After dipping its toe into the subscription-pricing waters with last year’s Creative Suite 5.5, Adobe has moved onto the next phase with Creative Cloud. While the new service offers cost-effective access to the full Creative Suite 6 Master Collection for under 50 bucks a month, the cloud cover feels a little thin as far as other worthwhile features, at least for the time being.
Instead of purchasing individual apps or even a Creative Suite 6 bundle (such as Design & Web Premium for layout work or Production Premium for video), Creative Cloud lets you access everything for the low price of $49.99 per month with an annual subscription--the price jumps to $74.99 per month without a 12-month commitment.
After downloading the Adobe Application Manager, you can install apps individually on your computer--but sadly, not all at once.
That’s actually a sweet deal: for just under $600 over 12 months, you have unlimited access to the $2,599 CS6 Master Collection, including the latest versions of Photoshop Extended, pro video apps like Premiere Pro and After Effects, page layout stalwart InDesign, and web design tools including Dreamweaver and Muse, the company’s latest offering. The promised Photoshop Lightroom 4 is MIA at launch, but expected soon, and this is where Creative Cloud shows real promise: new apps will be added over time to make the subscription an even better bargain, including new features and updates to existing apps at no additional cost.
Creative Cloud is built around a web portal tied to 20GB of cloud storage, where saved files can be accessed from the apps and connected services. To access desktop apps, you’ll first download the Adobe Application Manager, which installs the CS6 applications to your Mac or PC. That’s right: for the first time ever, Adobe lets you use both platforms, perfect for users who use a PC at work but a Mac at home, for example.
The full list of Adobe Creative Cloud offerings at launch is fairly skimpy once you get beyond CS6 Master Collection.
The CS6 apps don’t run from the cloud--they’re downloaded and installed on your computer just like always. You can install on up to two systems at once, assuming they aren’t in use at the same time. Product activation is tied to a free Adobe ID, which allows for a single subscription per account. We had no problem using Adobe Application Manager to install several apps in a row, but concurrent downloads would be nice. Creative Cloud activates installed software over the air, and performs another check every 30 days for an active subscription.
Tablet apps make up the second part of Creative Cloud, although it’s an awkward fit at best. Due to limitations with Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store, you need to purchase Adobe’s tablet apps separately. Adobe initially planned to include them in the monthly subscription price, but presumably was unable to work out terms with the respective app store gatekeepers.
Open a file in Creative Cloud lets you download it to your computer, turn layers on or off, and mark the file as public or private.
Without a desktop client, Creative Cloud can currently only access files via a web browser or from one of the touch apps.
To sidestep the problem and appease annual subscribers, Adobe offers a free month of service when you buy any three touch apps--sign in with your Adobe ID and this free month gets credited within 60 days. The touch apps—including Adobe Photoshop Touch, Adobe Ideas, Adobe Proto, Adobe Collage for iPad ($9.99 each) and Android tablets; and Adobe Kuler and Adobe Debut for Android only at press time—sync to your Creative Cloud storage, so you can access files made with them on the website too. Included Touch App Plugins also allow subscribers to open and edit those files in CS6 desktop apps, but it’s not yet a two-way street—seamless desktop access requires Creative Cloud Connection, another piece of the puzzle sadly missing at launch.
The remainder of Creative Cloud comprises Typekit web fonts and Business Catalyst for managing and hosting up to five sites created in Dreamweaver or >> the new Muse application, which promises to take the pain out of creating HTML5-driven websites. Adobe also plans to add sharing and collaboration features, plus deeper integration between desktop and touch apps. However, we have to judge Adobe’s effort as it stands right now, and CS6 desktop apps aside, Creative Cloud currently offers less value than it promises.
The bottom line. If you already pay to upgrade Creative Suite Master Collection every year, then Creative Cloud is a no-brainer: for around the same cost each year, the subscription service offers access to the latest versions on both Mac or PC, and the rest is icing on the cake--assuming legacy users can toss out preconceived notions of the “pay once, own it forever” model. For everyone else, this cloud is a little more overcast. Tablet users will get the most use out of the service as it stands now, but Adobe is going to have to work fast to keep the rest of us hooked beyond the first 12 months—there just isn’t enough value built-in at the moment for non–web users or those who need only a few CS6 applications.
One huge advantage of Creative Cloud for users who work on mixed platforms is the abilty to install CS6 apps on both Mac and PC.
Mac OS X or Windows, compatible web browser (including Safari 5)
Low monthly subsciption cost makes full CS6 software available to the masses. Adobe Application Manager allows for individual installations. Touch apps can sync to Creative Cloud. accessible via any web browser.
Touch apps require seperate purchase form respective app stores. No current desktop integration wiht Creative Cloud storage. Limited value beyond CS6 applications at launch.
markfracs
October 10, 2012 at 3:35am
After 22 years, Photoshop has enough feature additions that it's invaluable to many professionals needing powerful tools to edit photographs. But Adobe isn't alone in the photo editing market anymore. While previous attempts to steal away photo professionals largely failed (anyone remember Live Picture?), low-priced hobbyist apps and prosumer editors have now become incredibly attractive. If you read my Pixelmator 1.6 review, you know this $30 program adequately answers many people's photo editing needs. So Adobe had a dilemma with CS6: how do you lower the barrier to entry and keep users upgrading? You make it cheaper to buy in, and you throw in some cloud storage.
allon
July 01, 2012 at 3:27pm
Academic pricing at $29.99 per months is available for K-12, university and homeschool students, k-12 educators and staff, and undergraduate and graduate school faculty and staff. Less well known, is that parents who home school their children also qualify for academic pricing. I suspect that homeschooling parents can similarly get academic pricing on other companies' products such as Microsoft Office and platforms.
Another under the radar bit of information that could save some money is that those Adobe users with CS3 or later Adobe individual or Creative Suite products can get a year of Creative Cloud also for $29.99 per month. This deal is only available directly from Available and, according to the latest information on the website is only available for purchase until August 31, 2012. What is not clear to me is whether the price goes up to $49.99 per month after one year - I think it does - so if there is a choice, it is probably best to go with academic pricing.
