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“Update: You Can No Longer Buy CS6 from Adobe – Here’s Why”
Adobe Just Stopped Selling Creative Suite 6 Entirely - Here's Why
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Thanks for that update.
My comments regarding Encore on the last post here are probably are more appropriate here.
The statement that CS6 is only supported on Windows 8 or earlier confirms my comment there that Adobe saying you can always download and use Encore CS6 is not valid.
Hopefully users will point this out and Adobe will update Encore to officially support newer operating systems.
BillB
@BillB
I second this.
I still have many people asking for DVDs of their projects, and CC for no discernible reason does not offer Encore. Why?
Although the common belief as to why Adobe cancelled Encore is the notion that “optical media is dead,” the truth is more complex… Here is the real reason why:
Here’s Why Adobe Had to Stop Developing Encore
So unfortunately, Adobe would have to write a completely new product, being careful not to duplicate copyrighted code that they had previously licensed.
At this point we doubt that will happen – but nevertheless, you can tell Adobe what you want here:
If it doesn’t present a compatibility issue for you, then as a CC subscriber you can still continue to use Encore CS6:
How to Download and Install Encore CS6 with Creative Cloud
Hope that helps explain the complete story here.
Thanks, I am on Windows 10.
I saw that thread before. It provides cover but not a good reason. If they had a similar issue with say Premiere Pro, my guess is they might have found room in the budget or rate structure to continue development… Also, this was not the message or reason some senior execs were giving at the time.
BillB
Well, normally companies don’t like to appear vulnerable. So we can’t be 100% sure, but suspect that the reason that explanation wasn’t openly put forth at the time is that it cast them in a somewhat vulnerable and almost embarrassing situation.
Digital video continues its ascendancy with Premiere being a far more mission-critical application, while arguably media creation is on a long, slow decline – so your guess/example would probably hold true.
Update to this thread – here’s a freebie you might like on using Encore:
Download Free “How-to” Chapter on Authoring DVDs in Adobe Encore
This chapter focuses exclusively on Encore, from a larger book about Premiere… Here is the table of contents:
Shiny Disc Export / Add Chapter Markers / Export to DVD Formats / In Encore CS6 / Make a DVD Menu / Set your End Action / Name the DVD / Add Subtitles / Check the DVD with the Flowchart / Preview the DVD / Add DVD-ROM Content / Build a DVD Folder / Save DVD Image and burn DVD / No Guarantees for Playback / DDP Image output / Dual Layer DVDs
I’m going to nitpick a bit here. Adobe didn’t announce the end of the Creative Suite line until the first release of CC at MAX in June 2013.
As for ending the sale of CS6, this was long overdue. It just doesn’t work at all on new Macs and I’ve seen some issues reported on Windows 10.
You’re absolutely right Bob, it was at the MAX conference a year after CS6 came out where Adobe made that announcement, in May 2013… That also marked the initial launch of the first version of CC.
Creative Cloud was already being sold and growing prior to that point, but had included CS6 instead of the CC release.
Thanks for your note, the correction has been made above.
I live in Croatia, and I can not buy the CC subscription. I have InDesign CS6 and Dreamweaver CS6 bought in 2012.
I do not understand why Adobe does not sell CC in Croatia? I have PayPal, all major credit cards, I buy from eBay, have an Adobe ID and Netflix subscription.
I understand that Croatia is a small market, but it is not fair to let Croatian photographers and designers down.
Boris
Greetings Boris, thank you for sharing your thoughts. It appears that Adobe is not yet offering “Creative Cloud for Individuals” in the country where you live… The list of where CC can be purchased is now up to 94 countries (see the Country Availability List) and always growing larger.
However, if you happen to have a billing address and form of payment (including PayPal) that is based in any one of those other countries where Adobe offers their products online, then you should still be able to purchase CC direct – even if your home address is elsewhere…
[Note that your Adobe ID needs to be associated with the same country as your credit card or billing address, so if it isn’t then you may have to create a new Adobe ID.]
But even if that doesn’t work, then you should still be able to buy Creative Cloud for Teams from a reseller in your country. Yes, CC for Teams is offered there, and shown on the countries list linked above – so you should be able to purchase it, even if only for 1 single license.
Finally, while not everyone has full access yet, Adobe tells us they continue to work to expand the availability on an ongoing basis – so look for still more countries to be added going forward.
But whatever you do, avoid any illegitimate version at all costs!
