Are there real alternatives to Photoshop?

[DawnMarch]

I am really unhappy about Adobe's decision to go solely with a subscription service for Photoshop rather than selling new versions of the software that you can "own". I'm curious if there are real alternatives out there for scrapbookers that work for both RAW photo editing and for creating digital scrapbook pages?

So who is using programs other than Photoshop? Any recommendations?

[Darcy Baldwin]

I'm not sure about the RAW part, but PSE11 is really a great program..they've come a long way in it's abilities.

GIMP is a version of a Photoshop-like program, though I haven't used it in so many years that I don't know if it can compare any longer.

[glumirk]

I know PSE looks to have improved loads since I had it, but I just don't think I could ever give up my ACR and Bridge. PSE does have ACR, but it's pretty limited compared to CS. I think the PSE+Lightroom is popular for that reason.

I'm just going to be happy with my CS5 until it literally won't work anymore. By then DH might be done with grad school, but DS will be in school. If DH is using Adobe Premier, and I'm using Photoshop, then at least we can split the cost from our monthly "fun" budgets. With a $25 monthly fun budget, a $20 subscription just isn't worth it to me.

[pewtertm]

Paint Shop Pro, Elements, and GIMP were my first thoughts.

Can you now put shadows on a separate layer in PSE? That's been one of the big drawbacks for me.

[origami]

I haven't used it, but have seen references to a program called Pixelmator. There's also the Corel line. I don't know if any of these do what you want though. The thing is, Adobe knows they have a product that does what people want it to do. It will be interesting to see how this works out. Microsoft has started moving toward a subscription service with Office 365, though they haven't dropped boxed software yet. And a lot of us have stopped buying traditional books in favor of Kindle books, where we never actually own a copy of the book.

[jk703]

Here is a good rundown comparing Photoshop, Pixelmator and GIMP. Hope it helps.... Do you have a Mac or PC? I believe Pixelmator is only for Mac.

http://apple.blogoverflow.com/2012/0...vs-pixelmator/

~Jenn

[jacinda]

I have CS5 currently, and I just plan to use that till forever. I think along the lines of "if it isn't broken, don't fix it". Just because Adobe are coming out with new versions every 5 minutes doesn't mean I HAVE to upgrade. I'm happy with what I have.

[Robin Carlton]

I've honestly never understood why scrappers would invest in the professional editions of Photoshop to begin with. I think it's a crazy amount of money to spend to make layouts when PSE does nearly everything you need it to for a fraction of the price. Is text on a path or shadows on a separate layer really worth $500 more? I dunno.

[Trista]

There is a slight difference in that you do not have to continue to pay for an e-book once it is purchased. There isn't a physical copy of it, but the digital version is paid for once and is yours to read as many times as you wish, rather than having to pay a monthly fee to keep it on your device.

Originally Posted by origami

And a lot of us have stopped buying traditional books in favor of Kindle books, where we never actually own a copy of the book.

I too am one that will be using cs5 until it just won't work any longer. I personally thought Photoshop was a bit on the steep side but managed to get CS5 with an enormous student discount and really do like the full array of features vs PSE. I look at the expense as the purchase of a tool for my hobby. As a paper scrapper I have spent loads of money on the latest and greatest tools. I remember starting out with a small sizzix die cutter, then upgraded to a cricut cutter, and have since upgraded to other die cutters as newer ones came along. That being said, these "tools" were purchased once. The only additional investment for these tools are maintenance related(new blades and cutting mats).

I feel that Adobe's decision to move to subscription service is taking away from the "average" consumer the option of having the bells and whistles. I can justify a great deal of expense for my hobby, but $20-$50 a month is not likely to be in my budget.

[DawnMarch]

I've honestly never understood why scrappers would invest in the professional editions of Photoshop to begin with. I think it's a crazy amount of money to spend to make layouts when PSE does nearly everything you need it to for a fraction of the price. Is text on a path or shadows on a separate layer really worth $500 more? I dunno.

I think this is more true now than it used to be back when I first bought PS. PSE was quite new (and more rudimentary). I bought PS back in the day when I was doing photography professionally and hasn't been a huge expense to upgrade PS every other release or so. But this will be a much bigger expense. PS6 is still quite new so I'm sure I'll be using that for a few years and Adobe's decision will probably open the door for some increased competition.

[nun69]

I was a CS3 user for ever........and now I will be a CS5 users forever

[adrianka]

I think there is nothing that is as good as PS. Don't beat me! :-)

I don't know which version you have, but anything from CS4 to CS6 should serve you well for years.

