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Major Pricing Change for Adobe Upgrades Coming


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<p>Let me confirm this so I understand it.</p>

<p>There is no Photoshop CS5.5. There's only Photoshop CS5 which means I can order it on Amazon instead of on Adobe's site which seems to have trouble picking which version of my address is the shipping and billing which are the same with only a minor difference in abbreviated street name.</p>

<p>I go to Amazon and it's click, click...done!</p>

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<h3><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Photoshop">From Wikipedia.</a></h3>

<blockquote>

<h3>CS5</h3>

<p>Photoshop CS5 was launched on April 12, 2010. In a video posted on its official Facebook page, the development team revealed the new technologies under development, including three dimensional brushes and warping tools.<br /> In May 2011, Adobe Creative Suites 5.5 (CS5.5) were released which have new versions of some of the applications. However, the Photoshop that comes with them which is labeled version 12.1 is identical to the concurrently released update for Photoshop CS5, version 12.0.4, except for support for the new subscription pricing that was introduced with CS5.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I have CS 5 (PS version 12.0.4 x64 ), I am running RAW 6.6 that was released 4 days ago.</p>

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<p>Worse than this pricing structure is the software.</p>

<p>Even though I have CS5, I normally use CS4 simply because I know where things are and how they perform. And CS5 despite the marketing, doesn't provide me with much in the way of new tools that I can use.</p>

<p>Then there's the issue of Bridge CS4, CS5 and CS5.5. They are all quite apparently the same, but are versioned differently, and thus use separate image caches.</p>

 

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<p>I certainly am sympathetic to those that don't want to grab each upgrade as they are released. Yes, LR does the lion's share of the editing nowadays, but not all. The issue, as I see it, is that we don't know what will be included in yet to be released versions of PS, much less if we will have a want/need for it. </p>
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<blockquote>

<p>The future for Photoshop users would seem to be: Buy Photoshop for $600, pay $180+? each year going forward, forever.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Forever?! Nah, not for me. Or maybe just until I finish keywording all 1000 or so of my Raw images. Talk about drudge! Ugh!</p>

<p>Adobe still doesn't provide an easy and fast way to do this on an image by image basis for those whose images require individually specific visual descriptions instead of keywording according to event, date and time.</p>

<p>I've got about half done in a month. Now watch with this upgrade I lose all my keywording embedded in the xmp file. That's another PITA where now when I do a search using the keyword in Mac OS, only the xmp files show up and not the associated images. </p>

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<p>I see CS5 upgrade for Mac @ $153.00 & $159.20 for Windows at MacMall. No shipping charge. Does not look like there is any tax either. Wanting to confirm that this is the same version as Amazon and elsewhere? I have never used MacMall. Are they a good company? http://www.macmall.com/s?rch&q=cs5%20upgrade&removedLicenseFilter=true&includeImage=true</p>
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<p>My CAD program gives me the option of a classic interface so I don't need to re-learn the way I have done things for years. Is there an option in CS5 to customize the interface to resemble CS2? I have used my father's CS5 and it really is a PITA, but there are some new capabilities that would be nice.</p>
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<p>I'm a "serious amateur" photographer, I make occasional sales but I'd starve if I had to live off the proceeds. I don't use Lightroom. I've bought upgraded each Photoshop upgrade since going from PS5. I didn't do it because I really wanted many of the new features, I did it because I didn't want to let a couple upgrades go by, then have Adobe come up with a killer feature in a new upgrade that I wanted and then have to learn the previous two or three upgrades at once. It's been worth $190 to me to do that. I doubt that it will be worth significantly more, especially if the upgrades are aimed mostly at graphic artist types. I could live happily with CS5 forever more or less.</p>

<p> </p>

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<p>Lots of opinions, and I'm like those who say, "I don't see a problem." It's their decision and they're tired of offering discounts to people who don't buy their products beyond the older versions. If you don't like the new policy don't buy their products. All of Adobe Creative Suite and standalone products CS3 and later are still useable on Mac's with Lion (OS-X 10.7.2) so they've done a good job designing backward compatibility into them. </p>
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There's also Adobe's other longstanding whip, Camera Raw. If you like to shoot raw and you want to buy a new camera, you'll have to add the cost of an upgrade to the latest version of Photoshop. Your old version might not support the new camera. Yes, Adobe magnanimously provides the alternative of a free DNG converter that's upgraded along with Camera Raw. It adds an extra step to the workflow, and locks you in to Adobe's proprietary DNG format. But if a Photoshop upgrade costs $700, those drawbacks might become irrelevant.

 

I wonder if Adobe will do something about that loophole.