I guess five years is a very long time in computer years. I still use both CS6 and CC. Are direct download links (main and update) still available for CS6 owners who would like to make an insurance backup?
Hi Kathi, thanks for your comment and question. Yes, the backup installers are still available here:
All Original Adobe CS6 Direct Download Links, for Windows & Mac OS
The move to subscription model only is a sad one for me. I realize it means more money in Adobe’s pockets to force every user to buy updates to keep using its product. However, it is a show-stopper for those of us who use Adobe products occasionally and don’t have the professional budget to pay every month.
I like being able to pull out my trusty, stand-alone modules to use once or twice a year. Now that CS6 stopped working on the newer versions of Windows, I am stuck. I have folders full of old Photoshop files that I can’t even open to tweak for my websites without paying through the nose.
And the subscription model makes learning incredibly expensive. I signed up for the free trial of a couple of Adobe modules with the intention of evaluating them. I was unable to follow through. $160 dollars later and a few months later, I’d looked at them for about 30 minutes. My money went down the drain. Then it was extremely difficult to turn off the subscription.
This may be a great business model for the full-time user, but it’s heck on the rest of us.
Greetings Diana, we’re not sure what you mean by “I was unable to follow through.” It sounds like you downloaded & installed the new software onto your computer, went through your free trial period, then subscribed for several months – but only found the time to “look at” the products for just 30 minutes? How is that on Adobe?
If it were the old CS model instead, you would have paid a lot more upfront (many hundreds or even thousands of dollars) just to get in the door, and then had no recourse or way to change your mind later. Instead, you spent $160. But it sounds like the decision to only use the tools for a few minutes (even though you had them for months) was yours. That would be like getting Netflix for a few months but only watching one show and then deciding it’s Netflix’s fault.
What’s interesting here is that you think you’re making an argument against Creative Cloud, but in fact it’s the opposite… With perpetual software, just because you “own” it forever, doesn’t mean you can run it forever… You no doubt put up a lot of money for CS6, but regrettably now you’re finding you can’t move forward. Hardware and operating systems evolve, then old programs aren’t supported – so for most people, static software has a usable lifetime – exactly as you’re discovering here (sorry).
That will never happen with CC obviously because it will always be up to date and upgraded for the latest platforms and with the best new features and evolving technologies.
As for how to open your files without a CC subscription? Well, the free level of Cloud membership (which you retain permanently at no cost) will allow you to open, display, and manipulate files in some of the most common Adobe formats (types including .PSD, .AI, .INDD, etc).
Similarly, you can use the preview and display capabilities of Adobe Bridge CC, which is free for everyone, for life.
There also exist third-party utilities like XnView (free), which will read and write Photoshop .PSD files, and also opens Adobe Illustrator .AI files. ID Util (also free) will read and display any InDesign or InCopy file. Like Photoshop’s published .PSD format, Adobe PDF is another publicly-documented specification, and various programs can read and write those files.
Adobe will also be resetting a new round of free CC trials at least once or twice every year that will work fully and open your files for 7 days. So if your paid membership has expired, then short-term opening or editing your files down the road could be as simple as just grabbing the latest free trial and firing it up.
And then there’s always a Creative Cloud month-to-month membership available if you want to do more intensive work, for as long or as short as that is. You would pay only for the months you needed to.
Bottom line, there should never a case where you are denied access to open your work or files – it’s just that it may not necessarily be 100% free guaranteed, depending on what you want to do with them. But obviously the maintenance of all professional software in working order has costs and tradeoffs, even for standalone perpetual tools.
Meanwhile, the cost of subscribing to Creative Cloud keeps getting lower (as outlined in Myth #6 here) – for example, the CC Photography Plan was originally a Black Friday special which Adobe later made permanent, and includes some incredible top tools for under $10 a month.
OK, so let’s get GIMP now. Or Affinity Photo for $50
I use CreativeSuite 5.5 daily for business purposes. Count me in with the old school pre-CC users who prefer that model of sales. I truly liked being able to purchase the CS product (and, earlier, the individual programs, going back, yes, to Aldus’ PageMaker) outright every two years or so, as *I* decided I needed it and that the new “features” were truly ones that I could use.