I also have a secret hope they will change their decision a bit and allow you to own what you paid for until a certain period.

[mariewilcox]

Originally Posted by Robin Carlton

I've honestly never understood why scrappers would invest in the professional editions of Photoshop to begin with. I think it's a crazy amount of money to spend to make layouts when PSE does nearly everything you need it to for a fraction of the price. Is text on a path or shadows on a separate layer really worth $500 more? I dunno.

This is me - I am fine with PSE and I only have the PSE 9 and haven't upgraded beyond that *gasp*! I scrap for me and I like my pages fine and really don't care what anyone else thinks - really

[nikkiARNGwife]

I have scrapped with PSP for 8 years. I use lightroom for editing. I'm happy with both

[jessica31876]

PSP does nearly everything you would need including the RAW files. It is all I have ever used since I started scrapping and it is extremely affordable. Like 45 dollars is the most I have ever spent for a boxed copy via Amazon

[Kara]

PSE 9 and Lightroom here. No complaints!

[KateD]

Aside from the debate about scrapping software, I'd recommend trying out Lightroom for your photo editing. I shoot RAW and do 99.9% of my photo editing in LR (as well as organizing my photos, scrap supplies, and completed layouts).

Originally Posted by Robin Carlton

I've honestly never understood why scrappers would invest in the professional editions of Photoshop to begin with. I think it's a crazy amount of money to spend to make layouts when PSE does nearly everything you need it to for a fraction of the price. Is text on a path or shadows on a separate layer really worth $500 more? I dunno.

I've been a PS user for years and years. My hubby first bought it in 2003-4, right after we bought our first DSLR. At the time he was thinking about opening up a photography studio after he retires from the military. We've always been able to purchase it with the academic pricing, so it's been very reasonable. I adore PS and don't want to ever use anything else. Yes, I like my text-on-a-path and manipulate my shadows frequently. I also like some of the other tools like puppet warp. PS is also a rock star when it comes to photo editing. I do most of my photo editing in LR, but the little that I do in PS is with the advanced tools that are in PS but not in PSE.

I got my current version of PS (Creative Suite 6 Design and Web Premium) for $270 - it's the extended version and includes Illustrator and InDesign which I play with occasionally and Acrobat Pro which I use frequently. PS alone would have been about $200 with the student discount. If I had the subscription (academic pricing), I'd pay the same in 9 months what I paid for my permanent license and everything after that would be extra. Not something that I'll be willing to do. I'll be using CS6 until I can't anymore, then I'll have to make a hard decision about where to go from there. I'm hoping that by then Adobe will have a purchase option again. If not, I'll probably look into the other programs.

As for the extra $500 that you mentioned, Robin... if we hadn't have been able to get PS with the academic pricing, we probably wouldn't have gone with it in the first place. Now that I'm hooked on PS, though, I'll be sad to go with something else.

[Beebo]

I use PSP too. I have both PSP 9 and PSP X. I am happy with then both.

[LJSDesigns]

I too use PSP and it does everything I need. The only bummer for me is no styles, etc. I have to do all that stuff on my own and sometimes it can be a real challenge, but I usually figure it out.

[Stacey42]

Long long time PSP user here. I think I am on X4 but it might still be X3. There is one layer style PS has that PSP doesn't, it's a burn style, linear I think. PSP has a burn style & I've never felt to myself "Darn this single burn option is limiting". The one single thing I wish PSP did (and maybe X5 does, I haven't really checked) is a text path style that fills in objects. I can do text on a path just fine but if I want to write in the shape of a heart or something I have to manually parse out the spacing. I'm used to it but I would love the option for a fill shape text path.

Other than that PSP has what PS has, including editing .raw files.

I mostly use Lightroom to edit photos.

[MommaTrish]

I started on PSE (3 I think... it came with an old laptop), then I switched to PSE 4 or 5 when I got my Mac. When it died and I found out I needed to either go back to my old PSE or buy new, I just hunted up a copy of CS3 on Ebay and bought it for like $150. Somewhere along the way I ended up with a copy of PSE 7 - not too sure how that happened.... - but I have it installed on my mom's computer as a backup. I HATE it. I get so frustrated with it because there are several things I do when making a page that I can't do in PSE, or that requires so much more time and steps than when I would do it CS.

I love my CS3, and I have my disk copy safely tucked away. I plan to never switch - ever.

