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Renting Photo-Shop


astro mick

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I think this is bad trend, now other companies are doing it.  Happily I have copies of earlier versions like PS7, 5.5 & 5.  Won't be long before MS Windows follows suit, as they have already done it to their Office package, again I have old copies that I re-use, still just as good.  I really don't like the thought of renting, when I come up against this I refuse to proceed. 

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1 hour ago, wxsatuser said:

I do.

Good value, IMO yes, suppose it could'nt be much cheaper.

My package includes PS CC 2019, Classic Lightroom, Lightroom CC and  Camera Raw CC which I run on two laptops.
At the moment I don't need any of the other stuff.

Thanks Mike.

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23 minutes ago, rwilkey said:

I think this is bad trend, now other companies are doing it.  Happily I have copies of earlier versions like PS7, 5.5 & 5.  Won't be long before MS Windows follows suit, as they have already done it to their Office package, again I have old copies that I re-use, still just as good.  I really don't like the thought of renting, when I come up against this I refuse to proceed. 

Interesting Robin.

You already have recent copies of photo-shop,but it you had,nt surely this is an option.

Buying is not an option.

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20 minutes ago, astro mick said:

Interesting Robin.

You already have recent copies of photo-shop,but it you had,nt surely this is an option.

Buying is not an option.

Hi Mick, no, I definately wouldn't rent, I would find something else!

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I think the whole question of buying vs renting software is a bit misleading.  We have never been able to actually buy a piece of software that you then own.  What we may have done before is buy a never ending license to use a piece of software, with no promise of it ever being eligible for updates or upgrades and certainly no kind of 'ownership'.  What the subscription option offers is the knowledge that you will always be able to use the most up to date version of software.

I understand that some people feel like they are being taken for a ride by some of the big software companies with the subscription model, and I agree that not having any right to buy a perpetual license is a backward step in some cases.  However, I think that the photography plan offered by Adobe for Photoshop and Lightroom together is good value at around £10/month and I'm very happy with it.

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Hi Mick, Paintshop Pro is a brilliant piece of software and I have used it many times when PS is down, it works very well.  I like the'capture' facility and the fact that you can paste anything straight in without first opening a work sheet, there are loads of things which make this program easy to use. 

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If you need to upgrade as and when a new version comes out then a SaaS (software as a service) model can make a lot of sense. 

I did the calculations once but the £10 a month for Adobe Photography package (PS and LR) would take something like 5 years until it became more expensive than buying outright and keeping up to date with upgrade licences. 

Also for a lot of people £10 p/m is a lot more accessible than the ££££ required to by a proper, legitimate PS licence. 

As GraemeH quite rightly points out you are buying a licence, not the software and very few packages give full lifetime updates if you buy on a pay once basis (exceptions are out there). 

PS is an exceptional piece of software too and if I moved toward professional work I’d happily resubscribe. 

As it is Affinity Photo works for me and is a really nice piece of software. Almost as powerful and very well priced. Plenty of people have started writing AP specific macros and sharing them which makes processing that bit easier. It is a lot more polished than Paint Shop Pro and has a brilliant iPad app (was iPad Oro only but don’t know if that’s changed). 

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I think there are pros and cons.

If you absolutely must have the latest version all the time then a subscription model may make sense.  If you don't, then it may well not.

Personally I don't like the idea that a software supplier can do whatever they want with their prices or even discontinue a product and potentially leave me high and dry unless I accept their terms and I will actively try to avoid such situations.  I bought a legitimate copy of Photoshop etc. just before Adobe changed their sales model and I shall be using it until it no longer works at which point I'll be looking elsewhere.

I very much doubt that software companies have gone to subscription models for the benefit of the user.  It's because it gives them a good chance of a long-term income stream and removes the choice of the users who may want to pay once and upgrade every five to ten years.  In the case of Photoshop, Office and even Windows, Adobe and Microsoft probably look at the market and know that whilst they might lose a few, most people aren't going to go anywhere and will just have to suck it up.  Arguably of course this does indirectly benefit some users as it means the company continues to exist and support their existing products even if it isn't producing new software or adding new features to what they already have out there.

I can't recall how much I paid for my copy of Photoshop, but it certainly wasn't the £720 at £10/month that I'd have paid through a subscription model if I'd had to do that at the time.

James

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I read this weekend that almost two thirds of Microsoft's revenue now comes from software subscriptions and that last year it became the most valuable company on the planet for the first time since 2002.  Clearly it works for them.

James

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I am on the fence with this, I have CS6 but it no longer supports my camera RAW files and I dont like any of the third party RAW editors.

I have tried PSP and lets say its an acquired taste, Affinity photo was better but its no Photoshop so it looks like I dont have an option.

Alan

 

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Being old (I was going to say 'old school' but 'old' will do!) the rental model grates with me. I use Ps CS3 and absolutely love it. I bought a disk, it's my disk and I suppose the only thing that will take it from me will be some dung-beetling WIndows 'upgrade' on which it won't work.

Why can't I own a piece of software? I own my car, my motorbike, my house, my telescope... Buying and owning things has worked pretty well for a very long time. The fact that this system may not suit certain manufacturers is their problem.

Olly

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4 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

Why can't I own a piece of software? I own my car, my motorbike, my house, my telescope... Buying and owning things has worked pretty well for a very long time. The fact that this system may not suit certain manufacturers is their problem.

In principle, you clearly can own a piece of software (the "intellectual property").  But because "the system" of ownership doesn't suit certain software manufacturers, that's not what they're willing to sell you.  They offer you a "licence for use" and if you don't like it then they'll be happy for you to go elsewhere.  If you can.

I guess it's all about the rights that "ownership" in a legal sense confers upon the owner.  How about books?  Or musical recordings.  That you own the physical medium of a book you have bought is not questioned.  But do you own the content to do with as you please?  Pretty much never.

Which kind of leads into why I don't use a Kindle, much as I'd love the convenience.  Buy a book for the Kindle and you have no ownership of anything, as far as I'm aware.  You merely have a "licence to read" for as long as Amazon see fit to allow it (and in the past they have unilaterally removed items that people have paid for without warning).  If I'm going to pay for an electronic copy of a book, as a very minimum I want the right to read it guaranteed, for all eternity.  Which is why, for the time being at least, I'm sticking with dead trees.

James

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The PI model is ideal, pay once and have future updates included.  I used to use cs2 and was happy with it.  The latest iteration of ps has a few tweaks but the thing that sold me the package was Lightroom which is wonderful.  I know there are other products such as dxo  but LR does it for me and I'm willing to "pay the rent"

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I'm with you there Olly, I too use CS3 and I would not rent anything. 

Imagine if you agreed to every bit of rental these software companies and others want to to purchase.  Antivirus, software to speed up your PC, spyware, protect your central heating, protect your drainage system, etc etc.  It wouldn't half mount up.  

Carole 

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4 minutes ago, MartinB said:

The PI model is ideal, pay once and have future updates included.

It's ideal for the user at the point of purchase, certainly.  If however people stop buying and the vendor has no income to fund the creation of future updates, everybody loses.  Some sooner than others.

James

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