Photoshop and Adobe’s Promise of The Creative Cloud

After Adobe’s launch of the latest version of Photoshop CC on Wednesday, I saw some comments (and some grumbling) from folks who were complaining that Adobe hadn’t really been “fulfilling the promise” of the Creative Cloud which was for us not to have to wait 18-24 months for Adobe to release any new Photoshop features, but instead they’d release regular updates to Creative Cloud subscribers as soon as the features were ready.

I also saw people asking “Well if Adobe has been releasing features regularly, why did they have this big launch event?” I didn’t ask Adobe this question directly, but I can tell you my thoughts on why I think they had to do it.

The invisible feature updates
I sat in numerous one-on-one meetings with Adobe and I talked frankly about what I saw as the biggest problem with the frequent feature updates idea. It’s great for people who are subscribed to the Creative Cloud; they log in one day and they get a little pop-up notice that says something like “Hey, you’ve got new features in Photoshop!” (but in a much more corporate way).  That’s awesome, right? So they go download the latest version (it’s a free update), and they have all these features and improvements and tweaks.

But if you’re not a Creative Cloud subscriber, not only do you not get the updatesâ¦you don’t even realize that there were updates. There’s no big product launch â” no new name â” all the blogs aren’t buzzing about the new features, so for people outside the Creative Cloud, this release of great new set of features is invisible. It’s as if they never happened. It’s one thing not to get them â” it’s another thing not to even know they existed.

This didn’t happen back when Adobe had a clear version numbering system 
If you were on Photoshop CS2 and then CS3 came out â” everybody knew it. There was a big launch â” all the sites were talking about it â” it was huge. Now, it’s like the features silently sneak onto your computer at night while you’re sleeping. This is why I think Adobe did this launch-style event. So it’s not just the current Creative Cloud subscribers that realize there are a bunch of new Photoshop (and other CC app) features â” now the whole world knows again.

Now, the fact that Adobe chose to call this “The 2014 version of Photoshop CC” isâ¦wellâ¦ummm. I don’t get it. There’s only six more months left in 2014. What will they call it in January of 2015. Or February? Will will be in 2015 and Adobe is still offering just the 2014 version of Photoshop CC? Will we all be using “last year’s” Photoshop?

If they wait to do another big launch like this next year around the same time, we’ll spend at least half of 2015 using software that’s already sounds out-of-date. Why didn’t Adobe do what car manufacturers do? If you go buy a new car today, you be getting the 2015 Ford Fiesta or the 2015 Toyota Camry. That’s why I don’t understand why Adobe chose to back-date this release. It should have been “The 2015 version of Photoshop CC” so it feels like we’re using the software of the future, especially when it becomes 2015. I am stepping off the soapbox now (especially since it’s probably too late anyway, but at least I got it off my chest).

So what have they added, and when did they add it?
I did a little digging to see if I could find a running list of which features Adobe had actually added to Photoshop since the initial Creative Cloud version launch back in 2013, and when I found the page on Adobe’s site that listed them all, even I was surprised how many features have been released, and this have all been within just the last year. Here’s the full list (from Adobe’s site) with a list of what features have been added and when they were added. Hope you find it helpful:

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June 18, 2014
Photoshop CC (2014)

Smart Object improvements
Maintain the links to external files by automatically packaging them in a single directory. You can also convert your existing embedded Smart Objects to linked Smart Objects. See how it works

Improved Layer Comps
Save time now that you can change the visibility, position, or appearance of one layer in a Layer Comp and then sync that change to all the others. Plus, easily see the attributes of each Layer Comp, and toggle a Layer Comp within a Smart Object. See how it works

Blur Gallery motion effects
Use Path Blur to add blur along any path and Spin Blur to create circular or elliptical blurs. The Mercury Graphics Engine makes all Blur Gallery interactions fast and fluid. See how it works

Focus Mask
Let Photoshop help you start a mask by automatically selecting the in-focus areas of your image. Focus Mask works great with potraits and other images that have shallow depth of field, and the Mercury Graphics Engine delivers fast performance.

Improvements to Content-Aware technology
New technology in Content-Aware Fill, Move, and Patch smoothly blends areas containing gradients, like skies, so you can create seamless, realistic results like never before. See how it works

Smarter Smart Guides
Forget trying to align multiple shapes or objects at exact distances from one another on canvas. Now you can quickly see the distance in pixels between objects so you can lay out content with precision. See how it works

Desktop fonts from Typekit
Choose the fonts you need from the Typekit library, sync them to your desktop, and get immediate access to them in your Photoshop font menu. Photoshop will even automatically replace missing fonts in your documents. See how it works

Font Search
Search for fonts by name, and see instant previews of each font to zero in on the perfect one. See how it works

Expanded 3D printing capabilities
Now you can see exactly where and how Photoshop repaired your 3D meshes so it’s easy to refine your designs in third-party 3D modeling apps. Get more accurate renderings of your models prior to printing thanks to WYSIWYG previews. And get support for more 3D printers and service providers. See how it works

Adobe Generator enhancements
Simplify the process of naming Generator assets and get greater flexibility in organizing the output from Generator by setting document-wide defaults, and by specifying subfolders for exported assets. Generator also offers new APIs so developers can create even more powerful plug-ins. See how it works

Adobe Camera Raw 8 enhancements
Heal images, fix perspective distortions, and create vignettes with greater precision. Plus, access an interactive histogram, before/after previews, and more. See how it works

Improved Windows 8.1 stylus support
Get to work quickly and comfortably with your stylus on Windows 8.1 devices, and enjoy smoother brush strokes thanks to higher-frequency sampling.

Expanded Mercury Graphics Engine support
Upsample images up to 15 times faster (depending on file size and video card configuration) now that the Mercury Graphics Engine delivers an OpenCL performance boost. The engine powers new Blur Gallery motion effects and the Focus Mask feature, too.

Experimental features
A new preference setting allows you to test drive and help shape new Photoshop features before they're officially released.

