Adobe Creative Cloud

Kommentare: We use Creative Cloud on almost a daily basis, most often using Illustrator for graphic design and InDesign for print publishing. We also use Premiere and AfterEffects for video and motion graphics editing. The ability to move files between different programs through Adobe Bridge is particularly effective when working with a wide variety of assets in different contexts. The cloud-based nature of the software is essential for employees who work remotely, allowing them to sync programs and preferences across devices.

Vorteile: For the wide range of applications available through Creative Cloud, no other software comes close to matching the feature set available here. Creative Cloud is still the gold standard for graphic design, photo & video editing, motion graphic design, publishing design, and interoperability between them. The somewhat recent transition to cloud-based software improves the feature set and finally divorces Adobe from the long-standing issue of only being able to license one machine at a time. Some users might complain about the transition to a monthly licensing fee over a flat one-time fee that was used for Creative Suite, but there are distinct advantages to the cloud-based model. The monthly fee is really quite reasonable for the sheer volume of software you have access to, and you automatically receive new versions and features at no additional cost, i.e. you never have to worry about upgrading or compatibility issues.

Nachteile: There certainly is a learning curve given the complexity of the software, and Adobe has never fully managed to iron out every single bug. Occasionally, users will run into strange issues of software not working as expected, but thankfully the online knowledge base and customer service available almost always provides a solution, even if it's not intuitive.

Kommentare: My experience with the Adobe CC payment plan was very poor. Upfront payments for single packages are no longer available with Adobe. You have to sign up for yearly subscriptions for a suit of packages. The yearly subscription auto renews with no prior warning. There is no-where on your personal account page where you can request an alert to be sent, before payments are due to be taken out. When I tried to cancel a yearly auto renewal (several days after the payment was removed from my account) I was told this was not possible. In order to cancel my subscription and get a refund I had to contact their help desk and literally, threaten them with lawyers. I subsequently found a major American consumer complaints website and lodged my experiences with Adobe. There was a long list of similar stories and complaints by other people. My opinion of Adobe CC is a that their payment plan is restrictive, secretive and very user unfriendly. In today's world of customer friendly products, Adobe CC stands out as old fashion and frankly unacceptable. I have since moved on to the Affinity suit and couldn't be happier. One-off up-front payments, high quality software and great customer service. Frankly I think Adobe is a dinosaur. Large studios who don't care about payment plans are a thing of the past. The majority of creative work is currently being done by individuals working in the 'gig economy'.

Vorteile: This is very high quality software that offers a vast range of functionality. It is stable, efficiently constructed and updated continuously. Extensive education is available (via a paid Linda.com subscription). The different packages (photoshop, premier pro, audition) all integrate reasonably well. I would imagine that it's equivalent to any of the software packages currently used by professionals working at the top level of the graphics and animation industry.

Nachteile: This is very high end software, that offers a vast array of options. The average blogger or photography enthusiast will only (in my opinion) only use a small range of the functions available. Be aware, the more functionality any software has, the longer it takes to learn how to use it. I found creating a short movie clip for my website draining and unnecessarily complex. The same experience held with photoshop. While the range of features that Adobe CC offers is astonishing, the time it took me to understand how to use them, was frankly not worth the results.

Kommentare: Our creative team can use a consistent suite of applications for all their work and temporary staff know they will find familiar software to work with when engaged with the agency. Whilst the apps are extremely comprehensive, they can be daunting for new users. Single applications can also be individually expensive to purchase.

Vorteile: - Flexibility to use most of the market-leading creative applications
- The industry standard, all of our creatives and clients have the ability to view the files
- The most powerful image editing and design software
- Covers the ability to create print, web and mobile media within a single subscription
- For an agency who uses most applications, this is great value for the subscription fee

Nachteile: - Can seem a large monthly expense for an agency with a large team
- To gain the value users need to regularly utilize multiple applications
- Photoshop and Illustrator can be slow for web design, other more focused applications can be faster to design in the digital realm
- There is a fairly steep learning curve to become a power user as the apps are very feature-rich

Kommentare: I am a photographer and digital designer, so Photoshop is my most used program. I have been wanting to branch out to use Illustrator, and was initially comprehensive about learning the new program. However, with the available tutorials that Adobe makes readily available, my hesitations to learn Illustrator have disappeared. No matter what I need to learn, what task I need to tackle, there is a video to help me along the way. A company that puts that much into making sure their users are comfortable with using their software ranks high on my list any day!

Vorteile: I was absolutely hesitant moving from the regular suite upgrades to having to pay a monthly subscription for the Adobe programs I use as a photography and digital designer. I put it off as long as possible, because if it's not broke, don't fix it. At least, that WAS my mentality. After my initial few months of the cloud subscription, I was in complete awe. Instead of having to wait a year or eighteen months for upgrades to programs I used, whether it was the tiniest tweak, or adding a new feature all together, I got it immediately. I got it when Adobe was ready to put it out, instead of having to wait. What this means is that Adobe can continue to improve their programs to be more intuitive, include larger samples for selections, and be more specific when selecting, without you having to wait. When an update has been made, BOOM! It's available. And I absolutely LOVE this feature! Well worth switching from the annual upgrades to the monthly subscription platform.

Nachteile: There is nothing that I don't like about the Adobe Creative Cloud! Even if you have never used this software before, Adobe has a plethora of videos available to walk you through whatever aspect of design you are working on. From the most basic tasks, to the more time consuming tasks. They truly make it easy to maintain professional grade work with constantly up-to-date software.

Kommentare: I use the Adobe Creative Cloud at my full-time job, and it is a constant headache. It does the job it's supposed to, but for a company such as Adobe, I expect better. I expect better products, better customer service, better policies, better everything.

Vorteile: The programs are fairly easy to use. And I suppose on paper it's not a bad idea. Having a subscription does make it so you're spending less money up front. And it's an easy way to stay up to date. But remember, this is all on paper. In practice it's not so good.

Nachteile: Adobe seems to have something of a monopoly on the graphic design market, because I don't think they'd be getting away with their practices otherwise. People who bought their products previously no longer have license to use the software they once purchased if they're not using Cloud. Their programs crash all the time, and are full of annoying UI issues. A ton of small things that just don't make sense. For instance, resizing in Photoshop used to require holding shift to maintain original dimensions. And after users become familiar with that, they decide to change it so that when you size something, holding shift changes the width and height independent of each other. Sure, this would have made sense in the beginning, but to change what so many people are familiar with this late in the game? Plus, you'd think they implement that with all programs. But nope, InDesign it's the opposite, making the change completely pointless. And InDesign is a whole other bag of problems and glitches that can really put you in a bind if you're putting together a company catalog. My supervisor and I are constantly holding our breaths and on the edges of our seats when building a catalog that something major doesn't go wrong. Crashes every single time my computer goes to sleep, it'll randomly delete elements, and there are so many problems across the Adobe Suite that they simply won't fix. I could go on and on and on, but I'm about to run out of space.