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<p>Dan,</p>

<p>I'm glad somebody else pointed that out too. DNG is an entirely open format. Besides, all cameras ship with free RAW convertors. And Lightroom is as cheap as one CS upgrade, or two PS upgrades, even if you can't wait for one of the regular special offers like are on now for Lightroom.</p>

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<p><strong>John Wheeler-</strong> Thanks again for starting this thread. I decided to bite the bullet and order CS5 after reading your info. I was going to order tonight from Amazon. They currently have it for $153.00 and free shipping. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_9_3?url=search-alias%3Dsoftware&field-keywords=cs5+upgrade&sprefix=cs5<br>

But then I noticed Amazon and MacMall ads talking about <strong>Black Friday</strong> coming soon. Amazon claims they have a sale in 2 days. http://www.amazon.com/Black-Friday-After-Thanksgiving-Sale/b?ie=UTF8&node=384082011<br>

Does anyone know if prices usually go down on software during Black Friday (particularly CS5)? (I probably should of started a separate thread on Black Friday) I called MacMall and asked them. They said the sale will start after Thanksgiving and said that software was included last year, but could/would not tell me if CS5 was included. I will certainly wait a week if there is a chance for a discount and as long as the new Adobe price changes are not kicking in.</p>

<p> </p>

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<p>Well I know for sure of one spectacular thing that will be in CS6 if you upgrade.................... the ability to upgrade to CS7 at a lower cost than full price which is what you will pay if you stick with CS5 and then upgrade to CS7 :).

 

Sorry, just practicing for a marketing job at Adobe :D And kudos to those that are sending their customer feedback directly to Adobe.

 

Adobe certainly is making a strategic move with this pricing change. They are doing their best to pave a smoother path for those of previous revisions to upgrade to CS5 at a discounted price now. Whether this is overall a good strategic move for Adobe only time will tell. What I do know is based on this forum and discussions on about 5 other forums and personal contacts, (and what Adobe may not have intended) "is" that Adobe's move has triggered many small businesses to do some strategic rethinking on their Adobe investments. Alternative software may not be good enough for many of Adobe's customers. These customers are not just looking at alternatives. They are also looking at scaling back on the number of "seats" (licenses purchased) and purchasing fewer suites and just getting individual products where needed. Actually, for cost efficiency, these measures probably should have been done anyways. Adobe's move just brought it to a head. Adobe's new strategy may also create a vacuum for some customers that don't come along for the ride. Nature (and business) abhors a vacuum. If the vacuum is large enough it will motivate ways to fill the hole. We shall see.</p>

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<p>Scott Kelby of NAPP just came out in support it NAPP's 70,000 members and against the new Adobe pricing policies (link included below to his open letter). That spurred me to send an email off to our own Josh Root of Photo.net to see if we can get similar support from him. I will keep my fingers crossed. Here is that email I just sent off to Josh<br>

-------------<br>

HI Josh<br /><br />If you were not aware, Adobe has recently announced a new pricing strategy for upgrades to CS6 that will have quite a negative impact for a fair number of the members on Photo.net that use Photoshop. The basics are that if you now want a discount on an upgrade to CS6 or future versions, you must be on the last version. e.g. CS5 to upgrade to CS6 etc). For many years, Adobe has allowed low cost upgrades for 3 versions back. This is a sudden change in the last couple months in the lifetime of CS5 required those on prior version to immediately upgrade to have a low cost path to upgrade to CS6. Business is business yet this is probably a lose lose for Adobe and its customers with many users freezing on older versions. Here are the details in the Adobe blog: http://blogs.adobe.com/conversations/2011/11/adobe-creative-cloud-and-adobe-creative-suite-new-choices-for-customers.html?PID=2159997<br /><br />There are threads on this topic in many forums including in Photo.nets digital darkroom that I started a few days ago. There is a groundswell of concern (and sometimes anger) with Adobe. Scott Kelby of NAPP just came out in support of its members with an Open Letter to Adobe for NAPPs 70,000 members: http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/2011/archives/22903 Other owners/leaders of other forums are considering the same action.<br /><br />I am requesting that if you are not familiar with this issue that you read the links and threads. I am also requesting that as a representative of Photo.net members that use Photoshop, that you come out in open support of your members with some open message to Adobe.<br /><br />I will post this email in the present Digital Darkroom thread.<br /><br />Thanks in advance for your consideration.<br /><br />John Wheeler</p>

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<p>Amazon currently has the Photoshop CS 5 upgrade for Mac for $139.30 w/free Super Saver shipping. I just bought my copy. That's 30% off, and while they might offer it at a better price on Friday, my experience with Amazon tells me to strike while the iron is hot. Too many times I've seen those low prices go away and not return for a long spell, if ever. HTH</p>
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