For the last five years I've been using Photoshop CS4 and have been quite happy with it. However, it was starting to get really slow, and then my old laptop died, so now I have a new laptop and it's time to get a new program as well. When I went on to Adobe to see how much the new version of CS was, however, to my surprise I discovered that they've switched to a system where you pay for a monthly subscription rather than paying for the whole program all at once. Am I understanding that correctly? I really don't want to do that. There are some months where I don't have time to get any scrapping done at all, and I don't want to pay for the program in those months if I'm not using it. Does anyone else on here use Photoshop Creative Cloud? Are you happy with it? Is it really so different from CS? Is there any way to buy the whole program rather than paying month-by-month? I would appreciate hearing others' experiences!
I don't subscribe, yet anyway, but you read it right. What they are selling you with the monthly membership is the opportunity to always have the latest and greatest of both PS and Lightroom always at your fingertips. Maybe not so bad when you think of it that way? It will be interesting to hear what others have to say.
getting PS through the cloud has the benefit of always having the very latest updates. instead of getting PS CS4 or CS5 and waiting for an upgrade/or not upgrading and living without the new bells and whistles, the cloud makes all the new features available with just an update. there was just a thread about a creative cloud Photog special promo ... i think it was $9.99 a month. so a really good deal... let me find it and link you to that thread...
here is the thread with a lot of good feedback ... https://the-lilypad.com/forums/showthread.php/28787-Photog-Photoshop-Promo-thru-Dec-2nd
I use CC but I have PS open all the time. Actually I use PS and LR for my photo business and PS for scrapping. It is worth it for me at $10.40 a month because I'm actually making money with it. I think given the opportunity I would by an older version of PS and stop paying by the month though. It's kind of ridiculous.
I have CC and LR5 too and really like them. Not much for having to pay monthly but I do use both of them every day and figure this solves my problems about finding the money to upgrade every year or two.
I debated about paying monthly. Even purchased Lightroom before I decided if I would, but the other day after talking to my husband...I have started to like the setup. Without the subscription model, I would not be able to buy a new version of PS every time it came out if I wanted to use the new features.
Thank you all for the feedback! I would absolutely keep using CS4 if I could, but I don't think I know where the activation key is any more. (I actually have had this problem every time my laptop has died and I have had to get a new one -- you would think I would remember to write it down somewhere!) I have the free trial version of CC right now and am going to see if I like it. Paying for a monthly subscription seems lame, but there might not be anything else I can do.
I have it. I did the math and if you always bought the new version, this was cheaper. I usually bought every other version, so maybe it wasn't, but it's definitely easier to chew this way. The clincher for me was that I switched Mac so I was going to have to buy the software anyway. Since I was already spending $$$ on the MacBook, I didn't want to have to buy all new CS, too. Of course, now if I stop the subscription I have nothing, but I suppose if it came to that, I'd just buy Elements since I'm not designing anymore and don't really NEED all this stuff. And that concludes the most useless post in this thread.
I am going to hold out on subscribing for as long as humanly possible. I am using CS5 and have been for the last almost five years. It does everything I want it to do and obviously is much cheaper for me to own software as I don't feel the need to upgrade. For me it'll cost WAY more to pay $10 a month. Especially since I bought my software with an educational discount and I only paid $299 I think. I do think it's a great deal for those who upgrade more often or want all the updates always. If you use it for a business... it's a no brainer! p.s. congrats on the new laptop!
Me too! I have CS5 and LR5. I tended to upgrade every 2-3 versions for PS, although I do upgrade LR every version. But LR is only $79 to upgrade. I don't want to pay $10 a month for the rest of my life.
Juliette- how do you organize your scrap stash within LR? Does it bog down your computer to have both running at the same time?
I have my stash in LR and it doesn't bog down to have both running at the same time, but I do close either/both whenever I'm not using them. Bridge was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay slower than LR.
As for the OP, every time I get an update to CC, I find something new to love about PS, so I've been quite happy, even though I was previously using a $15-dollar program to scrap with. It's all in what you want, I guess. If you don't need all the bells and whistles, PSE is still a one-time purchase rather than subscription.
If I log into my Adobe account and go to the products and services area, all of my Adobe products are listed there. I can click the triangle next to any of them and it shows me the serial number (which is what you need to activate). Hope that helps!