[LJSDesigns]

Originally Posted by Stacey42

Long long time PSP user here. I think I am on X4 but it might still be X3. There is one layer style PS has that PSP doesn't, it's a burn style, linear I think. PSP has a burn style & I've never felt to myself "Darn this single burn option is limiting". The one single thing I wish PSP did (and maybe X5 does, I haven't really checked) is a text path style that fills in objects. I can do text on a path just fine but if I want to write in the shape of a heart or something I have to manually parse out the spacing. I'm used to it but I would love the option for a fill shape text path.

Other than that PSP has what PS has, including editing .raw files.

I mostly use Lightroom to edit photos.

I meant that I can't purchase styles for PSP. I would love to be able to purchase some shadow styles, to create plastic, etc.....

[DawnMarch]

So, does PSP not do styles at all, or can you just not use PS styles with it? That program sounds like a possibility, but I would definitely want to be able to save some of my own shadow styles since I use them all the time.

[dailydwellin]

Originally Posted by Robin Carlton

I've honestly never understood why scrappers would invest in the professional editions of Photoshop to begin with. I think it's a crazy amount of money to spend to make layouts when PSE does nearly everything you need it to for a fraction of the price. Is text on a path or shadows on a separate layer really worth $500 more? I dunno.

^^ This has been my thought as a scrapper. As much as I want to have Photoshop, I just can't justify the cost unless I ever decide to design. Which, I don't see that happening in the foreseeable future. I think my desire to have Photoshop is just to see what it's all about and to be a "cool kid" rather than a need.

[pewtertm]

Originally Posted by Robin Carlton

I've honestly never understood why scrappers would invest in the professional editions of Photoshop to begin with. I think it's a crazy amount of money to spend to make layouts when PSE does nearly everything you need it to for a fraction of the price. Is text on a path or shadows on a separate layer really worth $500 more? I dunno.

If I'd had to pay full price for CS3 I definitely wouldn't have bought it. Adobe offered a $199 upgrade for PSE users at one point and hubby bought it for me as my birthday/Valentine's gift. (I have 5 and still use it as well...well I did until my computer decided not to turn on ) I don't use CS3 for scrapping so much...I do more photo editing with it than anything else. I'm not sure what PSE 11 is capable of, but CS3 is worlds apart from PSE5 in terms of photo editing. I don't have Lightroom so no clue on that.

[adrianka]

It makes a lot of sense to me have Photoshop for the way I scrap and play with graphics in general. I know it's a lot of money (even more here than in the US), but I don't regret the decision to buy it. :-)

I think in the end it's all about the personal preference. I think the same thing can be done in various programmes, I just happen to like PS best (I did try PSP and Gimp ages ago, and never liked them, but that's subjective and probably out-dates as an opinion).

[rach3975]

I used another program, Photo Impact for about 5 years when I first started scrapping. It was more powerful than PSE, but less powerful than PS. When I started having recurring compatibility problems and decided to switch to an Adobe program, I couldn't get used to PSE. I didn't like the interface or the inability to write my own actions, something I'd used frequently in PI. PS was worth it for me because I was able to get it with academic pricing; I'd never have been able to justify buying the full priced version.

I'm willing to use subscription software when it makes financial sense; we're probably going to buy a subscription to MS Office in the near future. With Office, you can choose a $99/year subscription for up to 5 computers (we'll use it on 3) or a $130 boxed software that you own for just 1 computer. In our case the subscription makes sense; if I wanted it for just one computer I'd get the boxed version. But there's no comparable cost savings for me with a PS subscription. At $20 a month, I'll spend more in one year than I would have buying a boxed version that I'd be able to use for years.

I already have PSCS6, so for now I'm just going to wait and see how this all plays out. But I'm guessing that when CS6 is no longer compatible with one of my future computers, I'll be switching to whatever is most popular in the digiscrapping world at the time.

[AnalogPaper]

Originally Posted by Loriebug66

I too use PSP and it does everything I need. The only bummer for me is no styles, etc. I have to do all that stuff on my own and sometimes it can be a real challenge, but I usually figure it out.

That' s awesome Lorie! I think it's great that you have those skills in your back pocket

Also, stumbled upon a blog post comparing Pixlr, Gimp, and FlauntR. Could be helpful--I don't know much about any of them except that I tried Gimp during lunch one day at work (I was doing crazy 80hr weeks and really wanted to scrap lol) but I quickly gave up.

