Adobe Photography Plan

Beav

Beav

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Hi guys,

would you say the Adobe Photography plan for just under £10/ month is worth it?

I have an old version of photoshop on my desktop and i've also noticed this plan can go on two computers (can then install on my laptop as well).

Never really used Lightroom and only ever edited photos on photoshop (am I missing out?). I am just a hobbyist currently but I do edit/upload images 3-4x a week and seem to be growing a small following on instagram (chasing a small goal of mine to reach 20k :))

Thanks
 
Depends if you want up to date software and tech support ( if needed) for the price of a cup of coffee a week.
Some people will say its worth it others won't, get the free trial and see if it benefits you,personally I think its excellent value but that's my view.
 
troutfisher said:
Depends if you want up to date software and tech support ( if needed) for the price of a cup of coffee a week.
Some people will say its worth it others won't, get the free trial and see if it benefits you,personally I think its excellent value but that's my view.
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To be honest I probably will. I seem to be editing quite a lot (trying to get better, lol).

I used to pay £30/month gym membership but I ended up investing in my own olympic gym equipment as it will save me £1000s in the long run :)

I know a lot of people seem to edit photos in Lightroom then things like adding signatures, cloning out objects etc they use Photoshop?
 
While an enthusiastic amateur, I would not want to be without LR and PS. I use LR to import, backup, rename, rate, keyword and colour code my photos. I only take Raw so the Raw editor in LR is excellent as well and particularly the Panorama and HDR features. LR is also excellent for exporting and printing. I still use PS for constructed images (Layers), focus stacking and infrared. The workflow is based on LR and PS is really used like a Plug-in which you can use and then automatically return to LR. LR was produced for Photography whereas PS was produced for illustrators. I often need to search my LR catalogues and the main catalogue has over 30,000 images. LR can locates images from search criteria in a fraction of a second because it uses a fast database. Some of these searches would take many hours using The bridge. I find the Adobe Plan good value for money. I have described how I use it but only you can decide how relevant this is to you.

Dave
 
If you do use the Photography plan, it's worth watching Amazon for their Annual pack pricing on it - a couple of weeks ago it dropped to £75 for 1 year, and you can apply the code it gives to an existing monthly plan and it simply credits you with 12 months - during which you are not charged the monthly rate, and once it's used up you start paying monthly again (automatically).
 
Beav said:
Hi guys,

would you say the Adobe Photography plan for just under £10/ month is worth it?

I have an old version of photoshop on my desktop and i've also noticed this plan can go on two computers (can then install on my laptop as well).

Never really used Lightroom and only ever edited photos on photoshop (am I missing out?). I am just a hobbyist currently but I do edit/upload images 3-4x a week and seem to be growing a small following on instagram (chasing a small goal of mine to reach 20k :))

Thanks
Click to expand...
Does the current version do anything you care about that your old version doesn't? I think the old licences usually allowed installation on a desktop and a laptop, so you might want to dig out the licence key.

Affinity Photo is also only £24 at the moment, which is a real bargain:

https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/photo/

Affinity doesn't have any equivalent of Lightroom (they might in future), but Photo is a very nice, modern image editor.

Edit: The Affinity packages can be installed on multiple computers, by the way - it's allowed in the licence.
 
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You say you have an older version of PS.
I did subscribe but over a year ago I ditched it and reverted to my standalone Photoshop CS6 ... I don't think I need more.
 
You can get the whole Adobe CC Suite for £30 a month at the moment if you ever need / use the other apps. Well worth the money for anyone in design.
 
Have a look at "Lightzone" first. Its a free programme (might be a small donation required), but its a very similar layout to Lightroom. If youre only going to be editing photos using basic sliders, its perfect for learning, and theres youtube tutorials that can help. If you really get used to it, its then worth upgrading to the subscription Adobe LR/PS suite.
 
gramps said:
You say you have an older version of PS.
I did subscribe but over a year ago I ditched it and reverted to my standalone Photoshop CS6 ... I don't think I need more.
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2014 version. I was considering the photography package as I have a trial on my laptop which is about to run out and its quite handy to edit on on both the laptop and desktop :)

I have all my images on a NAS Drive organised with original images etc and don't think ide really use Lightroom to be honest. I actually work in IT and like to think im ok with file structure/organising files.
 