Intelligent upsampling, even faster
Enlarge a low-res image so it looks great in print, or start with a larger image and blow it up to poster or billboard size. Upsampling preserves detail and sharpness without introducing noise, and now you get even more immediate results thanks to an OpenCL boost from the Mercury Graphics Engine. See how it works

Workflow Enhancements
Work faster and smarter thanks to new feature enhancements throughout your workflows. Now you have access to an expanded Color Panel; you can access your most recently used brushes, sync your workspaces, keyboard shortcuts, and menu customizations with Sync Settings; and more.

And so much more
Also includes: support for very large PNG files; the ability to export 3D LUTs; support for new video formats including Sony RAW and Canon RAW; and more. See full release notes

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JAN. 15, 2014
Photoshop CC (14.2)

Perspective Warp
Adjust the perspective of a specific part of your image without affecting the surrounding area. Change the viewpoint from which an object is seen. For example, turn a telephoto shot into a wide-angle shot, or vice versa. And seamlessly composite images with different vanishing points or camera positions. See how it works

Linked Smart Objects
Improve collaboration and work more efficiently. Use linked Smart Objects that reference files stored on your local system or network drive, and thus can be repurposed across multiple Photoshop documents. You get smaller files and save hard-disk space as well. See how it works

3D printing
Visualize your 3D designs in the real world using 3D printing in Photoshop. Easily create, refine, and preview your design, and then print models directly to a locally connected 3D printer or online service. See how it works

Faster performance
Get better responsiveness when editing with key tools like Smart Sharpen, Liquify, and Puppet Warp. A next-generation Adobe Mercury Graphics Engine delivers more immediate results with OpenCL, even when editing your largest files.

Enhanced Scripted Patterns and Fills
Preview your Scripted Pattern fills and refine them with new controls. Fill along a path; and generate customizable frames, borders, and nearly two dozen unique tree graphics. for new creative options. See how it works

Workflow enhancements
Save time on common tasks, thanks to small but frequently requested features from users like you. Create paths more easily with new modifier keys, move a path with the spacebar, and more. See how it works

Faster performance with Mercury Graphics Engine
Get better responsiveness when editing with key tools like Upsample, Blur Gallery, Smart Sharpen, Blur Gallery, Liquify, and Puppet Warp. A next-generation Adobe Mercury Graphics Engine delivers more immediate results with OpenCL, even when editing your largest files.

And so much more
Also included: performance boosts for Smart Sharpen, Adobe Generator improvements for rescaling Smart Objects and adding padding, and improved font transformations and shape selections. See full release notes

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September 08, 2013
Photoshop CC (14.1)

Adobe Generator
Adobe Generator technology gives developers deeper access to Photoshop files, paving the way for intelligent tools that automate time-consuming tasks and provide easier workflows. See how it works

Real-time image asset generation
Skip the hassle of manual asset slicing and export when designing for screens. As you work, Photoshop CC uses Adobe Generator technology to save tagged layers and layer groups as individual image files in formats you choose, all collected in a single folder.

And so much more
Also included: improvements to Camera Shake Reduction, including UI enhancements and HiDPI preview support for retina display; new controls to modify the range and fuzziness for Shadows, Highlights, and Midtones; and more. See full release notes

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June 17, 2013
Photoshop CC (14)

All-new Smart Sharpen
Rich textures, crisp edges, and distinct details. All-new Smart Sharpen is the most advanced sharpening technology available today. It analyzes images to maximize clarity and minimize noise and halos, and it lets you fine-tune for high-quality, natural-looking results. See how it works

Camera Shake Reduction
Save shots you thought were lost due to camera motion. Whether your blur was caused by slow shutter speed or a long focal length, Camera Shake Reduction analyzes its trajectory and helps restore sharpness. See how it works

Adobe Camera Raw 8 and Camera Raw as a filter
Apply Camera Raw edits as a filter to any layer or file, and then enhance them any way you want. And with new Adobe Camera Raw 8, you get more precise ways to heal images, fix perspective distortions, and create vignettes. See how it works

Image resizing improvements
The Image Size command now includes a method to Preserve Details and provide better sharpness while enlarging images. In addition, the Image Size dialog box has been updated for ease of use. See how it works

Editable rounded rectangles
Resize shapes, edit them, and re-edit them â” before or after they’re created. Even edit individual corner radiuses in rounded rectangles. If a shape is bound for the web, export CSS data from the file to save time. See how it works

Multi-shape and path selection
Select multiple paths, shapes, and vector masks at once. Even in multilayered documents with lots of paths, you can easily target the path (and any layer) you want right on canvas using a new filter mode. See how it works

Adobe Edge Reflow CC integration
With just a click, bring the assets from your Photoshop mockup into Edge Reflow CC to quickly adjust your layouts to fit all your desired devices. It's responsive web design made easier by Adobe Generator.

Extended features included
Photoshop CC now includes the advanced 3D editing and image analysis tools that were previously in Photoshop Extended.

System anti-aliasing for type
Get a realistic preview of how your type will look on the web with an option that closely matches the anti-aliasing of your Mac or Windows system. See how it works

Behance integration
Share projects directly from within Photoshop to your Behance portfolio. See how it works

Sync settings
Synchronize your workspace settings â” including preferences, brushes, and actions â” across multiple computers. See how it works

Expanded Smart Object support
Apply Blur Gallery and Liquify effects nondestructively thanks to Smart Object support. Your original file stays intact as you add blur effects or push, pull, pucker, or bloat the image or video. Edit or remove the effects at any time â” even after saving your file. See how it works

Improved 3D painting
Live previews are now up to 100x faster and more responsive when you paint on 3D objects and texture maps. With the powerful Photoshop painting engine, you can make any 3D model look terrific. See how it works

Improved type styles
You spend hours getting text to look just right. Type styles let you save your formatting as a preset that you can then apply with just a click. You can even define type styles to use across all your Photoshop documents. See how it works

Enhanced CSS support
Import color swatches directly from HTML, CSS, or SVG to easily match existing web schemes. Generate CSS code for colors and other design elements, like rounded corners, and then copy and paste the code into your web editor to get the exact results you want. See how it works

Conditional Actions
Put routine processing jobs on autopilot with Conditional Actions. These commands use if/then statements to automatically choose between different actions based on rules you set up. Learn more

Improved 3D Scene panel
Make a smoother transition from 2D to 3D editing with a 3D Scene panel that has many of the options you already know from the Layers panel, like Duplicate, Instance, Groups, and Delete. See how it works

Minimum/Maximum filter enhancements
Create more precise masks and selections with more powerful Minimum and Maximum filters, which now include options to preserve squareness or roundness.

