Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

You are here: MacNN Forums > Enthusiast Zone > Art & Graphic Design > Adobe Creative Suite and Yosemite

Adobe Creative Suite and Yosemite
Thread Tools
OreoCookie
Moderator
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hilbert space
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 17, 2014, 02:53 PM
 
My girlfriend still occasionally uses her Windows laptop simply because her ancient version of Adobe's Creative Suite (CS1) is Windows-only and quite old anyway. I'm thinking of either getting her a subscription for Adobe's Creative Cloud (or whatever it is called). Or alternatively, I am thinking of getting her the last version of CS which was sold in a shrinkwrapped box. Any suggestions?
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
Thorzdad
Moderator
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Nobletucky
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 17, 2014, 03:19 PM
 
Well, I'm firmly in the camp dead-set against Adobe's Creative Cloud scheme, so my vote would be to get her the CS6.0 box.

Note, though, that the CS6 non-Creative Cloud apps don't get too many updates these days. CC gets all the updates and new tools and stuff now. An occasional security update is about all I see come through anymore. So, if you get her the CS6 box, she should consider it an EOL product, and is not regularly supported.
     
andi*pandi
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: inside 128, north of 90
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 17, 2014, 05:06 PM
 
CS6.

Or there are some new apps out there that look nifty.

I am also anti-Cloud.

Note, that if she has Indesign files from CS1, she will not be able to open them in CS6 unless she takes them to a place (kinko's?) that has CS3 or 4 and open them in steps. Illustrator files and Photoshop files SHOULD still be fine... I hope.
     
OreoCookie  (op)
Moderator
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hilbert space
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 17, 2014, 11:18 PM
 
She mostly uses Photoshop and Illustrator, so she should be fine. It really seems that Adobe rubs the whole community the wrong way with their new subscription model.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
Amber Neely
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Pennsylvania
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 18, 2014, 06:20 PM
 
I'm with everyone else. Seriously avoid getting the Cloud subscription. They've been so shady with their business model recently. My friend was one of those kids who paid for Adobe in her tuition, only to have them revoke her license midway through the semester. Besides, you'll pay more in the long run for things you probably wouldn't even care about.

I'm still using a copy of CS4 that I snagged at Best Buy or something, despite a previous employer getting me a CS5 copy a while ago.

As for the regular support thing? I wouldn't worry about it. I don't think in all the years I've been using Adobe (since CS1) I've ever had to actually phone in any support.
     
Thorzdad
Moderator
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Nobletucky
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 18, 2014, 07:02 PM
 
Truthfully, though, OC, if you can find it, I would greatly suggest getting her the CS5 suite, and not the CS6 suite. I have both, and I almost never, ever open a CS6 app (I also work mainly in Illustrator and Photoshop) The UI in CS6 feels wonky as hell, as if you never feel confident that where you click is really where you end up clicking. The whole thing just feels like a really bad Flash creation. Seriously. CS5 just feels far more solid than CS6.
     
OreoCookie  (op)
Moderator
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hilbert space
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 19, 2014, 10:04 AM
 
I just checked the prices for legitimate copies of CS6, wow! That should be a big concern to Adobe. I think functionality-wise she'll be fine with whatever version of CS (CS1 does the job for her), but I was thinking about longevity (newer versions are supported longer).

If Adobe isn't careful, they'll become the next Quark. Just out of curiosity: To me, all newer Adobe interfaces seemed kinda fugly, a non-native interface that seemed to have accumulated layer upon layer of sedimental cruft (kinda like Word). I never Lightroom's UI paradigm, for instance (I use Aperture for my photo library). But I'm not a designer, I don't have to use Adobe software on a regular basis, so maybe I don't appreciate the finer points. Is my sentiment shared in the graphics design community?
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
OreoCookie  (op)
Moderator
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hilbert space
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 19, 2014, 11:44 AM
 
PS I just checked, turns out she has CS4 (for Windows) and not CS1. I tried looking into cross grades, but I couldn't find anything anymore on Adobe's website.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
andi*pandi
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: inside 128, north of 90
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 19, 2014, 11:55 AM
 
adobe doesn't do cross-platform swapping, I'm afraid.

yes, the new UI is pretty fugly/dark, but at least it has options to change that (and font sizes, sheesh)

CS4 was a pretty good version. We used that a long time before switching to 5.5. You may be able to find a suite on ebay?
     
