Adobe Creative Cloud Bundle For Photographers Announced at Photoshop World

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Adobe Creative Cloud makes a lot of sense for a lot of creative users. More than 700,000 paid members have joined Creative Cloud since its introduction and they enjoy the benefits of having access to all the Apps, Services and regular feature updates. However, we’ve heard and listened to the feedback from Photographers and one common request was a solution specifically tailored to this market. A solution that would give them both Adobe Photoshop CC and Lightroom 5 for a more reasonable monthly cost. I’m pleased to announce that at Photoshop World Las Vegas we’re announcing a special offer for our loyal Photoshop customers. Beginning today, customers who own Photoshop CS3 or higher are eligible for a special Creative Cloud membership offer that includes all of the following for just $9.99/month!:

  • Photoshop CC
  • Lightroom 5
  • 20 GB of online storage
  • Behance Prosite
  • Access to Creative Cloud Learning Resources
  • Ongoing feature upgrades and updates

To be clear, $9.99 is NOT an introductory price. It is the price for those who sign up by December 31st, 2013. This offer will be at the same time we release the new version of Lightroom 5.2 in a couple of weeks. Check back here or follow Photoshop and Facebook or Twitter to find out when the offer goes live.

UPDATE: The Photoshop Photography Program is NOW LIVE! Check it out HERE

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If you missed the Photoshop World Keynote you can watch the replay here.

For general questions about Creative Cloud, please see the Creative Cloud FAQ

Q: What is the Photoshop Photography Program Offer?
A: This offer includes access to Photoshop CC and Lightroom 5, plus feature updates and upgrades as they are available, 20GB of cloud storage for file sharing and collaboration, a Behance ProSite, and access to the full library of video tutorials in Creative Cloud Learn.
This offer is available to customers who own a previous version of Photoshop or Photoshop Extended product, version CS3 or later (CS3.x, CS4, CS5.x, or CS6). Suites do not qualify. Requires annual commitment, billed monthly.
Offer valid through December 31, 2013 and is available in countries where Creative Cloud is purchased directly from Adobe.com. This offer is not available in China, Vietnam or Turkey.
Q: Can I get Adobe Bridge CC with the Photoshop Photography Program Offer?
A: Yes. Bridge CC is available for download and use as part of your Creative Cloud membership.
Q: I am already a Creative Cloud member; do I qualify for this offer?
Existing Creative Cloud members who wish to transition to this offer must own a previous version of Photoshop or Photoshop Extended product, version CS3 or later (CS3.x, CS4, CS5.x, or CS6). Suites do not qualify.
Those who meet the qualifications have two options:
Creative Cloud Single App members for Photoshop CC who already completed the qualification process when they originally signed up for their membership will be automatically transitioned to this new program when it ships, with the additional benefits and lower ongoing price.
All other Creative Cloud members who meet the qualification requirements may contact Adobe Customer Service to discuss transitioning their membership to this new offer.
Q: I own an earlier version of Lightroom but not Photoshop. Do I qualify for this Photoshop Photography Program offer?
A: Only customers who own a previous version of Photoshop CS3 or later qualify for this offer.
Q: Will the cost of my membership increase?
A: This price is not a special introductory price for your first year only; it is the standard price for this level of membership. Customers who sign up by December 31, 2013 will be able to continue their membership at the same price. But if you cancel your membership in the future, you will not be able to re-join at this special price.

66 Replies to “Adobe Creative Cloud Bundle For Photographers Announced at Photoshop World”

  1. I just signed up for Photoshop CC last week, will I be able to switch to this? Or will I automatically be switched to this?

        1. I am in the same boat. I subscribed to Photoshop only for $20 per month and purchased the LR5 upgrade all on August 1. I contacted Adobe about this transition process and they told me that I had to sign up for the new service then call to cancel my current membership to stop the first. This seems crazy that I have to through this hassle to get the new product at the lower price. I wish I would known about this in august because it costed me an additional $10 per month for 2 months plus the $79 for the LR upgrade.

      1. I thought you said above that if you were a CC only user, you do not qualify. That you have to have a license fro CS3 or higher. You told someone else who had just signed up for the cloud that they are not eligible.

        1. Sorry for the confusion. Yes this new deal is only for users of PS CS3-CS6. If he had signed up for the previous Photoshop CC Only subscription for $9.99 (for the 1st year) for CS3-CS6 users then he will be automatically moved into the new plan that includes Lightroom.

