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“The 10 Most Common Myths About Adobe’s Creative Cloud (CC)”
The 10 Most Frequent Myths About Adobe's Creative Cloud (CC)
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At present I’m near the end of my 30-day trial of CS6 Premiere Pro. I can’t seem to find a way to export to tape even though I’m using a Sony HVR-M15U VCR to capture from via DV cable. Also, I can’t seem to make DVDs since there is no Encore Program. I’m in a quandary on wondering how Cloud will solve these problems.
Hello Tom, while the free trials of most Adobe tools provide full functionality, there are in fact some built-in limitations of the Premiere Pro trial version – mostly having to do with third-party components, dictionaries, additional fonts and templates, etc. Encore is also not available for the trial.
However that would not be an issue with Creative Cloud as everything is automatically included in the rate – and the same goes for a lower-priced Premiere Pro Single-App Membership ($19 a month for any CS6 tool).
How does the $19.99 per month membership for Dreamweaver CS6 work? If I want to use it only for a few days every year, would I still have to pay for the full month that I used it? What happens in case of intermittent use – do I need to uninstall everytime I do not renew my subscription? Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Best regards.
Hi Bunty, with the single-app memberships you can turn the application on and off as needed, without uninstalling it, and only pay for the months that you use it… See here for all the details:
Not Ready for the Full Cloud? Get Creative Suite for $19 a Month
You do realize that while you compare this to the supposed $10k you would pay for their products, that is a ONE time charge, not a yearly charge, right? Paying $3k a year for a software suite adds up over ten years.
This model is idiotic and it is going to piss off power users, and push them to other tools.
Hey there Brian, not sure what you mean by that. Who is paying $3K a year for which software? That doesn’t sound right under any model or scenario.
Even if it were $50/month, that is $600 per year. In the old days Adobe released a new version of the software every two years at around $750-ish, but now in two years you forced to spend $1200 or $450 more than the traditional way. Yes, you get more programs, but not everyone wants every program.
I’m still using CS4, in this model I would have been forced out of $1650 MORE than what I want to spend on an application.
Welcome David, what suite do/did you have – we’re guessing it’s CS4 Design Premium from your mention of paying a $750 upgrade price every other year?
We’re trying to figure out your math here… CS4 came out in 2008 so let’s say you bought it about 4 years ago.
$1,900 initial price + $750 upgrade + $750 upgrade = a total $3,400 outlay with the traditional licensing.
vs. $600 x 4 years = $2,400 total membership cost with the Creative Cloud.
So actually both your entry cost and your life-to-date expenses with the Cloud would be lower than in your example, plus you get continual upgrades included, and (as you know) more applications than just the Design Suite…
You also get Adobe’s industry-leading video tools Premiere & After Effects, Audition for audio, Lightroom for photo management, Muse for creating websites without coding, Edge for web development, Typekit for a huge selection of fonts, the Digital Publishing Suite SE for publishing unlimited apps to the iPad, Behance ProSite for creating a professional online portfolio, exclusive premium training from top-name providers, 20GB online storage and sharing, and more.
That’s on top of the lines you know: Photoshop CC, Illustrator CC, InDesign CC, InCopy CC, Acrobat XI, Dreamweaver CC, Fireworks CS6, Flash Pro CC, Flash Builder, etc.
Maybe you didn’t consider or wouldn’t use all of those – but what a lot of folks have found so far is they’ve increased their knowledge, power, and proficiency on new and helpful tools they might not have tried otherwise, because they’re all just included.
Dear Adobe,
In my personal opinion it is time now to switch back to QuarkXpress, they just realized a new version of their once fabulous program. Remember how they made terrible mistakes several years ago? Same will happen to you!
Let us, small users, buy the product, install on as many computers as we want and run it for several years without any updates. I am running CS3 and it is doing everything I need for now. I will never update if you continue this path.
Aleksandar
Hello Aleksandar, we presume you’re talking about their newly-announced CC release… If you have feedback for Adobe that you’d like them to know about, we would suggest contacting them directly.
Also don’t forget that customers can still buy CS6 traditionally, if that’s what someone wants.
How stupid does Adobe think we are?! While they might brag about predicted recurring revenue, where does that leave its loyal long-standing customers who can no longer trust Adobe? Not to mention, this new “genius” idea in my opinion seems to lessen the value of Adobe’s products now.
