Adobe CC Subscription Service

[Clint Mitchell]

So I was going to post this on the end of the other small discussion we had on this, but I can't find it.

So it appears that you will be (sneakily) forced to take out the Adobe subscription when you upgrade a.) your work station, b.) your operating system. So realistically seeing as our workstations will inevitably become obsolete at some point in our lives if we want to continue using Adobe software we will have to subscribe.

My main suggestion that there is possibly a sneaky ploy occurring here is that my PS etc was running fine until I upgraded to the new Mac OSX Mavericks. Which incidentally is a completely free upgrade to the operating system and if I'm honest is a breath of fresh air with it's stability but now my Adobe suite is buggy as hell and and the only way to update it with fixes for these issues is to subscribe. It strikes me as 'slightly iffy' that a new free operating system upgrade could cause such bugginess with the Adobe suite that it suggests the possibility of some prior canoodling between the two companies to try and force the hand of most professional users who had not done so to upgrade to the subscription service.

I would take the plunge but it's the pricing schemes that piss me off. My work is as a freelance so realistically I can't make the kind of commitment to the annual contract monthly charge of about £46.88. Which leaves me with the non contractual monthly charge of £70.32 a month to consider. Which if I'm honest on top of all of the other things that need to be paid for in life is a bit steep especially when freelance work does not pay all too well. Put it this way it's a considerable new outgoing to take into consideration. I can't stand having my hand forced to do something but this time Adobe are literally forcing me out of the game unless I subscribe to their scumbag subscription service. I bet they still have not ironed out some of the accuracy issues with Illustrator.

So we will all have to at some point and just wanted to know your views.

[inkworm]

Firstly what accuracy issues with Illy, I'm not aware of anything but may have missed something.

I really am opposed to this method of how Adobe are working, yes their software is excellent and everyone now knows at least one of the CS packages which generally are quite friendly once you've learnt one. With a family my overheads have to be kept to an absolute minimum and I don't think at the moment I could justify the prices they are asking. It seems that Adobe now are only really caring about the large graphics companies that somehow have pots of money to still throw around. Despite the spin there is still the effects of the recession being felt by most of us.

However as much as I hate it I can see why Adobe have done it. Recent versions of Photoshop and Illy (probably the others as well) have only had alterations that are non essential and don't actually justify the outlay. The software has to an extent got very bloated and stagnant. But Adobe still need to make money as they are a company which is driven ultimately by profits. A nice regular monthly cash flow instead of a large injection on new releases would certainly keep their accounts department happy and allow for the level of complacency that we once saw with Quark when that dominated the DTP market.

I still don't like it though.

[Clint Mitchell]

Illustrator issues: You have to zoom right in and double check everything that needs to be precise. The snapping to path/point is woefully flawed. A point will snap to a snapperble element but when you zoom in it's no where near exactly on the point it was required to snap to. You just can't trust it when creating accurate artwork. The issue arose after Illustrator 8 because it was perfect before then. You just can't trust it at the moment.

Please see:
Adobe Community: Precise snapping to guides and points, Smart Guides do not work properly!

As for the software becoming stagnant I agree in a print sense because in reality how far can new tools in that medium be taken? But they are venturing into other worlds. They have conquered the Web design world and are now making attempts at entering the 3D world with direct texture painting.

Sadly they have done it because they can. The same as the petrol, gas, electricity, and water companies. They have got us by the balls. I feel sorry for the 3D guys because they will have to add another package to their monthly subscription outgoings if things continue the way they are heading because 3D Studio Max has opted to do the same thing.

[inkworm]

Oh that, I've been doing what you say for so long I don't even think about zooming in as an issue it's become so normal now. My fault I guess for accepting second rate tools.

My biggest issue is the lack of consistency on hotkeys between illustrator and photoshop, I use them a lot but still sometimes have to remember that M selection or drawing a square.

Wish they'd sort out the crap vector tools in Photoshop as well, they've had long enough to get it right in Illustrator so why not Photy? Tool groupings as well are weird as well.

Don't tell Ronnie about Max what ever you do.

[Clint Mitchell]

He knows.

[adlabs6]

My Adobe software is old versions, and shall remain such. I do not work for any company or agency which requires specific file formats, so I am free to choose my tools.

As many on this forum know, I learned GIMP years ago and still use it for anything from photo adjustments to that racing bike illustration I did last year.

[jannatul18]

I am not interested personally to upgrade my adobe version now as I am not finding any problem to use it. Besides that I guess there is not much difference in elements among all versions of adobe.