I didn’t care that I was paying “many hundreds and even thousands of dollars” upfront at that time because I had saved/budgeted to do that. Hmmm…just like I don’t want healthcare insurance that covers every little thing I *might* want and instead, I stashed away $13,000 for our family’s deductible (if the funds are ever needed) and just purchase high-deductible insurance plans for far less. I trust myself to be able to afford large purchases; I don’t need someone else to decide it’s “better” for me to be able to just pay monthly. Grrr… (can you see you’ve hit a nerve?).
Now I don’t have that option.
I know I’m going to have to bite the subscription bullet soon–with Mac OS 10.11.6 (El Capitan), InDesign CS 5.5 is getting a bit buggy. But I’m putting it off as long as I can–or until there’s an Adobe “special” (which I don’t really have much belief in). And, yes, I’ll likely appreciate and use some of the new features that will arrive on the back of the onerous annual subscription–but I don’t think it’s likely that they’ll make me that much in extra client income. I’d be happy (and richer) to be proven wrong, however ;)
But even as I use those new services, it’s gonna be hard for me to feel quite as positive about Adobe and its suite of services. As a (very) small businessperson, it doesn’t seem as if Adobe cares about having my trade or about providing options for daily users.
Well, it’s no surprise that some customers weren’t happy about the transition from perpetual-only to subscription-only products, but as a Pulitzer Prize winner once said, “I can’t give you a sure-fire formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure: try to please everybody all the time.” Adobe took a risk and it could have flopped or flown. They undoubtedly lost some older customers, but at the same time gained many new ones because of the far-lower cost of entry than before.
By virtually every measure in the industry, their transition to Creative Cloud has been widely hailed as a major success, surprising a lot of skeptics and even exceeding the company’s own original expectations. Never before (not even with CS6), have so many millions of customers upgraded and been running the same single release of Adobe software, which makes the platform all the more powerful. There are thousands of improvements and new features in CC 2017 as compared to CS6… If you haven’t missed what you don’t have yet, that’s fine – but if the latest releases can help millions of people get better work done faster, then time is money.
Looking back to 2012, it’s clear now that Adobe didn’t do this to make anybody upset but rather made a business decision on what would be best for the future of the company and the sustainability of their franchise. The subscription model is more flexible in many ways and allows them to keep the tools current with fast-moving technology, as well as make record investments in their product line and advance the state of the art in creative software.
I get it, it’s business and Adobe made a good decision to boost their sales and development budget. Kudos to them. But the “more flexible” in this is more flexibility for Adobe and less for many users; if they truly wanted to be “flexible” for users, they would have retained a purchase-only option with those buyers aware that their software wouldn’t include all the new bells and whistles that the subscriber base enjoyed and benefited from for their “lock-in” annual commitment. Yes, I’ll subscribe–likely sooner rather than later–but it’s because I have no other choice for this combination of software, not because I proactively choose this delivery model.
Sure, understood Tonya – and the purchase-only no-updates option that they retained was CS6.
At that time, they said they weren’t going to try to maintain two separate tracks for the CC tools (subscription vs. purchase) because of the large complexity and cost in attempting to do so, plus the line between tools and services was blurring.
Also, as far as flexibility goes, continuously-updated software is inherently more flexible and adaptable for customers than the old model of static software with monolithic upgrades only every 12-24 months. It’s also a lot more flexible for people who need the tools for a defined period of time, like a client project, and easier to expense that way as well.
Still, though, as noted earlier, not everyone is going to like everything about it. But as customers ultimately vote with their feet, the feet came.
@ProDesignTools
I’ll try to be clearer. What I meant was that I had to give my credit card to get the “free trial,” which ran over, and had difficulty stopping payment. Once I managed to do so I kept getting messages that my credit card wasn’t working correctly for my (cancelled) subscription. Support had to intervene because of some problem on your side that didn’t allow the cancellation to complete–maybe it just didn’t propagate through the entire database. I don’t know. It just didn’t make for a very friendly experience.
When I said I couldn’t follow through, I meant that I was too busy to spend time evaluating the module in question. Time went by when I was having health issues, and I was being charged for a product I only got to spend about 30 minutes installing and looking at a couple of tutorials over several months. If it were truly a free trial, it would have suspended automatically, not started charging me money.
When formerly I bought outright, (new) I did NOT spend the amounts of money you are claiming it would have cost me. I bought the modules I wanted: Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Acrobat Professional. When the subscription model was introduced, it was always cheaper to buy once and use until it no longer met my needs. Then upgrade. With the subscription model, I must buy all intervening versions in order to keep using the product.