This is considered extortion what Adobe is doing and last I checked, monopolies are illegal. All we ask for is a choice. As a paying customer, myself and thousands of others just simply want a choice between a standalone Creative Suite version like we’ve had all these years or to go to the so-called Creative Cloud. This new business model makes no sense because it seems to be catering to the “wanna be’s” who can now call themselves a designer for Adobe’s own selfish-greedy reasons and puts loyal hard working professionals who disapprove of this nonsense into a corner so Adobe can shove their “one sock fits all” scheme down everyone’s throats. If you gave us a choice, you’d still cater to both crowds and still be able to predict revenue. It’s a “duh” option here Adobe. To me, this makes you look incompetent about your business in that you have to seek to such low desperate measures such as forcing users to go to the cloud subscription based scheme.
Very disappointing Adobe, very disappointing.
Greetings TK, we’re not Adobe so if you personally have strong opinions then we’d make the same suggestions to you as we did to Aleksandar in our comment just above yours… Adobe says they will continue to offer CS6 in traditional fashion, but we have no control over their future product line so venting here won’t accomplish very much.
One major concern that I do not see being addressed is related to myth #1. The word ‘cloud’ is misleading, and all professionals that use the software also have to adhere to the privacy and security contracts with their clients. These clients typically want to know want to know what programs are being used. When our clients see that we are using a product called a cloud they are going to feel that they cannot trust our work. Whose responsibility is it to address and explain the situation to our clients and the public? They will not going to just take our word for it, and Adobe is not going to staff hundreds of people to answer phone calls in regards to people who are a client of a client by which Adobe makes no direct income. Within the past month Adobe has managed to go from being the industry standard to the poster boy of security breaches in the eye of the general public.
Hi Kevin, we’re not aware of any unusual security issues with Adobe software… Earlier this month there were some scheduled patch releases for Flash Player and Acrobat Reader, as there occasionally are for any massively used software – similar to Windows or Office or Java.
There’s no security issues with Creative Cloud to our knowledge. As stated above in Myth #7, use of the online Cloud storage is completely optional – you don’t have to store/share anything there if you don’t want to.
As for what to tell your clients and the public if they have any concerns – you can not use the storage, or tell them the above, or point them to this page:
Data Security: How Secure Is the Storage Space on Creative Cloud?
@ProDesignTools
ProDesign, you come off as being a direct representative of Adobe and are answering questions on behalf of Adobe, so venting here will get the word out to those who come to see what you are telling us. And yes, I will contact Adobe directly. I might be a little voice but I know I’m not the only voice with a disappointment towards Adobe’s decision. There are thousands of others with the same valid concerns.
LOL, we’re just a little fish running a technology blog to help users of Adobe products (and other design tools), answer questions, share information, tips & tricks, tutorials, etc.
But since we’re in touch with Adobe regularly and plugged into this stuff 24×7, we often find ourselves in the position of trying to explain what’s new so that our visitors can better understand what’s going on, especially in times of change… However, that should never be taken as us answering for them or on their behalf – they always speak for themselves.
This may be helpful – here is why Adobe is making this shift. It may not perfectly fit or suit all people, but this is their most basic explanation:
Apples, Oranges, & Creative Cloud: My Thoughts on CC
Feel free to leave feedback at that page, the company is responding.
To me it is a question of freedom. I don’t make a ton of money, and my wife and I stick to a tight budget, so budgeting in an expense like this would have to be justified in a huge way. As a freelance photographer, I take on photography jobs as a side business to supplement my income. With that money, some goes into the bank, and some goes back into photography. So here’s my dilemma: Adobe claims that you actually save money in the long run with the automatic updates. For me, that may or may not be true, but the trouble is, I don’t have a choice. Previously, when an update was released, I could decide whether the new features would be worth the money. If they weren’t, I could then use my money to put towards gear, web site, etc. In this model, Adobe is telling me what I have to do with that precious funding that comes in from photography work, and I don’t have a choice. So whereas I might have stuck with a prior version a little longer in order to upgrade my camera, now the only way to afford this would be to dramatically increase my profit so I can afford the cloud and still manage to save money for gear upgrades. Right now that just isn’t going to happen. I have Photoshop CS6 and I’ll stay with it for quite some time, but when it comes time to upgrade, I’ll probably see where the competition is at.
