Adobe Creative Cloud and its impact on Web Designers

Web designers tend to rely on Adobe’s creative software tools. They use tools like Photoshop for image editing and Dreamweaver for HTML editing. Last week Adobe announced a new version of their creative software, but the features and capabilities weren’t the biggest thing on designer’s minds. What caught the attention of most web design firms and individual designers was the new way for licensing the software. No longer would you buy the software outright, but instead you would lease the software. If you didn’t keep up with your lease payments, your ability to use the software would expire.

Web designers have mixed feelings about this. Some are up in arms, equating this to a hardware store requiring monthly payments for a hammer over the entire time you will be using it, instead of simply selling it to you. Others who regularly update their software don’t appear to be as upset.

It remains to be seen if the users who are upset will decide to boycott the subscription model. After all, they have Adobe’s software applications that are working and don’t require monthly fees. If enough users decide to not upgrade, will Adobe be forced to change directions with their Adobe Creative Cloud licensing?

About the author:
Jennifer Smith is co-founder of American Graphics Institute, an Adobe training provider. She is the author of numerous Photoshop Books, and also teaches Photoshop Classes and HTML Classes.