Adobe Creative Cloud

[Nettio]

So I swear there was a thread about this before but I can't find it so I'm starting a new one, haha.

Has anyone here signed up for Adobe's Creative Cloud over buying Photoshop, etc outright? How do you like it?

I currently use the CS3 Creative Suite and I'm trying to decide what I want to do since I have to upgrade to CS6 by the end of year or else I lose the option to upgrade. In the short run Creative Cloud would definitely be cheaper ($360 the first year vs $699 to upgrade) but not actually owning anything makes me a little nervous.

[BrattyMeg]

Pretty sure Traci has it. I've thought about it since we can get student/teacher pricing but I'm in the same boat as you with putting money somewhere but not ever owning it. There's some really cool programs with it though.

[Traci Reed]

I love it. I get it for $20/month, get every program that adobe makes, and by the time I pay for photoshop ALONE, CS7 will be out and I'll get to upgrade to that when it's available. Plus, there are cool programs you can only get on the cloud, like Muse.

[Darcy Baldwin]

But isn't the upgrade only $125?

[Nettio]

Yeah, there's some programs I think I would use that I wouldn't likely ever pay for. My concern is that Adobe isn't really known for affordable products so what happens if they jack up the price at some point. For those of you with the student/teacher it's less of a concern but since I don't have access to that, I'd be paying at least $50 after the first year.

Does anyone know how the new upgrade policy works? Like do the 0.5 releases count towards that in terms of having to have the most recent version to upgrade?

[Traci Reed]

You can't upgrade student versions, plus with cloud you get ALLLLLLLLL the products, it's ridic.

[Nettio]

Originally Posted by Darcy Baldwin

But isn't the upgrade only $125?

No, because I don't just have Photoshop, I have the full creative suite. So to upgrade from CS3 to CS6 Design Standard it's showing $699 for me.

[Nettio]

Originally Posted by Traci Reed

You can't upgrade student versions, plus with cloud you get ALLLLLLLLL the products, it's ridic.

You can upgrade student versions unless they changed that when they changed the upgrade policy. There's no discount for the upgrade though - it's the regular upgrade price which is pretty much the student price in the first place.

[Nettio]

Originally Posted by Traci Reed

plus with cloud you get ALLLLLLLLL the products, it's ridic.

True, plus there's rumors they'll be releasing some features early to cloud users before CS7 comes out.

[Darcy Baldwin]

Originally Posted by Nettio

No, because I don't just have Photoshop, I have the full creative suite. So to upgrade from CS3 to CS6 Design Standard it's showing $699 for me.

Ahh - I only have CS3 and wasn't planning on upgrading to the suite. and it's $199, not $125. I had it wrong in my notes.

[Nettio]

Originally Posted by Darcy Baldwin

Ahh - I only have CS3 and wasn't planning on upgrading to the suite.

Where did you find the $125 price? Because when I put in my info for just Photoshop (not extended), it says $199.

ETA: Haha, I see I asked as the same time you corrected your post. I thought maybe there was a secret deal I didn't know about. Either way it's annoyingly not cheap, LOL.

[YepBrook]

We subbed to the cloud and love it! I really only use photoshop, but DH uses a lot of the other Adobe programs, so it was a logical choice for us. I really don't know any details, but I can ask DH to chime in.

[Julie Billingsley]

Originally Posted by Nettio

o to upgrade from CS3 to CS6 Design Standard it's showing $699 for me.

at that price, I'd highly consider taking any community college class and thus be able to qualify for educational pricing. It would be cheaper!

[Traci Reed]

^^WSS

[k23m]

Originally Posted by Julie Billingsley

at that price, I'd highly consider taking any community college class and thus be able to qualify for educational pricing. It would be cheaper!

I think you have to be taking at least a 2 year degree course to qualify. I *think*!

I had actually never heard of this Creative Cloud before - its an interesting idea...but $50/month! Yikes....

[Amber1279]

i signed up for the cloud too ... love it so far

[Traci Reed]

Originally Posted by k23m

I think you have to be taking at least a 2 year degree course to qualify. I *think*!

I had actually never heard of this Creative Cloud before - its an interesting idea...but $50/month! Yikes....

Nope...elementary schools count too My son's was even on their list LOL

[Julie Billingsley]

Originally Posted by k23m

I think you have to be taking at least a 2 year degree course to qualify. I *think*!

Here is what a person needs for verification to get academic pricing (per Academic Superstore)

College Students/Parents- You will need one of the following documents:
Dated Student ID from the current semester or school year
Course Schedule
Registration Receipt for this semester
Letter of Enrollment on school letterhead

K12 Student/Parents- You will need one of the following documents:
Report Card
Dated Student ID from the current semester or school year
Registration Receipt
Letter of Enrollment on school letterhead

So, it's super awesome that they don't put extra rules on the academic pricing. If a person doesn't have a child in school, it's likely cheaper to take a community college class for a term to qualify for the academic pricing than to pay full price. However that cloud option does seem appealing.

[YepBrook]

It does hike up to $50/month after the first year. All upgrades are included at no additional price. But, you don't actually own it. It's like you're renting it. Once you upgrade to a newer version (ie CS7) you can't go back to the older version if you change computers.

[kelley]

I didn't even take the time to figure out what the cloud was. It sounds neat, but I don't know if would want to do a monthly fee. I have CS5 right now that I got on ed discount. I'd like to upgrade, but I'm cheap and figured I'd wait till next release.