In other words, I like to buy products and software using only the money I have made to afford it. In dry times, I’ll be using money from elsewhere that hasn’t been saved for this purpose. With PS CS6 already in hand, it just doesn’t work out for me.
I don’t know a lot about it, but basically it’s a good idea. The big problem is the price. In all of the examples it shows the person upgrading every year, sounds like most negative comments are like me and do not upgrade for quite a while! Like I say, I kinda like the concept, but I can’t afford it. Honestly I can’t afford to upgrade my current program right now :( My problem though, and I hope some medium ground is reached!
Adobe is simply cheating the owners of retail copies of CS6 (version 12). How? It used to be that a customer was entitled to upgrades made to an existing version. One would expect that if V.12 moved to V12.1, the update would be available to all that version’s customers. Not so with the current upgrades to version 12. Only CC customers are getting upgrades — the poor slobs with retail (non-cloud) versions are only getting “maintenance builds”. There’s no reason why Adobe couldn’t keep providing the non-Creative Cloud aspects of version updates available to CS6 retail customers, but then they wouldn’t be able to black mail them into a coercive adaptation of the CC. This is like giving customers who lease cars a better deal on options and maintenance packages than customers who purchased them outright. It’s really a slap in the face to be kicked to the curb after being an Adobe customer since Version 3.0. And don’t forget, many of us who have been with Adobe since the beginning were the ones who funded the products newcomers enjoy today.
Well, not really Daniel… Perpetual customers of any previous CS version have never been entitled to free feature upgrades – it’s really only ever been bug, security, and compatibility fixes:
Why Creative Cloud Gets Free Upgrades but Adobe CS6 Doesn’t
I’ve been an Adobe Cloud subscriber now since soon after they offered it. Yes, I’m paying $49 a month. I’m not a “graphics professional.” I’m an enthusiast amateur photographer, I sometimes build web sites (my first sites were built using Notepad on Windows or VI in a telnet window) and I make meme type graphics for posting on Facebook, etc. I make NO money off of any of my graphics work (and I don’t attempt to do so).
My dilemma was that while I’ve owned some Adobe products in the past, I couldn’t afford to keep them updated. So I used other software solutions that lacked the integration of Adobe products. GIMP is one example. Mostly I had a need for a graphics editor and a web design package. But, at times I succumbed to the Dark Side and used “extended evaluation” versions.
With the subscription model, the price is something that I was easily able to budget. In addition, I found that I really like Illustrator. Where I used to make certain types of things in Photoshop or GIMP, because that was the only tool I had, now I make them in Illustrator. I have more options, tools, etc. for those tasks and the end product is that much better.
What other treasures are lurking in the cloud suite? I’m still exploring. Heck, I’ve even used Premiere Pro to edit things I’ve recorded on my TiVO in preparation for burning to DVD. Why? Because I had legal access to it.
Does $600 a year seem like a lot? YES, since I’d already purchased Lightroom 4, had GIMP and some other programs. But the answer also is NO. When I compare $600 to the tools I am legally able to use, the support I get from Adobe, the integration of all of the products, etc. For me, the subscription price is VERY reasonable.
Now, if I can just get Canon to come up with a similar and affordable subscription plan were I can have full use of any of their cameras and lenses…
It’s a scheme cooked up purposely to do two things: A) cut down on rampant piracy undermining their bottom line, and B) force users into paying perpetual upgrade fees for updates they’d likely put off for an extra year or two. From CS4 I waited until CS6 to buy a new version. Guess what? Adobe covets that extra $750+ i didn’t pay them for CS5. This is exactly what they want to avoid. They make much more money if they force you to constantly upgrade through nonstop subscription fees. There’s no longer outright ownership, you’re only renting and renting in the long run always costs more than buying.
Also no more discount upgrade fees if you’re a legacy user (once you’re with CC), as you’ll be stuck at the same monthly subscription price no matter how few or many updates they put out and no matter how long you’ve been subscribing.
and Rick, $600 per year is nothing compared to $6000 over ten years for Photoshop, Illustrator, and the ability to edit easy video and burn a few dvds now and again. you realize you could buy those programs outright now for a couple thousand bucks, own it forever, and MAYBE upgrade 3-4 years from now. You’re a self professed amateur (no shame in that), so there’s no real driving force to getting all the latest updates. So why spend all that extra money?