If you're going to make full use of it then it's well worth it. By that I mean make use of the cloud syncing side of things, get your entire photo library synced up so you can view them on your phone, tablet, on the web and on your PC/Mac. LR and PS are updated every one to two months usually so the software is well up to date, and if you look around there are lots of ways to get a month or two free.

Beav said:
I have all my images on a NAS Drive organised with original images etc and don't think ide really use Lightroom to be honest. I actually work in IT and like to think im ok with file structure/organising files.
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LR doesn't affect your existing file structure, it just organises things into collections and folders and then you can sync those to the cloud. Smart previews sync up pretty quickly and don't affect your 20Gb allowance on the photography plan, and they're fine for posting to Instagram or Facebook.

Edit. Lightroom is also a very powerful photo editor, you really don't need PS for basic photo processing, LR can do it all.
 
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Beav said:
2014 version. I was considering the photography package as I have a trial on my laptop which is about to run out and its quite handy to edit on on both the laptop and desktop :)

I have all my images on a NAS Drive organised with original images etc and don't think ide really use Lightroom to be honest. I actually work in IT and like to think im ok with file structure/organising files.
Click to expand...

I'm also in IT, and actually find the ability of LR to organise files very helpful.
I have 3 cameras, and on import LR will rename the files for me with a custom prefix denoting the camera (so no worry about duplicate file names), it will also organise them by date, creating folders automatically for me - so if I've been away, and have a week worth of files I can just leave it to import / copy and create folders for the dates.
The collections and filters system in LR is then an extra layer on top of that - so when importing, I can tag the photos with keywords (and add additional one later, if needed) - it's then trivial to go back and find all images from 4 years ago of 'castle' and 'Wales' - something that would generally be much harder without LR's orgainiser - it's very good!
 
Just got the photography plan :)

Ended up importing all photos into Lightroom then it tried to upload them (using my 20GB allowance). Didn't show my file structure either (I have asked in the other forum section about this).

Thinking maybe I should be using Lightroom classic? Only ever used photoshop before
 
Beav said:
Just got the photography plan :)

Ended up importing all photos into Lightroom then it tried to upload them (using my 20GB allowance). Didn't show my file structure either (I have asked in the other forum section about this).

Thinking maybe I should be using Lightroom classic? Only ever used photoshop before
Click to expand...

Yes, you certainly want to be using LR Classic in a PC
(See other answers on the other post :))
 
Beav said:
Hi guys,

would you say the Adobe Photography plan for just under £10/ month is worth it?

I have an old version of photoshop on my desktop and i've also noticed this plan can go on two computers (can then install on my laptop as well).

Never really used Lightroom and only ever edited photos on photoshop (am I missing out?). I am just a hobbyist currently but I do edit/upload images 3-4x a week and seem to be growing a small following on instagram (chasing a small goal of mine to reach 20k :))

Thanks
Click to expand...

You do not have to go for the Photography Plan just because you are a photographer. You can opt for a single app plan, and opt for Photoshop on its own.

The price tag of £9.98 a month is likely to be for your first year. After that, the price tag will go up every year, just like rent goes up, and food, and fuel, and all that in life.

Even if you opt for the Photography Plan because it is cheaper than the single app of £19.97 a month, then you are free to download and install Photoshop on its own, you do not "have to" download and install Lightroom as well.

As for the part about "never really used Lightroom and only ever edit photos on Photoshop." Nothing wrong there.

Most people often ask which is better, trying to compare LR against PS, thinking they both are editing software, as if (analogy speaking) comparing Ford Fiesta against a Ford Focus. But most are totally unaware that LR and PS have different jobs, they're nowhere similar, they're totally different from each other, like trying to compare (again, analogy speaking) a car against a truck.

LR is mainly and foremost a catalogue, a database, its main purpose is to display all the photos you wished to be added to LR, even if they're all over different folders. If I were to use an analogy to help you see the point, it would be like in the old days, when we used to have a ring blinder with pages of contact sheets, and an index of where the negatives are. Granted, LR does have editing features built-in for some photo-editing work.

PS is mainly and foremost a raster painting and photo editing program, its main purpose is to do heavy editing, photo manipulation, and create painting-like artwork. You can use it for photo editing if you want to, others can use it for painting-like artwork if they want to, I use it for both.

It is up to you to chose which way you want...
  • Photography Plan with 20GB storage space on the cloud, but remember you can just download and install Photoshop on its own.
  • Or opt for Photoshop as a Single App, but it will come with 100GB of storage space on the cloud, hence the little higher price tag.
 