Workflow timesavers
Work faster and smarter thanks to feature enhancements throughout the app. Access the expanded Color Panel as well as your most recently used brushes; sync your workspaces, keyboard shortcuts, and menu customizations with Sync Settings; and more.

And so much more
Also included: Support for Indic languages; export CSS code directly from layers or groups; enhancements to preset migration; and more. See full release notes

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Honestly, I was pretty surprised when I saw how long this list was, and I’m a bit embarrassed to see a few features in there that I hadn’t realized had been added, but there’s an awful lot there (which I think is a good thing) so I’m using that as my “get out of jail free” card.

I hope this list helps you get a better overview of what Adobe has been doing, and how the promise of the Creative Cloud has been developing.

We Put Together a “Creative Cloud Resource Center”
If you want to see all the new features in Photoshop, and all the rest of the Creative Suite Apps (everything from InDesign to Illustrator to Muse, Premiere Pro and more), we (the crew here at KelbyOne) put together a kick-butt online Creative Cloud Resource Center — completely free â” where you can check out a ton of short concise little clips on all the new CC features, improvements and stuff. Here’s the link.

Wait! One more thing
I don’t know if you caught this important little news nugget with all the big announcements and stuff, but Adobe announced that it has now made that “Photographer’s Bundle” deal (Photoshop CC and Lightroom plus Lightroom mobile for the iPad and iPhone for $9.99 a month) a permanent thing (and not just a limited time offer).The official name for it is the “Adobe Creative Cloud Photography plan” and here’s a link to all the details.

Hope you all have an awesome weekend, and we’ll see you back here on Monday.

Best,

-Scott 

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  1. For the photographer’s bundle, the difference with this one is you get 2GB of the creative cloud storage where as the previous offer had 20GB… still a good deal, and good to know it’s permanent.

  2. The whole update thing was weird. I have the CS6 Design (Ps, Ai, Id) and Photography CC bundles on my computer. The cloud updated yesterday and disappeared. It was back today and when I clicked on update all it also downloaded trial versions of InDesign and Illustrator CC. I also noticed that I have Photoshop CC and CC 2014. I guess I have to do some cleanup and unload the older and trial CC versions. Slightly irritating as I just spent several hours cleaning up my hard drive the other day.

    1. Same here. all the CC 2014 trial versions of my CS6 apps installed along with Photoshop CC 2014. Uninstalled the trial versions but they still appear as updates in my CC Control Panel. Spent the morning with Adobe live support trying to stop the Update appearing, apparently you can’t.

    1. If you keep your plugins in a separate folder, you will probably have to update your preferences to point the new version to the folder, otherwise you will have to move the plugins to the new version. Haven’t actually tested any to see if there is an issue.

    2. Ken, I have the OnOne suite and the Nik Collection installed with PS 2014, and I haven’t noticed any issues. I did a reinstall of both plug-ins. One bug that I did notice (and OnOne mentioned it on their blog yesterday) was that the floating panel for the OnOne plug-ins doesn’t appear and you can’t activate it (Window/Extensions is greyed out). You can still get to the plug-ins through the Edit/Automate menu, though. OnOne will be issuing a patch in the near future.

      –John

  3. I can’t believe the amount of updates that came out either. 90% I will never use but good to know they are there. I just wish they would make a bundle for CC, Bridge, and one other app. All I use is CC, Bridge and Dreamweaver and to have to pay $54 a month is crazy.

    1. Bridge is a free add-on to Photoshop isn’t it?
      Could you get the $9.99 deal (even though you don’t need Lightroom) and then get a single app subscription for Dreamweaver?
      Then you’d pay $29.98 per month… Not sure if it’s possible though.

      1. I’m certain it is once you have Photoshop.
        It’s available for “install” on my CC subscription rather than “try” like all the other major applications.

        I’ve also heard Scott and Matt say “there’s a reason why Bridge is free” about 100 times on The Grid before.

  4. Updates are always nice – happy to know they’re busy making things nice and shiny. My only issue here is that the new version lost a lot of important things I use within photoshop. My plugins and everything are gone – even my metadata presets, although I did the “preset migration” thing – so it appears as though I have to go through and manually redo all of that, which I thought was part of the point of having things updating via Creative Cloud. It’s not the end of the world, but it is a pain and seems like something that should have either been dealt with or at least openly pointed out in advance.

    1. I currently store and use my plugins from an external hard drive. Seems to work for me. A friend who quit using the cloud and went to CS6 on a disk had that happen on EVERY update. It reset everything, she lost her images, and everything whenever they did any updates. She went to Adobe support and had to restore her Mac because the tech didn’t know what he was doing, and the problem STILL happened. She had so much down time because of those issues that she bought the disk version of CS6 just so she could get back to work – and it cost her thousands of dollars between the program and the lost work, and down time, not to mention work created on the cloud that she did not have access to after that. Scared me into going to CS6 on disk.

  5. Stay up on that soapbox. I had several team members come into my office yesterday asking why the recent auto updated added a second Ps install dated 2014. Without seeing the press release, it was not clear what happened. CC2 would have been easier to explain but they do date the versions of their camera profiles in Lr/ACR.

  6. Wow, that’s a comprehensive list. A lot of cool improvements. I love the new Content Aware enhancement. BTW, the KelbyOne CC Resource Center is really helpful and it’s very easy to navigate. Kudos to your web team.

