Is Adobe Photoshop CC Worth the Price?

In my previous entry, I have mentioned about all the new features provided by latest version of Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop CC. The prices for the Photoshop CC annual plan is 19.99 US dollars monthly which requires annual commitment while for month to month plan, you can enjoy the flexibility of cancel the membership any time but need to pay 29.99 US dollars monthly if you are using the Photoshop CC.

There are a lot of arguments on the internet about Adobe switching their business model to rental mode. Some of them claim the prices of Photoshop CC monthly rental is too high, and since Adobe going to run everything on Creative Cloud, customers only has one option which is subscribe for Photoshop CC if they need to use the new features provided by Photoshop CC. There are people complaining that this rental scheme is suitable for short term usage but too costly for long term usage. Well, in my opinion, you need you pay for what you want to use.

First and foremost, before we start looking at Photoshop CC with our subjective perception, let’s ask ourselves do we really need the new features provided by Adobe Photoshop CC. Creative Cloud provide on-line working, storing and sharing options for those need to work cooperative with other team-mates or in big companies. But if you are just casual users, you don’t really have to use the Creative Cloud system, and there is also other alternative software that provides that same function at lower cost. Other wonderful functions provided by Photoshop CC such as Camera Shake Reduction, Camera RAW filter or Smart Sharpen mostly used by professional photographers and designers, but if you are just a casual user, you rarely touch about these function.

If the new features provided by Photoshop CC are what you are looking for, then it is good to subscribe the Photoshop CC rental model. Furthermore, if you are a CS3 to CS6 customers, by providing the serial number of your software, you can get the limited time offer of only 9.99 US Dollar monthly for Photoshop CC subscription before 31 August 2013. I think the price is reasonable and not as high as other people say on the internet. If you need to use the new features provided by Adobe Photoshop CC and able to use them to enhance your workflow, you definitely can cover the monthly subscription fees of Photoshop CC with what you have earned. However, if you are casual users who rarely touch about these new features provided by Photoshop CC, it is good that you remain to use the current version of Photoshop you are using because it is worthless for paying monthly fee for something you do not need or rarely use.

From my point of views, we should not let our perception affected by arguments posted on the internet when we making the choice. The problem we should think of is the way we use Photoshop, do you need the new features provided or stick to the current version of Photoshop. It is very hard to say worth or not worth, depend on how you use the Photoshop.

References:

• Girard, D. (2013) Photoshop CC: modest upgrades shackled to terrible “rental” model. Available at: http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/07/photoshop-cc-modest-upgrades-shackled-to-terrible-rental-model/. [Accessed 5 August 2013] Annotation: The author of this website show his unsatisfactory about the change of Photoshop into rental model and has mention some drawback of Photoshop changing into rental model.

• Pinsky, H. (2013) Do You Really Need Photoshop CC?. Available at: http://www.iceflowstudios.com/2013/articles/do-you-really-need-photoshop-cc/. [Accessed 5 August 2013] Annotation: This website has a very clear analysis on how users should choose whether should upgrade their Photoshop into Photoshop CC or not. It has mentioned some points of view about what a user should do or should no do in making their decisions.

• Adobe.com. (2013) Buying guide | Adobe Photoshop CC. Available at: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/buying-guide.edu.html. [Accessed 5 August 2013] Annotation: This is the official Adobe Photoshop CC website where I found the price of Adobe Photoshop CC.

• Gordon, W. (2013) Rent vs. Buy: Is Adobe's Creative Cloud Subscription Cheaper than Buying Photoshop?. Available at: http://lifehacker.com/5904416/rent-vs-buy-is-adobes-creative-cloud-subscription-cheaper-than-buying-photoshop. [Accessed 5 August 2013] Annotation: This website is trying to comparing the price of new Photoshop rental scheme and old Photoshop retail scheme. It has stated that new Photoshop rental scheme is cheaper in first 3 years but will slowly become more expensive in the following years.

• Bourne, S. (2013) 10 Reasons The Haters Are Mad About Adobe Creative Cloud. Available at: http://photofocus.com/2013/05/08/10-reasons-the-haters-are-mad-about-adobe-creative-cloud/. [Accessed 5 August 2013] Annotation: The author of these website is quite aggressive in showing his opinion to the haters of Adobe Creative Cloud. He has mentioned quite a lot benefits of Adobe Creative Cloud and trying to convince people that Adobe Creative Cloud is worth buying.

• Shankland, S. (2013) How greedy is Adobe's Creative Cloud subscription? Not very. Available at: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-57583370-92/how-greedy-is-adobes-creative-cloud-subscription-not-very/. [Accessed 5 August 2013] Annotation: The author of this website showing his different view about the price of Adobe Creative Cloud subscription. He trying to show that Adobe Creative Cloud is not expensive by showing different statistics about Adobe CC series compared to olden CS series.