    1. If you signed up last week call them soon. You have about 25 days to cancel an annual plan or you’ll be on the hook for 50% of the remainder of the cost.

      PS. It does seem ludicrous that Adobe doesn’t automatically update annual and monthly Photoshop CC subscribers to the new content. The only reasons I can see for requiring a customer service call are: 1. Adobe really hopes to upsell you to the full plan when you call or, 2. Adobe wants it to be clear that you’re not changing your current plan – but creating a new one year plan, or most cynically: The support people are getting lonely and/or the billing people are clueless how to not inflict pain on their customers.

  2. I have Photoshop CC and I own Lightroom5 already, should I make the switch, since in my plan, it would be the same as I am paying $9.99/month.

  3. 30 cents a day is a great price – it’s hard to argue that. The limited time offer on a price that is not considered introductory is confusing. Is $10 being locked in forever? What is the regular bundle price going to be on Jan 1st?

    1. Hi Stephen,
      “introductory price” is a price that will go up automatically after a set time period.
      “limited time offer” is a deal on a product that is that price (ground floor if you will) if you do it by a certain date.

      This is a limited time offer for PS & LR + services for $9.99/month for PS CS3-and up users. There is nothing that says it will be offered at all at any price after Jan 1st. Hope that helps.

      1. Thanks Terry.

        The single $50 for everything is super simple and the $10 Photographers bundle is great but wouldn’t it be nice if there was an equivalent of the old design premium suite for a price point in between? 😉

        I’m currently subscribed to the full cloud for the promo $20/month but not sure what I’ll do when it jumps to $50. I use and depend on Ps and Lr daily but want Indesign and Illustrator only a few times per year.

        I could switch to this $10 bundle deal and only do the month-to-month for Indesign/Illustrator but I’d rather pay $25/month and just not have access to the video collection.

        1. Seems like the best thing to do is to create a new account on December 25th or so and cancel the full cost one. Note you MUST cancel, Adobe doesn’t allow you to “stop automatically billing me” Be careful, too, since there are many reports of people being autoextended or relentlessly billed after cancelling. (As well as being shut off unexpectedly).

          http://forums.adobe.com/message/5594095#5594095
          http://forums.adobe.com/message/5597864#5597864
          http://forums.adobe.com/message/5565579#5565579

          1. It was pretty straight forward to turn on and off monthly billing before I committed to a year. The only catch was when you turn back on a subscription, it could take 24 hours or more to activate.

          2. Stephen: The option to stop billing only applies to monthly billing. Annual billing has no “do not renew” option – renewal is presumed. $50 is the annual plan. The monthly rate is $75. With an annual plan if you look at your profile you’ll notice your only option is “cancel” you can’t turn off auto renew which is presumed. To add a little salt to that wound… you CANNOT cancel on the web – you have to call customer service.

            A friend was “autorenewed” at the higher rate with an email sent less than 4 days prior. Several weeks later he discovered that he was now in the full price plan for another year and THEY WOULDN’T LET HIM CANCEL without the 50% penalty – that means that extra one month cost him about $325. Just sayin’ beware.

    2. Their policy is you have to CALL in, that’s it CALL! Make sure you do it before 30days though.

      Yeah of course its easy to look at someones bad experience Simple answer, always take down their name, they work in a call center, they have supervisors just like everyone else.

    1. Actually people that do not like the Cloud is because they don’t know it, i hated it at first but then i realized what it was they offered and its actually the best thing ever, other SW companies should do it Adobes way.
      You still have the option to DOWNLOAD Photoshop and any other CS product, order from their sales line and that’s it.

      Here is whats what,

      Say you want to create a website, you need graphics to make it look good that’s illustrator, what about your web pictures? that’s Photoshop, and of course a place to put all your site content to start creating it, Dreamweaver. Here alone you have about $1500 if you buy a CS6 hard disk (that if scratched you have to replace) that does not have updates if there happens to be one, you can’t install it on 2 different platform computers, and with the Creative Cloud you can download it on a MAC and Windows, and store your files on the cloud and get to them when you are out (no need to worry about losing a flash drive)

      In common sense theory, Adobes Creative Cloud is the only and BEST option to go!!!

      1. But, you have to temper this enthusiasm with the fact that the Installer (Creative Cloud Desktop App) has had frequent problems over the last three months for Mac and PC users. And the sword of damocles hanging over your head should your account not remain current or some other software bug (or malicious hack) make your apps decide that they are no longer authorized.

