# Photoshop CC and Lightroom subscription



## ecphoto (Apr 4, 2014)

I was on the @dobe website today and saw that they have a subscription for$9.99 a month and you get the two programs plus cloud storage. I chatted with one of their cs reps and she told me that it is an ongoing subscription and you need to keep paying indefinitely in order to continue using it. 
I think I would rather pay once and keep my software, what do you guys think?


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## tirediron (Apr 4, 2014)

I think you'll be buying other software then.  I really despise the 'subscription' model for software, but it's the way of the future, and at least at $9.95/month it's in the realm of cost similar to that of paying for semi-regular updates.


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## SCraig (Apr 4, 2014)

ecphoto said:


> I was on the @dobe website today and saw that they have a subscription for$9.99 a month and you get the two programs plus cloud storage. I chatted with one of their cs reps and she told me that it is an ongoing subscription and you need to keep paying indefinitely in order to continue using it.
> I think I would rather pay once and keep my software, what do you guys think?



If you want the latest version of Photoshop you have no choice.  It is not available as regular distribution software any longer, only by subscription.


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## ecphoto (Apr 4, 2014)

SCraig said:


> ecphoto said:
> 
> 
> > I was on the @dobe website today and saw that they have a subscription for$9.99 a month and you get the two programs plus cloud storage. I chatted with one of their cs reps and she told me that it is an ongoing subscription and you need to keep paying indefinitely in order to continue using it.
> ...



That's a really bummer! I liked paying once, even if it was a lot; then I'd upgrade when I was good and ready. This paying a monthly fee for the right to use it can get way pricey over time.


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## Msteelio91 (Apr 4, 2014)

I was looking into this as well. It's not a bad offer but the idea of paying monthly for software just bothers me. That said, always having the latest version is pretty sweet...


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## Trever1t (Apr 4, 2014)

Realistically what was the price of CS6? Take into account it was updated every 2 years or so...that $10/mo is cheap! That said I'm sticking with my CS6/LR4 until the raw converter requires me to update.


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## JerryLove (Apr 4, 2014)

SCraig said:


> ecphoto said:
> 
> 
> > I was on the @dobe website today and saw that they have a subscription for$9.99 a month and you get the two programs plus cloud storage. I chatted with one of their cs reps and she told me that it is an ongoing subscription and you need to keep paying indefinitely in order to continue using it.
> ...


Once again: the industry has responded to worries of piracy by making the pirated versions superior (IIRC: the pirates simply cracked the "check-for-license" portion and there you go).

And yea, it's $9.95 / mo... *if* you subscribe for a year and *only* until that year is up (at which point: you will pay whatever the prices are then).

I signed up and opted out in the first 30 days. CC6 will be just fine I think.


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## KmH (Apr 4, 2014)

CS 6 full retail was $699. It is also worth noting that Photoshop CC includes all the CS 6 Extended ($999 retail) features that were not included with the regular CS 3, 4, 5, 6.

LR 5 retail is $149 and you can still get a hard copy of it on a disc. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5
Upgrade pricing for moving from _any_ previous version of LR to LR 5 is $79. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5 Upgrade

Those of us that qualifies for it got upgrade pricing when moving to CS 6 - $199.

But if you bought CS 6 and LR 5 at full retail that would be $850, and while you don't own that software you do/did get a perpetual use license.
At $9.99 a month - $850 / $9.99 = 85 months or 7 years.

At CS 6/LR 5 upgrade pricing - $278 / $9.99 = 28 months.
That's about how often CS/LR upgrades were happening (18 - 24 months) before Adobe went the subscription route.

So those of use who upgraded regularly are paying just about the same as we were before Adobe went subscription. Actually at $9.99 a month we are coming out a little ahead.
But, we don't have to wait 18-24 months for the next new features. We get them as soon as they are ready for release.

