Adobe Creative Cloud Annual Plan

Nyrryl Cadiz

@sigross no, what I actually meant is that 30 pounds is not equal to 30 usd.
1 gbp = 1.3 usd
360 gbp = 480 usd

sigross

@Nyrryl-Cadiz Yes I understand. I thought I'd converted it first. But alas my calc presses failed me. We have to suffer the mad VAT tax in the UK that adds 20%. Such a ripoff.

jdubz

@carolinebautista Have you tried the Affinity apps? I've successfully completely replaced Illustrator and InDesign on a professional level with those two. So that gives me the ability to use the Photography plan, which as others have said seems to be the best value.

I'm pretty sure that once the intro price has expired, you might be SOL. They MIGHT give you a break for another year on the annual plan if you can talk to a live person and threaten to cancel. But at some point they're just going to say "sorry, the price is the price" which is what makes those kind of sub programs so lucrative to them.

I'm really considering looking at Clip Studio Paint. I'm seeing a lot of successful artists using it professionally and it makes me wonder if it could replace Photoshop. If it can, that would mean I could just use Affinity Photo for any kind of photo editing. That'd make every bit of software affordable and paid for life for under $150 for every single app I'd use. One can only dream

carriecopadraws

@jdubz I use that exact setup - Clip Studio Paint for art and the Affinity suite for layouts/web graphics. I haven't paid for a subscription in 2 years and it feels awesome. CSP is worth checking out, and there's lots of resources on setting up your tools and learning what they do. I'm happy to help if you have questions!

NessIllustration

@carriecopadraws Are the Affinirty apps available on PC, or is it just mobile?

carriecopadraws

@NessIllustration Affinity is desktop software for Mac and Windows in addition to the iPad app! It's normally $50 for each of the 3 programs (one-time fee), though they go on sale periodically. There's also a free trial.

jdubz

@NessIllustration PC, Mac and Mobile - WHOLE GAMUT BABY! Look for a bundle sale if you want to get into it. They are indeed usually $50 and sometimes they individually go on sale, and then I got Photo/Designer in a combo for $60 and then Publisher later.

Just one word of advice. It looks like you can digitally paint in it. Technically, you can, but it has a LOOOOOOOOONG way to go. So if you see them selling all these brush packs that look amazing, just pass those by. I think one day they might be a real competitor, but right now it's buggy as hell for tablets (I haven't tried the one for iPad yet, just desktop).

@jdubz

hmmmmm.

If they would say 'sorry, the price is the price' they would definitely lose me as a customer for at least a few years.

You and @carriecopadraws really are giving me an out. Maybe they will even have a bundle sale on Black Friday, and then I can switch. For now, I am going to do the free trial of Clip Studio Paint. Thank you!

jdubz

@carriecopadraws Question for you on CSP - did you previous use Photoshop and switched over? And if so, did you find it to be a frustrating switch? Or did you find the workflow to be pretty similar?

I'm in a bit of an odd situation in that I use Photoshop every day but for design work not for painting. The first serious digital painting I did was on Procreate so I'm honestly not as comfortable on PS comparatively. If I were to change to painting on CSP now might be the ideal time to do it rather than getting really ingrained in Photoshop as I'm doing more and more work in PS.

jdubz

@carolinebautista Cool hopefully it helps I think all the Affinity stuff has free 30 day trials also, so once your other trial expires give it a solid try to see if you can work in them effectively.

carriecopadraws

@jdubz It did take about a month to feel comfortable using Affinity. I used Photoshop for design for 20 years, so switching software was a pain point! But it didn't take that long to adjust to Affinity, and it wasn't frustrating, just relearning where things were. There's videos and forums to look up anything specific. I don't miss Photoshop at all, and I like the extra $600 in my pocket every year.

jdubz

@carriecopadraws Great thanks that's good to know. What about Clip Studio Paint? Was that a similar transition?

carriecopadraws

@jdubz Clip Studio was a little more daunting at first, but I found a few videos by Reuben Lara on how to set up my workspace and use the tools, then everything clicked. Overall it probably took a couple weeks to get into the flow of Clip Studio.

Favorite things Clip Studio can do:

lasso fill tool automatically fills selection with color
smart paint bucket tools for fast flatting
you can paint in "transparent," no need for a mask layer
you can mesh transform multiple layers, awesome for adjustments in the final painting stages
it has awesome comic-making tools if you're into that

carolinebautista

@Nyrryl-Cadiz I did manage to get all the Adobe apps for $191USD. I didn't even try negotiating this year, they just offered it. They are very confusing to deal with. They charged me an extra 600 for the old plan they assured me was cancelled, and then gave it back. And never explained why it was suddenly so cheap. It seems to be ok, but photoshop slows down my computer so I need to figure that part out.

@carriecopadraws It worked out to keep the subscription, but would you would have transitioned out of Adobe products sooner if you had known what you know now? Just wondering whether you like your situation better overall.

carolinebautista

Also, sorry for the confusion with my user profiles on this forum. I meant to have all my posts deleted for privacy and only just realized when I found this that I only got my profile deleted. And since the post was still here, I thought I would follow up.

Nyrryl Cadiz

@carolinebautista awesome