Photoshop CC Update
Richard
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So it has been about a year since Adobe moved Photoshop to a subscription model. Since I decided to stay with CS5, I haven't been paying any attention to what new features have been released. I was wondering whether you think the updates you have received have been worth the yearly cost. :ear
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For myself, I do subscribe to PS CC for $9.99 a month, and I can ( if I wanted to ) add LR5 for the same price, but I already owned LR5, and so I use my own copy of LR5.
As to the differences I find in PS CC vs PS CS5, I don't have much of an answer I guess. My CS4 and CS5 are on an older computer than my PS CC so I find it difficult to compare them on a day to day, basis. I would say that LR5 is head and shoulders better than previous versions of LR, dramatic improvement, such that I use Photoshop less and less. I still use it for selections and layers, and as a platform to run plug ins like Color Efex and Silver Efex so that I can run them on layers and blend them and mask them if needed. I do not like using plug ins in LR as much due to the lack of layers.
Sorry I can't answer your question any better than that, I am sure there are better Adobe folks who can be more specific.
Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
Sam
Can you be bit more specific Sam??
Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
And here I thought I was succinct.
OK for the umpteenth time.
If you don't have LR or CS5 or CS6 $10.00 per month is a great bargain.
If you already have them why bother?
The cost may be too high when:
You can't access your program to finish a project because of an internet / Adobe / your connection.
When the price is raised to a point you think it's not worth it, but may be locked in like a hooked drug addict.
When you try to find an alternative only to learn you will loose all of your adjustments made with propitiatory tools.
What happens when LR becomes CC only?
Image loosing all your adjustments / catalogs / key wording / etc.
LR won't become CC only you say? Why not? Once the PS CC model shows how profitable it is (and I do believe that has all ready been done) why wouldn't Adobe follow with a LR CC model?
The unknown of what Adobe (any company really) will do in the future, and what could be a devastating downside for the users.
You are at their mercy. As long as they are merciful your in good shape. When the evil but probably truthful "what choice do they have" rears it's ugly head you will understand.
All that said........I may end up being forced into the cloud along with the rest of the heard at some time in the future................sad day to contemplate. :cry
Sam
Richard,
Since I don't have CC I can't respond to your original question, but cost and continued innovation (new tools / features) over time is an unknown. I hope others can let you know what new tools etc have been provided to date, but that isn't any guarantee as to what will happen in the future.
I hope this good news makes your day.
Sam
Richard, I'm certain you will love CC. Download the free trial of PS and LR and try them for a month. I'm guessing you'll be hooked.
Link to my Smugmug site
that you have a great deal to contribute, but you are completely wrong here and
commenting on something that you evidently do not know anything about.
Internet access has nothing to do with being able to work on a project.
Photoshop CC 2014 is downloaded on to your computer and you use it just as
you would if you installed it with a disk. There is no interaction with the Internet
when starting a project, re-loading a project, or working on a project. Whatever
you've done on that project is yours and yours forever.
You must be connected to the Internet at least once a month (and it may be
longer than that) for Adobe to verify that you have continued to pay your
monthly access fee. That's all that's done on the Internet except for
updates to the program, and that was done with owned versions.
If you discontinue your subscription, CC 2014 is deactivated. The file(s)
remain on your computer, though. If you have a prior, owned, version of
Photoshop or even Elements you may open and work on that file or files.
All that you are denied is the ability to use any tools that were added
in CC 2014 and are not in your owned version. The layers remain, though.
In other words, you can crop, make a layer mask, or do anything to the file
you could have done with CS 5 or 7 or whatever you owned prior to subscribing.
If you owned a version of Photoshop prior to subscribing, you still own that and
can still use that. If you don't, you can buy Elements and Elements now has
damned near everything that the full version has. With the exception of some
people heavily into graphic arts or submitting CMYK files, it's getting to the point
where almost all photographers could slide by with Elements and not need
Photoshop. Elements will open all of your .psd files and has most of the tools.
