Creative Cloud Main
Have you been playing with the Photoshop CS6 beta that was released a couple weeks ago? We have. But today, Adobe announced official release and pricing info. Perhaps more interesting though, are the final details about their new all-you-can-app subscription service, Creative Cloud.
Creative Cloud gives you full access to any app that fits under the CS6 Master Collection, including the big boys like Photoshop Extended, Premiere Pro (video editing), AfterEffects (video and motion graphics), Lightroom (which will come at a later date) and several more. In addition to that, you also get a few new utilities like Typekit for safely using fonts on the web, Edge, which allows you to make animated HTML 5 files, and Muse, which allows you to design websites graphically and then generates the appropriate code for you.
The Creative Cloud also integrates tightly with the Photoshop Touch apps, so you can pull files from the Cloud to view or work on using your tablet as well as your computer. It's a nice conduit between the two platforms, which will only get more interesting as always-on internet becomes more prevalent, especially if we can get 4G speeds.
If you want the $50 monthly rate mentioned above, you have to be willing to sign up for the whole year. The month-to-month option raises the fee to $75. The price includes access to all the apps, software updates, and 20 GB of online storage for your projects. The storage piece is actually fairly interesting in that it lets users share projects with collaborators or clients using a fair bit of control.
Students and educators who qualify for educational pricing will be able to get access to the Creative Cloud for a discounted $30 monthly fee, which will also be extended as an introductory rate for users who are currently on CS3 or higher.
Of course, some users won't buy into the subscription-style pricing, and those users can expect to pay very familiar prices for the new software. Photoshop CS6 costs $699, while Photoshop CS6 Extended is $999. The full Master Collection is still $2,599, while the smaller industry-specific bundles check in at $1,299 or $1,899.
It will certainly be interesting to see how this pricing plan is received. This isn't the first time Adobe has implemented a subscription plan, but it is the first time they've offered an all-inclusive plan like this. With the additional publishing tools, it seems like an excellent deal for the working pro, but does this lower the barrier of entry enough for enthusiasts? Time will tell.
We'll bring you more information about Creative Cloud as well as Photoshop CS6 soon. They will both be available within the next 30 days. Here are the official press releases if you're into reading that kind of thing.
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