OreoCookie  (op)
Moderator
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hilbert space
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 20, 2014, 12:40 AM
 
Figures. The prices on ebay and other sources (amazon, craigslist) vary, and some of them are more than a tad shady. Would you pay C$1,600 for the Design Standard version of CS6 or C$1,000 for an upgrade from CS4 to CS6. That's pretty insane.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
andi*pandi
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: inside 128, north of 90
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 20, 2014, 08:26 AM
 
no one wants the friggin cloud, so the market responds by going nutso!
     
Thorzdad
Moderator
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Nobletucky
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 20, 2014, 09:02 AM
 
OC, do either of you (or a good friend, relative, etc.) qualify for student/teacher discounts?
Artists have been bitching about Adobe's prices since forever. $1,600 for Design Standard is pretty insane.
     
OreoCookie  (op)
Moderator
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hilbert space
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 20, 2014, 03:44 PM
 
Originally Posted by Thorzdad View Post
OC, do either of you (or a good friend, relative, etc.) qualify for student/teacher discounts?
Artists have been bitching about Adobe's prices since forever. $1,600 for Design Standard is pretty insane.
I do, I'm an instructor at a university, so I qualify for the discount. But nevertheless, I was a bit taken aback by the prices, maybe I have to mull over the idea of getting a copy of CS for her at all.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
andi*pandi
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: inside 128, north of 90
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 20, 2014, 04:24 PM
 
I recall the student package for CS2 Suite was quite affordable, only $200-300?
     
Thorzdad
Moderator
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Nobletucky
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 20, 2014, 06:21 PM
 
Now that I think on it, I'm betting Adobe only provides Creative Cloud to students and faculty now. Probably still at a discount, though, but you have to keep paying and paying.
     
OreoCookie  (op)
Moderator
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hilbert space
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 21, 2014, 03:21 PM
 
Originally Posted by andi*pandi View Post
I recall the student package for CS2 Suite was quite affordable, only $200-300?
But that piece of software is 5 versions old, and I don't think I'm ready to shell out that much money for such old software. Is it just me or is the creative community ripe for disruption?
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
andi*pandi
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: inside 128, north of 90
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 21, 2014, 03:40 PM
 
I was taking classes 5 years ago. I would hope that current student offerings would be similarly priced.

A friend posted a link to a new contender to Adobe's throne, if I could only remember the name of the product... oh here it is:

https://affinity.serif.com/
     
Thorzdad
Moderator
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Nobletucky
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 21, 2014, 03:53 PM
 
Originally Posted by OreoCookie View Post
Is it just me or is the creative community ripe for disruption?
Well, if all a creative is doing is web work, then there are already many alternative tools available at greatly reduced cost or even free, that will do the job just fine.

However, if, like me, you do a ton of print work, there really are only the Adobe suites. For instance, this week I'm doing ads for a local magazine. So, obviously, we're talking CMYK work, which immediately shoots-down the app that is perennially touted as Photoshop's replacement, GIMP. It's RGB only. Then there's the little matter of color management. The press that prints the magazine provides a custom color profile for their presses, which allows me to get accurate color throughout all of the Adobe graphics apps.

Adobe's strength is that it's a complete, end-to-end set of integrated professional tools. I work primarily in Photoshop and Illustrator at the same time. I can seamlessly bounce between the two, moving objects and images back and forth, editing an image in Photshop and having the edit appear immediately in Illustrator, all with absolute color accuracy. As much as we like to bitch about Adobe (and there are myriad reasons to do so) I can't imagine an upstart coming along and offering as good or better tools, at least for print work.
     