I had never heard of the free level of Cloud membership. That wasn’t offered on anything I looked at. I would have snapped that up for sure. Thank you for letting me know about it.
I know it is difficult for people working in IT professions to conceive of having a restricted or rigid budget. I have to budget something carefully, buy it, then use the heck out of it. The shorter the planned obsolescence period becomes, the harder it is on people who are below the median income to keep up with even the basics.
I still love the products. I just can’t afford the business-based subscription prices.
Hey Diana, thanks for clarifying. We would only add a few things:
a) Adobe’s free trials are always free, and never require submission of a credit card (nor have they ever)… So not sure how you got that impression.
b) In the past, buying Photoshop + Acrobat Pro (as you mentioned) would set you back $699+$449 = $1,148. That’s a big chunk of change compared to subscribing to those two tools which now costs $25/month with ongoing upgrades included, plus you also get Lightroom.
c) Not sure what happened with your credit card, but normally cancelling a CC membership is not made difficult and can be done online if you need/want to.
d) Glad the free level of Creative Cloud membership helps!
Thanks for the interesting discussions, everyone!
I am absolutely certain that it’s a financial success. Suck people in with a low introductory price, and they don’t feel the burn unless they sit down and do the math. It has always been easy to fool people that something that costs more money seems cheaper because “Sale” is plastered in front of it, or you put .99 at the end of the price tag. The same thing is true for subscription pricing.
This model HAS to cost more to keep stockholders happy.
So bravo for a great suite of products! Bravo for making the stockholders happy! Bravo for convincing everyone they have to have the latest obscure feature. Bravo for planned obsolescence!
And yes, I’ll still check out the subscriptions again. There is not much choice.
Well actually, most low introductory pricing on Creative Cloud has disappeared since they stopped the CS upgrade promotions… One major exception is the CC Student & Teacher Edition, where the price does bump up some after the first year.
But on the whole, Adobe has revealed that CC retention rates (even after any promotional pricing has expired) have been very strong:
Adobe: Creative Cloud Renewal Rate Tops Expectations
The subscription plan is not available in my country or region. What am I supposed to do?
Hi Siegfried, actually it could be available – please see our reply above to Boris… The same exact response goes for Liberia as does for Croatia.
Many countries, in fact, have these same purchasing options – check out the Creative Cloud Country Availability List for more details.
I have Adobe CS6 (Creative Suite 6) on my computer. The main reason I never upgraded to Adobe Creative Cloud was because my Internet access is sketchy (I live in a remote part of Alaska) and I didn’t want to get working on a project that required an active web connection. With CS6 I can work offline when I design flyers or edit photos. Do you need an active Internet connection to work on Creative Cloud projects?
Welcome Charles. No, actually you don’t – you can be disconnected from the Internet for months at a time, and you can still use your CC desktop tools like Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Animate, Premiere, etc…
Don’t worry, this is a common misconception out there, probably because the name “Creative Cloud” can be misleading… Please see this article for more details, and for the complete explanation:
The 10 Most Frequent Myths About Adobe’s Creative Cloud (CC)
Hope that helps!
@ProDesignTools
So with this announcement, might it be a good time for Adobe to run an “upgrade to CC” offer? ;)
Could be, you never know. If Adobe does do anything like that, then we’ll feature it on our Special Offers page – so keep an eye here:
https://prodesigntools.com/promotions.html
Expect plugins to cease development for CS6 or earlier.
What about Lightroom? Does this news about CS6 have any effect on Lightroom?
Or is LR completely independent? If so, will it become subscription-only as Photoshop has?
Thanks
No, Lightroom was never part of Creative Suite, but was added later to the Creative Cloud collection, and is now an important part of that.
We don’t know what Adobe’s plans for Lightroom 7 might be, but you can still buy Lightroom 6 (an older standalone version which came out in April 2015) or Lightroom CC (the latest subscription version which is included also in the $10 Creative Cloud Photography Plan)…
Here is a comparison of those two options:
What Are the Differences Between Adobe Lightroom 6 vs. Lightroom CC?
Finally, if/when your Adobe subscription lapses, you can continue to use many features of the last version of Lightroom CC that you have installed on your computer(s), for free, for life… Check out how this works here:
What Happens to Lightroom CC After My Membership Ends?
So no matter what, you will never lose access to your LR catalog.
Can we be eligible to convert a cs6 licence to cc with no additional cost ?
