What would you do...

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Andrew
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If you just using Lightroom and not Photoshop would you buy the Lightroom outright and upgrade let say every 2 years. Or would you take out the CC package?
 
Well lightroom 6 is around £105 to buy outright and CC is about £8.50 per month so slightly cheaper but you get Photoshop CC as well and it's continually updated I wold and do use CC I believe it's slightly cheaper if you pay for 12 months upfront
 
The package I'm on is Lr and Ps for £8.50(?) per month for both. I do have an older standalone version of both on my old computer should Adobe change their mind significantly. For me it works as I'm taking around 4,000 photographs per month and using both packages nearly everyday. If I was only using the package(s) once or twice a month I expect I'd look more at a standalone edition.
 
I pay the 8.50 a month. Spend way more than that on beer in a week. For what you get I think it's very good value
 
I am mulling over this issue as well. Whilst the subscription offer seems a good deal at the moment I suspect that after the first year the subscription cost to existing customers will increase significantly. How many times have we seen offers for "new customers only" whilst existing customers get fleeced at renewal?

If Adobe would give some clear guidance as to their future pricing policy the decision would be much easier but at the moment anyone thinking of a subscription package remember the adage caveat emptor.
 
@Grumps1974 - I took a bit of a gamble (got an older standalone version of both on my old laptop) but in fairness to Adobe I think they've kept this rate for two years now. The more I think about it the more they'd lose out if they increased the subscription by a large percentage.

Also, we tend to upgrade our software on a two, three or four year basis and the figures look attractive, certainly as far as Photoshop is concerned when compared to the price of the standalone product and then upgrading to a newer version. This subscription rate has the latest software as standard as soon as it is announced - usually a good thing but not always it has to be said.

It took me many months to decide though - I had the same thoughts as you. In my opinion, Adobe seems honest with this approach and also I suspect they make much more money too so there's not the incentive to raise prices to research and market the next upgrade.
 
I decided to buy LR6 and as it supports my current camera, will stick with it until the camera needs an update. It helps that rather than Photoshop, I use Affinity on my Mac and that does all the heavy lifting I need.

I know mobile phones have been a monthly pay thing for ever - but I buy my phone also and add the sim I need. Not keen on this drip payment for anything.
 
I've gone into CC but hardly touch PS so thinks canceling while still in 14 days and get it outright
 
I've gone into CC but hardly touch PS so thinks canceling while still in 14 days and get it outright

Well I went to cancel it and they now given my 2 month free sub so staying as I am for this year since LR 7 is coming out sometime soon.. Then I may buy that outright
 
I pay the 8.50 a month. Spend way more than that on beer in a week. For what you get I think it's very good value
This is correct!
... in fairness to Adobe I think they've kept this rate for two years now. The more I think about it the more they'd lose out if they increased the subscription by a large percentage.
Ah - but we can't know, can we? Maybe the more users they catch in their web ....

This argument gets aired to death, really. But if it comes about that they radically bang the installment cost up, then by that time something else will likely have come along that's more or less as capable - such as Affinity for Windows (hint) in the case of PS.

Gimp certainly needs to gain 16-bit adjustment layers to cut the mustard, if not cmyk capability as well ...

For general image viewers / sorters, I've tried Bridge - but dear lord, the cache is like a quagmire! Even in the latest cut just released, it's still like a dinosaur. Nikon's apps might be fine for Nikon files, if they actually worked. Lightroom for this function has the bugbear that everything has to be 'imported'. That's one thing for raws that you want to process, but seems a step too far for anything else. Right now i'm checking out Faststone ...
 
I am still using Photoshop CS2 - I have never seen a reason to update it. CS2 was top-notch when new and is still the same - software doesn't wear out.

To answer the question, I would buy Lightroom outright and never bother to update it.
 
I am still using Photoshop CS2 - I have never seen a reason to update it. CS2 was top-notch when new and is still the same - software doesn't wear out.

To answer the question, I would buy Lightroom outright and never bother to update it.
The pride of the Luddite! Had a few beers?

No, software doesn't wear out, but it quite often fails to work properly or at all on operating systems later than those it was designed for.

You never have to update anything, sure, as long as the whole world stays still. The real world's more of a muddle than that. It's a hybrid circumstance.
 
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I bought LR6, hoping it would automatically recognise my Tamron 150-600... it doesn't, so I still have to tell it for lens corrections. Oh well!

I didn't really consider CC. because I never use Photoshop.
 
Used to have LR5 but now have the CC package for £8.57 a month. Well worth it for what you get imho.
 
LR6 was a bargain to upgrade from my old LR3 version - about £58 I think instead of £105 - I really like the "library" and "slideshow" modules but I don't really make any use of the various other modules - mainly just use it for its raw conversion and file management capabilities
 
If you just using Lightroom and not Photoshop would you buy the Lightroom outright and upgrade let say every 2 years. Or would you take out the CC package?

There's not direct parity. For instance, in the CC version of Lightroom, you get some features you do not in the stand alone version. Boundary Warp springs to mind.... only available in the CC package.. not stand-alone.
 
There's not direct parity. For instance, in the CC version of Lightroom, you get some features you do not in the stand alone version. Boundary Warp springs to mind.... only available in the CC package.. not stand-alone.

Really. Is there a list comparing them?
 
Well I just checked Lightroom 6.4 does have it
 
Really. Is there a list comparing them?


That's the only one I know for definite, but if you believe the internet chatter there's more. There was a long thread on it on one of the Adobe forums.

May not be a deal breaker. I mean... boundary warp is hardly something you use every day... if at all unless you do a great deal of panoramic stitching.

Just thought I'd let you know.

Even without this.... it makes more sense to subscribe to the PS + LR package. Lightroom is updated far more frequently now than it used to be, and if you upgrade once a year, the stand alone package is just as expensive, and you won't have PS.
 
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Have stayed with CC as they given me 2 month free
 
Result!
 
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