    Have an awesome weekend! I’m sure that new Fender Strat won’t be far away from you. :-)

    –John

  7. Excellent list Scott. There are some of those updates I know nothing about using them. One thing I don’t understand is why we have PS-CC and PS-CC 2014 on our computers. Should we be deleting the PS-CC … I’m just confused. Also, I didn’t get to watch the announcement, did they indicate that those already signed up for the photography CC are now permanent with the pricing? There was a glitch with the update to LR 5 using the Creative Cloud update. After updating, It would flash the splash screen, but not launch. I did find the remedy to solve the problem. You have to uninstall the CC update to LR 5.5, then go to Adobe and download the latest version and install it. Adobe is working on the CC update to see why it didn’t work successfully.

    Thanks again for the list! Good stuff.

    Dennis

    1. Did not work for me; I tried that and it went right back to the Cloud product, then looked like I had installed two copies. There is a suggestion involving Adobe Store, but that may or may not work.

      They should have did their normal community beta testing!!

  8. I sort of wish Scott had mentioned the Lightroom 5.5 Launch that went so bad for many and messed up for me the entire launch of products. I also wish he would make some comments on the off shore support that has, in my own experience proven less than stellar. The rep I had just suddenly decided to leave after giving me a link to Adobe cleaner, which proved to be NOT what I needed (and the instructions for use are not up to date) and never addressed the fact Lightroom 5.5 would not run on my computer and apparently the computers of many others. Photoshop CC 2014 installed on my system just fine; except for installing as a second copy and wasting drive space.

    I was able to find some suggestions for the Lightroom issue as well as a comment Adobe is investigating the issue. The suggestions did not fully apply to my computer.

    OK, why do I mention this? I do because it is fairly clear Adobe did not do their normal Community testing for Lightroom 5.5 as a beta and then OK, we are going to have a big launch and unfortunately it is going to include one “apparently” not widely tested product. So in conclusion, they seem to have had enough “luck” with their normal set of beta testers (at least I assume they have them) they no longer see the need for wide community testing of product updates; that testing had served them well in the past. Lightroom 5.5 was never on Adobe Labs as a beta product. Worse, the Lightroom 5.5 release was basically a minor release prior to releasing Lightroom 6. I have mentioned this here because, after all, minor release or not, it was part of the massive Wednesday release of products.
    So Scott, I know you read these comments and hope maybe you pass on some of them to Adobe. I for one will be giving a close look at using the improved product from Canon set for release in late June and “maybe” forgetting Lightroom; after all, the best of Lightroom is in Camera raw.

  9. I used to like the year for the version number. You knew exactly what was being talked about. But with this push toward always updating software (I consider Chrome one of the pushers of this), they should have just kept an internal-ish number that is referable.. but not bothered otherwise. They can still do the big events to make it known.. just have photoshop update to the latest version… w/o this dual copy business (which is the sticking factor)

    1. The dual copy is in case you have problems with the new graphics engine you can still work. I just wish there was a way to uninstall more than one Adobe app at a time like you can when you install them.

  10. Isn’t it a bit discriminatory that for non-US customers they don’t charge that $9.99 amount for the “Photography plan” as they advertise it? You see the promotion every where, but, if you’re from Europe for example, as soon as you go to ordering page – the price switches to about 12Euros (that is about $16).
    This doesn’t seem fair, to me at least, as this is just an online purchase of a license that does not involve packaging/delivery etc.

    1. I feel the exact same way when I go to Europe and buy a CocaCola. Or a hotel room; or a Big Mac; or a bottle of water Or gasoline. Why does the exact same thing cost twice as much or more in Europe as it does here? It doesn’t seem fair.

      1. You’re right. But at least those are physical products and there are
        many factors involved in the production process, transportation etc.
        that would affect the price for the final customer. And I mean
        ingredients for the CocaCola could be more expensive due to economical
        reasons, transporting a bottle could cost more (due to gas costing more
        here) compared to the US, the distributors/resellers could also have
        different price policy, so the price difference could be some how
        explained. (but of course, never fully justified)

        In this case,
        we are talking about a digital product, bought online from the same
        place, directly from them. So, for Adobe the cost is the same to
        develop/produce it and to “deliver” it regardless of the buyers
        location.

        Anyway, to end this message in a more optimistic note :) congrats to you for all the great stuff that you do!

        PS: you should also visit Romania next time you’re in Eastern Europe, there are a lot of great places to photograph here too ;)

      2. Andrei, I strongly support all your comments about Adobe pricing policy and for inviting Scott to visit Romania :-) !

      3. They probably have to pay taxes to all those other countries so that does increase their overhead. In the USA very few companies online have to collect sales tax and we don’t have a VAT. Plus translations cost money as well. I’m not saying they are right to charge that much more, but these are just the reasons I can think of as to why a company would do it.

      4. Honestly, a lot of it has to do with hedging against currency fluctuations, the price of doing business in a particular locality (warranties are not the same in US vs world, same as return policies), and taxes. People want to look at just the price but not factor in the cost of doing business.

      5. Difference in prices has something to do with VAT, but also shipping costs and all the “middle man” in the long chain of getting the merchandise between the producer and customer.
        But exactly at this Adobe could make a change. With their new subscription model they could eliminate the cost for “middle man” and shipping costs.
        And even VAT can be no problem for lots of amateur photographers (meaning those that do photography as a hobby and not for living). They can’t use VAT paid for Adobe CC licence for tax deductions and the price difference could mean a lot to someone who plans on staying on subscription for longer time.
        And a top of that an idea that you might share with guys in Adobe…
        Would it be possible for them to have some option in their CC contract that in case you stay subscribed for let’s say 3,5,7 years after that you get to keep your CC stack on that level after cancelling subscription? I’m sure that after 5 or 7 years of subscription they would earn enough for them to make CC still viable option and on the other hand people taking CC wouldn’t have the feeling that after 5-7 years of paying for something thay end up with nothing.
        In that way they would prevent someone having full Photoshop for the price of 1month subscription but also someone paying 7 years subscription wouldn’t be left with nothing. And if they in some case after few years want to update Adobe would reset the clock to 0 and customer would get after another 7 years of subscription chance to quit CC with keeping current level of CC (without any further upgrades).
        Regards,
        Tomislav

      6. Do you actually pay VAT on it though? My Australian subscription doesn’t include any GST (our version of VAT).

      7. I have to tell you that I’m not sure. Becuse we just last year became part of EU and now when I went to look I didn’t see CC offered at our long time Adobe dealer just directly Adobe page for CC subscription.
        But last year when CC became actual I went to look at that dealers page. First off all they only had Team subscription available and the price difference was due to dealers profit and on that came VAT.
        I’m not sure how it is now. I didn’t see VAT notice anywhere on page.

