Adobe CC Prices Skyrocket

[smoke665]

What does AI generative do for you? Is it worth it?

For me I think it is. Here's a good example, you have a subject with a beautiful field of flowers in the background, but between the subject and the field of flowers there's a chain link fence. To remove it manually would take lots of time to remove it...even then it might not look right. With Generative Fill you use the lasso tool to select the fence and some surrounding area. Click on generate and AI generates three options in the blink of an eye of what it thinks it would look like without the fence, pick the one you like or generate again to fine tune. You also have the option of throwing in text guidance.

Using text to speech I can generate a complete image. I do this frequently when I need a special background for a composite. Rather than searching for hours to find the right stock image, I can generate exactly what I want with text to image. I may have posted this before, but what's real and what's AI text to image here???

restaruant 4.jpg by William Raber, on Flickr

Here's an easier one, what's real and what is Generative Fill in this image?

car show20240929_0343.jpg by William Raber, on Flickr

 

[DanOstergren]

What does AI generative do for you? Is it worth it?

I know you didn't ask me specifically, but I can add some insight on what I feel are the practical benefits of AI in Photoshop, to me at least. I use the cropping generative expand tool pretty regularly to expand image edges. For example, if a crop feels slightly off or needs to be tweaked for Instagram’s size restrictions, or expanded for specific print sizes for images that couldn't fit in a certain print size without awkward cropping. But I don’t use it for adding new backgrounds or inventing elements that didn't already exist.

What’s made the biggest difference for me is the AI masking in ACR. It’s completely changed my editing workflow by giving me precise, selective control over exposures, especially with natural light portraits. I used to avoid masking by hand because it was too time-consuming, but now I can accurately target multiple areas of an image in seconds. That alone is worth the subscription price to me for the time it saves. It's barely the cost of two cafe coffee drinks a month, and that’s without even touching on the rest of Photoshop’s tools, which make the value even clearer. AI noise reduction is also quite amazing a a regularly used tool for me as well.

 

[AlanKlein]

I know you didn't ask me specifically, but I can add some insight on what I feel are the practical benefits of AI in Photoshop, to me at least. I use the cropping generative expand tool pretty regularly to expand image edges. For example, if a crop feels slightly off or needs to be tweaked for Instagram’s size restrictions, or expanded for specific print sizes for images that couldn't fit in a certain print size without awkward cropping. But I don’t use it for adding new backgrounds or inventing elements that didn't already exist.

What’s made the biggest difference for me is the AI masking in ACR. It’s completely changed my editing workflow by giving me precise, selective control over exposures, especially with natural light portraits. I used to avoid masking by hand because it was too time-consuming, but now I can accurately target multiple areas of an image in seconds. That alone is worth the subscription price to me for the time it saves. It's barely the cost of two cafe coffee drinks a month, and that’s without even touching on the rest of Photoshop’s tools, which make the value even clearer. AI noise reduction is also quite amazing a a regularly used tool for me as well.

Dan, do you see other pros using AI to compete with you who are not so ethical about using it to create unphotographed content or other photos from scratch that they never even shot?

 

[pez]

But what can you do????? Some of the other competition can Import LR catalogs, but not some of the more sophisticated masking option now available in LR. PS isn't so much a problem as it's a destructive editor so you can save it as a TIFF. Supposedly you can do that in LR also, with the edits saved in a sidecar file, BUT another software may or may not be able to use those edits. Also, as I said, it appears they are all similarly priced now.

I've used it for so long, that I'm just riding it to wherever the end is. Every time I try something else, I miss LR/PS a LOT. Oh well...

 

[smoke665]

I've used it for so long, that I'm just riding it to wherever the end is. Every time I try something else, I miss LR/PS a LOT. Oh well...

Yup, you know I used to worry about all the edits I've done in LR/PS and what would happen when I'm gone, but then I think, how many of the thousands of images I have will my kids really want??? My father was an avid photographer, who shot primarily color slides and few prints. I have boxes and boxes of his stuff that I need to pitch because they've faded to nothing over the years. I have a ton of prints, that I shot in the 70-90s that are already facing the same issues. In 20 years will the stuff I have on my hard drives even be usable? My daughter uses LR/PS so she could likely import the ones she wanted, but I doubt that she'll want most of the thousands of travel photos, landscapes, commissioned work, etc. When you reach my age, you come to the realization that every year, your chances of seeing the next year go down, so like you I'll just ride it out till the end.

 

[DanOstergren]

Dan, do you see other pros using AI to compete with you who are not so ethical about using it to create unphotographed content or other photos from scratch that they never even shot?

I see people using AI in many ways that I personally would not, but at this moment I can't recall if they were pros. Most likely some were.

