Photoshop confusion

[jfe]

Okay I need some advice / clarification on Adobe Photoshop. I got on their website to purchace and then it got all confusing, buy for $19.99 a month or $141 for 12 month etc. I thought you buy the software and user rights to the software for $x and away you go. Now it seems that you buy a short term subscription for a user application if my understanding is correct. I'm not completely sure how this all work.

 

[diversteve]

At 19.95/mo you're just renting it via the Creative Cloud indefinitely. Looks like they stopped selling it standalone last week.

Looking for Creative Suite 6? The latest versions of all your favorite apps like Photoshop and Illustrator are only available with a Creative Cloud membership.

bottom of the page:

As of January 9, 2017 Creative Suite is no longer available for purchase.

found here:
Creative Cloud now includes Creative Suite Master Collection and Design Premium features

You might look for it online - people should still be selling Photoshop CS6 (the latest version) until they run out of stock. Here's one - IDK this company at all:
Adobe Photoshop CS6 Windows Full Edition - Retail Box | Hantech Systems $437.

I don't think it'll be a problem but contact them to be sure you can register it at Adobe or it will be unusable.

In the future you'll likely have to upgrade to the Creative Cloud though and pay their subscription price since that seems to be the only option now.

IMO this is about the stupidest thing Adobe could've done.

You might find a workable alternative here: Best photo editing software in 2016 | TechRadar

 

[herman]

You might want to consider using PS Elements instead. It has most of the features of the full version of PS but at a lot less cost...and it appears to still be a real program (you own a copy to use as long as your computer works) rather than a cloud based rental program that you must continually pay for.

 

[jseyfert3]

An additional option is GIMP. It's a free (open source) photo editing program. It's extremely powerful, but most photo editing tutorials are geared towards Adobe PS, so it's harder to just Google solutions.

 

[jseyfert3]

Now it seems that you buy a short term subscription for a user application if my understanding is correct. I'm not completely sure how this all work.

Yes, this is what many software models are moving too, subscription based models. You pay $X/month, and as long as you pay, you get to use the software. But you never buy it, and if you stop paying, you lose your rights to use the software. Looks like Adobe canned buying Photoshop standalone, something that cost $400-$700.

Microsoft now lets you lease Windows for business. You pay per user, per year. Office is largely the same now with Office 365, I'll bet they stop letting you buy it soon. It's easier for many users to "swallow" paying $10-$20 per month rather than hundreds up front. And it makes more money for the company over time.

On a related note, I play some video games. I typically play them on my computer, rather than a gaming console. I generally buy through Steam, as many people do on PC. We pay $60 for new games like everybody else. But is it really "mine"? Actually, no. If you read the TOS, they can ban your Steam username if you violate TOS (such as cheating), and if they ban you, you loose access to all your games. You need access to their servers to keep your games "unlocked", so if they ban you, all those games are gone. If Valve (the company that makes Steam) goes bankrupt, technically everyone everywhere could permanently loose access to every game they've ever bought, unless Valve where to release a decryption key, which they are buy no means required to do. Really, it's a subscription model, only you pay up front the full retail price of the game, but they have to be operational for you to access the game you paid for (but didn't actually buy). Confusing? Yeah, it kind of is.

One of the only things that won't have subscriptions in 10 years? Open source software, which is free. I highly dislike Windows 10, and I avoid Windows at all unless I need it. I run Linux myself, a 100% free operating system. LibreOffice or OpenOffice, 100% free, 95% compatible with MS Office. GIMP for photo editing, 100% free, no subscriptions. Free, for everyone, forever...

 

[Uber Dave]

It's stuff like this that makes me wanna go off the grid and live on an island in a refrigerator box!

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I use Photoshop Elements. It has more than I would ever use at $99.
Adobe Photoshop Elements 15 - Mac & Windows - Newegg.com

 

[jfe]

Thank for clearing this for me, as I thought. Seems like the Elements 15 package is the best answer for a low end user and will do all the tricks we need as non-professional underwater photographers.

 

[Hoag]

Before you commit to PSE, take a look at PS Lightroom. I have found (and I don't presume to know your specific needs) that PS has evolved over the years to be a very powerful software for graphic artists, but Lightroom is aimed very much at the photographer. Lightroom's workflow is very logical and it will likely meet or exceed your needs.