      8. It reverses when you are buying something made in Europe in the US. I tried a subscription to a magazine from the UK that was about $50 or so (converted) in the UK, but to get it here in the US it was $109, for 6 issues (was a bimonthly magazine). I probably could have gotten a digital subscription cheaper, but that wouldn’t include the disk that came attached. (I don’t know why they didn’t have a download of the disk for US subscribers, but then I don’t know why Adobe doesn’t honor specials in Europe either.)

      9. You’re lucky you can afford a holiday in Europe, but the point is, the rest of the world, without exception, pay more for Adobe and other US developed software than you do in the US. Here in Australia it’s about twice the price of the US and we’re not talking about the difference in cents between the price of Coke in the US and Coke in Europe,

    2. It’s actually Aus$9.99 here in Australia – which makes it slightly cheaper than the USA at current exchange rates. This may have something to do with Adobe being grilled over price gouging in Australia a couple of years ago.

  11. My opinion only: Adobe once again did not have a grasp on the customer base. They produce a good update and the following happens. 1. Some of the base will go through the updates and determine if they will ever benefit from it. 2. Most of the base will only notice the update when a drop down screen has changed. This portion of the base doesn’t see the change list you have shown us, nor the videos from their staff on the updates, which are not inclusive by the way. 3. A few of the base doesn’t care as long as it is intuitive and there when they need it. #2 & 3 do not sell the subscription method of software, thus the major pr rollout to drive new interest. ps your list drives more release interest that their caravan especially for photographers.. Yes, designers, graphic artists and layout folks have their own update features.

    What is obvious is that these changes did not become release ready all at the same time. And why the updates to PS CS6.

    pps. For the JDI folks, am I the only one who has to re-install software from OnOne and Google (Nik) when a major release is sent out from Adobe..Some times its just not convenient and keeps me from installing the update. Please come out with a method for plugin vendors to do their thing without us having to do our thing again.. again.

    1. For the plugins all you have to do is copy the plugins folder from the old version to the new version.

      In this version they came out with an updated graphics engine. I’m guessing that is what most of the new features are using so they couldn’t come out until that was done. Especially since they use the same engine in a lot of the products in the suite.

      1. The standalone versions of the plugins no longer worked. When we re-installed everything was back to normal.

  12. Thanks Scott for listing all the new features since PS CC/2014 came out. I really need to pay more attention to what new features are being released as I missed one.

  13. Even though I get to use the entire Master Collection as a part of my teaching job, I may go ahead and purchase the $9.99 deal just for myself anyway. Killer deal. Besides, I need to figure out this program called Lightroom. I’m still hooked on the Bridge!

      1. Thanks for the course suggestion, Scott. I’m an Aperture user, but now am going to join CC using the photographer program and give Lightroom a try!

      2. +100. Matt’s Lightroom course (the full course) is the reason that I’m on Lightroom (LR first, then CC, then back to LR for print or export) today. I’ve had Lightroom from the very first beta version but I didn’t start using it for anything but downloading images until I watched Matt’s entire course one rainy weekend. Ironically I don’t use LR for downloading files anymore, I went back to Bridge and ditched the date folders forever. I wonder where I got that idea… things that make you go hmmmm…. or not…

  14. Thanks for the list Scott. Pretty amazing how much has been updated. I agree its weird they’re calling it 2014. I was confused in general by the big announcment factor. If updates happen on a regular basis why the big show? But its a marketing thing, they need to let the non-cloud folk see what’s going on. I was also a bit confused by the double download of the update. It looks like I have double copies of all the CC software on my MacBook Pro Ret. And apparently I do. I did a search and found this:

    http://blogs.adobe.com/jkost/2014/06/installing-the-2014-release-of-creative-cloud.html#comment-17198

    Several questions were answered in the comments of Julianne’s post. It helped me understand why there was a second version. She also addresses migrating brushes, workspaces etc in the comments. I do think Adobe would be advised to make at least the icons a little different so we can tell which one is which, especially if they plan to continue the big updates this way.

    I will say in general I like CC. The subscription service has made is much easier for me to afford the suite. I can understand some people’s frustrations though. It seems like this update has more people confused as well. I think they should have addressed the new download directly to CC subscribers. An email or even a note window that pops up before you agree to the update, letting them know “hey this is a new version of the program, you’ll have two now and no extra cost and you’ll have to migrate some things”

    One new feature I’m happy about is the font finding thing. Rather than Photoshop just telling you you don’t have the fonts in the document it helps you get them now. That’s pretty cool and a time saver.

  15. I admit I grumbled. I thought the whole idea of the Creative Cloud updates was so that features would get delivered as they were ready, and not be held up for a product release. That said, you’re absolutely right that Adobe has delivered a lot of features along the way.

    It also occurred to me that this wasn’t good for marketing, though. New products got announcements. There were also new feature announcements at Photoshop world, but that’s sort of preaching to the converted. As you pointed out, that message doesn’t reach potential customers. So, what to do?

    The answer seems to be going back to the old model of holding up new releases for a big announcement and a new version of the software. These updates don’t just slip into the existing installation of Photoshop CC, but rather require a new PS installation.

    That’s what has me and some others a bit bent. It’s a disruption that requires planning to manage plugins and other personalizations. I’ve noted some ask why Adobe can’t migrate those personalization settings and plugins, but I don’t know how complicated that could be to code. So many variations are possible.

    I’m holding off on any new installation until I’ve learned a bit more and the dust settles, which is typically what I do for any new major release of software. I know it will all work out eventually.

    If there’s a cause for the grumbling, I think it has more to do with how Adobe communicated the release than any actual major problems with the way it was implemented. Users of software are far more forgiving if they know what to expect than if they’re surprised with a new wrinkle.

