Now I'm not wanting to start a rant on Adobe here but had some questions which the Adobe site doesn't seem to cover at least with a cursory glance. (There are a few more Adobe forum answers that replicate these questions than there were when I started this list of questions).
Does anybody here use the CC?
now answered as I do, but maybe not many others. (TB).
Background: I'm (or now 'was') a PS5 user but that's installed on my PC at home (half a World away) and I bought Lightroom to manage my portable's collection of photos before they get transferred to the main desktop. I ended up having to upgrade to Lightroom 4 to get the raw editor that allowed me to import my Nikon D800 files (I have the 'E' version but the files are the same). That was fine until I went away for awhile and used Lightroom to manage all my photographs as I take them and transfer them to my laptop. Before I left home I installed PS5 onto the laptop so that I would have the ability to do reasonably significant editing, merging and focus stacks as well as the normal LR4 workflow with most of the colour adjustment happening in LR4 as I became more used to the programme (I had previously done most of the colour tuning etc in Bridge via Adobe Camera Raw).
Just recently I realised that when I open a RAW file in PS5 it starts in the Camera Raw Editor as usual but it asks to reorganise the colour adjustments back to Process 2010 from the Process 2012 adjustments made in LR4.4 (uses CR7.4 whereas PS5v12 uses CR6.7). Now to get CR7 (or even 8) in PS I need to upgrade to PS6 (at least) and at which point they introduced the Creative Cloud...
I'm not that interested in upgrading to PS6 only to find myself upgrading further to PS.CC (which I assume is the renamed PS7) in the near future (ie within a year). However PS.CC is a subscription based service. I looked further into the pricing and for once the Australian pricing seems to be more reasonable than elsewhere and very similar to US (despite the recent fall in the A$). At A$20 per month per programme it's probably cheaper than upgrading every 18 months which seems to be my history. However, they also do a A$50pm all programmes offer which suggests that if you go for PS AND LR on the cloud then you are up for a minimum $40pm and for $10 more you get access to ALL of the programmes in the CC, seems like a reasonable deal. For example it would include access to Illustrator, Acrobat, Flash...
Now to the questions?
Was my reasoning on the CC correct ie does the $50pm subscription get you all the programmes?
Yes, it does and occasionally they do special pricing (I'm currently on a A$30pm for everything pricing for 12m)
The trouble is $600 a year is just above the threshold of pain, whereas $240 is manageable. Do I need a subscription for LR and PS or do I get LR with PS?
Well I answered this one by going for the lot on a 12m special price - about to need to make up my mind though as the 12m runs out soon.
then the more basic ones...
Do I really need LR in the cloud anyway?
Probably not
Do I need to go beyond PS6?
unless you need the new abilities the answer is probably no. Also PS6 seems to have everything I use now anyway.
Will they continue to produce upgrades to LR as a standalone product or again force users into the Cloud?
Now that is a good question - I suspect not.
should I be happy where I am and do all my colour work in LR and print from there and lose the ability to photo merge?
Well I wasn't so went for the CC trial.
or is there a part of LR4 that I haven't found yet that would allow me to forget PSx?
No, some things you can't do in LR.
Another series of questions relates to the workings of the CC programmes. Do I end up with a copy of the programme/s on the various PCs I work with?
Yes,
When I run the programmes do they check on the web each time they are started for validation purposes? A problem given this portable is often off the web when I download pictures from my camera. This is also a problem in that I am often in areas where access is slow and tedious, for example at the moment I'm restricted to web access through a 3G modem in rural France and due to the cost of wireless access I tend to run off-line as much as possible.
No, they don't but they do check every so often. Could be a problem if you are away from the web for long periods or spend your time on a PC that is never connected for security issues. I also upgraded my I-net connection to a full on ADSL lne with free phone and free international fixed line calls
Are the programmes actually stored on the web with most used libraries stored on the PC?
stored on the PC.
Can I also run the CC from any PC I have access to?
it seems so although there may be a limit to the number of PCs in use.
is there anybody out there with the answers I seek?
Maybe not, although they are now mostly answered.
Edited by MandoTiM, 15 October 2014 - 01:00 AM.