[Nettio]

Originally Posted by Julie Billingsley

at that price, I'd highly consider taking any community college class and thus be able to qualify for educational pricing. It would be cheaper!

I don't actually think that would be cheaper considering a single semester hour at the community college here is $307. So even if CS6 was $400, it would work out the same.

Really I think I'd be sold on Creative Cloud if there was an exit strategy out of it. Like if it was more rent to own than rent, haha. I just hate the idea that if I no longer wanted to pay for it, I wouldn't even be able to open my files anymore.

[Julie Billingsley]

Originally Posted by Nettio

I don't actually think that would be cheaper considering a single semester hour at the community college here is $307. So even if CS6 was $400, it would work out the same.

yikes!!! It's $82 a credit here and there are lots of 1 credit classes.

[Nettio]

Originally Posted by Julie Billingsley

yikes!!! It's $82 a credit here and there are lots of 1 credit classes.

Yeah, the problem is you don't get a discount unless you take a full load of classes. So 15 semester hours is only $1004 but it's a flat rate of $480 for up to 6 units.

[NeverendingJen]

As much as I like the idea of the cloud, I'm just going to pay out of pocket for the upgrade because I don't like the idea of paying 50/month after the first year- that means I'm out of pocket $600 the second year alone for the cloud, and that covers my upgrade fees.

[Nettio]

Originally Posted by NeverendingJen

As much as I like the idea of the cloud, I'm just going to pay out of pocket for the upgrade because I don't like the idea of paying 50/month after the first year- that means I'm out of pocket $600 the second year alone for the cloud, and that covers my upgrade fees.

Exactly. Except that with the changes they've made to the upgrade policy, you now have to upgrade with each version or lose the option of upgrading. That's why I was wondering about their upgrade cycle - like how often do I have to pay to upgrade and is it more or less than the ongoing cost of Creative Cloud.

Most likely I'll probably upgrade to CS6 and then decide later so I at least have the option. Because if I don't upgrade from CS3 now, I'd be stuck with Creative Cloud.

Thanks for all the input everyone!

[NeverendingJen]

Yeah, I'm really not NEEDING an upgrade from 4, but I'm upgrading to 6 so I'm not stuck after this year and at least have the option. I'm really not happy with their new upgrade policy.

[Beth Swann]

I have CS4 now. So, I have to upgrade before the year's over otherwise purchase the entire upgraded program outright?

[NeverendingJen]

yes Beth, that's their new stupid policy. It's the only reason I am upgrading this year.

[Nettio]

Originally Posted by Beth Swann

I have CS4 now. So, I have to upgrade before the year's over otherwise purchase the entire upgraded program outright?

Yes, you only have until the end of December to upgrade or you have to buy a new copy. After this, only people with the newest version will be eligible to upgrade. So CS6 will be eligible to upgrade to CS7 but CS5 would not.

[Beth Swann]

Thanks, ladies!

I forgot to mention I have the CS4 Extended Version that Academic Superstore sold to me, which I believe might be the student/teacher edition since I received the educational discount about 3 years ago.

What are my upgrading options in terms of a timeline and expenses? Gosh, I am lost! Yikes!

[KateD]

My understanding is that the academic versions aren't eligible for upgrades, but others have said differently. Your best bet is probably to contact Adobe customer service and ask them.

[Nettio]

Originally Posted by KateD

My understanding is that the academic versions aren't eligible for upgrades, but others have said differently. Your best bet is probably to contact Adobe customer service and ask them.

I don't know why there's always confusion about this. Adobe answers it directly on their website. I feel like this needs to be copied into a Scrapbookers FAQ or something.

From Adobe...

Can I upgrade my Adobe Student and Teacher Edition software?
Adobe Student and Teacher Edition software can be upgraded to a commercial version when the user is no longer a student or teacher.

So YES, you can upgrade a Student/Teacher version but there is no special education upgrade discount. The cost of the upgrade is usually about what you pay for the full Student/Teacher version, sometimes more. So if you still have access to an education discount, you may want to see if it's cheaper to just buy CS6 outright over upgrading because sometimes it is.

ETA: Oh and as far as timelines, you have until the end of the year to upgrade CS3 or CS4 to CS6 without losing upgrade eligibility. But like I said, if you're still eligible for the education discount, it might not matter since you could just buy it whenever you wanted.

[KateD]

Lynnette, I do remember seeing that on the Adobe website. I guess the way I internalized it is that the academic version wasn't eligible for upgrade because I was still eligible for academic pricing.

[Nettio]

Originally Posted by KateD

Lynnette, I do remember seeing that on the Adobe website. I guess the way I internalized it is that the academic version wasn't eligible for upgrade because I was still eligible for academic pricing.

Right, but I don't think that's how most people take it when you say the education version isn't eligible to upgrade. It is. It just might be a better deal for you to go with repurchasing the education version instead which is a different statement. But the reality is most people around here have ongoing access to the education version so there's only probably a few of us around here who the distinction makes a difference to anyway. My CS3 was an education version so when you say it's not eligible to upgrade, it makes me panic a bit thinking I'll have to spend $$$$ to replace it.

[Beth Swann]

Thanks, ladies! Sounds like I don't have to be in any rush to upgrade with the student/teacher edition since I will be eligible for the discount for quite some time. Good to know!