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Adobe introduces subscription pricing model (Photoshop for $35/month)

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21–30 of 39 posts

Re: Adobe introduces subscription pricing model (Photoshop for $35/month)

#21

What would be useful too is if a portion of your 'subscription' could count against a full purchase if you decide to buy. Let me pay $49/month for a couple months for indesign while I need it. If I decide that I want the full version, give me a prorated discount.

Yea, I would also love to say to my landlord "Hey bro! You know I've been renting this apartment from you for a few years now, and I would like to buy the joint at a prorated discount"

"Well I should hope so! That's the agreement we came to a few years ago. Bro."

Re: Adobe introduces subscription pricing model (Photoshop for $35/month)

#22

What would be useful too is if a portion of your 'subscription' could count against a full purchase if you decide to buy. Let me pay $49/month for a couple months for indesign while I need it. If I decide that I want the full version, give me a prorated discount.

Yea, I would also love to say to my landlord "Hey bro! You know I've been renting this apartment from you for a few years now, and I would like to buy the joint at a prorated discount"

Yeah I'd agree. There's a big difference between leasing/renting, and leasing-to-own and I'd be very surprised if Adobe offered a prorated discount system as a result.

Re: Adobe introduces subscription pricing model (Photoshop for $35/month)

#23
For all you freelancers, this is a good opportunity to change your billing -- I think you could probably add an Adobe subscription fee to your work; don't get greedy, just pro-rate it over the number of days you used a product for the project. You'll make money, and your clients will have a hard time complaining about it.

So, $4k project, 12 days, used Photoshop, = $49/(12/30) = $19.60.

This would be hard to complain about as a client. For you, on every project you do, if you're a typical small design shop where net income is roughly 10%, you'll be adding 5% to your net income. Or, if you need two or three programs, then 15% to your bottom line.

Of course, if you're a freelancer, then you're adding $19.60 to your bottom line. But, I bet it would be nice to add those up, especially since projects tend to run long in days, not hours.

Re: Adobe introduces subscription pricing model (Photoshop for $35/month)

#24

I think this is a good idea for Adobe. Maybe this will deter some people from downloading the software illegally. I only need to use PS once or twice a year, and the thought of downloading it illegally has crossed my mind several times. I haven't downloaded it illegally, instead I use it at my school's computer lab for free (besides what I pay for tuition). If I could download PS for $35 a month, I may just download…

Note that you only get the $35/month price if you sign up for a year. The product page says a month-to-month subscription is $49/month, which would only be worth it if you anticipate using it eight months or less out of a year.

Re: Adobe introduces subscription pricing model (Photoshop for $35/month)

#25

For all you freelancers, this is a good opportunity to change your billing -- I think you could probably add an Adobe subscription fee to your work; don't get greedy, just pro-rate it over the number of days you used a product for the project. You'll make money, and your clients will have a hard time complaining about it. So, $4k project, 12 days, used Photoshop, = $49/(12/30) = $19.60. This would be hard to complain…

er, $49 * 12 /30, excuse me.

Re: Adobe introduces subscription pricing model (Photoshop for $35/month)

#26

I think this is a cracking idea for freelancers. I know we pay out close to 2k for the web premium version and its outdated every year now as they are releasing a new version nearly once a year!

How does Adobe make the new version relevant enough to warrant its purchase? Do they do so in an honest or deceptive way?

I'm not a designer, but I use Illustrator often. I just bought Illustrator 10 for about $100 and it more than meets my needs. How many truly relevant new features can really be added to a vector drawing program?

Re: Adobe introduces subscription pricing model (Photoshop for $35/month)

#28
post #14
post #7

I think subscription pricing fits the software model vary well. However, their pricing is stupid. If you pay for 6 months it would have been cheaper to just upgrade the product outright. Software is not like renting a car where you already know how to drive, you really need to know how to use it before it becomes useful and that takes time. Edit: Now I could see paying that as a daily rate. If you work on this stuff…

Yup, there are a large number of people who need to do graphic design only on occasion and therefore can't justify the cost of a full license. For example, I would probably pay a few thousand dollars for a license that allowed Photoshop to be installed on a dozen workstations, but can only be running for one user at a time. At least around here, if you're not a full time designer you get GIMP not Photoshop. Adobe's l…

They rely on not-full time designers using pirated Photoshop.

Re: Adobe introduces subscription pricing model (Photoshop for $35/month)

#29
post #26

I think this is a cracking idea for freelancers. I know we pay out close to 2k for the web premium version and its outdated every year now as they are releasing a new version nearly once a year!

How does Adobe make the new version relevant enough to warrant its purchase? Do they do so in an honest or deceptive way? I'm not a designer, but I use Illustrator often. I just bought Illustrator 10 for about $100 and it more than meets my needs. How many truly relevant new features can really be added to a vector drawing program?

Not sure about Illustrator but Photoshop makes upgrades pretty compelling by adding sexy new features. Like the content-aware fill in CS5 - novel/useful/fun enough to make everyone want to give it a go. Generated a ton of conversation pre-launch and likely contributed to a lot of new sales and upgrades.

Re: Adobe introduces subscription pricing model (Photoshop for $35/month)

#30

What would be useful too is if a portion of your 'subscription' could count against a full purchase if you decide to buy. Let me pay $49/month for a couple months for indesign while I need it. If I decide that I want the full version, give me a prorated discount.

Yea, I would also love to say to my landlord "Hey bro! You know I've been renting this apartment from you for a few years now, and I would like to buy the joint at a prorated discount"

It actually happens a lot in situations where people know the landlord. If you agree to it ahead of time, even moreso.

I'd see nothing odd with Adobe giving people who've leased for 6 months a 10% discount coupon to incentivize them to get a 'full' version ("you've like it so far - lock in our current pricing now and save!") Adobe gets more cash quicker, user's been able to try it out without a lot of cash down up front.

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