        Don’t get me wrong, I like the cloud for the reasons you’ve given, but I’ve already spent about 30 hours of my time installing and reinstalling the broken installer and having to keep re-authorizing my software. At least with the perpetually licensed software that kind of problem only happened around upgrades not nearly daily. Finally, Adobe has been in the habit of announcing things that don’t show up as planned, e.g. the Desktop Font feature of Typekit. Now that it’s in beta we find that of the 935 fonts, only 205 are usable on the desktop.

        At $10/month, all that grief is a whole lot more palatable.

  4. I just recently signed up for Creative Cloud … But, this would better suit my needs since I mainly need photo editing software. However, I do now own a version of Photoshop … I am just now making the leap from Photoshop Elements to Photoshop .. So, I suppose I will not qualify for this?

  5. I already have a Creative Cloud membership for only Photoshop CC, and am paying $9.99 / month, will I be transitioned to the new scheme, one that includes Lightroom 5?

    1. You will not be automatically transitioned over. As long as you had a previous license for PS CS3 or higher you can call customer service and make the switch.

  6. So someone who hasn’t bought anything since April 2007 gets to pay half as much as I do, a CS6 and now CC subscriber, for more than twice as much product – forever?

    I am glad I didn’t upgrade to Lr 5, it must not be worth the price if they can give it away free to someone paying half as much as I am.

    I feel stupid for having defended Adobe’s recent decisions.

      1. I have never purchased a copy, I have only subscribed. Your above seems to indicate to me that I don’t qualify. Is this so?

          1. At some point that person you are referring to spent $600 or more for Photoshop. A new CC subscriber has had a very small initial outlay. This deal rewards those long time PS customers who spent a larger amount up front.

          2. No one disputes that they had to purchase PS at some point.

            If Adobe wants to reward customers who haven’t purchased anything since 2007 that’s their prerogative; exactly my attitude was about the CC when purchasers were upset.

            However, what Adobe is doing by giving them twice as much product for half as much as anyone else who has been a recent customer who has bought into the “new” way of Adobe is to reduce our trust in adopting anything else they may come up with.

            Ps for $20 a month seemed like a good deal compared to having to pay $700+ upfront.

            Ps for $20 a month compared to Ps & Lightroom for $10 a month, forever, seems like I’m getting ripped off.

            it’s not like the people who bought CS3 didn’t already get their money’s worth, and Adobe still owes them something.

            If Adobe can make a profit selling twice the product for half the price then those on the plan I bought ARE being ripped off.

            My subscription is up in January, and I will be hard pressed to continue it.

  7. If I already have the $20 full suite introductory price, do I have to “downgrade” to this deal if I want the $9.99 price? I have been testing out some if the other apps, and was looking forward to having access to all the apps for the first year. But it seems like I will have to switch to just PS and LR if I want this deal.

    (And the Smurf is because of another forum I use Disqus for, in case people are wondering why a smurf is asking about this deal)

    1. Yes it’s one or the other. Either you want/need the other products or you don’t. The choice is yours and you have til December to decide.

      1. I don’t see why Reena couldn’t open a second account under which she could subscribe to the new $10/month package and keep her current introductory package. It means $10 more a month for which she’d then have the opportunity to install PS and LR on two more systems then the two she’s allowed now. When her $20 intro expires she can decide which she wants to keep. BUT there is little point opening a second account now… might as well wait until mid December.

        What I’ve described is about exactly what I plan to do. I’m pretty sure Adobe won’t turn down another $10 month, right? OR it might be that the wrinkle is that if she currently only has one qualifying PS version she can’t open a second account. In my case that shouldn’t be a problem since I have PS CS3, 5 and 6.

  8. I have PSCS6 as part of the Creative Suite 6 Design & Web Premium. Does this mean that I cannot get the $9.99/mo price on Photoshop CC?

  9. Now we’re talking! This is pretty close to what we would have paid for PS and LR upgrades under the previous purchase model. This is fair pricing! Thanks Adobe for coming through in support of photographers interested in PS and LR only! I’ll be signing up for this CC plan as soon as it becomes available.