Adobe have kept extending the Photoshop Photography Program pricing special of $9.99 a month deadline. The newest end date is - May 31, 2014 - as on their Photoshop Photography Program FAQ page. Adobe Creative Cloud - FAQ
IIRC the original end date was December 31, 2013.

Which might make one think they lost *a lot* of photographers when they went to the subscription method, and aren't getting as many photographers to sign up on the subscription plan as they think they need.


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## SCraig (Apr 5, 2014)

ecphoto said:


> That's a really bummer! I liked paying once, even if it was a lot; then I'd upgrade when I was good and ready. This paying a monthly fee for the right to use it can get way pricey over time.


I have no interest in it, I'm not going to "Lease" software.  Truthfully I don't even like Photoshop and can't stand Lightroom.  I got both on sale about a year ago and seldom use them so I have them when I need them but the majority of the time they just take up disk space.


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## ecphoto (Apr 5, 2014)

SCraig said:


> ecphoto said:
> 
> 
> > That's a really bummer! I liked paying once, even if it was a lot; then I'd upgrade when I was good and ready. This paying a monthly fee for the right to use it can get way pricey over time.
> ...



What does your workflow look like?

Sent from my MB886 using Tapatalk


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## SCraig (Apr 5, 2014)

ecphoto said:


> What does your workflow look like?


What does my workflow look like?  Take photos, adjust as necessary, I guess.  Obviously I don't understand your question.


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## Overread (Apr 5, 2014)

People just dno't like the idea of being slaved to someone else or having to rely upon their internet connection. Especially as its a monthly thing (services like Steam games are one-time purchases which can then run offline without any need to call back again unless you change computers). 

Adobe has likely lots a lot of photographers, however lost is a relative term as most likely just bought the last version of PS and stuck with it. They'll update eventually at some point; plus at £10 a month Adobe should be targeting the huge casual market who can now actaully envision owning the full software package without being a pirate.


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## ecphoto (Apr 5, 2014)

SCraig said:


> ecphoto said:
> 
> 
> > What does your workflow look like?
> ...



I mean the way you process / organize them once you download them from your cards.

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## SCraig (Apr 5, 2014)

> I mean the way you process / organize them once you download them from your cards.


I copy them into directories on my computer based on year and subject.  The directories are set so that they all hold the amount of data that will fit on a DVD.  For example, Photographs/2014/Vol01 for the first directory this year.  I use Nikon Transfer to download files from camera to computer since it has the ability to rename files as they are downloaded.  Files are number sequentially and prefixed with the year, i.e. 2014_00001.NEF, 2014_01000.NEF, etc.  When a directory gets full it gets written to two DVD's; one stays here at home and the second goes to my office.

I look through the photos I just took using FastStone image viewer.  Those that I want to edit are copied to a working directory (press [C] in FastStone and the file is copied to the directory of my choice).  From there I edit the chosen few using Nikon Capture NX2 which is my preferred editing software.  If it won't do what I want I also have DxO Optics, Corel Paintshop Pro, Corel Aftershot, and Photoshop CS6.  About the only use any of those see is distortion correction in DxO Optics and adding a small watermark in Paintshop Pro.  Probably 90% of my edits are done in Capture NX2.


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## AlanKlein (Apr 5, 2014)

What will do when the subscription price goes up?  What do you do with all your edits once you stop paying the fee?  Files won't be able to be backwards compatible to operate on old CS6.  Do you plan on paying monthly for the rest of your life?


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## KmH (Apr 5, 2014)

ecphoto said:


> I mean the way you process / organize them once you download them from your cards.


As far as organization goes, what type pf file management application do you use? - The DAM Book: Digital Asset Management for Photographers


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## e.rose (Apr 5, 2014)

I don't like it.

I refuse to do it, for as long as I can possibly hold out.

CS5 came out in 2010... I've been using it since about then... so almost 4 years. Never upgraded, never felt the need to upgrade. It does what I need it to do.

