Photoshop and the Adobe Creative Cloud Myth
At my Photoshop seminars last week in Boston and Washington DC, three questions came up again and again from the seminar participants and so I thought I’d address them here:
(1) Photoshop CS6 doesn’t run in your Web browser
The first one is a myth going around that if you get the Creative Cloud version of Photoshop you run it in your Web browser. Good news — it is NOT a web-based application — it’s the same Photoshop that works the same way as if you had bought it in a box at your local computer store —- but now you just download it from the Web (er, the Adobe Cloud) and install it on your computer just like you do with about any software program these days.
I think what throws people off is the word “Cloud” and when we think “Cloud” we think “Web-based”, and while there is a cloud-component and features that come as part of a membership to Adobe’s Creative Cloud, that’s just to extend the power and workflow of Adobe’s applications — they are not Web based applications. So why did Adobe use the word Cloud at all? My guess is, Wall Street loves anything with the word “Cloud” in it (I’m judging by the number of backlit ads I see in airports touting different companies “Cloud integration” or “Cloud Solutions” or “Cloud Cloudiness”).
I think probably the biggest benefit (well, it is for me anyway) of Creative Cloud membership is that you get new Photoshop features as soon as they’re ready — you don’t have to wait 18 months to two years before you get new features — they just release these new features via updates from the cloud as soon as they’re fully baked. I’ve been on the Creative Cloud since it came out (I even told the crowd — the version of Photoshop I’ve been using all day today is the Creative Cloud version, and they seemed relieved).
(2) If you don’t have CS6, you can rent just Photoshop CS6 alone for $20 a month
This shocked a lot of folks (especially folks on Photoshop Elements or who just had Lightroom that thought they’d never be able to afford the full Photoshop). This isn’t a stripped down version, or trial version or any of those other myths — it’s the full-blown Photoshop CS6 (including the new DSLR Video editing features) that we all use everyday.
(3) A whole BUNCH of folks didn’t know Adobe cut Lightroom 4’s price in half!
I was surprised at how many folks didn’t realize that Lightroom 4 isn’t $299 any more. A while back Adobe lowered the price to just $149.99 (which is awesome — yay Adobe), but Lightroom 4 is also now included as part of the full Creative Cloud membership, so if you’re already a full Adobe Creative Cloud member (so you’re not just renting Photoshop by itself) then you can just go and download the full Lightroom 4 right now. Sweet, right? Oh yeah!
Anyway, that’s just a few of the things that kept coming up in Boston and again in DC last week so I thought I’d share them here. How software is sold and delivered is changing just like everything else in technology these days, and I know it’s hard to keep with it all (it’s a struggle for me, and I have lots of help), so I hope you find these helpful (lot’s more on the whole Creative Cloud thing over on Adobe’s site).
Note: In re-reading these three points, they sound a little “pluggy” but just so you know, I don’t get a kick-back, commission, or anything else from Adobe if you buy Photoshop, Lightroom or the Creative Cloud, which if you ask me is a doggone shame! LOL!.