      1. Thanks, that’s good to know. I’ve not tried it myself yet, but I’ve read posts from many friends who didn’t imply such a nice transition. I hope mine works as well as you describe.

  16. my question is why does the cc updater not use my subscription info. i but the “photograhper” package but last night i was prompted for inDesign CC 2014 updates which are outside my 9/99/mo fee

  17. Okay, I’m still a bit confused. Is there something Ps CC2014 has that Ps CC 14.2 doesn’t? I subscribe and get updates from the cloud, so do I need to use Ps CC2014 to have the latest and greatest, or does 14.2 have the same stuff?

    1. CC2014 is the latest. With the changes to the graphics engine they did it as an upgrade instead of an update. That way if you had a problem with the new one you can still use the old one.

      Just copy the plugins folder from the CC folder to the CC2014 folder. You don’t need to go reinstall all the add ins.

    2. I learned long ago that it is best to set up a third party plugin folder. Once you do that all you have to do when uploading a new version of PS – is to go to your preferences and tell PS to look for that folder. Way easier than trying to hunt it all down. I have both a plug n folder and a brushes folder for all the freebie brushes I have accrued over the years.

  18. Anyone having problems launching Lightroom 5.5 after updating via CC? Solution is to sign out of CC and sign back in. This causes LR to complete registration. Had to get Adobe help desk on this one.

  19. I feel that Scott has missed the point. We are paying monthly to get the updates when they are READY, not when they are most marketable. I understand Scott’s defense of Adobe from a marketing standpoint, but that misses the point. I’m paying to get updates when they’re ready, not when they are most beneficial to Adobe from a marketing standpoint.

    Sorry, Scott. I think you missed on this one. But keep up the good work.

    Bob

    1. And how do you know some updates were held back and not released. How do you know that some of these new features didn’t rely on the new rendering engine and maybe there was a bug or two to fix. A lot of these apps share the same code (like the rendering engine) so it makes sense to have the updates come out all at once.

    2. There have been other updates, but this update just happened to have a party to go along with it. I know that is a simple explanation, but think we need to cut Adobe some slack here when other updates have been made though out the past year.

  20. I use bot Nik and OnOne Perfect Picture. I had to spend a lot of time reinstalling both programs. I thought all of this was supposed to be done as you go along without the need for reinstalling.
    I now have Photoshop 5, PS 6, Photoshop CC, Photoshop CC 2014, Lightroom 4, Lightroom 5 all on my computer.
    Does anyone know if we can uninstall PS CC without any problems?

  21. I succumbed to the 9.99 offer back in February. It’s not a bad deal and it’s good that they made it permanent. But the better I get at capturing the image in camera the less I need anything but lightroom and maybe 1 plugin. So I may cancel my subscription next Feb. I’ll be curious to see if they let me keep lightroom or not. (probably not). Maybe switch over to Capture One since they are having a big sale and it’s every bit as good.

  22. I don’t really think it is the case of stuff being held back per say. With the interoperability of a lot of those apps some features need to wait until another part in another product is ready. I imagine we will see features roll out in between the big releases just like the list has shown. With this release it’s a whole new version and not an update. The installer keeps your old versions and just adds these new ones. So if the new version works for you don’t forget to go uninstall the old version.

  23. What about Lightroom?

    Scott – I don’t like subscriptions in general but I do think the CC Photography is reasonably priced. I’m a Lr ACE I use Ps 10% of the time and Lr 90% of the time for my photography. It seems to me that Adobe is focusing their updates on Ps and less so on Lr. I know Lr Mobile was recently released, aside from that do you feel that adobe is keeping their promise of mid cycle updates on Lr? Do you have as comprehensive a list of Lr updates just as you do for Ps? I try to stay close to every update and I suspect the list is much shorter. I seems like the dot releases have much more to do with keeping the Lr engine consistent with Ps Camera Raw and adding new cameras to Lr. What’s your view?

  24. Scott, Please don’t call it a “free upgrade” Adobe charge a subscription for the service and part of that would be upgrades, if Adobe aren’t going to offer upgrades what’s the point of a subscription!

  25. Having a party once a year to celebrate the Creative Cloud is great for Adobe to do. However, it was a mistake calling it the launch of 2014 Creative Cloud. As soon as January 1 hit, people were using the 2014 version of CC. The annual party should show the latest update, but also remind people what has happened over the past year in updates. So, this was the 2014 party and I’m looking forward to one in 2015. In the meantime, we’ll see more updates between now and then, and have something to celebrate in a year.

    For me, I’m an Aperture and Photoshop 5.5 user. But that is changing: I’m going to join CC using the photographer program. Aperture is superior in some ways, but not others, so I will give Lightroom a try. Apple has been way too quiet with Aperture and it’s disappointing. At least Adobe is making a big effort with the desktop programs and mobil apps. Being able to work on multiple devices and have the changes sync is where its at. I plan to reward Adobe for their efforts.

    From Day 1 of CC I said there need to be two changes made:
    1) For people who upgraded Photoshop regularly when Adobe had their 18 month product cycle, the price worked out to $11 per month. So, I felt it needed to be that instead of $20. So, a huge win for photographers: we only pay $10 per month and get a lot more: Photoshop, Desktop Lightroom, Mobile Lightroom and other apps, syncing, online storage and Behance.

    2) I also said people need to retain the version they are paid up through. I personally bought PS for the first time in the 90s and bought every upgrade except for CS6. For people who have invested in Adobe, they should be able to retain the current version if they jump off the bandwagon. For people who just started paying $10 per month, they have a lot more investment to make in Adobe before receiving a desktop version of Photoshop free and clear. For people who have not made enough of an investment yet, what about a Photoshop Basic where people can open files and do rudimentary work? I think people’s biggest fear is jumping off the bandwagon of payments and not being able to open their photos. We’ll see if the 2015 party brings news about this.

    In the meantime, I’m very excited to try Lightroom and the latest version Photoshop!