Sorry Surinder, there are no current Adobe promotions for a discounted upgrade to CC from Creative Suite (CS) products…
The last CS upgrade deal ended in 2015. Having a special is not necessary however, as no prior software license or ownership is required in order to sign up for Creative Cloud.
If you want to try it out first, then by all means check out the free CC 2017 trial downloads before proceeding.
@Tonya
After Adobe came out with CC, they did retain an option to purchase the perpetual-license versions ; when I had looked for it some time ago, the thing was the perpetual-license was ridiculously over priced. It was very obvious they were trying to force people onto CC instead.
Personally, and I’m sure plenty of others would be happy if Adobe would come out with a new DVD-Authoring program to replace Encore so that those of us with clients desiring that medium can still deliver it to them.
Thanks for your comment Maurice, but Adobe never offered an option to purchase CC with a perpetual license… It was only ever CS6 that was offered with that option.
@Diana Diehl
Your photoshop files should be able to be opened by Affinity Photo. I haven’t made the jump yet but they are constantly developing, working on building a photoshop replacement without the subscription model.
@Maurice
+1. Totally agree.
Tired of hearing why Encore was not upgraded way back when. If they can keep coming out with other apps they could give us DVD authoring. I also stream many ISO’s I have made and having a menu is nice.
I think the EOL of CS6 brings this issue to the forefront as they just can’t keep saying use the CS6 Encore workaround.
Bill B
My main problem with CC is that it is really just a rental of software, rather than owning it. If I sign up, and decide one day to cancel my subscription, then I don’t have anything to fall back on like I did with the full purchase. Just my two cents, I like the idea of ownership verses renting.
I do have a problem currently with no upgrades available to CS 6. My home computer is at 5.5 and my work is at 6.0. They would like me to work from home, but they do not want to create idml (exchange) files. They would like me to upgrade my CS 5.5 Design Premium to 6.0. Is there any way to do this? They are not going to upgrade and I fear I might be stuck at 5.5. Please let me know any options I might have. Thanks!
Sorry Jen, due to CS6’s age and lack of updates or support, last year we stopped recommending it as a viable option going forward – and this year there is no longer any good, safe or reliable way of purchasing it.
When comparing CS6 to CC, don’t forget the huge upfront cost paid in order to have something to fall back on with the old model. But, as with all static perpetual releases, they eventually grow obsolete and then having that fallback doesn’t mean as much or may no longer function properly on modern operating systems… Upgrades and maintenance are an ongoing necessity in order to maintain virtually anything in life, especially something that moves as technologically fast as computer software.
One possibility is that if you upgraded to CC, you may still be able to save back project files into formats that would still be readable by CS6 tools. For more details, see:
Can You Open/Use/Export/Save Adobe CC Files on CS6 – and Vice Versa?
If a competitor ever develops a decent product suite as an alternative, then Adobe may be more willing to be a bit more flexible in their pricing, I hope.
@Joanne
There are many decent alternatives available already, especially if you’re on the Mac platform. In fact, this is most likely one of the main reasons that Adobe decided to make CC Photography Plan permanent — because their near-monopoly is being challenged in photo-editing and management.
Despite the myriad arguments being presented, the essential point was not mentioned, that Adobe is the price setter in both cases, in the subscription and the ownership models. So the comparison between these two models as an argument for the former is misleading because the cost for editing and archiving photos for non-professional users shouldn’t be this exorbitant in the first place. It got so because there is no competition.
The price for the ownership model doesn’t work either cost-benefit wise for non-professional users because they use only a very limited set of features, which, ironically, are *only* available in Adobe Photoshop and *not* Photoshop Elements so they’re in fact *forced* to pay such a high price upfront which should’ve been much lower.
To say that subscription model is a necessity in order to bring more novel features to users is also misleading because most non-professional users rarely need those new features that Adobe brings them in every annual update. The fact that Photoshop Elements exists and is not part of the CC is proof that even Adobe knows people much prefer perpetual license rather than subscription.
A more sensible and user-oriented approach would be let users pay for the features that they want in-app, on top of a basic licensing fee. This way you don’t penalise non-pros for only wanting to use a limited set of features and at the same time provide good value to the professional users who can pay for the state-of-the-art features as required by their workflow.
@lysingur I haven’t seen any decent alternatives for the Adobe suite from other software developers. I spend 90% of my day in InDesign and the other 10% in Illustrator and Photoshop…with a few little dabbles into Acrobat Pro. Sigh…