[NeverendingJen]

I've used PSP, PSE, and now CS4 and just recently upgraded to CS6 before the end of the year.

I need the full CS for work but as a scrapper I also find it much more versatile and love the options I have over PSE. I used PSE for a long time and it was great, but at some point I felt like I hit my limits with it based on my style. I stuck with CS4 for quite a time, and really only upgraded to CS6 because I had to or not be able to upgrade anymore. I'll stick with CS6, and if I'm ever ready to swap it out, I'll see what adobe and others offer in another 4 years.

[Nixenkind]

I always used GIMP. It took me forever to learn everything I need (I did trial and error with most of my problems), but now I'm totally happy and have no desire to change anything.

[DawnMarch]

Well, it's good to know that there are some alternatives. I continue to hope some of the competitors will step it up a bit to cater to the "serious hobbyists" out there who want more than just a basic photo editor but won't be able to justify $20/month for PS.

I have been considering Lightroom for the photo editing portion of my workflow, but with ACR already built into PS6, there really wasn't a need for it. And Adobe hasn't guaranteed that lightroom will continue to be a freestanding "purchasable" program either, although I think they have a lot of angry photographers on their hands at the moment.

I suppose I just have to wait and see what happens. Sigh. I hate waiting and seeing.

[kelley]

I am not much help on alternatives because I've used photoshop from the get go. I needed it for a college course and got the ed discount and went ahead and bought CS5 because I also wanted illustrator. I am so happy I have it. I am disappointed that they are taking away the individual purchases of software - it doesn't make sense to me. That said, I love adobe products so much that I will buy the cc membership to have access to all of them. I like to tinker with designing things in illustrator, I'm a huge photo addict so I'm constantly editing and have done shoots for others before. I also look at is as an educational expense for the kids - my kiddos are all interested in learning photoshop and illustrator, and I bet as they get older they'll want to use in design and dreamweaver as well. It works for us - $20 a month doesn't seem bad at all for all of that. I mean, I spend about $200 a month just on extracurriculars for the kids, so $20 for all of the power in the cc is really not that bad IMO.

[adrianka]

Originally Posted by DawnMarch

Well, it's good to know that there are some alternatives. I continue to hope some of the competitors will step it up a bit to cater to the "serious hobbyists" out there who want more than just a basic photo editor but won't be able to justify $20/month for PS.

I have been considering Lightroom for the photo editing portion of my workflow, but with ACR already built into PS6, there really wasn't a need for it. And Adobe hasn't guaranteed that lightroom will continue to be a freestanding "purchasable" program either, although I think they have a lot of angry photographers on their hands at the moment.

I suppose I just have to wait and see what happens. Sigh. I hate waiting and seeing.

If you have CS6, I think you have plenty of time to think. :-) In the meantime Adobe might adopt the rules based on feedback.

[heathergw]

I actually always recommend PSE... I think it's awesome and all you really need for scrapping... I do however think it has it's limits especially with photo editing... I started hitting the limits a couple years ago which is why I ended up buying CS5 but I wouldn't have bought it for full price, I thought the education discount was a lot to fork out, but I don't regret it at all and will stick to it forever... my concern is for LR... I much prefer LR over any other program even PS for photo editing and getting PL photos ready for print and tagging and just general organizing of photos especially since I shoot RAW... I do need to upgrade LR and am saving up for that, and I will be really upset if it ends up being a part of the subscriptions, because LR2 doesn't do the ready for print stuff that I need to shave about an hour off my time :/

[navaja77]

I am a GIMP user and that is all I know. I use it for scrapping and photo editing. It's true that it is NOT user friendly and you will have to dig around the web for tutorials. I have adapted photoshop tutorials for GIMP and got along fine that way. However, if you absolutely CANNOT live without styles/actions (for PS) and presets (for LR), then you may not be happy with GIMP. GIMP runs fast for me but then again, I am a NON-windows users. I have used GIMP on a Windows computer and it does run slightly slower. It's probably the same as Photoshop. GIMP does not have some of the advanced features like PS - e.g. content aware, some of the selection features, actions/styles, and probably more that I am not aware of (I have not used PS or PSE at all). But it works for me.

From a designer standpoint, hands down, you need photoshop. It's much easier with the advanced features to get what you need done for designing. GIMP would be just too many steps and you may need some of those advanced features that only PS can offer.

For RAW editing, there is a program called Darktable which is very similar to Lightroom. I have it and used it. I like it although I don't do as much RAW editing anymore. There's another program that converts the RAW so that you can use it in GIMP (similar to ACR for PS) - it's called UFRaw. I've used that and like it.