As I’ve continually stated on any forum pushing the CC; small fish, me, tiny fish, don’t fit Adobe’s business model for cost reasons as others have amply demonstrated. However, for me, there is one more compelling reason to NOT cloud: Adobe basically owns my assets. Sure, you can get YOUR files from the cloud if you stop subscribing but good luck in being able to do anything with them in the future without re-subscribing. And even then, you are not guaranteed it will work. Take this situation. There are some quite old AE tutorials (and maybe others too) out there still of value. Try to run some of them under CS6. You will get a nice message to the effect of “sorry, can’t convert – go back to previous version and re-save”. Well, I can. I LEGITIMATELY own CS 5.5 and can thus access say, some old Rabinowitz materials. I simply don’t like giving up my ability to completely control my assets. Sure, the big houses don’t care; they crank out stuff regularly and when it’s done, it’s done. And they probably need the “instant stuff” promised by the Cloud (I only really need bug fixes, like CS6’s fault wire removal). One other point. I’ve not seen anything about the impact of CC on third party add ons. If you buy them, you must maintain the Cloud just to continue using them even though you own THEM. If they convert to a rental model, there will be additional continuing costs. In short, it’s just the same end: if you want to stay in the house, you pay the rent which the landlord controls. In the end, it’s up to each of us to decide if Adobe’s business model fits our business model. For tiny fish – or those desiring to not give up control of their environment – I don’t think it does. In the large Adobe scheme of things, we’re just collateral damage.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts IG. Note that Adobe has stated multiple times (see here for example) that they are working on solutions for giving ongoing access to files and projects created with CC, even after a subscription ends… In other words, they are endeavoring to address concerns like yours, and we expect more news and announcements on this soon.
Further, regarding using older versions of the software and/or tutorials, you may have missed it but Adobe is also maintaining an archive of major versions (starting with CS6 plus the 2013 edition of CC), a collection that all Creative Cloud members will be able to access, download and install from, and run locally on their computers at any time. That is actually a significant improvement from how things used to be regarding versioning.
Finally, almost all of the new Adobe CC tools are able to save or export back to the CS6 file formats if or when necessary.
I had a Photoshop CS6 trial which I later paid a monthly subscription fee and I was happy paying the monthly fee to continue using the product. My hard disk died and I had to download Photoshop again, but this time the ‘Creative Cloud’ version was installed, not the same version that I had before. I do not need to want cloud storage space for my files however there was no means of telling all of these services NOT to be installed on my machine. I DO NOT want a process running for on my machine for software I am not using at the time. I DO NOT want processes utilizing my network bandwidth [especially when the software is closed] There were several processes running on my machine and sending chatter over my network while I wasn’t even using Photoshop.
Since it isn’t required that we be online to utilize the software with a Creative Cloud subscription, why is there no means to disable or turn off the software from tying up the very limited bandwidth I have when it is connected? How do I get back the other version of Photoshop WITHOUT all of the extra cloud processes and things I don’t need or want on my computer?
I want to just pay the monthly fee for the version of Photoshop I was using before my hard disk crashed. OR post information on how to disable the excess network chatter and processes that are part of the cloud for LOW BANDWIDTH users that need to be connected to the Internet but under no circumstances should Adobe software be utilizing that bandwidth unless I do proactively do something [check for updates – install updates] to initiate the network connectivity. I tried blocking the ports it was talking on from my firewall but it still tied up resources on my home network for no reason. I am very unhappy and going to be discontinuing my subscription if the non-cloud version is not available to download and utilize at the monthly subscription rate.
Not to worry Jersey, as a paid Creative Cloud member you still have access to download and run CS6 instead, if you like, in a standalone fashion.
As you already know, you can subscribe to just a single application like Photoshop CC and/or CS6 for $10-20 a month, if you don’t want or need the complete Creative Cloud.
What we’d suggest for you is to uninstall the new apps from your machine, and then run the Adobe Cleaner Tool, reboot, and then install Photoshop CS6 by itself. You can find it (and all other Creative Suite 6 tools) in our set of CS6 Direct Download Links.
