and these kids would still sign off on the truth in lending docs where it said they were paying a 30% finance fee). Just because you can afford it doesn't make it a good deal.

Photoshop costs 240 a year now, almost a grand for 4 years. And the longer you keep it, the more expensive it gets relative to the old plan. But hey, the good news is if you just paid $600 for it you get a $120 discount on your future subscription!

Bottom line: for people used to the WELL ESTABLISHED upgrade policy of the last 20 years or whatever, this product just more than doubled in price. Food for newbies, but it's a slap in the face to those of us who were already had paid.

All of the CC apps have already been cracked. Didn't take 'em long.

Let's stop beating around the bush. This C.C. thing is one BIG B.S.

I will go against the general consensus and say that I think the subscription model might even reduce the number of pirated versions in use as it makes the initial cost of starting out using Adobe products so much more affordable when you spread the cost over time. I'm not saying it necessarily is cheaper in the long run, but it's more convenient for many, myself included.

Also, a lot of the people commenting don't seem to know anything about what the Creative Cloud is, how much it costs, and nor do they realise if and to what extent it affects them. They just seem to be against it on principle without even having defined the principle to start with. Please read up on it and understand what it is all about before commenting (as if that is ever going to happen).

I have not seen anybody articulate the reason I am unhappy, even though I feel it applies to many people.

It's not the DRM. It's not the Cloud or the internet connection. It's 2 things:

1) Price (as many have noted)...I used to get updates for 150 bucks at each release, or every other release....so 18 to 36 months apart. Now I will have to pay $360 to $720!!! At a bare minimum the price has more than doubled.

2) My investment is worth less! This is what I haven't seen written about. I spent a lot of money buying PS with the promise of getting upgrades for a reasonable fee periodically. THAT IS GONE. POOF. I save 10 bucks a month for a year. That is what I get for for my investment. Yes I can keep using the product, BUT THE TERMS HAVE COMPLETELY CHANGED. Nobody has articulated this issue. Sure this pricing is ok for new people that couldn't afford PS. But for those of us that spent hundreds on it, with the promise of upgrades in the future, have been given the screw.

Wait until the first CC outage occurs at a critical time when you need it, it may last 30min.,3hrs or longer, it will not happen often, but will they refund your money on a prorated basis for your loss of productivity time? nope.

Sometimes a company does something in the best interests of both the company and the consumer. Great when it happens. But when the company is short on new features & ideas and the product already does what people need there are two choices: do something that benefits the customer at the company's expense or do something that benefits the company at the customer's expense.

Adobe is not in business to be liked and they are banking on enough people buying whatever they offer without giving it much thought. Seeing the way people line up to be the first to give Apple their money, this strategy may work.

CS6 was my last "purchase" from Adobe (and they didn't even offer me a DVD - it was download only). It will be my last, so I'll just keep using it until one day when the Windows OS advances to the point where It won't work any longer.

I have no doubt that a subscription service works for SOME people, and for those - "hurrah". But it doesn't work for everyone, and that's why for customers who you supposedly appreciate, you offer CHOICES - and Adobe has decided to no longer appreciate a percentage of their customer base by no longer offering those choices.

Call me old school - I like to buy something and hold it. Then buy it later when I choose to upgrade. Adobe no longer wants people like me, or my money, and that's fine - Corel has already said they DO want us, so I'll be doing future business with them: http://www.corel.com/corel/pages/index.jsp?pgid=14900014

In other news, according to Investor's Business Daily: "Adobe Reprots Smooth Sailing in Transition to All Cloud Sales."

It's basically a happy-happy article quoting a number of people, including stock analysts, as saying that Adobe has beaten estimates, and most upgrades/purchases now are for CC instead of CS6, and that Adobe is on the path to beat their full-year target of 1.25 million subscribers.

Yes, "SUBSCRIBERS", not customers, not clients, not licensees, not even "users". Subscribers. Like you just bought a Sun Times newspaper subscription. How does THAT make you feel?

I've been saying all along that Adobe will be successful in this because the userbase simply is not angry enough to quit them. So far, I am right.

Meanwhile, yesterday I began a trial of Corel Aftershot Pro and I installed the -1 version of Corel Paintshop Pro X4 on a laptop. Gonna redouble my efforts to make that software work so that I don't have to genuflect to the Adobe false idols.

Freedom!

Well, after about twenty years it's the parting of the ways for me and Adobe. I won't be joining them on their "creative cloud".

Pirates: 1
Legal users: 0

Someone should send a lawsuit to Adobe for encouraging piracy.

It's been pointed out repeatedly that Photoshop is not the only option. Those who don't like Adobe's market plan should go to another option. Freedom of choice and free market always makes that possible.

I personally enjoy the Creative Cloud method; it keeps my investment into these miraculous programs at a manageable price instead of forking out a fistful of dollars when I want to upgrade or buy something new.

But getting back to looking at this as a market and funding strategy, I think Adobe probably knows very well what it needs to do to continue to bring mind-blowing magic wands and put them into Photographers hands. The useful and miraculous tools that this Corporation have created were fantasies just 15 years ago, and each release brings something new of the same caliber. $19 a month is a bargain for magic wands. And if anyone cannot find a way to earn back $19 a month given the use of magic, perhaps they don't really need Photoshop.