  10. While this is a much more palatable price Beware: Adobe does not force you to upgrade PS and LR, but they DO force you to upgrade the Creative Cloud Application which is used to install and upate your applications. When they push an update your choices are “Install” or “Exit”. And these updates happen FREQUENTLY. In fact, the Adobe Creative Cloud application was BROKEN for four days recently for Windows 7 (and other) users. The tools are useless if you can’t install and/or upgrade them! http://forums.adobe.com/message/5647524

    1. Let me amend that. The application was broken for many users on PCs *and* Macs from at least July 16, 2013 until yesterday, There are over 50 discussions on this: http://forums.adobe.com/search.jspa?start=0&q=creative%20cloud%20install%20fails&peopleEnabled=true&containerType=14&container=4670&dateRange=all&numResults=30&rankBy=date

      Here is a quote, not mine:

      “I guess I haven’t made it clear enough, though – the new Creative Cloud downloader program DOES NOT INSTALL. It never has. Not once. I’ve had the Adobe Application Manager installed before, pre Creative Cloud, but that’s it.

      This is my whole problem – I cannot install the CC downloader manager nightmare program, therefore I cannot install my new CC software.”

  11. Terry, What does someone new to photography, Photoshop, and Lightroom have to pay? I have been telling a friend of mine to hold off because I thought something halfway decent was coming for photographers.

    1. This deal is aimed at existing PS users from CS3-CS6. Someone new to Photoshop would subscribe at $19.99/month

  12. Adobe Creative Cloud Bundle For Photographers Announced at Photoshop World face it this package is not aimed at the photographers as the announcement implies it is aimed at old Photoshop user that did not like that Adobe doubled the cost of using Photoshop and would not go for CC. While I’ll most likely will opt for this deal for it does not increase my cost of Photoshop. The deal is limited to old customers and and goes away year end. So Adobe is still abandoning the photography market. Adobe is just trying to hang on to old Photoshop customers and not loose their upgrade money. Adobe just want too hook more fish.

    1. It looks like Adobe got smart. The FAQ that Terry has linked to says the transition for current Photoshop users will be automatic. Here is a quote:

      Customers who have already joined a Creative Cloud Single App membership for Photoshop at the $9.99/month level (or corresponding local pricing matching the pricing provided in the question above) will be automatically transitioned to this new program when it ships in a few weeks, with the additional benefits and lower ongoing price. All other Creative Cloud members who meet the qualification requirements may contact Adobe Customer Service once the new offer is shipping in a few weeks, to discuss transitioning their membership to this new offer.

  13. I for one feel that Adobe are missing a huge chunk of amateur photographers who would sign up for this offer – those who use PS Elements with Lightroom. Looking on eBay, a copy of CS3 goes for about £30 – surely Adobe could extend this offer to PSE/LR users with an additional upfront fee, say £50? Then you would be actually creating a package suitable for amateur photographers.

  14. How else is this plan different from the full plan? Obviously this plan include PS CC, LR5, Bridge CC (and presumably Extension Manager CC, Extendscript Toolkit CC) For example does the new plan include: Photoshop CS6 which is also in the cloud? What about Fonts? What about Cloud Training content – will it only be Photoshop CC and LR, or will the Photographer Cloud subscription let us also see e.g. AfterEffects training/tutorials. In fact, is there really separate cloud-only training content at all? Adobe TV seems to be open to everyone – and doesn’t contain much content from e.g. Lynda.

    I’m asking so I can help my students decide.

    1. Hi Steven,

      Yes, it’s Photoshop CC, Bridge CC, Lightroom 5. 20 GB of Storage, Behance Prosite, and the learning content. NO it doesn’t include TypeKit fonts, No I don’t believe that it will include PS CS6, but I’d have to check on that one. I believe that all the learning content would be accessible, but again I’d have to check. Please see the “updated” FAQ for more details: http://www.adobe.com/products/creativecloud/faq.html#pslr-bundle

      1. I stand corrected, Yes it would include access PS CS6 as well as PS CC, just like the full membership does. Yes it does include all of the learning content – confirmed.