Ahd to explain further: The network traffic you’re seeing is coming from the Creative Cloud Desktop App which is regularly doing things like ensuring a valid & current CC subscription, checking for application updates, syncing any files that are shared to the cloud, etc. It does this whenever you’re online because it doesn’t know the next time you will be connected, so that way it can avoid or minimize asking you to connect in the future.
But even if you wanted to run Photoshop CC instead of CS6, you could still do it standalone using our new Adobe CC Direct Links, which do not install the Desktop App or even require you to be a free member of Creative Cloud in order to download or try any of the CC applications.
So, since Photoshop CC is better than CS6 anyway, that could be worth a shot for you too.
Hope this helps!
@ProDesignTools
Did you read his comment?? I’m not against the idea of Creative Cloud, but what he is saying quite clearly is that not everyone cares about upgrading all the time, but in CC we are forced to. So David would have bought CS4 in 2008, for $1899, paid $0 for upgrades because he didn’t want them.
If CC was around in 2008, its now 2013, so, that’s actually five years (not sure where you guys took math), so 5 * 600 = $3000, or $1101 more he would have spent versus sticking with an older version that meets his needs.
So basically, CC seems like a nice idea, but being forced to use it rather than also having the option to buy a flat-out price? Doesn’t make sense.
And, if you insist that CC is a better deal for the customer, it’s actually to adobe’s advantage then to offer full price also, since you’ll make more money. So just the fact that Adobe refuses to offer it anymore even though it’s being demanded seems proof enough to me that it’s not actually a fact that it’s cheaper for those who don’t upgrade all the time (plus we’ve already proved that).
Yes Robert, of course we read every comment. And it’s David’s comment that mentioned paying $750 every other year to upgrade CS the traditional way. Our example simply compared that scenario versus Creative Cloud, without ignoring the large upfront cost paid with Creative Suite as some folks do. David’s comment was from last May, so the comparison was made for someone buying CS4 four years prior.
Industrywide, you’ve probably noticed App Stores on the rise and the notion of large, monolithic releases of software on the way out… Devices and platform technology are changing faster than ever so smaller and more frequent releases keeping users up to date at lower upfront cost is the trend. The restrictions of the previous licensing model meant that Adobe was challenged to keep up with the pace of change, whereas now with Creative Cloud they are able to add new features and tool capabilities all the time, literally every month.
However, the company has stated clearly that they will continue to sell and support last year’s CS6 release indefinitely, for customers who still want the old model. So if you say you genuinely prefer static software that is out-of-date (the premise of your comment), then that option continues to be available to you if you truly want it.
Do you know if ADOBE is fixing the focus problem on the hot keys? that one that makes CC hotkeys “V” for direct selection tool, or “T” for text tool NOT TO WORK in the first, second or third hit on the key? the one that makes you to click twice anywhere in the document before you can use any hotkey. :(
Hey there Marioh, you may find this Adobe Discussion Forum thread helpful.
The way I see it is that subscription based software is probably here to stay as it provides a consistency to a company’s income and profit model. I think the real problem is that the rent is still more than we expect to pay, and one has no equity or ownership. Most of us purchase for “ownership”, with the intent to squeeze as much life out of a product as we can. I personally do not upgrade any software till it’s on life support (5 to 6 years). So the actual per-year cost to own is around $316 per year 1899/6. To keep customers happy, $300 a year sounds more like a fair rental value. The other option that might work at the higher price would allow a customer to drop out and keep the current version after a term of 12 to 18 months (lease to own). The increased cost and the loss of control is what we don’t like. I fear that the full box versions will go away; forcing only the one, more expensive, choice. I also note that under the subscription model, companies have less incentive to consistently produce a more enticing version in new releases. I’m in an industry where subscription based software has been around for years. Believe me; the upgraded features needed were hard to come by in new releases.
Sorry Adobe, but whether this is a money grab or not, you have simply said people without a lot of money can go to hell. I’m going on a fixed income soon and there’s no way in hell I’ll be able to afford $50 or even the $20 a month student rate. I only use Photoshop and I don’t use all the other stuff.
And I still need to generate photos at a higher quality than Elements can muster, for example 16-bit black and whites for wall hangings. And I wasn’t paying $600 or $700 a year. I was paying for upgrades every other year and waiting for sales that I could afford. But I always bought Adobe.
After so many years buying and upgrading and trying Adobe products, you have a very grotesque way of saying thanks. Even as Microsoft prepares to go to subscription, it at least is leaving behind basics, and then there’s Open Office for folks who can’t afford another elitist money grab.
