luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

I am considering signing up for the the Adobe CC and would like to know if I stop my subscription will Lightroom and Photoshop still on my computer for me to use or do they disappear/stop working?

Has any one had any problems with the monthly charges or is it better to pay the entire amount?

Did anyone have a problem with the downloads or getting the programs to work? I prefer buying discs to downloading over the internet.

Thank you for answering my questions!

lightcatcher Loc: Farmington, NM (4 corners)

It is my understanding no payment program no work. That is why I will not do it.

Racmanaz Loc: Sunny Tucson!

If you would be able to use the entire program after canceling, I think everybody would be doing that :)

Dr.db Loc: Central Point, OR

I found an informative discussion on an adobe forum here:
http://forums.adobe.com/message/5308370
You get 90 days to get your files off Cloud storage, and 30 days before the apps stop working. nice... :thumbdown:
(I wonder if there may be a market for third-party .lrcat interpreter software in the near future... )

Installed the full CC package here a couple of weeks ago by download, it went without a hitch. Not planning on cancelling anytime soon...

Searcher Loc: Kent, England

After the first 30 days you are in a one year contract with Adobe. You promise to pay and they promise to provide updates and support as required. Although there are penalties for breaking the contract after the first month and before month 12, I have heard of someone who told Adobe (truthfully) that he could no longer afford the subscription due to circumstance beyond his control, Adobe proved to be understanding, cancelled the contract and gave the guy 30 days to convert his images to something he could deal with using free programs.

If a subscription is terminated, Photoshop will cease working after thirty days, however Lightroom will continue to work for longer than 30 days EXCEPT FOR THE DEVELOP MODULE.

During that 30 days you will receive reminders on non-payments and an invitation to continue the contract.

I did have a problem paying the monthly amount; due to a suspicion of fraud on my credit card, I cancelled the card, got a new one with a new number and forgot to tell Adobe of the change. Adobe sent me a reminder, I logged into my account, changed the CC number, they took the outstanding amount and that was that, business as usual.

One of the updates just did not load properly and I was unable to use either LR or PS, I contacted Adobe via Chat and the technical team eventually got it working. No problems since.

If you pay the whole year subscription in one go, it is cheaper.

Photoshop CC is not available on disc though a reseller version of LR is; I like the CC because it is always up to date and support is always available.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Been on the subscription for 18 months - have received numerous updates and 3 version upgrades for PS and 2 (I think) for Lighrroom. It so far has proven to be economical and completely stable. Given the alternative of using 3 yr old software - I have no doubt that I have the right software on my computer.

Just for kicks and giggles - I still have my perpetual licensed CS6 on my computer - and try to use it from time to time. And each time I do, it feels like "old" outdated software - the newer version is slicker and faster and there are certain features, like the ACR filter, local perspective adjustment, blur reduction, focus masking, much much faster content aware and blur effects, and more, that are a complete joy to use and really lessen the time I spend in Photoshop to do the things I typically do to an image.

Discontinue my subscription? Maybe with a gun pointed at my head. But just maybe.

And I am not an Adobe fanboy - I just recognize a great value and excellent software, and I have no "hangups" about subscription-based software especially when it is this good, and the alternatives are 3 yr old software for which support can be withdrawn at any point, or 3rd party applications that don't work as well as PS.

blackest Loc: Ireland

It is a pity Adobe doesn't provide the same value outside the US in Europe you have to pay around $16 a month instead of the $9.99 that Americans pay. Although there is VAT to be paid which Americans don't have to pay it still doesn't account for the difference (at 23% thats still around $12.30). My bank would have no issue with me paying in US dollars and charging me at the current exchange rate but Adobe will not accept the payment without a US address.

The Swiss get it even worse at around $30.43 a month. Adobes answer appears to be we are used to paying more, although all the downloads come from the same US Servers.

Alternatives.

OnOne's perfect Photo suite is also a US product and due to having a UK office they do charge VAT on top of the US price, it is on the US price and not a made up we must charge you more price.

It's not quite photoshop although the modules do work within photoshop. The raw support is very good for my G5 for example it reads the panasonic raw format directly where Photoshop CS6 doesn't. The updates for CS6 finish before they added support in adobe camera raw.

Adobe DNG converter will convert the raw files to a DNG format that CS6 does understand. However it isn't clear if the lens profile information within the RAW file is applied in the conversion.

