what software do you use.....

NeonThunder

Active Member
and do you pay for it?


Basically im on Adobe CC and it aint cheap!!!!! been costing me £50 a month. Only got it as seemed best thing to do, I do have CS6 but its pirated.

So who pays for there software? im thinking of going back to CS6 as its a pain in the arse, especailly since adobe have cancelled my subcription becuase i've got a new bank card and they couldnt make payment. But its now paid yet my account my not be active until 24hours But i need to use the software now!!!

why they can't do direct debit??? I do not know!!!

And everything i've done is in CC and wont work with old software unless its been saved to that!
 
Yeah, sadly Adobe can afford to be compete ******s because the have a near monopoly. I say 'near' because there *are* alternatives. Depending on how you work then things like Pixelmator, Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer may be of use. Of course, always check that whoever you're going to be sending your files to will be able to use the files you'll be sending them. However, if you're just handing over pngs for web use, or PDFs for print then one of the above apps *may* work for you.

I'd love to see the likes of Affinity and Pixelmator start to worry Adobe. Even for those of us who can't shift, I think a bit of competition might make Adobe up their game and start giving their users a little respect.
 
I agree totally with what you said Robert.

The only real competition a while back was Freehand which although being a bit more limited in some ways excelled in others and was much more intuitive and friendly to use IMO.

They bought Macromedia out and put that dog to sleep.

Lack of competition is bad for any product/market and I think it's made them lazy.
 
There is one piece of software out there that I think looks really promising for the 'artists' amongst us with it's 'infinity' canvas, Mischief which looks fantastic and it's cheap too (Free or $25 which exports to psd).
https://www.madewithmischief.com/

But yeah I'm in the same situation, there are alternatives for me too but the 'defacto' software is pretty much bordering on monopoly and the prices follow suit :(.
 
I've heard of this one, downloaded it at work but yet to have a proper play. Looks good though.
 
Mmmm. Mischief does actually look interesting. Have to have a play with it some time. Thanks for pointing it out.

Part of me wonders whether graphics software will exist entirely as a web-hosted service a la Google docs at some time in the future. I don't really see a reason why it wouldn't. If web development didn't make me want to lose the will to live then I might have a look at it myself!
 
A great thing is that ADOBE CC offers a student/teacher version for a decent discount. Working as a teacher, this is much easier to do because I have many friends with a .edu email. Also I am taking college classes and this allows me to use those too. The discount is for a year. So basically one new .EDU email a year...
 
and do you pay for it?

Basically im on Adobe CC and it aint cheap!!!!! been costing me £50 a month. Only got it as seemed best thing to do, I do have CS6 but its pirated.

So who pays for there software? im thinking of going back to CS6 as its a pain in the arse, especailly since adobe have cancelled my subcription becuase i've got a new bank card and they couldnt make payment. But its now paid yet my account my not be active until 24hours But i need to use the software now!!!

why they can't do direct debit??? I do not know!!!

And everything i've done is in CC and wont work with old software unless its been saved to that!

£50 a month - if you're not earning that you're doing it wrong!
Pirated versions of software - ok to start that way - but I think it's fair that at some point you pay for the software, especially if you're making a livng from it.

So - this is what happened.
You were a CC subscriber and paying, where it's a 1 year or per monthly...
You got a new Card - and tried to make payment and it will take 24 hours.
For one day you are allowed to open and use the software one last time before your subscription has officially expired - from these one time opens you could save back and work that way...

But who's fault is it your subscription lapsed... yours... not Adobe's.
 
Yeah, sadly Adobe can afford to be compete ******s because the have a near monopoly. I say 'near' because there *are* alternatives. Depending on how you work then things like Pixelmator, Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer may be of use. Of course, always check that whoever you're going to be sending your files to will be able to use the files you'll be sending them. However, if you're just handing over pngs for web use, or PDFs for print then one of the above apps *may* work for you.

I'd love to see the likes of Affinity and Pixelmator start to worry Adobe. Even for those of us who can't shift, I think a bit of competition might make Adobe up their game and start giving their users a little respect.

They don't have a monopoly - Adobe is the company that founded modern print standards - they are the author of PDF. They offer a complete suite of Digital, Web and Print software to use for a mere £50 a month.

There are alternatives that copy what Adobe have achieved, but the alternatives are often inferior to the level Adobe have achieved.

And working with Alternative software is fine, but you may incur extra charges when agencies ask for source files and you're using software that's not in line with the modern world.

Yeh other apps can make PDFs - but they are not compliant to print standards - again incur you extra costs for fixing.
 
I agree totally with what you said Robert.

The only real competition a while back was Freehand which although being a bit more limited in some ways excelled in others and was much more intuitive and friendly to use IMO.

They bought Macromedia out and put that dog to sleep.

Lack of competition is bad for any product/market and I think it's made them lazy.

Freehand was originally Aldus, then Macromedia then eventually Adobe.

If anything it didn't make them lazy. They bought the competition and dissolved it and absorbed it back to Illustrator.
 
InDesign/Quark - replace with Scribus
Illustrator - replace with Inkscape
Photoshop - replace with Gimp

But bewarned - they are not industry standard. But perfectly ok to use.
 
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I've found Foxit to be a nice replacement to Adobe reader too.
Still need to find time to have a play around with Gimp. (on my to do list)
 
Foxit is not fully PDF compliant.

For example, it doesn't display transparencies correctly. like a transparent image, or blending modes.

Adobe Reader is the only fully compliant PDF reader - and it should be standard - and it's already FREE!
 
Foxit is not fully PDF compliant.

For example, it doesn't display transparencies correctly. like a transparent image, or blending modes.

Adobe Reader is the only fully compliant PDF reader - and it should be standard - and it's already FREE!

I wasn't aware of that. Not used it for transparencies, but certainly something to keep in mind, so thanks for the head's up.

I got put off Adobe reader back in my pc fixing days, partly due to speed, but mainly the amount of vulnerabilities that existed.
 
Every software as vulnerabilities.

Truth is Adobe Reader and Pro are used worldwide.

The fact remains - the more people that are using software means that more people are trying to hackit.

Nobody is trying to hack at a pdf reader that nobody uses.

It's not surprising. For example - foxit https://www.foxitsoftware.com/support/security-bulletins.php

The trick is to keep updated with any software and install anti-virus and malware protection - especially if you're unsure who it came from.
 
You can read all about that freehand debacle on the internet. There's plenty of reading about this case and adobe trying to be a monopoly or at least being accused.
 
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