So thanks for pushing throwing me and other baby boomers overboard.
I guess I’ll be asking GIMP to beef up its product.
Harry, can you afford just $10 a month? …For both Adobe Photoshop CC + Lightroom 5 (the latest versions), plus all ongoing upgrades?
It’s cheaper than upgrading every other year, as you say you have done in the past.
The thing that still rankles is that those of us not in the US (or Australia) are being asked to pay considerably more.
The US introductory price is currently $29.99 and and in Australia it is Aus$29.99
In the UK it is £27.40 which is $45.10 or Aus$50.76 at today’s rate plus local taxes.
The European price is €36.89 which is $50.21 or AUS$56.50.
Why is this? Surely it isn’t rocket science to charge the same amount worldwide based on the US dollar? I buy items online from the States and I am not charged a UK price my bank or credit card provider converts the charge to my currency when it comes to payment. Even with bank charges this is no where near as exorbitant as these differences!
I would be much more inclined to subscribe if I didn’t feel I was being conned on the exchange rate and was paying around £18/19 per month which is the direct conversion from $29.99
I have just looked at the Adobe site for Australia and the price is Aus$39.99 not Aus$29.99 as shown on ProDesign’s website. Even so there is a vast difference in price.
Perhaps a little word with the European Court of Human Rights ;-)
Well Casie, Adobe’s pricing internationally has moved closer to the US over the years – but historically Adobe has offered this explanation for why there are price differences in various countries…
One of the biggest reasons is the level of tax European residents are required to pay, for example an official 23% VAT rate on subscription downloads that Adobe has no control over, and is far larger than the US.
Also please keep in mind that US prices are always quoted without state/local taxes included (and those add up to 10% extra), whereas in the UK and Europe the custom is to include taxes within the quoted figure. So what you see is not apples-to-apples, and it’s a common oversight.
Dreamweaver cc is such a great web design app, I tried Coda, Textmate – they’re nowhere close to Dw CC :)
There’s only one myth that I want debunked. I’ve never seen it presented in lists like this, but if it is, I’ll sign up.
I create highly layered files that I save in CS5 psd format (control panel layouts). I frequently go back and modify/adjust them, and occasionally sell them. In terms of value, the ability to customize the images is more valuable than the images themselves. The files are all saved in the proprietary Adobe format to preserve all custom layering/formatting and to make it easy to modify them. I do lots of other regular editing of existing layered files as well and with my perpetual license don’t need to pay a dime beyond that for the lifetime privilege to edit my own images. With CS5, if I ever switched to another non-Adobe product I could continue to use it perpetually and in parallel with the new product to continue editing and selling them.
Now suppose we’re talking about CC Photoshop instead and I decide to buy that new product. Well now I’m stuck (I presume…unless you can debunk this). This is because as soon as I cancel my subscription, my license to edit potentially hundreds or thousands of my own files is instantly revoked! So even I switched over to another product., I have to continue paying indefinitely for the privilege to continue editing my own images.
This is unacceptable. So unless someone can debunk this “myth” I plan to just upgrade to CS6, which should be good for at least 5 years and wait to see if something else comes along. Right now there is no fully worthy competitor, but in five years or so I would expect someone to fill the need for a high-end imaging product with a perpetual license. I suppose the good part is that I no longer feel compelled to dutifully upgrade PS every 18 months any more, which should probably give me a few thousand extra dollars five years from now to buy that new product.
Hi David, are you talking about file compatibility between different versions of Photoshop? Yes, that’s largely a myth as well.
First off, Photoshop’s .PSD format may be proprietary, but what many people don’t realize is that it is in fact an openly-published format that any software is free to use/open/save – and there are other (third-party) programs that will open or import PSD files…
See: Can You Open a Photoshop CC File in CS6?
As for migrating files between different releases of Adobe Photoshop – the PSD format is very portable and there have already been many tests of this ability. One longtime customer wrote:
For more info, check out: Test: Moving Files from Photoshop CC to CS5
So, there’s been a lot of “FUD” around this issue and fewer facts, but the reality is not so terrible.
Finally, our recently-published guide may also be helpful:
Adobe CC to CS6, CS5, CS4, CS3 File Compatibility Guide