  15. Terry, there must be tens of thousands, or more, Lightroom 5 users who upgraded or purchased LR5 when it was introduced a few months ago AND subscribed to the one-product Photoshop CC ( I have owned every version of PS since 5.0). With the new Photography program, we will get LR, PS and a few other products for $9.99. Here’s my question: Is the $79 upgrade cost that I paid to Adobe (purchased directly from the Adobe online store) going to be reimbursed? When I called Adobe, I was told that if LR had been purchased in the last 30 days, I could cancel my purchase and then get it through the Photographers CC offering. No, I didn’t purchase it in the last 30 days. I purchased it then day LR was released. The answer I got from Adobe is not acceptable or logical. Had I decided to NOT upgrade to LR5 (which obviously isn’t what Adobe wanted), I would now get it part of the bundle. Here’s a alternative proposal: Instead of reimbursing my $79 LR upgrade fee, extend my CC subscription for 8 months ($79 divided by $10/month). I totally understand if you can’t answer my question, but I would like it answered by someone at Adobe, other than telling me that if I had purchased LR in the last 30 days, I would be fine. Can you tell me who to send an email to?

    1. Alan, I feel your pain. Being in techI understand the frustration more often then not of buying something at one point and seeing a better deal on it down the road. It’s the nature of business and it’s unfortunate. In this case yes you and others upgraded to LR5 on day one. You’ve had access to it and been able to use it since day one. A deal comes out months later that includes what you bought and you feel like you should get something for having bought it early. However, the traditional policy has always been a 30 day window. You also have until December to take advantage of this deal getting even more use out of your $79. If you wait till the last minute in December then you would have stretched the value out of your upgrade a bit more. Once in the new program you’d no longer have to worry about buying upgrades. Probably not what you want to hear, but it is the way it is.

      1. Terry, thank you for replying. You’re right, it wasn’t what I wanted to hear. World-class companies have customers that rave about the way they are treated and the service they get. The $79 won’t deprive me of a meal, but if Adobe did something, like extend the CC subscription, then as a loyal 13 year Adobe customer, who has upgraded to every new version of PS and LR, I’d feel like I had been treated more than fairly. Adobe had no problem giving away 1-year free full CC subscriptions to PSW attendees for PR and marketing purposes. It’s amazing how companies can lose loyal customers because they forget that it costs a lot more to get a new customer, than it does to keep existing customers.

        1. Alan, remember that you got good use of LR5 before this deal came out. Don’t fall into the trap of being envious of others. I’m reminded of a parable told long ago . . .

          “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

          “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. “He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

          “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
          “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

          “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

  16. If Adobe is trying to curve pirate coping of Photoshop or any other programs, why don’t they do like Apple’s itunes. For example, have reduce price for everyone who wants to use the program. Older members have $9.99 per month and newer members at $15 to $20 range per month. This will help Adobe cause in the end, by increasing membership, they are also increasing their profit margin. By not doing it, they are taking a huge risk and they might lose in the end.

  17. I use the Picture Package feature add-on in CS5 set up as an action a lot. Has Adobe ended support for this in CC? This is a deal breaker for me. What are my options?

  18. Terry,

    Something I learned today about the Creative Cloud for Photographers Deal. First off, to my shame, I did not read the fine print finely enough. What I read was:

    “This offer is available to customers who own a previous version of Photoshop or Photoshop Extended product, version CS3 or later (CS3.x, CS4, CS5.x, or CS6)”

    What I did not feel that Adobe made clear ONE BIT (though it is clearly stated above):

    “Suites do not qualify”

    What was that? Really?

    Since I have use Adobe products since CS2, I naturally figured myself as a candidate for this deal. Then I called Adobe. Nope. You have to own and INDIVIDUAL PHOTOSHOP LICENSE to qualify. No suites. Sadness.

    So then I said…”What the heck. I am going to try it anyways.” So I tried to sign up even though I having never owned a “Photoshop” license, only “Creative Suite” licenses (2, 3, 4, and 5 to be exact).

    Guess what? It worked.

    I am now a paid Creative Cloud subscriber of Photoshop and Lightroom. So even though the rules say I shouldn’t qualify, it worked anyway.

    Thought others in my situation might be as excited about this as I was.

    Final thought: I think the rule about Suites not qualifying is a serious load of lameness. That has to be 80% of Photoshop Users!! Ugh. You are the voice of the people! Let them know of this lameness!!

    Thanks for listening.

    1. Thank you Bodie. You just saved me a lot of stress. I was told that my PS Single App membership did not qualify and was about to throw a fit when I saw your post and thought ‘what the hell, leme try my key anyway’. And, voila! it worked!!

      1. Hayden, I am so glad my post was able to help you out. I found out about the Suites and seriously couldn’t believe it. I can’t name one person who uses Photoshop a la carte. This is asinine. Thankfully, the system hasn’t caught up yet! Stoked it worked for you, thanks for letting me know. There have to be lots of people in our position.

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