OreoCookie  (op)
Moderator
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hilbert space
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 22, 2014, 09:11 AM
 
Have you tried Pixelmator, Thorzdad? It only does RGB (which is fine for me since I only edit photos and don't care about print), does 16 bit editing and usually adopts new OS X technologies quite early.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
Thorzdad
Moderator
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Nobletucky
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 22, 2014, 09:23 AM
 
No, I haven't. I've heard good things about it, though. But, since it doesn't do CMYK, it really isn't on my radar, I'm afraid.
     
OreoCookie  (op)
Moderator
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hilbert space
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 23, 2014, 12:18 PM
 
Ugh, so I checked their prices, and it seems it's really between a rock and a hard place: even at a discount, a subscription would run me ~$300/year (for a 1-year 1-device license with the edu discount) while much older versions of CS would cost around the same. Ugh.

But I'll maybe get her a license for affinity designer, thanks andi*pandi!
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
DarkStarRed
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Jun 2005
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 29, 2014, 04:34 AM
 
Originally Posted by Thorzdad View Post
Well, if all a creative is doing is web work, then there are already many alternative tools available at greatly reduced cost or even free, that will do the job just fine.

However, if, like me, you do a ton of print work, there really are only the Adobe suites. For instance, this week I'm doing ads for a local magazine. So, obviously, we're talking CMYK work, which immediately shoots-down the app that is perennially touted as Photoshop's replacement, GIMP. It's RGB only. Then there's the little matter of color management. The press that prints the magazine provides a custom color profile for their presses, which allows me to get accurate color throughout all of the Adobe graphics.
I think this maybe useful reading for you..Pixelmator - CMYK conversion?
It's a bit difficult to read White-on-Black but it's Pro's discussing this very subject in dealing with CMYK.
     
Thorzdad
Moderator
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Nobletucky
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 30, 2014, 06:46 PM
 
I read that earlier. It's a start, I guess, but Pixelmator's soft-proofing and export to PDF workflow leaves a lot to be desired, though. I also start work on images in RGB, but, once you convert to a CMYK profile, you really need to be able to work in CMYK, as some colors can change dramatically in the RGB>CMYK conversion, and you need to be able to adjust everything appropriately.
     
techgirlable
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Dec 2014
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 2, 2014, 07:14 PM
 
I agree with thorzdad about cs5 instead of cs6. I have not tried CC yet because of the bad wrap its getting, so I cant really speak to that.
     
RecruiterLM
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Dec 2014
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 15, 2014, 01:07 PM
 
Hi guys, I'm using CS5 now and it is disgusting that so much of it has stopped working the minute I installed Yosemite. I've talked to Adobe, CS6 won't do any better, they say that if you subscribe to their god forsaken cloud (which entails a monthly rental of their programs in the CS suite) that all will be wonderful and it will work with Yosemite. I don't believe them and I'm not going to subscribe to their service.
     
Thorzdad
Moderator
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Nobletucky
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Dec 15, 2014, 01:16 PM
 
RecruiterLM...Have you installed the Java 6 package? Can you be more specific about what has stopped working in CS5? I've not from heard anyone with your complaint.
     
Salty
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Winnipeg, MB
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 29, 2015, 03:55 PM
 
For people who are billing hundreds of dollars in hours using Adobe's apps a day Creative Cloud is a great deal. But for those who don't live in the apps it's quite expensive.

Personally I've bought both Affinity Designer and Photo and am incredibly impressed with them. In many cases the apps feel genuinely better than Adobe's and they have a shocking number of features that are clearly designed for pros. (And they keep updating them!)

That said if somebody needs Adobe's products and they're not in an industry where paying for them is reasonable, they're not hard to get by other means.
     
   
Thread Tools
 
Forum Links
Forum Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Top
Privacy Policy
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:14 AM.
All contents of these forums © 1995-2017 MacNN. All rights reserved.
Branding + Design: www.gesamtbild.com
vBulletin v.3.8.8 © 2000-2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.,