Adobe Creative Cloud or Standalone Programs?

[myvinyl333]

I am looking at getting Photoshop to compliment Lightroom 4 as my post process. I recently installed a SSD on my Macbook Pro and it flies... I have room for Photoshop and was going to look at adding it with LR4. What about Adobe Creative Cloud or just adding PS?
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[Big Mike]

If you need the other programs...and can't invest in fully purchasing them, then the Cloud system may be a good idea....at least on a temporary basis. It's like paying rent, you pay every month and 5 years later you have nothing to show for it. But if you purchase the software, at least you'll always have it.

But if all you need is an image/pixel editor to compliment LR, then Photoshop CS might be overkill (considering the price). Photoshop CS does many, many things that LR doesn't, but do you need to do those things? Maybe look at Photoshop Elements to compliment LR. Much more affordable and gives you much of the functionality. There are, of course, several other software options. Heck, there is GIMP, which is a free software that may be enough for your needs.

 

[myvinyl333]

If you need the other programs...and can't invest in fully purchasing them, then the Cloud system may be a good idea....at least on a temporary basis. It's like paying rent, you pay every month and 5 years later you have nothing to show for it. But if you purchase the software, at least you'll always have it.

But if all you need is an image/pixel editor to compliment LR, then Photoshop CS might be overkill (considering the price). Photoshop CS does many, many things that LR doesn't, but do you need to do those things? Maybe look at Photoshop Elements to compliment LR. Much more affordable and gives you much of the functionality. There are, of course, several other software options. Heck, there is GIMP, which is a free software that may be enough for your needs.

I have tried elements before. Do you use LR 1st then elements or together? I thought paying rent was an issue as well. Thanks.

 

[Big Mike]

You need to figure out your workflow. For some people, Photoshop is a very important and integral part of the workflow, for others, it's not.
So what is your typical workflow? Do you deal with a high volume of photos? Do you like to heavily manipulate your photos? Do you shoot Raw?

My workflow goes something like this;
I shoot in Raw and then as I import them to LR, I use the 'Copy to DNG' option.
I then do as much of my processing/editing as I can, right in Lightroom. I do all of the basic exposure/color/noise reduction etc. until the image looks pretty much how I want it.
Then, if I need to do something that LR can't do, I right click and choose "Edit in..." and open the image in Photoshop CS. Then I do what I need to do and hit save, which automatically brings the image back to LR. But, in order to do that, the Raw image is processed and saved as a TIFF. So once I've gone out of LR and back, I can't go back to original state with the adjustments, which is why I do as much in LR first. (you can always go back to the original Raw image).

So when do I use Photoshop CS? For a typical image, I don't. But if I need to create precise layer masks (if LR's adjustment brush can't handle it), then I'll use CS. If I need to make composite images, with layers/parts from different images, then I'll use CS. If I need to do a lot of fine/close detail work (cloning & healing etc.) then I'll use CS.
But like I said, I'll always try to do as much as I can, right in LR first...and if I don't have to move the image out of LR, all the better.

 

[Mully]

The nice thing is you can take an image from LR and edit in PS and the edited version comes back to LR

 

[Light Guru]

If you need the other programs...and can't invest in fully purchasing them, then the Cloud system may be a good idea....at least on a temporary basis. It's like paying rent, you pay every month and 5 years later you have nothing to show for it. But if you purchase the software, at least you'll always have it.

Sure its paying rent except they give you the new version every time the new one come out. You may "always" have that software disk but it is not "always going to run on your machine because they do not update old versions to be fully compatible with newer OSs, and you will not "always" access to all the new features that they come out with.

Adobe typically releases a new versions every 2 years if you add up the cloud price for two years you are actually paying the same amount. Say you buy photoshop one year after the release of the new version, one year later you have to pay even more to upgrade and get the newer features. But with the creative cloud you automatically get the new version and you are paying no more then you did before.

I use the creative cloud but only pay for photoshop and nothing else. I only pay$19.99 a month for photoshop.

 

[Big Mike]

Good points, for sure.
I guess 'rent' was a bad analogy. Leasing a car is probably better. It's an ongoing cost but you always get the latest product and don't have to worry about becoming obsolete.

I didn't realize (or didn't remember) that you can pay for only certain programs. I was thinking that it was one price and that gets you all six or seven programs...which is a good deal if you need them, but not so great if you only use one or two.

 

[ann]

It would be great if one could just pay as you use. I.E. i may not use PS for m onths and then get into that mode of PP and use it for weeks.

If I could use it that way, it would certainly make more sense.

I have up to CS 5 and I really thinking I won't upgrade again as I use OnOne and Topaz labs which now have stand alone programs.

 

[Light Guru]

Good points, for sure.
I guess 'rent' was a bad analogy. Leasing a car is probably better. It's an ongoing cost but you always get the latest product and don't have to worry about becoming obsolete.

I didn't realize (or didn't remember) that you can pay for only certain programs. I was thinking that it was one price and that gets you all six or seven programs...which is a good deal if you need them, but not so great if you only use one or two.

Yea i dont know if that option is available for all programs but I do know it is for just photoshop.

 

[Light Guru]

It would be great if one could just pay as you use. I.E. i may not use PS for m onths and then get into that mode of PP and use it for weeks.

If I could use it that way, it would certainly make more sense.

I have up to CS 5 and I really thinking I won't upgrade again as I use OnOne and Topaz labs which now have stand alone programs.

There are multiple ways of doing the creative cloud. You can even buy a prepaid 3 mons of it.

http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Photoshop-Pre-Paid-Membership-Product/dp/B007W77AX4

 

[ann]

thanks for the tip, however, this is not what I had in mind for me. I am thinking more on a month to month plan. Pay as you go.

3 months would be a waste of money for me.

I realize I am being very "picky" but since the Op asked, well, .............

 

[Light Guru]

thanks for the tip, however, this is not what I had in mind for me. I am thinking more on a month to month plan. Pay as you go.

3 months would be a waste of money for me.

I realize I am being very "picky" but since the Op asked, well, .............

You can do a month to month but you end up paying more. It's cheeper when you agree to do it for a year.

 

[myvinyl333]

thanks for the tip, however, this is not what I had in mind for me. I am thinking more on a month to month plan. Pay as you go.

3 months would be a waste of money for me.

I realize I am being very "picky" but since the Op asked, well, .............

It seems that you could buy 3 month or what ever, find out you will or will not use PS (IE) and go from there.... I am not familiar with PS, only LR...so I am going to look into other programs mentioned.