 

[smoke665]

I'm going to make a prediction on the future of photo editing software. I've been using my current accounting software for close to 20 yrs. It started out as a perpetual license, I could get a couple years out of it before I had to upgrade. Upgrade prices rose every year until they got so high they were losing customers, so they went to a subscription model. Every year they've been jacking up the subscription price. This year they've been pushing "online" vs "desktop" as their future. They stopped selling new desktop subscriptions and raised the price on current desktop users to $1,800 per yr to entice current users to use the online software. I managed to wrangle a concession out of them for a reduction, but the reprieve is short lived as they will phase out the desktop version completely in 2027. Between then and now I'll either have to migrate to the online version or swap horses.

Online photo editing is already here, it's only a matter of time before they force us to an online only model.

 

[ACHILLEAS]

I personally can use anything or nothing. just sooc. I prefer documentary photography because I do not see it inherently as an art form. I believe art is in the subject captured. So I have no need for expensive fancy software. The less time I spend in post the better. The time effort and money you spend in software can be spent in directing.

Most people I know that use the adobe suite is either pirated from Russian sites or they put it in company expenses. Neither care how much it costs. As an individual you should be minimizing this overhead. If it does not make you money it is not an investment.

 

[407370]

I dont understand the software companies???????

Every single software company know that the vast majority of customers don't want online / subscription because the sole purpose of this is to increase profit margins at the cost of customer satisfaction.

Affinity Photo has an opportunity to break the mould and offer lifetime subscriptions. There will be an avalanche of people shifting from ADOBE.

This , of course, is based on Affinity having equal functionality. Its not there yet by a longshot but Canva could do it. I will watch with interest, while not buying Adobe or any other subscription / web based software.
CHEERS
JBO

 

[AlanKlein]

A few years back, my wife and I buried our beloved dog in a pet cemetery, casket, monument, and all. The following year, they hit us with an annual $70 upkeep charge. If we failed to pay for it annually or buy the perpetual care contract (for hundreds of dollars), our dog;s remains would be dug up after 5 years and removed. So we bought the perpetual care. Every time I start Lightroom, I think of my dog.

Maybe I ought to check on my dead and buried relatives to see if they're still there?

 

[smoke665]

customers don't want online / subscription because the sole purpose of this is to increase profit margins at the cost of customer satisfaction.

I've lived through the computer evolution, and corresponding software deployment. In the early years companies offered one off pricing. Customers mistakenly believed they were buying a product, even though it was clearly marked you were buying a "license", to use. The problem for companies with a perpetual "license",
is there's a customary support period required, that costs money. Then you have a dwindling revenue stream as your customer base decreases. For customers, hardware and operating systems, are constantly evolving, making software obsolete requiring updates and support.

Companies that dont make a profit, don't stay in business. In order to be profitable they first tried raising the price of the perpetual license. However they soon reached the point where they priced themselves out of the market. The subscription model solved the revenue problem and kept them affordable.

With the improvements in internet connectivity I believe companies will eventually move to an online only model to save the cost of update deployments. My accounting software just did it this year.

 

[407370]

I've lived through the computer evolution, and corresponding software deployment. In the early years companies offered one off pricing. Customers mistakenly believed they were buying a product, even though it was clearly marked you were buying a "license", to use. The problem for companies with a perpetual "license",
is there's a customary support period required, that costs money. Then you have a dwindling revenue stream as your customer base decreases. For customers, hardware and operating systems, are constantly evolving, making software obsolete requiring updates and support.

Companies that dont make a profit, don't stay in business. In order to be profitable they first tried raising the price of the perpetual license. However they soon reached the point where they priced themselves out of the market. The subscription model solved the revenue problem and kept them affordable.

With the improvements in internet connectivity I believe companies will eventually move to an online only model to save the cost of update deployments. My accounting software just did it this year.

The whole world is heading towards never owning anything.
Soon enough we will all be renting the bricks in our houses.
Our fridges / washing machines / cookers / cars / doorbells etc will require expensive software updates for "your safety and security".

Distopia is already here. Black Mirror is actually a documentary.

Depressing isnt it.

CHEERS
JBO

 

[MartinCrabtree]

...............

Distopia is already here. Black Mirror is actually a documentary.

Depressing isnt it.

CHEERS
JBO

Only if you participate.

 

[smoke665]

Distopia is already here.

The correct term for the stage we're in would be Technological Dependence- the point where individuals and society rely on technological devices and applications for daily tasks, communication, and even emotional support. The stage that most concerns me is Technological Singularity- the future point where technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, leading to unforeseeable changes to human civilization.

@MartinCrabtree I'd be willing to bet you are already a willing/unwilling participant. Smart phones, smart vehicles, smart tvs, just about every device out there is listening. Hey Alexa...Hey Google, walk through a department store, cameras and sensor are tracking you, noting what you stop and look at, tracking what you buy. Back a few years ago my wife and I we're returning from a memorial service for a family member who'd chosen cremation. We were inside a vehicle traveling down the highway discussing the option of cremation, we had never searched this on the internet, nor inquired to anyone, no other passengers, radio off, cell phone in my shirt pocket. Next day on FB ads for cremation services started popping up. My son first said we were crazy until a week or so later a similar thing happened to him.