I have so many people trying to convince me if I move to CC that "I'll always have the newest features!" -- I could give 2 sh*ts about that. If it weren't for Adobe CC coming out, I'd probably keep using CS5 for the next 3 years at least before even thinking about upgrading.

For people who upgraded every time a new version came out... I could see how this is cost effective. But I didn't.

At this point, I'm probably going to try to upgrade to CS6 before it's pulled off the shelves forever, and then I'll cling to that as long as humanly possible. 

Cloud storage doesn't appeal to me, having the "latest features all the time" doesn't really appeal to me, and the fact that if I ever stopped being a professional photographer, and therefore couldn't support the subscription pricing any longer, I don't like the idea that I can no longer access my working files.

There is not a single thing about CC that has even remotely caught my interest.


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## tirediron (Apr 5, 2014)

e.rose said:


> ...having the "latest features all the time" doesn't really appeal to me...


No... no, of course it doesn't!


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## Trblmkr (Apr 5, 2014)

I think a lot of people on this thread really don't understand what the $9.99 a month gets you.

For example, if you pay for the first year and then cancel. You STILL have Photoshop CC and Lightroom 5 Fully functional and operational. You're files are still able to be used 1 year, 2 years or 3 years from now with the same software.  Just because you stop paying for it, doesn't mean it's going to stop working.  It simple mes that you're not getting any updates.  And the prices I looked at for PS CS6 when the Subscription came out was close to $1000 for PS.  Even at $10 a month, it pays for itself if only for a year. PLUS you get Lightroom 5.  I'm sorry, this is a no brainier of a deal IMO.


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## Overread (Apr 5, 2014)

Honestly I don't think the idea was made for existing CC users - it was made for casual users. Those who get elements  -who then read magazines and articles written for Photoshop and who then pirate it because they can't afford it. Thus the subscription approach, allowing Adobe to coax a lot more of the casual market into spending only a £10 a month for TWO programs! If they do the right marketing they should be able to clean up a huge new user base. The only hurdle is getting all those people to accept the subscription deals and concept which is a much bigger problem (even the more progressive computer games market does not like the whole concept of programs being remote controlled or officiated by developers to the point where unless your Blizzard its basically not used unless you're running an MMO)


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## e.rose (Apr 5, 2014)

tirediron said:


> e.rose said:
> 
> 
> > ...having the "latest features all the time" doesn't really appeal to me...
> ...



That's after working on a 6 year old MAC MINI 

I will probably be running this MBP into the GROUND before I upgrade again. HAHA.

My first iPhone was the iPhone 4 and I didn't upgrade until the 5s, because it was finally slowing down and driving me crazy. Otherwise, I'd STILL have an iPhone 4. :lmao:


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## e.rose (Apr 5, 2014)

Trblmkr said:


> I think a lot of people on this thread really don't understand what the $9.99 a month gets you.
> 
> For example, if you pay for the first year and then cancel. *You STILL have Photoshop CC and Lightroom 5 Fully functional and operational.* You're files are still able to be used 1 year, 2 years or 3 years from now with the same software.  Just because you stop paying for it, doesn't mean it's going to stop working.  It simple mes that you're not getting any updates.  And the prices I looked at for PS CS6 when the Subscription came out was close to $1000 for PS.  Even at $10 a month, it pays for itself if only for a year. PLUS you get Lightroom 5.  I'm sorry, this is a no brainier of a deal IMO.



Not according to this forum thread:

Adobe Community: What happens to my work when I cancel my subscription?

"Hi Pauls,

Once you cancel your subscription, the product installed on your system would work fine for the consecutive 30 days as a trial version. Once those 30 days are up , your files and softwares would still be there but the software would then be giving you a pop up window requesting you to purchase the subscription . Without doing that , the product wouldnt work ."


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## tirediron (Apr 5, 2014)

e.rose said:


> Trblmkr said:
> 
> 
> > I think a lot of people on this thread really don't understand what the $9.99 a month gets you.
> ...


