Adobe diverging Creative Cloud and Standard versions

[kencameron]

One final thought. Note that Adobe has NOT made Lightroom subscription only. Can you guess why? I'll give you at least three big reasons: Apple Aperture, Capture One and DxO Optics. All very credible alternatives. I'm glad I work with the later two. Maybe I need to hone my skills better with those for the future.
Nemo  

Agreed. I don't share the widespread belief that LR6 will be cloud only, not because I particularly love or trust Adobe, but because there is real competition which would welcome the resulting flood of Adobe deserters with open cash registers. The belief it will be cloud only seems largely to be based on the fact that Adobe says it won't. This is some kind of evidence, I grant you, but I think self-interest will trump any natural desire to upset their users.

[Janne Aavasalo]

For anyone who want s a great Illustrator alternate, try Canvas. Ten times better a program, easier to use. Illustrator is simply a backup to that for me.

Hey Nemo,

A bit OT, but is this the software you are recommending here?

That's the only Canvas-named program that does vector graphics, but I'm still not sure about it, so if you could clarify, thanks.

[nemophoto]

Yup, that's that's program. I've actually been a Canvas user since about version 5 or so. I bought originally in frustration with, you name it, Adobe and Illustrator. For the longest time, Illustrator was stuck at version 4 or 4.5 -- something like that -- so I said screw it, and bought it. While it's strong suite is vector graphics for technical drawings, etc., it will also handle bitmaps images. (Granted, not as elegant as Photoshop in that respect, but I like it so much more than Illustrator.) Most recently, I used it to create a scaled rendering of a gallery display of some of my images for a client. He wanted to see size relationships, etc., as well as use as a setup guide for the gallery, since he planned on having it travel. Easiest program in the world to use for that program -- much more so than Illustrator or Photoshop.

Hey Nemo,

A bit OT, but is this the software you are recommending here?

That's the only Canvas-named program that does vector graphics, but I'm still not sure about it, so if you could clarify, thanks.

[rasterdogs]

No connection to Adobe Systems Incorporated.
No personal crusade.

Like someone said in one of these discussion threads - there's enough not to like about the Adobe announcement without endlessly repeating misunderstandings, misinformation and cynical speculation.

Ya sure, but customers are prone to do such things.
One can dig through Adobe marketing/sales collateral and come up with all kinds of objective statements that 'correct' all the misunderstanding et al. That does little or nothing to ameliorate the negativity that Adobe has created among a cross section of their customers.

[Isaac]

As my grandmother often said 50 years ago -- "there's nowt so queer as folk".

Take a deep breath. Separate the facts from the speculation. Figure out what's best for you. ;-)

[Schewe]

Schewe, a few questions if you don't mind. Am I right in thinking that ACR 8 will be released next month? Are you saying that once released more updates to ACR 8 will become available over time to those with CS6 and these will continue until ACR 9 comes along?

ACR 8 will ship when Photoshop CC ships...ACR 8.x will also run in Photoshop CS6 but without the CC features like Upright, Radial Adjustments and non-circular healing. But, ACR 8.x in Photoshop CS6 will be able to process raw files with those settings, you just won't be able to change the non-CS6 feature settings.

As far as ACR 9, I don't know...that is way too far out to guess and things are likely to change anyway. So, I really can't tell you anything (and I really don't know).

[MHMG]

I've never been quite as good a customer as Adobe would like, i.e, buying every upgrade the moment it is released, but I've definitely been a better customer to Adobe than those buying with an "every other upgrade" cycle mentality. If and when I embrace the new CC paradigm, it's not the cost that bother's me.  The fact of the matter is that perpetual licenses of software give me certain degrees of freedom with regard to my digital file archive and migration strategies that CC most definitely takes away. What Adobe doesn't seem to be factoring into this new subscription paradigm is that it isn't an Adobe only issue. It's a frustrating yet inevitable balance between third party Apps (and in this situation Adobe is definitely 3rd party) and computer OS's like MAC OS9 to OS10 to OS10.7  or Win XP to Vista to WIN 7, etc., all of which have caused major transitional migration issues for end users along the way. This digital technology obsolescence issue is a critical factor that Adobe ignored, IMHO, in it's adoption of a cloud subscription only software access mentality.  No matter how hard I've tried to migrate to new software that fulfills older software capabilities plus some, the fact of the matter is that between Apple, Microsoft, and third party software vendors, end users like myself have to apply many DEFENSIVE tactics to ensure ongoing continuity in what we do in the digital era. For me, that means maintaining older legacy hardware platforms plus older or worse yet totally orphaned software until I can figure out how to create a viable modern alternative path. It's not that easy to just upgrade at the spur of the moment when one deals with very specialized Apps that drive mission critical devices like older film scanners, printers, spectrophotometers, vintage file formats (remember Wordperfect, Pagemaker, etc?) etc. With perpetual licensing, I can preserve at least for an extended period of time an entire digital ecosystem, i.e., hardware, OS, software, to soldier on until I've found an alternative pathway which includes new hardware, new software, and BACKWARDS file READ/TRANSLATE file format migration. Thank you Adobe. Your corporate move to CC  is bound to make the "digital bits" part of my life much harder. I'm not going to reward you as much as I did in the past for that new challenge you just threw at me.

