Now that Adobe is taking its apps to online only...

What are people doing about processing. I'm in two minds about what to do, but buying a subscription from Adobe is way beyond my tiny purse's capacity...

1) Stay with PS5.1 which I have been using for what seems like forever
2) go with a freebie like The Gimp
3) Get Elements 11 which I see is not going to be subscription
4) Use a Mac alternative like Pixelmator (already bought, havent been able to make the switch yet) or Acorn (serious contender and only $30)
5) Use something like Picasa and access editing in the Nik programs from there....

Oh. That was 5 minds.

What, if anything, are others intending to do?
 

Sorry, I've never yet seen any of these online petitions do anything more than make the people signing them think something will change. I don't much care anymore... the subscription model is here to stay. Its going to make Adobe lots of money, and its going to address the piracy issues. They will not change.

The question is: what are you going to do that will work for you... that is... whats next for image processing?
 
I use Lightroom, which is also going to stay in the old model. It also organizes all my photos and I personally love it. Most of what Photoshop does I don't need, and most of what I need, Lightroom does. So for me nothing changes.

Truth be told: I don't like Photoshop. Way too complicated and it always felt like it was getting in the way of my workflow in a way Lightroom doesn't. To create a sort of metaphor: I would work Photoshop, but I play Lightroom. I much prefer playing to working, lol.
 
Occasionally there is such a hue and cry that companies back down, not often, but enough to give it a shot.

Did you download the CS2 freebie a while back? I was able to upgrade from PS 7 to CS2, and it looks like my next step will be CS5 or 6. To explain it in film terms, I use Lightroom to develope the negative and Photoshop to make the print. It's a workflow that suits me and I'd hate to give it up. But I am not going to lease software on a monthly basis. The whole point of purchasing something outright is that you don't then have to keep making payments on it. Rent, utilities, auto payments and insurance, credit cards. There's enough to do on a monthly basis. I refuse to add my software to that already burdensome mix.
 
I use Lightroom, which is also going to stay in the old model.
I didn't realise this. I thought it was going the way of the creative suite. This is good, for many. I haven't switched. Or rather, I did and switched back: I've come to really like Photostream on the mac/ios devices/icloud and for that, iPhoto and/or Aperture are the real options. I should probably try (again) to like Aperture and give up iPhoto entirely. I can probably live without Photoshop but I also really like the look of Acorn... on top of which I also downloaded today, an app called Fotor which seems very very powerful [edit] but doesnt do RAW at all.. for a freebie. These are all Mac of course. I think if I was a PC, I would probably revert unashamedly to Paintshop Pro which was, is and shall be the best alternative (IMO) to photoshop. I would still be using it if I had not switched.
 
I wouldn't rely on LR staying with the current licensing model, I'd expect LR will go the same way in time.

(I did see a link somewhere to a statement somewhere by someone that Adobe had already said this would be what would happen in time, but "it's the internet" so it could simply have been one more bit of misinformation)


However, I'll go by business logic: Why would they create a brand new model for most of their product line and retain a different one for LR?
 
Funny you should mention this, as I have just had/having very poor service from Adobe;

as follows:

I purchased an upgrade, (by download), to Lightroom 5, (yes LR5 - the sales lady said that is was now available), last week. I received an email acknowledging the order which said it was available in my downloads and on my orders page plus it said I should contact customer services to get the key. Nothing ........ no dowload when I clicked the link, so I contacted Customer Services by phone ...... they said it would be 2 hours ......... that was a few days ago .......... they sent me an email acknowledging my telephone enquiry ....... I have messaged them 5 times in the last three days asking where the download was and can I have the key .......... just no reply ....... even though it say that the turnaround time is 4 hours ........ just hopeless service and I am spending almost as much money on telephone calls as the upgrade costs.

I did ask three times if LR5 was now available to purchase and the answer was yes

Of course Customer Service are now closed over the weekend ....... frustrating and hopeless

Update after finding another way to contact the Customer Services department in India this morning:

"We are working on this.

LR 5 is not available for purchase as of now.
Its still in Beta phase.

I am getting this order checked by the concerned team"

My reply

Thank you.
I did quizz your sales person three times to ask if LR_5 was now out of beta and available as I was suprised when she said that it was
This is annoying as the only reason I wanted to upgrade from LR 3.6 is that I have purchased a new Nikon DX body, the D7100, and I found that LR 3.6 will not accept the NEF files from the D7100.
So I downloaded the beta version of LR_5 and found that it will only run on OS X Lion 7.6 and above ........ so I purchased that and upgraded my OS X operating system only then to find that my Windows Virtual did not run on the new OS X so I had to upgrade Parallel.
Spend loads of time and money on the upgrades.

Why did I not get the correct answer from Customer Services when I first called them ............ I did ask for an upgrade to LR_4 when I first spoke to Sales ....... had I got this I would not have had to go through hours of upgrading my Mac OS X plus spending £100 on new virtual windows software.

I am still no better off

You guys at Adobe are supposed to know what you are doing - it seems that Sales and (in particular) Customer Srvices do not

I am really frustrated and dissappointed ............ all my previous experiences with Adobe have been good - (I last upgraded 2 years ago)

I'm waiting for them to come back to me
 
I wouldn't rely on LR staying with the current licensing model, I'd expect LR will go the same way in time.

(I did see a link somewhere to a statement somewhere by someone that Adobe had already said this would be what would happen in time, but "it's the internet" so it could simply have been one more bit of misinformation)


However, I'll go by business logic: Why would they create a brand new model for most of their product line and retain a different one for LR?

