Adobe Creative Cloud Product Guide

Note: This stuff is out of date pretty much the day it is first published. Perhaps it can cover the idea of what needs to be said about the Adobe product line as it is related to this course.

This class requires the use of Adobe Illustrator Creative Cloud 2018, which can only be purchased as a subscription to the entire Creative Cloud suite of applications. You do not have to purchase a copy for this class, you can use the lab instead.

Pricing

Rental model (Adobe's page)

  • Best deal at CollegeBuys.org for $79.98/Yr* (used to be $169.00/Yr, so that's better). Cheaper than most textbooks (average textbook cost in 2022 was $105.37 source. Requires an .edu email.
  • 6 month/semester license (finally!) $39.99. Probably can't be repeated. Requires an .edu email.
  • Has most Adobe products, including Illustrator and Photoshop
  • 88.8% (!) less than professional individual price, $52.99/month ($625.88/Yr)
  • Covers entire product line, including Illustrator which is what this class is based around.
  • There may be a better deal out there somewhere, you'll have to search for it. If you find it, please let the rest of the class know...

Bad News

  • When your license runs out, your apps stop working (but your files are still OK)
  • When you stop being a student, and loose your .edu email (they check), you have to switch to the Individual license, which is $54.99/Month, for the rest of your professional life. It's tax deductable, but it's unavoidable. Personally, as soon as I retire, I'm switching over to the Affinity suite of apps.

Your Choices:

RECOMMENDED Adobe Creative Cloud Complete Student & Teacher version @ $79.98 with 1 year contract

or

Adobe Creative Cloud Complete Student & Teacher version @ $39.99 with 1 semester contract

Use Affinity Designer, a pretty good and reasonably priced alternative without a subscription model, at $54.99 for an eternal license (although, there will no doubt be upgrades/updates every now and then for an additional fee). Be aware that all demos and class notes are built around using Adobe Illustrator, not Affinity Designer.

Consider this:

If you're going to go pro, then get the Creative Cloud subscription and just resign yourself to paying Adobe a monthly fee for the rest of your working life.

NOT ALLOWED iPad apps. You really need a mouse to do vector-based artwork, especially for bezier curves

My Rant

We might complain that the government takes too much from us in the form of taxes, but at least we can vote people out of office. Adobe has become a monopoly and are abusing their power. They have no effective competition, so if they want to charge you more for your subscription and give you nothing new, you have no choice. Kind of like the Cable company, isn't it?

And, Adobe now has no financial incentive to make their products better. It used to be that if you didn't like what Adobe did with their upgrade, you just didn't buy it. Now you have no economic vote for their actions.

That said, they are being a bit kinder and gentler about student discounts than they used to be...