[nemophoto]

I feel I am vindicated in my assessment that Adobe will keep Lightroom separate from CC because the competition is fierce. They just confirmed that in will remain standalone. Pity there aren't many credible options for Photoshop -- which really does set the standard. I've played now with GIMP, Photoline and Paintshop Pro. All decent programs on their own, but the re-learning curve is steep, and they really aren't as good. Pisses me off really, because then Adobe can pull their CC business. For almost everything else, there are vey good alternate programs. I'll update my InDesign and Illustrator to the "last" independent versions -- CS6. Then, I really don't know.

[DeanChriss]

I feel I am vindicated in my assessment that Adobe will keep Lightroom separate from CC because the competition is fierce. They just confirmed that in will remain standalone. Pity there aren't many credible options for Photoshop -- which really does set the standard. I've played now with GIMP, Photoline and Paintshop Pro. All decent programs on their own, but the re-learning curve is steep, and they really aren't as good. Pisses me off really, because then Adobe can pull their CC business. For almost everything else, there are vey good alternate programs. I'll update my InDesign and Illustrator to the "last" independent versions -- CS6. Then, I really don't know.

Your assessment may well be right, and if it is your reason for it (fierce competition) is all that counts. After having been an Adobe "fan boy" for decades I no longer have any faith in what Adobe confirms or denies. Adobe said they'd continue offering a perpetual license along with a new subscription license. Adobe also set a deadline after which you could upgrade that perpetual license only from the previous version, instead of from three versions back as had previously been their policy. Then, after all the stragglers believed that and upgraded to the latest version (CS6) so they wouldn't be left out of the new, and for some more expensive, perpetual license upgrade path, Adobe said there wouldn't really be any upgrade path after all. Your options were really to subscribe now or subscribe when you can no longer find a computer system that will run CS6. Oh, and by the way, the cost of that subscription will be way more than it was to upgrade the perpetual license every time a new version came out. I think this shows that Adobe's recent confirmations of new policy often have a very short lifetime.

But the real problem here isn't cost, it's the fact that Adobe holds the future of everyone's PSD files (and I think layered TIFFs) in their hands. Yes, I've got flat TIFFs of finished work, but we all know most work is never really finished. We learn new things and go back to layered and masked PSD files to make changes, hopefully improving our images. There are thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of hours invested in those files, and a company whose policy shifts with the direction of the wind actually has complete control of them, including how much you must pay each month to keep using those files. That's an extremely uncomfortable situation. Yes, I know Adobe has always been in control of those files, but prior to recent times Adobe was less mercenary and more reasonable in their decisions so it didn't seem to matter. This has been a real wake-up call.

Adobe software is great, but as the saying goes, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." After a good fraction of a lifetime spent using Photoshop, and then ACR, I have no idea what's next. If I did I'd be doing it instead of wasting my time ranting like this. If there is a way to sever all ties with Adobe and still do what I do, that would be my strong preference. If that's impossible or impractical, "bending over" knowing I can't trust anything about what Adobe may decide regarding the future of my files is a distasteful option. On a happier note, everyone will survive no matter what Adobe does, even if only their flattened TIFFs make it through this storm.

[Chris_Brown]

Now the CC is not available. At all. This is unacceptable for us subscribers working under a deadline. 

[Rick Popham]

Welcome to the "Cloud"!

[Mark D Segal]

Now the CC is not available. At all. This is unacceptable for us subscribers working under a deadline. 

Chris, don't you think this is a risk to be expected? The stuff is stored on an external server; many things can happen to interfere with data transmission between that server and your computer. No system is perfect. The issue going forward will be the failure rate and what Adobe does to mitigate it. I think, if at all possible, any work that is the least bit critical should be stored in both your own computer and on their server.

