Photoshop Alternatives?

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<p>The CC suite is all new.</p>

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<p>No, it's not. For most of us, it includes the software we are already using, plus a lot of other software we have no interest in using, much of which is irrelevant to photography. Check out the <a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/creativecloud/photography.html">photography tab</a> on their description. This new arrangement simply forces us to continue paying them, regardless of whether we want new features introduced in an upgrade. It also reduces their incentive to upgrade, since they have only weak competition and will no longer have to introduce improvements to encourage us to fork over additional money.</p>

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<p>No, it's not. For most of us, it includes the software we are already using</p>

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<p><strong>Your wrong!</strong> Photoshop CC is what you'd like to call CS7, it's new and has new features and additional features will appear as part of the subscription:<br>

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/05/06/powerful-new-adobe-photoshop-cc-debuts-at-max/<br>

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/creative-cloud-for-design/terry-whites-top-5-features-in-adobe-photoshop-cc/</p>

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<p>Photoshop CC is what you'd like to call CS7,</p>

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<p>Right. It's a (minor, IMHO) upgrade--not "totally new"</p>

 

 

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<p>Right. It's a (minor, IMHO) upgrade--not "totally new"</p>

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Wrong again, it's a NEW version. It has NEW features and other features will be added on a regular basis. It isn't a dot release with just bug fixes. It's CS7 with a different label. But you don't call it CS7, it's CC. The facts are the facts, <strong>it's a new version with a new serial number and new features.</strong> You may not like em, you don't have to upgrade. But saying:You are forced to use CC its not new is just flat out WRONG.

 

 

<p>So if I have CS5 what is it going to cost me per month to have the brand new CC software? And what happens when I go over the 2 gig limit on cloud? And is there a tax and handling fee added to the monthly statement like with a cell phone bill?</p>

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<p>David Manzi:<br /> One thing that really bothers me about this scheme is that Adobe can increase the price at any time and you're stuck with it</p>

<p>Andrew Rodney's reply:<br /> That's been true since the first day they started selling software! Nothing has stopped them from raising the price of either a new version sold or an upgrade.</p>

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<p>That's not what David means. David is saying that, under the old model, you purchased a version of Photoshop and could choose whether to upgrade if Adobe raised its prices. If you chose not to upgrade, your old version remained usable.<br>

<br /> With the subscription model, if Adobe puts the price up your only choices are to pay the new monthly price or to immediately stop using the software. This is a big step backwards for Photoshop users and David is quite right to point this out.</p>

<p>Moreover, the Photoshop-only subscription price is more than twice as expensive as the old price for upgrades (assuming that you already have a copy of Photoshop and that you upgraded every 18 months).</p>

<p>I plan to stick with my existing version of Photoshop for as long as I can, then seek an alternative. I have no plans to switch to the subscription-gouging model.</p>

<p>I'd urge everyone to read Thom Hogan's article about this issue that he posted today.... "Don't Say I Didn't Warn You" http://www.bythom.com/</p>

See Scott Kelby's website for knowledgeable answers to many questions. Notice I said knowledgeable, not

necessarily comforting answers:

 

scottkelby.com

<p>Gerry, that's exactly what I meant. I purchased CS6 and that was the end of it. I can use it forever and the cost remains at the purchase price. Also, under the new model I'm being charged for "cloud" services I truly don't want!</p>

<p>I'm hoping Adobe comes to their senses when they see the backlash against this.</p>

<p>Simple:<br>

If you like Adobe's cloudy thing for a monthly fee for the rest of your life, sign up.<br>

If you Like and use Lightroom, don't be surprised if this goes subscription only in the future, too.<br>

Personally, I'm going shopping.</p>

<p>I have spoken with an Adobe rep and the new Lightroom 5 will only be available in Cloud. I will buy the version 4 seeing I don't own it. I have CS5 and will buy the student DVD package of CS6 seeing I have a son in college. The upgrade from Adobe for CS6 is no longer available</p>

<p>This is pure arrogance on the part of Adobe. This is going to backfire in their faces. I honestly don't think they know how many of their sales go to amateurs as opposed to professionals. I am certainly not going to go to the cloud version. Not a chance in hell. Thom Hogan has slammed them. Not a single one of us, professional or amateur has called this a good idea. Anyone contemplating buying CS6 in the box ought to have their head examined. Support for it will be over way too soon. Maybe it is like a twinkie. A good investment until Adobe comes crawling back with their tails between their legs. But they know what they are doing. <br>

So the student version of this program is $19.95 a month. Even that is a lot of money for a student. </p>

<p>Adobe has positioned itself</p>

<p> At $50.00 per month it makes the Paintshop-pro X5 program at $59.95 a no brainer. The folks at Corel have to all be at the bar. Adobe just made them rich. I have the Paintshop program and like some of its features better than CS6. It supports my 64 bit OS and opens in two or three seconds. If I deleted photoshop tomorrow it would have zero effect on my productivity, quality of my work or ability to serve my customers. </p>

<p>We saw what happened to some whiz-kid CEO in the J.C. Penny debacle. So who is taking bets. The Adobe site says they will be selling CS6 "indefinitely". Sound like they are covering their bets? It does to me. So they are rolling the bones. We'll see how good they are a gambling.</p>

Finally bought a new computer and learning and getting to like Lightroom 4. So how long until they no

longer support version 4? There will be a time to come when it will no longer work with newer operating

systems and then will I be forced to "rent" my software or change to a different program?

