For nearly a decade, Adobe’s Creative Suite has been the definitive software package for web designers (among many other types of designers). While the power of Creative Suite applications such as Photoshop and Illustrator is undeniable and unrivaled, the cost has been prohibitive for many aspiring designers. The current version of Creative Suite, version 6, costs $1,899 if design tools (Photoshop, Illustrator) and an HTML authoring application (Dreamweaver) are needed. The all-inclusive version, the CS6 Master Collection, sells for a whopping $2,599.
Web site owners who want to process their own photography and maybe even do a bit of their own design work could get great benefit from Creative Suite, but, as with many young designers, the cost of entry into the world of CS applications has been too high for site owners on a budget.
This all changed when Adobe announced Creative Cloud, a subscription service which offers unlimited access to every application from the latest version of Creative Suite for one monthly fee of $50.
The following applications are included with a Creative Cloud subscription:
- Photoshop CS6 Extended
- Illustrator CS6
- InDesign CS6
- Adobe Muse
- Acrobat X Pro
- Flash Professional CS6
- Flash Builder 4.6 Premium
- Dreamweaver CS6
- Edge
- Fireworks CS6
- Premiere Pro CS6
- After Effects CS6
- Audition CS6
- SpeedGrade CS6
- Prelude CS6
- Encore CS6
- Shared applications
- Bridge CS6
- Media Encoder CS6
To get all these applications in the traditional method, one would have to buy the aforementioned Creative Suite 6 Master Collection ($2,599). Additionally, a Creative Cloud subscription always includes the latest versions at no additional cost; for example, a user who has purchased CS6 in the traditional way would have to pay to upgrade to CS7, while a Creative Cloud user would pay nothing extra to access the new version.
There are two sides to every coin, however, and although Creative Cloud does provide a very low cost of entry, advantages to traditional software purchase do exist. The first and foremost advantage is lower cost upgrades. For example, Adobe sells Creative Suite 6 Web and Design Premium for $375 - $949 (depending on the version of Creative Suite the user currently has), as opposed to the full purchase price of $1,899. Also, the traditional method of acquiring Adobe software is a one-time purchase, whereas if a Creative Cloud user stops paying the monthly subscription fee, they will immediately lose access to the applications.
An additional considering when deciding if Creative Cloud is right for you is determining which applications you will actually use. Few subscribers will find themselves using every Creative Cloud application. If you only need Photoshop, it would likely be more cost effective to simply purchase Photoshop for $799 (currently the upgrade version sells for $199); by the end of the second year of use, you would have already saved a considerable amount of money versus subscribing to Creative Cloud ($1200, provided Adobe does not raise the monthly subscription fee).
While not the right solution for everyone, Creative Cloud is a great way for designers and web site owners to gain access to the top software in the industry without a large initial investment. Adobe Creative Cloud is another example of how “software as a service” business models are reaching previously untapped markets.
