Getting Started with Adobe
Ready to plunge into the exciting world of design, creating logos, building marketing collateral or editing video? Here is your guide to picking the right license.
Adobe Creative Cloud
1. What is Creative Cloud vs Legacy software?
The main difference is how your licence is handled. With Creative Cloud, you sign up for a subscription which you pay monthly or annually, and that subscription will feed you all the latest updates and features continually, keeping your software always up to date.
With legacy versions (like the old CS6), you bought the software licence once but never received new features unless you paid an upgrade fee. Furthermore, legacy software eventually becomes incompatible with newer Mac and Windows operating systems. Using Creative Cloud ensures your software never becomes outdated.
2. What's the latest version?
Adobe launched the first version of the Creative Cloud in 2012. Since then, Adobe continuously rolls out minor and major updates to all apps throughout the year. You no longer have to wait years for new toolsets to become available.
3. How much is Creative Cloud?
The subscription cost varies depending on what type of licence you need (Single App vs All Apps), and if you qualify for educational pricing (students and teachers). Costs range depending on your selection and can be viewed directly on the Adobe website.
4. Free Trial Available
The great thing about Creative Cloud, is you can download a free trial and test it for yourself. At the end of the trial, you can simply switch the software into an active licence by subscribing. The trial version acts exactly like the full version and any files created during that time continue to be available after the trial expires.
5. Easier Licence Management
Creative Cloud takes away the hassle of keeping endless serial numbers to manage your installations. Instead you use an Adobe ID login and password to identify yourself, which entitles you to using the software.
You can install your apps on multiple computers and simply log in to activate them. If your computer breaks down, just log in with your account on a different device and continue working. And don't worry, you don't need continuous WiFi — the software only needs to connect to the internet once a month to verify your subscription, allowing you to work offline.
6. Extra Features & Benefits
- Receive all of Adobe's flagship software projects (Photoshop, Premiere Pro, InDesign, etc.) in the All Apps plan.
- Products are available for both Mac and PC.
- Get all the latest updates and bug fixes instantly with no upgrade fees.
- Receive up to 100GB of cloud storage to backup files and share with clients.
- Access to Adobe Fonts (formerly Typekit), giving you access to thousands of premium fonts.
- Publish your creative work instantly on Behance.
7. Licence Types
There are a few different "flavours" available, based on the needs of your organisation:
- Creative Cloud for Individuals: For freelancers and individuals who need a single licence.
- Creative Cloud for Teams: For small and medium sized businesses requiring 2-150 licences with unified billing.
- Creative Cloud for Enterprise: For large organisations that require centralized administration and SSO.
8. What if I only need one product?
You can subscribe to a "Single App" plan if you strictly only need one program like Illustrator or InDesign. Be aware that subscribing to two or more individual apps often costs about as much as the full "All Apps" plan, so do the math before purchasing if your workflows span multiple tools.
9. Photography Plan
Adobe recognises the specific needs of photographers and offers a highly affordable Photography Plan bundle which gives you access to Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom.
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