<p>We will all have to decide for ourselves what is the best way forward. It may be a time where we don't upgrade our OS and software as much as we did in the past. A lot of the new innovations with software has leveled off in the computer world. Sure you can do things with cell phones and apts, but for the photography end of things you have to settle on a useable work flow and just go out and take pictures. In my forty years of darkroom work I upgraded when there was a real big change in equipment or film. Most of the time I just worked with the tools and materials I had for many years. I think we are all tired of the never ending upgrading of the computer world. It may be that Adobe knows it can't come out with big changes anymore to their software and this is a way to keep a steady stream of revenue coming in. <a href="http://johndoddato.blogspot.com/">http://johndoddato.blogspot.com/</a></p>

<p>I have Adobe Elements 8 and Elements Premiere 8. How can I upgrade to Elements 11 and Premiere 11? Can I get a disk? I don't want to just download. Is there a reduced price for upgrade? Will these still work once Adobe goes cloud?</p>

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<p>We saw what happened to some whiz-kid CEO in the J.C. Penny debacle.</p>

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<p><br />Ron Johnson is hardly a "whiz-kid." He was VP of Operations at Target for many years. He ran the Apple stores for almost ten years. He was around 50 when he took the job at JCP. He just thought that the Apple experience would translate to JCP, very different scenario than where Adobe is now.</p>

<p>Just picking up on some incorrect statements...</p>

<p>When you "buy" a piece of software, you don't own it. You are actually buying a limited license to use it that can be cancelled at any time. The only difference between those who got the cd or downloaded CS and paid their $$ to use it, and those who are paying a monthly $ fee is the payment method. You also get upgrades in the future in the fee.</p>

<p>Some may also not know is that when you fire up PS under Windows 8, the code for PS reports and confirms the legality of your license. For those who have been using unlicensed versions, time is counting down to get your license in order, otherwise you risk Adobe sending a little background message to switch PS off. You get 21 days. Its just happened to a couple of work colleagues.</p>

<p>I'm troubled by Adobe's plans.</p>

<p><br /> Pricing is very different, it seems they have no qualms about discontinuing a product, I wonder about being locked into a proprietary file format and a subscription model where they can raise prices and hold images hostage, and I wonder what happens if any of us are traveling and are offline for a period of time. Will the product stop working if someone is offline for a while?</p>

<p><br /> At any rate, this really lowers my trust of Adobe and I agree that considering alternatives now is a good idea.</p>

<p><br /> I just recently purchased Cs6 and if I remember correctly, I have a 30 day return window. Do you think it makes sense to return it now to spend the money on an alternative?</p>

<p>I have to have Creative Suite 5.5 for professional use (mainly InDesign). Before I got this, I used Photoshop 4.0 upgraded to 5.0 on every machine on which it would run - when it wouldn't any more, I got Elements. Many of my friends have for years been using Photoshop LE in various guises which I got free with scanners, printers etc. and gave away to them.<br>

For general home use, as several others have said, you can't beat Corel. I will never never never use any cloud application - to me this just stands for an excuse to charge more money for software, with the risk that a server may go off-line just when I need it, suppliers may go bust, etc. Of all the stupid ideas associated with computers, cloud computing is the most stupid of all (although Windows 8 comes a close second - I read today there will be an "update" soon which will revert the more annoying features of Windows 8 to Windows 7).</p>

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<p> I wonder about being locked into a proprietary file format and a subscription model where they can raise prices and hold images hostage</p>

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<p>What proprietary file format are you referring to? </p>

<p><em>What proprietary file format are you referring to?</em><br>

I presume .PSD. Answer is easy - forget .PSD when you have finished editing and save as .TIF (plus a little .JPG for web posting, e-mailing, etc.).</p>

<p>Except for Duotone support, there is zero reason to save a PSD instead of a TIFF. BOTH are owned and controlled by Adobe. One's open, one's proprietary. </p>

<p>If any of you are curious, DP Review published a "interview" with an Adobe exec where they lobbed a few softball questions his way. The answers point to an arrogance and total disregard for the amateur market. Read this quote of his:</p>

<p>"We expected a higher degree of this type of reaction from the hobbyist photographic community because currently there's not a lot of photography-specific value in our subscription products."</p>

<p>In other words, we can all drop dead. Great move, Adobe! Way to sell us on the idea!</p>

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<p>In other words, we can all drop dead. Great move, Adobe! Way to sell us on the idea!</p>

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<p>Adobe is under no obligation to sell us on it - the company owes us precisely nothing.</p>

<p>This is clearly something that Adobe believes is <em>a good business move </em>and - let's face it - they know their business better than we do. If you don't like it, the solution is to vote with your wallet - <em>if</em> you can find an alternative that ticks all the boxes.</p>

<p>Me, I'll keep using Lr for as long as its available as a stand-alone, and will continue to use CS5 for my pixel editing, <em>exactly as I do now</em>. And if/when Lr goes cloudy, I'll use DxO Optics Pro and/or Photo Ninja, <em>exactly as I do now</em>.</p>

<p>This change of direction by Adobe is only a problem <em>if you let it be a problem.</em></p>

<p>I wonder how much control Adobe has on the old stand alone products like CS5 and CS6 that are outside of the new CC. They have said they will not upgrade anything outside of the CC platform. Do you think it is possible to do software (DVD) swap's with other people to upgrade say from CS3 to CS6? Just a thought<br>

johndoddato.blogspot.com</p>