Some ramblings from me

LR is a different product and I think Adobe realise that it serves hobbyist photographers as their primary tool and 'maybe' is the gateway into other Adobe products for some. Adobe also dropped the price for LR a year or so ago to make it more accessible to everyone so for now LR is safe, and I hope they continue to see it as a consumer app.
Hopefully Adobe will keep it that way, after all they have managed to keep Elements and Photoshop going as separate entities for ages now.
I am against this move by them, but understand why they do it - PS is the most pirated bit of software out there, I hate to think how much money this has cost them, partly their own fault as the price of CS6 is beyond the reach of most, so they have no option but to pirate it. Im saying this as a pirate who has never bought a copy of creative suite and have managed to 'own' everyone of them
In mitigation, Im a fully signed up member of Adobe CC, I joined when it was announced, as it means I can have what I need at a monthly price I can afford - if they had allowed monthly payments for previous versions Id have done that as well - give the customer access to the product at a price they can afford and you will get people buying it.
A couple of options are there
do you know a student or teacher? They can get a very good discount subscription or same for CS6, and it is a good discount..
Install LR4 on a trial basis and then when the trial is over uninstall it - Adobe will bombard you with offers for their products which get better with each offer until you crack. That worked for me, I got a CC subscription for $15 a month for the first year
 
i'm betting the price drop for LR wasn't out of the goodness of their hearts but to prepare the way for subscription pricing.
 
A quote from the usually very well informed Luminous Landscape:
Adobe has committed itself and most of its products to the Cloud. Lightroom, though part of the Cloud, and rentable, will also remain available as a purchasable product. Elements will remain only a purchasable product.
source: Adobe CC
 
A quote from the usually very well informed Luminous Landscape:

source: Adobe CC



But not a direct quote from Adobe themselves, rather a statement by a 3rd party (however generally trustworthy)

I'm a LR user, I don't want it to go subscription, and I dislike the cloud model.

But if I were a software house (and I had a good career working in software houses and systems integrators in my time), I wouldn't go the trouble or expense of maintaining two separate licensing models, plus the expense of maintaining separate code bases ... I'd try insofar as I could to streamline my operation.

"committed" and "remain" are flexible words when it comes to s/w manufacturers.

I'd be asking "remain committed for how long"?

If LR doesn't go into the cloud & subscription in the next couple of years, I'd guess you can expect version 5 will be the last and it will be allowed to die and fade away.

my bet remains on it going into cloud/subscription in due course, however
 
Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, et al were working on "cloud" models more than a decade ago. It's hostageware, really.

In the event that I cannot continue to use a Windows-based system & software with near-complete autonomy, I'll switch to Linux.
 
The Lightroom and Nik plug-ins is what I'll continue to use in addition to the other smattering of softwares and websites I use for processing. Also, my old copy of Elements is all I ever need for photo stitching and composites.

I really think they are just trying to get professionals to pay for the product and keep amateurs from stealing it. My guess is that they will keep Elements (and Lightroom) as stand-alone programs that they will sell for lower prices to satisfy the amateurs and hobbyists.
 
I think that the cloud idea is brilliant actually, there won't be expensive yearly updates, the software will be revised continually which means you won't have to buy the latest version because your camera isn't supported. I had Photoshop Elements 2 when it came out... all the way until last year when I bought 10. That long. And with 11 I am already behind the times. I understand that photographers and creative professionals need these kinds of processing tools and that something like Elements or Lightroom [I have 3, yep, 4 came out just after..] may not be enough but the majority of us can get by with the consumer models. As Sue said there are also free options available for those who don't want to pay for anything. Creative Cloud? It won't happen. At least not for me and I do have a couple students which Martin pointed out is an excellent way to get a discount. I just don't see as a hobbyist that I need that kind of power. Kinda like I don't need a 2500$ lens to do what a 700$ one will do fairly enough. If I was making a living of it then it would be an entirely different story, and corporate paid or a tax deduction.
 
^ the thing is that the yearly subscription costs more than buying an all-new version once every year and a half would cost - and you don't have the choice to skip a generation or 2 if they don't offer enough improvement for you.
 
IIRC, Adobe brought LR out after Apple introduced Aperture. Apple lowered the price of Aperture, and Adobe eventually lowered the price of LR. Without Aperture, I'd bet we would still be in a PS-only world. Without a PS competitor with scale, I don't see Adobe changing from the CC model.
 
I think that the cloud idea is brilliant actually, there won't be expensive yearly updates, the software will be revised continually which means you won't have to buy the latest version because your camera isn't supported. I had Photoshop Elements 2 when it came out... all the way until last year when I bought 10. That long. And with 11 I am already behind the times. I understand that photographers and creative professionals need these kinds of processing tools and that something like Elements or Lightroom [I have 3, yep, 4 came out just after..] may not be enough but the majority of us can get by with the consumer models. As Sue said there are also free options available for those who don't want to pay for anything. Creative Cloud? It won't happen. At least not for me and I do have a couple students which Martin pointed out is an excellent way to get a discount. I just don't see as a hobbyist that I need that kind of power. Kinda like I don't need a 2500$ lens to do what a 700$ one will do fairly enough. If I was making a living of it then it would be an entirely different story, and corporate paid or a tax deduction.

For me, it has nothing to do with price. Why should I have to have my software run thru Adobe's servers? If I'm a pro, why should I have to risk my livelihood to the possibility - likely, inevitability - that there will be either a technical glitch or a deliberate, malicious attack that comes downstream from Adobe to my computer? What happens when there's a billing error? What happens, because Adobe is known for poor customer support?

It's a slippery slope, and once folks allow a little, the corporations take a lot.
 
Back
Top