  26. I’ve going back and forth on whether or not to pay for the $9.99/month offer but I decided it was too much of a good deal to let it go so I signed up earlier today (just in case Adobe decided to end it at some point). And then I saw the final paragraph in your post! Oh well, I could have waited a little on joining but at least I won’t have to pay separately for the Lightroom 6 update when it comes out. Thanks for this post – I’ll bookmark it and refer back to it when I’m ready to start using CC!

  27. Just change the number every January, have an event which announces some upcoming features.

    I think what they did was crackers, I kept CS6 in case I decided to give up CC, so now I have a list of software that is CS6, CC and CC 14 which all need updates, with the unimpressive Adobe Installer system. http://method.co.uk/adobe.png

    I thought the promise of CC was an end to the need for actual software updates, but you can still market it differently to the outside world.

  28. I have heard that Adobe CC ( with Lightroom and Photoshop etc.) is a LEASED program. If I pay my dues and use it for X number of years and then cancel, I cannot access any of the programs. That means I cannot use keywords etc to access any of my tens of thousands photos. Is that correct? That is a show stopper as far as upgrading. Thanks.

  29. I am curious from a photography only standpoint about the real need for PS at all. I notice that OnOne suite 8.5 has a lot of features that are in PS and a lot of “Big Names” within the Kelby Group both employees and teachers on Kelby Training use OnOne now and appear to have left Nik behind.

  30. The subscription model itself is the problem. What happens when ALL software companies start nickel and diming you with their $9.99-49.99 monthly charges and making your software unusable should you quit their subscription plan? The time to push back was when the subscription plan was introduced.

  31. Ok I think the photographers bundle is great value and to me is a no brainer, what’s dissed me is that the new Graduated and Radial Filters brush in camera raw 8.5 isn’t in Lightroom 5.5. Julieanne Kost replied to a comment on her blog by saying that the policy states that new features cant be added to dot releases of Lightroom, to me that doesn’t make sense and disrupts mine and I suspect the workflow of many by having to go into camera raw to use the new brush. One of Adobe’s more barmy ideas, any chance you can intervene Scott?

      1. Hi Scott, true the Graduated and Radial filters are there in Lightroom 5.5, but the brush to selectively erase the effect isn’t there.

      2. Seems like Scott is no longer in the Adobe ‘loop’ for what features are included in a release. They have fed him bad info, no?

      3. Scott, I do NOT see the Brush feature for the Radial filter and Graduated filter in LR CC/5.5, as mentioned in some blogs. I see it in ACR 8,5 in Bridge CC and Photoshop 2014 CC, not in LR. I always thought ACR in PS was the same ACR in LR, as you have presented in many of your workshops and seminars (eg. DLSW-Lake Placid). When did Adobe change this pairing?

  32. Worst upgrade procedure ever going from CC to CC 2014! Photoshop seems to be the only app that supports transferring your settings. Others such as Premiere, After Effects, etc. would not do this: panels resetted, not even cache location settings have been preserved. It has cost me several hours to get through it… Syncing got back (in the new applications) finally after signing off and reconnecting. Does Adobe hate its customers?

    Kuler isn’t working anymore for me in Indesign. I’ve tried to sign off and reconnect – no luck. If I create a new theme and try to upload it, I get a 404-error page! In Illustrator Kuler works fine. Probably Kuler will be deleted from Indesign in the next release as well: easy fix!

    Isn’t all this cloud stuff supposed to make it easier for us to work with? I hope, we don’t have to get used to crappy upgrades as customers will have to pay their fees no matter what has been added and how many bugs made it through. No more real pressure to deliver! I hope Adobe listens…

  33. Actually I think one of the reasons why such event for CC is needed is for people like you Scott. For example E.g. you have book about Photoshop CS6. Now that Adobe switched to subscription model and they are publishing enhancements as they become ready how do you know when will you update your book about Photoshop? You can start with Photoshop CC and then what? In a year you will still have a book called Photoshop CC (maybe updated with list you mention in the post)? What would that make to your marketing effort to promote new book? How many potential buyers of your book won’t be aware that it’s new, update version of Photoshop book with that has explanation for improvements adding in let’s say last six months? Same goes for plugin developers. For which version of Photoshop is their plugin certified to work with?
    Regards,
    Tomislav

  34. I guess what you are really not saying Scott is how Adobe’s release policy has knock holes in business plans for those who feed off of Adobe…. books,update tours etc.

  35. There is another side to this and I may not be the only one. In the past, I would welcome the major upgrades but I would also dread them. It meant tons of reading and tutorials about all the new updates and how they can save me time, while TAKING UP my time reading them and trying to remember all that new info when I actually got to work with the new updated apps/programs!

    I don;t know if it’s an age thing but I just can’t seem to cram too many bells and whistles, updates, upgrades and tutorials, blogs, tips and tutorials, via video, site articles and print. It just gets overwhelming especially since we’re not just talking PSD anymore but all the other programs used for design, photography etc.

    So I actually welcome a more muted and more or less regular update trickling, in the same manner as iPhone apps introduce small fixes and improvement on a steadier schedule than the 6 to 8 month block.

    I can read about the small updates in smaller and easier to digest bites and can better digest them into my workflow.

    There is always a ton of info and detailed data about anything that comes out, so for those who want to delve deeper into the new features, they can.

    I will absorb the smaller, easier to swallow updates as they come and will be able to continue to use the programs as they improve without having to take time out for the big hoopla of a major release.

    Bari @ Sabra Image Prints

  36. Scott you are absolutely right about the launch of Adobe CC 2014. I had the CS5 Extended Suite, and hared the idea of paying by the month, I decided to “wait and see”. Didn’t see anything until the launch – I am a Creative Cloud User now with the entire suite. I hadn’t really heard anything until the launch, as you stated, upgrades gads been “Invisible” to me. I am glad they did the launch and I am very happy now with the features of CC 2014.I think I like the idea of waiting and doing a launch.

