Advice on early 2009

You're welcome.

Kath1965 wrote:

Thanks.

Appreciate your help.

Here's another reply in that thread elsewhere where this has been discussed.

I am a freelancer, and the subscription model makes it much easier for me. I pay for the software monthly, like my cell phone or electric bill. I do not have to anticipate vaguely hinted at major upgrades, and budget the cash expenditure for them. I know exactly what my monthly expenditure will be.

I get to work with the latest software, I can use any application Adobe makes, I can download it to two computers I own, and it is platform agnostic - I can have mac/mac, mac/pc pc/pc.

The upgrades have been coming quite fast, and have all been solid, with genuine feature enhancements. The just released versions of AE and Premiere Pro, for example, have functional enhancements that would make it hard to return to the CS6 versions (which I own).

The concern of being locked into paying for use for the applications is not a problem for me. If I were to retire, close shop and drop Creative Cloud - and then be asked to re-open an old job, I can just re-subscribe for the month, and pass that charge onto the client. The month to month option is always there. And you can subscribe, month to month to just one software title, if that is all you need, at a reduced subscription fee.

Apple has never had backwards compatibility in the Pro Apps software it sells - you can't, for example, open a FCP-7 edit in FCP-X, or vice versa. You can not open a FCP-7 edit in FCP-6.

And best of all - IMHO, the creative cloud software is really good.

MtD

Unless adobe really changed things since the last time I looked at it, they basically hold your files hostage for a monthly fee. To remain editable the files have to stay .psd, but photoshop is all that can open .psd but your program will not run if you do not pay the monthly sub fee. So to keep editable access to your files you have to pay for it. (unless some other software company has come up with a work around in the past few months, if they have, I'd love to know it)

Despite what might or might not run, that subscription model of theirs is basically creative blackmail. Once you use CC you always have to pay to keep access to your files since CC will have options and plugins that CS6 can't open.

I think when we did the math for the place I work it was 50-80 per person per month for the program. And if we stopped paying, we'd lose access to 15+ years of background work. (presuming we opened any files with CC and kept them from being opened with any of the CS programs that we own.)

So, no matter the specs on a person's machine, I wouldn't recommend creative cloud to my worst enemy, because it's simply a horrible idea for anyone but Adobe.

Before anyone upgrades to CC, I'd suggest they do their homework and the math. Because you will have to pay in perpetuity to keep access to your files. If you can get CS6, get it and keep it. At least it'll keep working for a few years, perhaps long enough for Adobe to change their minds or for another company to step up and fill in the gaps.

For me, I work for a state agency with a set budget, so no client to pass expenses onto. Paying for creative cloud would mean equipment we couldn't buy or positions that'd have to be eliminated to come up with the money.

You're right, so is paying rent. You pay every month and own nothing. Logic is the same though, but we all can't afford to shell out $1300.00 + for adobe suites, so we're kind limited to "renting" it.

The full suite is still cheaper for the first year then the individual apps. 19.99 * 2 * 12 = $479.76. 29.99 * 12 = $359.88, plus your free 30 day trial.

I don't like the idea of not being able to puchase the programs either. But at some point in the future the newer OS's won't support the older CS's. Hopefully that won't be for a long time.

For me it's not too bad. I need the Master Collection and even at $600.00 per year that $1800.00 every 3 years.

Which was the upgrade cost for the newer version after 3 years. This way I also get all the improvements in real time, rather than waiting every 3 years.

Just trying to offer options

The only problem with that is if you have a client who brings you some sort CC project with the latest tweaks, you have no way of opening it. So, for a business you kind of have no choice.

For an individual, by all means stay with your current version as long as you can.

For all you anti-corporate types, there's always Linux. There's plenty of great open source programs out there to meet just about any need. I used open source software recently to create a DCP recently and worked great.

So, it comes down to use whatever solution works for you.

Just save all your work as TIF files. Yes bigger file size but can still be opened by many different programs.

In fact PS does this anyway if you select Max Compatibility and is the only way for Lightroom to see PSD files.

Different things work for different people. I can more easily 'sell' the capitol expenditure to bosses than I can monthly subscriptions.

We're also PC based so we know we'll have several years of compatibility.

In another year or two if things dont change on Adobe's end, we may need to start shopping for alternative programs.

OWC is a very good source for reasonably priced, very reliable Mac compatible RAM. I'd max out the RAM, whatever it is for your model. Call OWC; they can tell you.

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/apple/memory/iMac

I still have 4GB RAM in my 2008. It runs Photoshop and Illustrator fine. You can get by with 4GB. If you can afford 8GB go ahead. More is always better.

Check out OWC for ram.