That also depends; if you bought your software outright (ie purchased boxed versions of CS6 and LR5) and then subscribed to CC for the updates, your software will work forever, but will not be updated.  If you only "bought" your software through CC then, yep, stop paying and you're done, BUT...  you don't lose your files.


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## Light Guru (Apr 5, 2014)

Trblmkr said:


> I think a lot of people on this thread really don't understand what the $9.99 a month gets you.
> 
> For example, if you pay for the first year and then cancel. You STILL have Photoshop CC and Lightroom 5 Fully functional and operational. You're files are still able to be used 1 year, 2 years or 3 years from now with the same software.  Just because you stop paying for it, doesn't mean it's going to stop working.  It simple mes that you're not getting any updates.  And the prices I looked at for PS CS6 when the Subscription came out was close to $1000 for PS.  Even at $10 a month, it pays for itself if only for a year. PLUS you get Lightroom 5.  I'm sorry, this is a no brainier of a deal IMO.



No you DONT get to continue using the programs. 

From adobes website http://www.adobe.com/products/creativecloud/faq.html
"What happens if I decide to stop my membership?
You will continue to have access to free Creative Cloud member benefits, and if you saved your work to your computer you will continue to have access to those files. You will no longer have access to the Creative Cloud desktop applications or most of the services that are components of a Creative Cloud membership."

That said I have been a paid member of CC for a couple of years now and find it a wonderful way of getting the software I need. Adobe even let me cancel my previous subscription of $20 a month for just photoshop to take advantage of the $10 a month photoshop and Lightroom deal and they didn't even charge me the cancelation fee on the old subscription.


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## Overread (Apr 5, 2014)

Light Guru said:


> That said I have been a paid member of CC for a couple of years now and find it a wonderful way of getting the software I need. Adobe even let me cancel my previous subscription of $20 a month for just photoshop to take advantage of the $10 a month photoshop and Lightroom deal and they didn't even charge me the cancelation fee on the old subscription.



That's actually surprising of them! Most companies like to sting existing users like this. You see it all the time - new customers getting better deals than established members, and if you want to change there are "fees" that simply discourage you wanting to chance because you won't save much overall. Very nice of Adobe to let users chance to the most cost effective deal and without charging them a "fine" for doing so


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## tirediron (Apr 5, 2014)

Light Guru said:


> Trblmkr said:
> 
> 
> > I think a lot of people on this thread really don't understand what the $9.99 a month gets you.
> ...


Okay, I'll rephrase that.  When I talked to the rep. from Adobe Canada, she stated absolutely that if you had purchased the full program off-the-shelf from a retailer, it was yours to use in perpetuity, regardless of your cloud subscription's status.   Granted, if you've upgraded to CC 19 or whatever in ten year's time, you may have to reinstall the original, but you will still have that.


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## KmH (Apr 5, 2014)

Photoshop CC is only available by subscription.

If you stop paying the monthly subscription price you can no longer use Photoshop CC.
If you have LR 5 as part of the Photoshop Photographers Program and stop making the monthly subscription payments, you'll also no longer be able to use LR 5.
At that point you could buy a hard copy of LR 5 for full retail - or if you qualify for it - at the upgrade price ($79).


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## e.rose (Apr 5, 2014)

tirediron said:


> Okay, I'll rephrase that.  When I talked to the rep. from Adobe Canada, she stated absolutely that if you had purchased the full program off-the-shelf from a retailer, it was yours to use in perpetuity, regardless of your cloud subscription's status.   Granted, if you've upgraded to CC 19 or whatever in ten year's time, you may have to reinstall the original, but you will still have that.



Right. Which only reinforces the fact that I will eventually be getting CS6, and then holding onto it for dear life. At some point I would have upgraded from CS5, but not for Adobe CC.

Someday I will upgrade my camera, and that day will be the day I am forced to upgrade to Adobe CC, because my camera profile will no longer be compatible with CS5 or CS6. HOWEVER, I am secretly praying that another company will put something out to rival Photoshop by then, at which point I will make the switch over to that, and never look back. 