  37. I don’t like the subscription model. Maybe I’m old fashioned, but I don’t necessarily use Photoshop on a an internet connected network all the time. I haven’t made the jump from CS6 to CC because of the whole thing. I have a friend who went to CC, and it messed up her Mac – she ended up having to do a complete restore of her computer because of a mess a tech from Adobe got her into, and she lost some programs, as well as work she was doing. She ended up buying CS6 on a disk – the first time, she tried to install it, she discovered the disks were empty. After she got that situation fixed and *finally* got it installed, a few weeks were lost. As a professional graphic designer, it cost her a lot of time and expense – jobs lost, and work she created in the cloud that she can’t get to or salvage. She still doesn’t know what’s going to happen in the future because she’s still having issues with the whole CC thing. That has made me very afraid of going into the Cloud. I might not have issues with it like she has, but I’m also not always on the net like she is, and I was told that you had to be connected to use it. I feel as if Adobe really has decided to go for the money now, instead of making a good, usable product for everyone. What I’m going to do when I can’t use CS6 anymore, I don’t know. Maybe I might explore Corel’s directions, or maybe there will be some other company that will fill in that spot. I understand that it was one way of crowding out the people pirating their software, but it’s crowded out more than those people. Right now, Microsoft is exploring the subscription plans, and I really hope they don’t discontinue buying disks. Maybe Adobe will come to their senses and consider even a limited release for those that CAN’T use the subscription plan for whatever reason. Sometimes, considering the users is a better model than finding a way to maximizing your profits.

    1. You do NOT need to be connected to the internet to use CC. It is an app installed directly on your computer just like CS6. You only have to connect when you install it. Then once every 30 days it will give you a warning that you need to connect for a few minutes it to verify your subscription. It give you 7 days grace to do that check, so technically you only need internet about every 37 days. If you can’t spend a minute or two on the internet once a month then you are a very out-of-the-ordinary person. You spent more time writing your comment above than it would have taken for CC to verify your subscription.

      At my work we have installed Adobe CC on hundreds of Apple computers and never had any problems with it causing OSX to crash or anything like you described. You shouldn’t develop a bias against something based on an isolated incident. It’s like saying you know someone who bought a new 2014 car that needed a repair so you will never buy a 2014 car. All cars, just like all programs, will have their quirks and repairs. It is something you have to live with if you buy cars and computers.

      Paying the $9.99 a month for the Photoshop CC Photography bundle ($10.59 with tax for me) is much cheaper than buying a new version of Photoshop every few years, plus you get Lightroom too. If you bought Photoshop CS6 for $700 when it came out (the standard starting price) and bought Lightroom for $160 then used them for three years before upgrading them, you would have paid about $290 a year for them depending on taxes. That is more than twice the $127 you pay per year for CC to get Photoshop and Lightroom. And you get the next version of each automatically, so you don’t have to wait three years to get new features like you would have before. If you actually bought the new version of Photoshop and Lightroom every year — which many people did — the CC bundle is astronomically cheaper for you.

      People who complain that they don’t want a subscription don’t see that they were on an unofficial subscription plan before. They were already purchasing the next version of Photoshop every year or every few years, and they were paying a lot more. The argument that you don’t “own” the software because you can’t use it if you stop paying the subscription is a logic trap. If you owned CS6 then eventually Adobe would have stopped updating and supporting it, and you would have eventually been left behind and wanted the newer features everyone else has; thus, you would have upgraded to CS7 and CS8, etc. eventually anyway. So why not just subscribe to CC and get the newest features right away and pay way less for the subscription than you did when you were buying the next version every year or every few years?

      1. I agree with most of your points, but the concern of not being able to use the software once your subscription expires is a genuine one. It is really the only problem with the CC model. It’s very different to being left with an old version which “eventually” stops being supported. People are still happily using CS6 (and even older versions) today, but if your CC subscription runs out today then you have no software at all tomorrow.

      2. First off, I use Photoshop on my laptop computer which I prefer not to use on the internet for security reasons.
        Second, the Updates caused the program to revert back to the default state on my friend’s Mac. What caused issues with the OSX was NOT the program, but the technician that she got when she called for help.
        I started with Photoshop in CS5, and continued in CS6 on my computer, and used CS4 before that at the University where I am employed. I never paid $700 for Photoshop as I am eligible for the Educational pricing.
        Our campus looked in to having a subscription to CC for the University, and then was unable to get it for unknown reasons.
        When I started using Photoshop, I was not a graphics professional – I’ve since started a photography business and use Photoshop, but I still also hold down a full time job.
        Since those things did happen to my friend, and she was NOT able to resolve the issues through Adobe, it make sense to me to be cautious. I don’t like the subscription model and the fact that you CAN’T use the software or the edited works once your subscription expires. Maybe I would have been left behind when they no longer supported CS6, but by then, other software manufacturers will probably fill in that gap if enough people are dissatisfied with the model. Corel already have graphics programs, and so do other companies, as well as 3D graphics programs.

  38. As a senior on a limited income, hence in a sector that’s not marketable, CC is a definite non starter and I continue to use Photoshop CS6. After reading through the list of improvements, I must admit that there is not very much that’s been added that I can live without, in fact there is nothing I can’t live without and CS6 continues to hold up well and for the what I do, it’s pretty darned good. The idea of having Adobe stick their hands in my wallet every month and remove a fistfull of dollars from my limited income, is not something I’m about to do with any software company.

  39. Scott, I do NOT see the Brush feature for the Radial filter and Graduated filter in LR CC/5.5, as mentioned in some blogs. I see it in ACR 8.5 in Bridge CC and Photoshop 2014 CC, not in LR.
    I always thought ACR in PS was the same ACR in LR, as you have presented in many of your workshops and seminars (eg. DLSW-Lake Placid). Did I miss an email from Adobe about this change to pairing LR & PS ACR?

  40. Scott, do you know if there is even a slight chance that any sort of “designers” package will ever been made that couples Photoshop and Illustrator? I use both of these programs equally and often in tandem and really wish I could get a sweet $10 bundle instead of having to pay for the whole suite :(

  41. I just watched the CC Resource vids… please tell Pete he is AWESOME (and hilarious! “Histogram peepers”? Come on! That’s gold! I need it on a tee shirt!). And thank you. I wish I’d had a resource like this when I first started learning Ps and Ai. Seriously… those little tidbits are just so useful to know. You guys make the KelbyOne subscription worth every penny and I really appreciate it.

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