For the WH photographers

[Stretch]

For all you shutterbugs, interesting news out of the Adobe camp this week. A new version of Photoshop that has some amazing new features is set for release, but don't expect to buy a physical copy of it in a store or online. Adobe is going to the Creative Cloud platform and will be charging $49 a month for the software! Not sure what the UK fee will be, but having to get the software and all updates through Creative Cloud will not be cheap. Not sure about "other" means of obtaining the software, but I'd say this will also dampen a pirate's spirits. Guess it's CS6 for me for a while.

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/05/06/adobe-launches-new-creative-cloud-only-apps-and-services-photoshop-cc-indesign-cc-illustrator-cc-dreamweaver-cc-and-more/

[Fudgie]

Thats not cheap at all. CS5 does me just fine at the moment and I see no reason to change that.

[Michael Thomson]

Well single product on CC is 9.99 a month which ain't that bad.
To be fair, with the addition of the content aware brush in LR5, I can see my need to drop into photoshop dwindling away to nothing.

[HighlandSC]

I don't do much with photo editing. What I do do is done fine with a 12 year old
Version of photoshop.

I read about this big change by adobe. It's making headline news in the industry. My question is- what more does the average dslr photographer need from adobe other than photoshop?

[tenohfive]

Lightroom won't be affected by this which is good as having tinkered with the LR5 Beta I'll definitely be making the switch from Elements for most of what I do.

I can't justify the cost of CS6 or any equivalent replacement but I know plenty of (more serious/semi pro) photographers that do and the overwhelming feeling is against switching to subscription. Ultimately newer versions won't ever totally re-invent themselves or give you a result you couldn't get with older versions, but they will almost certainly allow you to do things more quickly and easily.

And who knows - this could lead to a bit of competition as other software in the same area take a chunk of Adobes customer base. And competition is rarely bad for the consumer.

[HighlandSC]

The Article I read about this mentioned that there will effectively no longer be new "versions" released, instead any new features will be upgraded into the software as they become available. That sounds like an improvement. The flip side being the more expensive subscription model.

But I can't fault adobe. They aren't making any money off me and my 12 year old photoshop. I guess it's game over for the traditional business model.

[Stretch]

I use Elements often and will probably get by with it and CS6 for a while. But the new upgrades to Photoshop are pretty impressive, especially where image correction is concerned. The only way to get these in the future will be through Creative Cloud. Fair play to Adobe for trying this, but I think they will do more harm than good for their business.

[HighlandSC]

The new Microsoft Office has switched to a subscription model.

I read that Adobe didn't take the decision lightly and did their homework. With >500,000 subscribers to their cloud they decided now was the time to make the move.

We're a longer way off here, but the subscription model is often talked about for video games too.

Looks like its here for software, at least for the big guns. Will smaller companies follow suit?

[tenohfive]

Looks like its here for software, at least for the big guns. Will smaller companies follow suit?

I think in the interim the smaller companies will jump on the users that don't want to pay a subscription. Long term, who knows, but I really hope they don't. I don't want an endless list of small monthly chunks being taken out of my wages - I want to pay for something when I can afford it whilst knowing it's mine to keep.

[HighlandSC]

The other way to look at it is that it may make otherwise very expensive software more affordable for those on a tight budget.

[neilwood]

The new Microsoft Office has switched to a subscription model.

I read that Adobe didn't take the decision lightly and did their homework. With >500,000 subscribers to their cloud they decided now was the time to make the move.

We're a longer way off here, but the subscription model is often talked about for video games too.

Looks like its here for software, at least for the big guns. Will smaller companies follow suit?

And a lot of the subscription games are losing subscribers at a huge rate - WOW for example lost 14% between Jan and march IIRC.

Was thinking about CS6 upgrade from CS4 but guess it will be Elements or Paint.net (with a RAW converter) now.

[Stretch]

You can still get CS6 and I like the new functions it has. It's Photoshop CC, which would be CS7, that will be offered though the cloud.

[tenohfive]

The other way to look at it is that it may make otherwise very expensive software more affordable for those on a tight budget.

That depends on how long those on a tight budget intend to use it for.

Which model has you paying more over 12 years of use for example?

[johnkaysleftleg]

Elements does just about all I want to be honest, combined with Scott Kelby's excellent guide it provides great value. In all honesty just about all my processing of images is done in Adobe Camera RAW which is part of Elements so the bigger more powerful versions don't interest me much.

[Paul Webster]

I just use Lightroom for processsing photos.

GIMP is adequate for the very small amount of more complex image work we do, though I don't use it for photos any more.