A girl can dream right? 

Sent from my iPhone using PhotoForum


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## JClishe (Apr 10, 2014)

AlanKlein said:


> What will do when the subscription price goes up? What do you do with all your edits once you stop paying the fee? Files won't be able to be backwards compatible to operate on old CS6. Do you plan on paying monthly for the rest of your life?



Are you saying that .PSD files created in Photoshop CC aren't backwards compatible with CS6? I don't own CS6 so I can't test this, but I think you're wrong.

And lets be honest - CS6 won't be operable on any current operating system in 10 years or so anyway. Can you install CS6 on Windows 2000? Nope. So do you think you'll be able to install CS6 on Windows 11 or Mac OSIV or whatever happens to be current in the year 2024? Doubtful. So if you're going to throw around the file compatibility "for the rest of your life" argument then the only way that holds any validity whatsover is if you're suggesting hanging onto a Windows 7 / 8 / 9 / OSX computer "for the rest of your life" in order to run CS6.


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## Overread (Apr 10, 2014)

Heck you can't even install Lightroom 5 on anything older than Win 7. Adobe seems to be very keen to keep their software only supported and functional on modern OS systems.


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## JClishe (Apr 10, 2014)

KmH said:


> Which might make one think they lost *a lot* of photographers when they went to the subscription method, and aren't getting as many photographers to sign up on the subscription plan as they think they need.



In one of Scott Kelby's blog posts from last November or so, he mentioned that Adobe was hoping for a million CC subscribers by the end of 2013 and they hit their goal 4 months ahead of plan. So no, they didn't lose a lot of photographers. 

My guess is they're selling a metric sh*t ton of the $10/mo plan and they'd be foolish to turn it off until net-new signups start to decline.


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## ronlane (Apr 10, 2014)

I'd get the subscription to be able to have the latest LR and CS. My problem is that I need to upgrade my OS first and I've been dragging my feet on that.


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## KmH (Apr 10, 2014)

JClishe said:


> KmH said:
> 
> 
> > Which might make one think they lost *a lot* of photographers when they went to the subscription method, and aren't getting as many photographers to sign up on the subscription plan as they think they need.
> ...


Do you mean Sept. 9 when he quoted Adobe as having 750,000 total CC subscribers back in June and was speculating about total CC subscribers- not stating a fact - by the end of Sept (Q3).



> My Take on Adobe?s Creative Cloud Deal for Photographers | Scott Kelby's Photoshop Insider
> . . . Back in June Adobe announced they had over 720,000 paid CC subscribers. This month when they announce their quarterly earnings where do you think those numbers will be now? I wouldn&#8217;t be surprised to see them at nearly a million paid subscribers.. . .



He was also stressing in that blog post that the "limited time offer" to subscribe to the Photoshop Photography Program ended at the end of 2013 - but it's been extended by 5 months - so far.
He also pointed out that Adobe dropped the qualifying requirements. If all was hunky-dory why did Adobe decide they needed to do that?

How many of the new subscribers changed their minds and canceled their PPP ( Photoshop Photography Program) subscription?

According to Adobe's Q4 FY2013 Financial Results report the total number of *all* Creative Cloud subscribers was only 1.4 M.
All Creative Cloud subscribers would include Adobe's full range of users and not just customers availing themselves of the Photoshop Photography Program.
http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pressreleases/pdfs/201312/Q413Earnings.pdf

So it is still my opinion that Adobe is struggling to lure photographers to the $9.99 a month PPP (so far effectively unlimited time) subscription offer.


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## JClishe (Apr 10, 2014)

KmH said:


> Do you mean Sept. 9 when he quoted Adobe as having 750,000 total CC subscribers back in June and was speculating about total CC subscribers- not stating a fact - by the end of Sept (Q3).