No, you don't lose the adjustments made with the new tools introduced with
CC 2014, but you do lose the ability to change those adjustments with the
new tools. The file remains intact with prior adjustments if the subscription
is terminated.
So far, there isn't a new tool that is so earth-shattering that it would be
missed. Well, at least with the processing that I do. Most changes are
simply easier or quicker ways to do what could be done in earlier versions
of PS.
Same answers. You do not lose the LR program that you now own if
you subscribe to the CC version. You still own it. All files remain the
same after unsubscribing and your loss would only be to not re-work
adjustments using new tools introduced in the CC version.
Files, adjustments, keywords, etc, remain with you.
We've already been on that train and paid for our tickets many times over as Adobe
has introduced new versions with high upgrade fees. You want the new tool? Upgrade.
And, when we upgraded, we had no guarantee of how long it would be before that
upgrade was no longer the latest version.
At least, the upgrade costs might come in smaller increments now.
Really, Sam, it's disappointing to see someone as knowledgeable as you are not
having researched the program a little more than you have before posting. You
don't seem to have a basic grasp of what the CC program is all about. If you
subscribe, you will not be working with a program on the Internet, and you will
not give up whatever Adobe program you are now using.
http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/
Perhaps to me the most significant are Perspective Warp, Content Aware Patch and Content Aware Move, Background Save ( I would not want to be without this any longer - especially with large panos, and software that does crash from time to time... ) and the use of Camera Raw 8 as a filter.
I thnk the link between LR5 and CC 2014 are better than the link I had with LR and CS5 too.
No single thing is a deal breaker, but I do really appreciate the background save feature, I only became aware of it, when a large pano I had started ( and not yet saved ), was not lost when Photoshop and my Computer all locked up and had to have the power plug pulled. After rebooting, and re-opening PS CC, there was my pano, patiently waiting to be saved.
Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
Thank you for pointing out that I know nothing about Adobe CC and I am sorry your disappointed that my thoughts on the subject don't mirror your own.
I do understand where the program and files reside. My comment with regard to not being able to access / use the CC application is based on reports of many who have experienced this issue. There appears to be installation, activation and authentication problems than can pop up causing the subscriber to loose the use of the CC application until the issue is resolved. The length of time to resolve the issue and the importance of the timeline for your project will directly affect how you react to this situation.
I also understand that if you baked in the adjustments made with the new tools that these adjustments will remain with the image, but as you have said you will not be able to adjust that image or any other to match using the tools that went by by when the cloud leaves you or you leave the cloud.
You are right that if you owned a previous version of Photoshop you would be able to open and use that.
As to LR, we don't know what the future holds but it is very conceivable that if LR moves to the cloud that new LR CC catalog may not be compatible with earlier LR versions. You would also loose all the adjustments recorded but not baked into an exported file, negating one of the advantages of LR by reducing the need to save multiple copies of the same file.
As I have repeatedly said, right now Adobe CC is a great bargain. I don't think anything will happen in the short run that will cause a mass exit, but I can envision a time where there is no backward compatibility and no alternative application to read or use the adjustments made to your files.
My basic objection to this cloud has remained the same. Lack of control, less choice and being led down the primrose path.
Even though I know nothing and am disappointing my devoted acolyte (the neighbors black lab) this is my opinion. Always subject to change based on facts.
Sam
http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/
For that matter, I use PS a lot less than I did 5 or 10 years ago too.
I thank LR5 for that.
Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
I don't expect you to agree with my viewpoint, but it would be nice if you could hear my viewpoint.
As to others experiencing problems...............Google is your friend............type in "Adobe CC Problems"
I have expressed concerns over issues I have read about and others that seem very possible.
Activation is not a one time thing. You need to do this periodically until the end days.