The Demo of photoshop CC does apply the embedded lens profile automatically, the lens profile is embedded within the raw file. Thats one strong reason for considering photoshop CC.

The question is can you photoshop without photoshop?

Photoshop lets you launch adobe camera raw adjust the raw image before taking it into photoshop and then often you'll use a plugin module to do further refining of the image such as nik or topaz. photoshop itself often is just a launcher for third party modules.

A work flow might be photoshop > ACR > Photoshop > third party modules > photoshop > save.

Photoshop is like a drug dealer giving you access to the goodies you do want.
worth thinking the subscription to photoshop does not give you nik or topaz or perfect photo these have to be bought separately.
So is there an alternative launcher? It seems there might be unfortunately there are several, onOne has its standalone for its modules topaz has its one for its modules nik also has... It might be the gimp which has the best support for a mix of these modules.

The most compelling thing about photoshop is ACR and the way you can integrate third party modules into your work flow. I'm not convinced that Photoshop is an essential component to the work flow that cannot be replaced.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

I have subscribed since the photographers' package became available (9.99 a month), no problems with payment or downloads. Had one problem with Adobe due to changing email address which was very difficult to solve with Adobe's sketchy tech support, but eventually got it worked out.

If you quit paying/unsubscribe, you will soon be unable to use the applications, as described by others already, as one would expect.

Lightroom and Photoshop are well worth the money, and the monthly payment suits my retiree's budget better than a big lump sum every couple of years. I do have some concern about price increases down the road, but I figure by the time that happens, there may well be other alternatives. On One looks like a good candidate, as they are making their programs more versatile and powerful with every iteration.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

You make some good, if not cynical points.

Price - agree 1000% it could be cheaper for outside US.

OnOne - a great plugin or standalone product - has issues with really large files. Content aware operations are better, but nothing nearly as useful as PS. image repair tools are pretty good. Present adjustments are great, and easily customized and saved. It now includes noise reduction, but again nothing like DXO or other noise plugins. I use OnOne Suite for 90% of my finish work on images. I will often bypass PS and just launch OnOne from Lightroom. OnOne 9 does "objectify" the process so when you close out of OnOne all of your layer effects and layers are preserved - really excellent design.

While Lightroom does auto apply lens profiles, I generally find them poorly written and lacking. I like DXO for raw processing, especially with its lens profiles (best in class) and noise reduction (DXO Prime) - there is nothing that compares. The lens profiles are not embedded in the raw file, they are in a corresponding sidecar file or preview file if you are using that option in LR.

PS has an Adobe Camera Raw filter - that can be applied to a layer from within PS without having to leave the PS editor. Much easier that going in and out of applications and/or using smart objects.

Photoshop is not a drug dealer - that is a cynical way to look at a company that has built a reputation at providing one of the better solutions for graphics professionals. Their software is good, stable, and with CC cheap - at least in the US.

Photoshop can generally be replaced, until you have to do something that only PS can do, then you need it.

My workflow is Lightroom ->Photoshop or OnOne with a 16 bit working PSD file, and saved. Saving in PS or OnOne places a finished copy of the image in the LR catalog. If I need a jpeg, I generate it on demand. I don't have a need to save jpegs - but I do have a number of jpeg export profiles for different destinations and their respective size, quality and resolution requirements.

luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

Thank you for commenting. I haven't made my mind up to do it and I consider all opinions to help me decide.

luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

That was my thinking but someone I was talking to said you were able to keep and use the program's there just wouldn't be any updates. That didn't make sense to me so I decided to ask here on UHH for the correct info.

Thank you for taking time to comment.

luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

Thank you for the link. I did read it and am still deciding whether or not to subscribe. I appreciate you taking time to answer my questions and giving me your opinion.

I love your Maine Coon avatar.

luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

Thank you for all the info, Searcher. I greatly appreciate you taking time to answer all my question and explain how it works. This will really help me with my decision.

I just don't like the idea tha I am paying for some thing that I will never own. It's just like leasing a car. At the end of the contract you have nothing for all the money you've paid.

luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

Thank you for the information and insights. I agree Photoshop is a great product and even tho I have never used Lightroom I have seen videos and tutorials that used it and see that it, too, is a great product.

I just can't get past the idea that I am paying for something I will never own and will eventually have paid more in the subscription than I would to buy the program's outright. I will just have to think about it a little longer.

luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

Thank you for your input. You have given me more to think about before I commit to this.