No I meant exactly what I said. A November blog post where he said Adobe hit 1MM CC subscribers 4 months ahead of plan. Check the Q&A: Adobe?s Letting Everyone In On $9.99 ?Bundle Deal? But Only For a Few Days | Scott Kelby's Photoshop Insider



KmH said:


> According to Adobe's Q4 FY2013 Financial Results report the total number of *all* Creative Cloud subscribers was only 1.4 M.



OK awesome, thanks for confirming the point I was making!! Kelby said Adobe's original goal was 1M subscribers by the end of calendar 2013 and you've provided data that says they exceeded their goal by 40%. Thanks!


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## KmH (Apr 10, 2014)

None of that says how many photographers, just total CC subscribers.

Most of Adobe's CC customers _aren't photographers_. Adobe CC is a variety of software applications that Photoshop CC and LR are is just part of.

So we have no idea what impact the change to subscription pricing had on the number of photographers.


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## JClishe (Apr 10, 2014)

KmH said:


> Most of Adobe's CC customers _aren't photographers_.



So what? Adobe set a goal of 1MM subscribers in 2013 and they ended with 1.4MM.



KmH said:


> So we have no idea what impact the change to subscription pricing had on the number of photographers.



I'd assume it didn't have much impact since the $9.99/mo pricing was introduced at the end of the year.


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## SpikeyJohnson (Apr 10, 2014)

Something you can look into is if your company allows you to get a cheaper sub plan.  I work for a college and all faculty and staff have the option to get the $50 monthly sub from Adobe for $10 a year instead of the insanely large price.  So maybe if you work for certain companies they can help you out with that.


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## hotdrop (Apr 10, 2014)

Generally speaking its a bad deal overall unless you fall into the frequent upgrader category. It doesn't seem like they add all that much to Photoshop each year to make it worthwhile, the biggest factor tends to be OS compatibility, most people could use CS1 or earlier and still not use most of the features. They added some nice lens correction stuff in CS5 but that seems like the only very worthwhile feature since like CS1 for normal photo editing.


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## Buckster (Apr 11, 2014)

JClishe said:


> AlanKlein said:
> 
> 
> > What will do when the subscription price goes up? What do you do with all your edits once you stop paying the fee? Files won't be able to be backwards compatible to operate on old CS6. Do you plan on paying monthly for the rest of your life?
> ...


You've got it backwards.

No, you can't generally install today's software on older OS versions.  But you CAN install older software on new OS versions.  You can install Photoshop version 2.5 on any current OS, if you want to.  And chances are that you will be able to install it or CS6 on any future OS for the foreseeable future as well.

As for file compatibility, I have both CS6 and CC installed.  I've been doing my work in CC, and the most recent of my CC PSD files, made with the latest CC updates, currently opens up and works just fine in CS6.

As to the post being responded to:



AlanKlein said:


> What will do when the subscription price goes up?


That depends on how much it goes up by.  As long as it remains reasonable, I'm okay with it.  The Adobe rep I talked to said they currently have no plans to raise the subscription price.  That doesn't mean it can't happen, of course, but I'm not going to worry about it until it becomes an actual issue. 



AlanKlein said:


> What do you do with all your edits once you stop paying the fee? Files won't be able to be backwards compatible to operate on old CS6.


They're compatible so far.  IF future updates make them incompatible, and IF I ever decide to stop my subscription because they've raised the price too high, there is always the fact that I retain my original RAW files, and can use any other editor to recreate an image, if I REALLY need to, which I honestly don't anticipate happening very much, if at all.  I plan to keep CS6 in any case, so I can always go back to that if I have to.



AlanKlein said:


> Do you plan on paying monthly for the rest of your life?


As long as the price remains reasonable, and as long as I continue to have an interest in using it, yes.  At this time, it's a better price than I paid for each update every 18 months or so.  As long as it remains reasonably priced in the future, even with some slight increases due to inflation that causes all goods and services to increase, I'm fine with it.


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