I reject your response that if one has a problem with Adobe CC then use your previous version or go by a downgraded version of Elements to get you by. What if one does not have a previous version? What if I reject the idea of needing a back up application?
Yes, if there is an issue Adobe will help fix it, but again how long and what does that mean to your project or client?
Again; I KNOW WHERE THE APPLICATION IS AND WHERE THE FILES ARE.
I know if LR moves to the CC version the application and files do not actually move off your computer.
I have a vague idea of layers. If your coming out of CC with various layers (file format, psd, tif) I do understand the adjustments are carried through (baked in) but you may or may not be able alter or change the adjustments in a previous version depending on the tools used. If you are trying to match an images set and are using a new CC tool you will not be able to do this with a previous version.
There is also a disincentive with the CC business model. They get paid the same amount weather or not they produce new features. prior to this in order to generate new revenue they had to make the new release attractive as possible. Now no such pressure exists.
While I do not consider Adobe to be the evil empire, I can hear some bean counter now saying hey why are we going to keep spending all this money on R&D when it won't increase rexenue?
Again we aren't going to agree, but do accurately hear what my objections are.
Sam
I'm obviously not qualified here. I've only used PS since V 3.something.
I do wonder, though, why anyone who wouldn't have some prior version
of PS on his computer would prefer to lay out big bucks to own a program
that he could get for $10 a month and discontinue at any time. And, why
a person who has projects that are so important to get out on deadline
that he worries about delays would not be interested in a back-up position.
I don't wonder if Adobe will stop coming out with new tools, though. They
need new things to pull in the unconvinced and stop the previously
convinced to unsubscribe and go back to CS7.
I guess I'll never get my third green dot until I learn how to bake in an
adjustment.
http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/
Tony,
If I could remove my "green dots" I would. In fact I have giving you a green dot.
Sorry I used a non technical term (baked in) to describe a permanent change / alteration in a file or layer, and yes I understand the adjustment may or may not be permanent based on the tool used and how it was applied.
You are right about one thing. No one is going to lay out the money to buy Photoshop and LR with a perpetual license when you can get it for $10.00 per month. That's the taste......the hook comes later.
I think your wrong that you can discontinue anytime you want. Sure you can stop using it but I think your still responsible to pay for the contract period of one year.
While many do have a prior version, after X number of years it might become incompatible with the then current CC version.
Again, I am not saying your wrong to subscribe to the CC version, and I do understand the appeal. I just thing that down the road it will not work out the best for the users.
Sam
Yes, a layer adjusted with a certain tools is a permanent change to that layer,
but that layer may be deleted and replaced with a layer using that tool differently.
For example, I'll create a blank layer and use that layer to clone. The advantage is
that I can use the eraser tool on the blank layer to modify the cloning or adjust
the opacity of that layer to reduce the signs of cloning. However, sometimes
I just don't like the effect at all, so I'll delete that layer, create a new blank layer,
and start over. Nothing has been "baked in".
The only time "baking in" has any real meaning is when you flatten an image. All
modifications are locked in. Experienced users will flatten, save-as, and then
close the .psd without saving it.
Sorta. If you cancel within 30 days of activation, you owe nothing. If you cancel after
30 days of activation, you owe 50% of the remaining obligation. So, if you cancel after
60 days you owe 10 x $ 5.00 (rounded).
But, let's face it. Who is going to actually pay that? If you can provide a reasonable
basis for cancellation, like those problems you say are Googleable, Adobe will waive the
balance. They aren't going to send out the Repo man for $50.
It doesn't make a difference. It's the file, not the program than needs to be
compatible. If you have a .psd or .tiff file, any program that will open and allow
you to modify a .psd or .tiff is all you need.
The real problem has more to do with the OS and the machine. The way things are
in the real world we don't use the same machine for too many years. We upgrade.
If your new machine won't install PS 5.0 from your disk, and you didn't have a way
to bring PS 5.0 over to the new machine, you don't have that old program to work with.
http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/