I read through the comparision that Jenn posted (GIMP vs PS vs pixelmator) and from my humble opinion, this is more for the people that would be creating (such as our designers). For scrapping and photo editing, you would not need to be creating logos. Also, GIMP is not set up to deal with vector images. I would recommend Inkscape for that (another alternative for Illustrator).

Check my gallery out if you want to see layouts in action using GIMP. All of my layouts are 100% scrapped using GIMP. I can use psd templates as well. However, GIMP does not recognize layered TIFF files so you will have to keep psd files when you use templates.

All of these alternative software that I've mentioned will likely have few tutorials or support although it does exist - just not to the extent that PS/LR/Illustrator have online. But if you're willing to learn and get through the trial and error - its a good alternative. The best part is that its available for free. However, it doesn't hurt to donate to the creators of these software - without them, none of it would exist

[navaja77]

Oh, and for me, as far as photo editing, I don't do extensive photo editing - mostly I do color correction, curves adjustment, w/b adjustments, some cloning/healing and that's about it. I try to get my photos as accurate as possible straight out of the camera (SOOC) so that I don't do much editing.

If anyone is interested, I have photos that I have done editing using GIMP and Darktable. I don't do much editing on the photos that I scrap (mostly to make sure it prints right meaning w/b and curves adjustments and make sure skin color is accurate). For my photos (that I share on my photography forum), I post process more than I normally would.

[Sarah8914]

Originally Posted by tx-nana-scraps

I used PSE4, 6, 7& 8 and when we got an offer to get PSCS 5 for $199 my Hubby bought it for me and I love it. I don't really want to go back to PSE and I don't want to pay a monthly subscription either. Plus I really don't want to try something else.

Does PSE11 allow you to play with the darkness/lightness levels or do you only have the auto buttons? I really like being able to fix my own pictures, rather than have them "automatically" adjusted?

I think I only have PSE 8 and you can adjust the levels yourself!

[LJSDesigns]

Originally Posted by DawnMarch

So, does PSP not do styles at all, or can you just not use PS styles with it? That program sounds like a possibility, but I would definitely want to be able to save some of my own shadow styles since I use them all the time.

You can not use PS styles with PSP. As a scrapper, PSP does all I need it to. I would like the ability to use styles for when I am dabbling with designing, not regular scrapping. I have no complaints with it for regular scrapping.

I've been using PSP from the beginning and have purchased PSE in the past thinking I should switch, but it was not better, so I went back to my PSP. In fact not being able to control my shadows the way I wanted made PSE worse for me. I was given a copy of Photoshop CS2 as a gift a few years back and have not done anything with it because I have been intimidated and do not want to relearn everything.

Some times I feel like an odd duck using PSP in a Photoshop world, but it works and I could afford it, so I am a content odd duck.

[LJSDesigns]

Originally Posted by AnalogPaper

That' s awesome Lorie! I think it's great that you have those skills in your back pocket

Thanks Maria. It is usually trial and error, but when I finally get it right it is sweet!

[JuliaM]

Originally Posted by Loriebug66

Some times I feel like an odd duck using PSP in a Photoshop world, but it works and I could afford it, so I am a content odd duck.

I wouldn't say your an odd duck...or I'm one as well. I've used PSP for more years than I'd care to think about. I recently bought a copy of the lastest version of PSE thinking I'd give it a try. I didn't find it any better than using PSP and, in fact, found it frustrating because things I could do so easily in PSP I had to really think about and hunt for in PSE. I've gone back to PSP for all my scrapping and only use PSE for a few actions that I have. I'm debating, right now, if I want to upgrade from PSP X4 to PSP X5.

[Stacey42]

There are various actions/styles/scripts for PSP that do what various PS styles do. It depends on what you want to do. I have a script that gives a plastic look & some that do shadows on dark or light backgrounds (but then I created my own so I use them). They are harder to find but people do sell PSP scripts.

[LJSDesigns]

Originally Posted by Stacey42

There are various actions/styles/scripts for PSP that do what various PS styles do. It depends on what you want to do. I have a script that gives a plastic look & some that do shadows on dark or light backgrounds (but then I created my own so I use them). They are harder to find but people do sell PSP scripts.

I will have to search some out. Do you have a good resource? I have been writing my own scripts lately, but have a ways to go before I consider them good.