[digitaldog]

But the real problem here isn't cost, it's the fact that Adobe holds the future of everyone's PSD files (and I think layered TIFFs) in their hands.

And that was true the day you saved a layered document or any document using proprietary Adobe processing. Kind of true for every software product out there.

If the problem isn't the cost, continue to pay to use proprietary Adobe processing.

[DeanChriss]

And that was true the day you saved a layered document or any document using proprietary Adobe processing. Kind of true for every software product out there.

If the problem isn't the cost, continue to pay to use proprietary Adobe processing.

Yes, I know Adobe has always been in control of those files, but prior to recent times Adobe was less mercenary and more reasonable in their decisions so it didn't seem to matter. This has been a real wake-up call.

At $20/month cost isn't the problem yet. I think the lack of reliability in Adobe's recent statements about what its policies will be indicate a willingness to make rash and unpredictable changes to the detriment of customers like me in the future. Since subscribing is essentially a lifetime commitment if you want to retain use of your files, I see the lack of reliability, and the seemingly new small customer be damned attitude, as being the root problem. A year ago a customer relationship with Adobe felt comfortable and stable. Huge overnight changes in policies and price of a license had never happened and were thus unexpected. The future no longer seems so comfortable and stable, and with so many people locked in, huge overnight policy and price changes are virtually a given. IMO, of course.

[Mark D Segal]

At $20/month cost isn't the problem yet. I think the lack of reliability in Adobe's recent statements about what its policies will be indicate a willingness to make rash and unpredictable changes to the detriment of customers like me in the future. Since subscribing is essentially a lifetime commitment if you want to retain use of your files, I see the lack of reliability and small customer be damned attitude as being the root problem. A year ago a customer relationship with Adobe felt comfortable and stable. Huge overnight changes in policies and price of a license had never happened and were thus unexpected. The future no longer seems so comfortable and stable, and with so many people locked in, huge overnight policy and price changes are virtually a given. IMO, of course.

Mine too. I think you've hit the nail on the head. The stability and predictability of contractual relationships and understandings with clients are hugely important aspects of business ethics regardless of the legal fine print in the license agreements, and much of our commerce depends on it. Not to say that things mustn't and can't change - they must and they do, but it's the manner in which it's done and the transitional arrangements for mitigating negative impacts on customers that make all the difference in the world. This recent episode has, to my mind, revealed serious managerial lacunae in the corporation. No matter what all the technical advantages of the new arrangements may be, these other aspects are equally important - perhaps they will learn something from this; remains to be seen.

[davidh202]

 Thom Hogan  has had some very pertinent thoughts on Adobes decision, starting from his May 6th post... http://bythom.com/

 This may well turn out to be one of the worst business decisions any company has made since Ford introduced the Edsel ;~

 

[ButchM]

Mine too. I think you've hit the nail on the head. The stability and predictability of contractual relationships and understandings with clients are hugely important aspects of business ethics regardless of the legal fine print in the license agreements, and much of our commerce depends on it. Not to say that things mustn't and can't change - they must and they do, but it's the manner in which it's done and the transitional arrangements for mitigating negative impacts on customers that make all the difference in the world. This recent episode has, to my mind, revealed serious managerial lacunae in the corporation. No matter what all the technical advantages of the new arrangements may be, these other aspects are equally important - perhaps they will learn something from this; remains to be seen.

Indeed, that is the core issue. Trust and confidence in a vendor that is a supporting pillar in your livelihood. While offering a sort of "fixed" pricing structure can ease the the calculations of expenditures ... such drastic policy changes does little to create confidence that there won't be another drastic change at any point Adobe chooses if that change will be in their best interests ... Which is exactly why I have zero confidence that Lightroom won't become a subscription only option in the not too distant future as well. Because on May 5, there was the belief there would be a perpetual license option beyond CS6 ... Though, change is inevitable, I think very few folks expected what was announced on May 6.

[Doyle Yoder]

So much for getting the latest versions with CC. Read the last posts.

http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1059137?start=120&tstart=0

[Colorwave]

That seems like an argument for ignoring uninformed speculation :-)

You mean from people like John Nack and Bryan Hughes?

[schaubild]

And here some cloud experiences:

http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/news/creative-business/opinion-how-adobe-creative-cloud-left-me-amused-perplexed-infuriated/