The single app plan is poor value for cloud storage. Microsoft 365 Personal, including 1TB of OneDrive and Office, is £60 a year.
 
Major Eazy said:
Most people often ask which is better, trying to compare LR against PS, thinking they both are editing software, as if (analogy speaking) comparing Ford Fiesta against a Ford Focus. But most are totally unaware that LR and PS have different jobs, they're nowhere similar, they're totally different from each other, like trying to compare (again, analogy speaking) a car against a truck.

LR is mainly and foremost a catalogue, a database, its main purpose is to display all the photos you wished to be added to LR, even if they're all over different folders. If I were to use an analogy to help you see the point, it would be like in the old days, when we used to have a ring blinder with pages of contact sheets, and an index of where the negatives are. Granted, LR does have editing features built-in for some photo-editing work.
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I would suggest that is a minority opinion. I splashed out on PS after going digital in 2006 and never got on with it. The simple changes you wanted to make to your images seemed to be hidden away in complex menus, so when i began using LR instead it was a real breath of fresh air. I've used it for about ten years now and it is only the subscription-only model that they introduced a few years ago that puts me off recommending it 100%. If you already use PS and think that you will continue to do so alongside LR then the joint LR/PS plan is a good deal at less than £10 pm. When PS was available standalone it cost over £600!

It is absolutely true that LR was designed for photographers, PS was designed for graphic designers etc.
 
jerry12953 said:
I would suggest that is a minority opinion. I splashed out on PS after going digital in 2006 and never got on with it. The simple changes you wanted to make to your images seemed to be hidden away in complex menus, so when i began using LR instead it was a real breath of fresh air. I've used it for about ten years now and it is only the subscription-only model that they introduced a few years ago that puts me off recommending it 100%. If you already use PS and think that you will continue to do so alongside LR then the joint LR/PS plan is a good deal at less than £10 pm. When PS was available standalone it cost over £600!

It is absolutely true that LR was designed for photographers, PS was designed for graphic designers etc.
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Yes. Some photographers would prefer LR only, and could use it on a Single App plan, or could pay for the Photography Plan option, and download/install LR only, without actually download/install PS.

Also yes, LR is designed for photographers. Although graphic designers could find it useful, just to find the photos they want to import into InDesign, like I do. Or they could import all their finished .JPG artwork into a catalogue if they wanted to. I did once tried it just for fun, and it does work.

You're also correct that PS was designed for graphic designers, although I would say more like for most artists (including but not limited to graphic designers). However, it can be of use for photographers too.

It is a funny world, that both still ends up as a benefit for both photographers and artists/graphic designers.
 
Beav said:
Hi guys,

would you say the Adobe Photography plan for just under £10/ month is worth it?

I have an old version of photoshop on my desktop and i've also noticed this plan can go on two computers (can then install on my laptop as well).

Never really used Lightroom and only ever edited photos on photoshop (am I missing out?). I am just a hobbyist currently but I do edit/upload images 3-4x a week and seem to be growing a small following on instagram (chasing a small goal of mine to reach 20k :))

Thanks
Click to expand...


I have just downloaded & installed Luminar 3 free version and it is more like Lightroom than Photoshop. It seems like it is a free taster for the upgraded Luminar 4 which is available.

I think Affinity is more of a photoshop/lightroom combination editor and is better/easier (for me) to use than Luminar 3 but that said Luminar 3 is good and powerful. It has the advantage (again for me) in that it will display thumbs of all my files (CR3 and PSD included) in the same way as lightroom does (which Affinity doesn't, although it opens and then displays them in the program).

Luminar 3 will also open explorer with the specific file highlighted to drag & drop in to Affinity making that much easier for me (explorer will not display thumbs of CR3 or PSD or I can just do some adjustments in Luminar 3 if I don't need the extra power/ease of Affinity.

For £25 ish for Affinity and Luminar 3 free I have as much if not more than I need or had with LR&PS which costs £10 a month forever and it would never be mine.

I will definitely be cancelling my Adobe subscription in July when the year is up. I have been with Adobe CC for almost 4 years.


PS Affinity has a 3 month free trial and half price offer on for a couple of weeks more otherwise it will be £50 ish
 
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Major Eazy said:
The price tag of £9.98 a month is likely to be for your first year. After that, the price tag will go up every year, just like rent goes up, and food, and fuel, and all that in life.
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The price has been the same since they first introduced the subscription model, and while it may go up at some point in the future, historically is has not done so.
 
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