Adobe turns subscription screw again, telling users to pay up or downgrade

This is why "industry standard" is such a stupid concept. Adobe knows they have a stranglehold on creative professionals.

It's the 'professionals' fault, they got locked into that shit years ago because it's what they learned in school and they don't want to learn anything else even though there are alternatives.
I'm just happy when they don't imsist on an overpriced Mac just to use Adobe.
- I wouldn't say its their fault tho.
  Professional will use software that suitable for their workflow. I've seen professionals changing their main software if there was better alternative.
  For example, there are wave of professional that are moving from Adobe to Affinity. Illustrator and comic artist are moving from Photoshop to Clip Studio Paint or Procreate. Some video editor will instantly change their software to Davinci Resolve.
  Most of the time, they can't change their software because their client requires file compability, such as Photoshop-native PSD. Sure, other software can open/edit PSD, but they might not fully support all PSD format specification.
  That's why people on open source community focused on open format and open workflow instead. Inkscape use SVG. Krita use ORA. And so on.
- I really hate it when people blame consumers for problems instead of producers. Let’s go ahead and examine your hypothesis.
  someone wants to learn how to be a designer
  they spend time and money being taught Adobe products in a bootcamp or school
  since they aren’t defined by their job, they do literally anything else in their free time rather than bringing school home with them
  occasionally they see other stuff like Affinity or GIMP but the interface is radically different from what they’re learning or an important feature requires more time to figure out than they can budget
  they get a job that requires Adobe
  years later, when they have purchasing authority, they’re told they need to cut costs and decide maybe researching is a good idea
  the first results for Adobe alternatives are just a bunch of Lemmy threads calling them lazy
  Can you point out where in this process our hypothetical user should have done something different? And more importantly why it’s this person’s fault they’ve been vendor-locked their whole career? Note that a critical assumption I’m making here is that not everyone is a power user because, unsurprisingly, not everyone is a power user.
- Most probably didn't learn in school - they learned because they pirated the software. This used to be a boon for Adobe as by mostly ignoring piracy they were training the workforce in private. Somewhere along the lines Adobe got greedy and will eventually pay the price as they won't own the landscape forever. Software like Blender is already allowing people to not buy the poison that is After effects in some cases.
- I stick with the overpriced Mac and ditched Adobe when I was in charge of the design department. The hardware lasts and the trackpad is unrivaled and Pixelmator and the Affinity apps are good enough.
- I don't know how much I can blame the non-tech-savvy professionals on their selection of software, especially when the alternatives aren't broadly known or understood.

I'll pay for good software. Developers deserve a decent wage, too. I'll pay a lot for really good software. I'll buy new versions of the tools I use often.

What I will never ever do is subscribe to software, no matter how good it is. Software is not a service and should not ever be sold as such.

I think there are some reasonable SaaS models out there, but end user tools shouldn't be one.
- Yeah imo it definitely depends on what the tool is. If there's a bunch of data processing/aggregation that's being handled by said service, it makes sense that there would be a recurring cost. API licensing ain't cheap. (However I'm super biased, as I write software for an app using a SaaS yearly subscription model)

With GIMP 3 and DaVinci Resolve 20 out there, this seems like a very bad idea.

Something something slips through your fingers.

- Name a few features in Photoshop that cant be done in GIMP?
- GIMP still kind of sucks
  DaVinci Resolve is on part with PS tho
Affinity is an excellent replacement for Photoshop, Illustrator, and Publisher. Gimp is a dumpster fire, both as software and a FOSS project.
- Yeah, I tried Gimp. Hated it. One of the biggest issues with Gimp, besides features, is the workflow. If you are trying to get Photoshop users to move over, then it needs to at least have a similar workflow. It's completely different though. You are learning an entirely new tool with new shortcuts. No one has time for this.
  Look at vscode or neovim. Most devs use one of 5 editors these days. Vscode and neovim being the most popular. If you want to compete with these tools, they need to have a similar workflow and feel to what people are used to. Otherwise, no one will use it.
  I'll use photopea over gimp any day for this reason.
- Yeh. No fault of course in of itself tho. Gimp developers have tried to make something, but it just hasn't materialised in the same way as Blender. Kudos for trying.
- Affinity is an excellent replacement for Photoshop, Illustrator, and Publisher.
  I may have to finally make the switch. I've been using photoshop/illustrator for over 25 years now though...
  It's gonna be damn hard to make the switch...
  EDIT: Just now uninstalled all my Adobe software, canceled my Adobe subscriptions. Replaced with Affinity. :)
They are the industry standard so they can do anything
- Didn't stop me from switching to Linux for my entire workflow. Industry standard is just a phrase. It doesn't truly mean anything when viable and real alternatives exist.
No alternative for after effects, is there?
- Blender, amigo.
- I don't mess with it enough, but DaVinci Resolve's Fusion is rather powerful.

Forgetting the options of "leave" and "pirate"

Don't pirate their software, it still helps them keep up the monopoly.

Creative Club software subscription
Create tiers to segment what people are receptive to being squeezed in order to maintain all features
Add a premium currency in addition to the subscription for AI features
Make tiers of premium currency that can be used for some features but not others...