Julia, I love PSP, I must or I would use the PSE and CS2 I have, but it still is not represented well in the digi scrapbooking world as far as tutorials and "add-ons" are concerned. I sincerely wish there were more digi scrapping resources for it. But it is a good program and one I would recommend to anyone who asks.

[MissKim]

I've used PSE since 2 or 3, I think. I have 9 now and I do edit my RAW files using it. I also have the RadLab plug in and honestly, I can't see where there's anything in Photoshop that I can't do in PSE. I do have some plug-ins that allow me to put layer styles in a separate layer but I rarely use them. I think if you're motivated, you can figure out how to do almost everything in PSE. I really enjoy PSE and can't see why I need to spend $500 more.

[DawnMarch]

I am a little leery now of getting invested in another Adobe product since I really don't trust them at this point. I assume that PSE is similar to PS and I know it isn't too expensive so it still might be worth giving it a try in the end. We'll see.

[PeggyC]

Dawn, I also now leery what Adobe might do down the road. That said my heart is broken as I have used Photoshop since PS4. Right now I'm trying to decide whether to quick upgrade to CS6 or just prepare myself for a huge learning curve into a new program as I will not pay the $20 per month subscription fee. Another issue here is my old computer. Its 8 or 9 years old and I was also thinking of getting a new one. My brother and I built the last one and we will build my next one. Some many ways to spend my $$ and oh, so little $$ !!

[origami]

Originally Posted by DawnMarch

I am a little leery now of getting invested in another Adobe product since I really don't trust them at this point. I assume that PSE is similar to PS and I know it isn't too expensive so it still might be worth giving it a try in the end. We'll see.

Are you currently using Photoshop CS5 or 6? I imagine that those will both continue to work for at least a few more years. I think there are probably people still using CS3.

Meanwhile, I think that media has been moving toward this for quite some time. People buy their music as mp3s, their books for Kindle, and apps on the iPad with no box. True, you can use all these things forever with a perpetual license, but it's just no surprise that companies don't want to deal with the expense of marketing a physical product anymore.

[newfiemountiewife]

Originally Posted by Robin Carlton

I've honestly never understood why scrappers would invest in the professional editions of Photoshop to begin with. I think it's a crazy amount of money to spend to make layouts when PSE does nearly everything you need it to for a fraction of the price. Is text on a path or shadows on a separate layer really worth $500 more? I dunno.

I also wondered this. I have the Creative Suite 5, with Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, etc, because I need it for web design and what not. But otherwise PSE would be more than adequate I would think.

I have no idea what I'm going to do. My problem is that I am planning to upgrade to a MAC, and then I will have to buy new software anyway. So I assume that I'll be stuck with CC? I don't know.

[rach3975]

Originally Posted by newfiemountiewife

My problem is that I am planning to upgrade to a MAC, and then I will have to buy new software anyway. So I assume that I'll be stuck with CC? I don't know.

I think that depends on your timeline. Adobe and other sites are still selling the boxes of CS6 that they have, but presumably there won't be more available when these are gone. Apparently the link to buy CS6 is very hard to find on Adobe's site, but it's there. Someone well known in the photography/PS community blogged about it recently and shared the link...I think it was Scott Kelby. I'll need a new computer in a year or two and was considering a Mac (though it will depend on prices when I'm ready to buy), but if things continue as they are with Adobe and PS I'd probably hold off on switching until CS6 was too old to work on even a PC.

[PeggyC]

Jamie, I noted a lot of people have stated they have already bought CS5 or CS6 and plan on using the software until their computer crashes or a new computer will no longer support the program. But that doesn't really resolve the problem, only puts it off into the future. If you are definitely upgrading to a Mac, you could go ahead and purchase CS6 now and store it on a thumb drive until you are ready for it. I've considered doing this.

[Andrea G]

I've been using CS3 since it came out (before that I was on PSE3-PSE7ish or PSE8). Now, I'm going to get CS6 and hope it never breaks. I ::need:: Bridge. I just love it.

I do wonder if someone will beef up their program to be an even better competitor then they currently are since Adobe is going to loose some of their users.

I ::get:: the subscription theory, but it just bugs me that if you stop paying you have a Rent-to-Lose situation - nothing to show for what you paid rent for 2 years or whatever length of time you used.

I also wonder if Adobe will keep increasing their prices every year. Not like the users will have any recourse - they will be completely at the mercy of Adobe. I'm not a fan of being dependent on an industry giant that has no limits or reason to protect their end user.

Just my 2 cents.