[UPDATE – Also see our new Holiday CC 2019 Giveaway!]

MAX 2018 – the big annual conference intersecting creativity and Adobe technology – is returning this fall to Los Angeles, California… And continuing our long tradition of free Adobe giveaways, we’ve got one free regular full conference pass (worth US$1,595) to give away, courtesy of our friends at Adobe Systems! Plus, an exclusive US$400-off MAX ticket discount code that’s available to everyone… (details below)

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Ask any creative about the favorite part of their job, and it’s unlikely someone will answer “the mundane tasks.” Things like adapting a single element across hundreds (if not thousands) of assets, or going through the pains of re-working a previewed stock photo after attaining the license. And yet, those same tasks are all-too-often a habitual part of what creatives still do today – and something Adobe has worked to streamline through the capabilities in and the tight integration of Adobe Stock and Creative Cloud Libraries.

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Some incredible news out this morning: Adobe has announced they’re making their popular new experience design tool – Adobe XD, a major part of the Creative Cloud – completely free(!) for anyone who wants to download and use it, forever:

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“Adobe MAX is an experience unlike any other — an opportunity to learn from the experts and connect with thousands of the most influential designers, developers, and decision-makers in our industry.”

If you’d like to go to Adobe MAX this year in Los Angeles (October 15-17) and save US$400-$500 in the process, then you came to the right place… You can get an instant discount of $400 simply by using our exclusive ProDesignTools promotion code here: M18PDT. This coupon code is valid worldwide.

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Adobe recently added a brand new product to the Lightroom ecosystem, surprisingly called “Lightroom CC.” This cloud-based photo service is different from the longstanding version of Lightroom that we know and love, the desktop-focused application which was simultaneously renamed to be “Lightroom Classic CC.”

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[UPDATE – Adobe stopped selling CS6 entirely – here’s why… This means the CS products are no longer being made by the company, nor legitimately for sale through any channel in any country, from any vendor or reseller.]

Some folks think it might be a good idea to try to save a few bucks and buy Adobe software off of eBay, Craigslist, Amazon Marketplace, or from any vendor or seller who is unfamiliar.  It could be Creative Cloud, CS6, Photoshop, Lightroom, Acrobat, Elements, or any other title – in a retail, student, full or upgrade version… or sometimes it’s the “OEM” scam, or the plausible-sounding “extra” volume/enterprise license swindle, or an illegal black or “gray market” import.

But it’s actually not a very good idea at all.  Why?

The first problem is that Adobe does not recognize these venues as valid or authorized resellers, they are fully disregarded and invalid. So as a result, Adobe will not officially recognize any of those buyers as actually owning their software. Yes, you read that right.

Meaning, you think you own the genuine article but effectively you don’t. You cannot provide an accepted proof of purchase – so you can’t formally prove you own the products. You may not be able to transfer the software to someone else, nor be able to get product support or upgrade to the next version, etc…  You also aren’t able to return the software to get your money back from Adobe like you normally can.

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Here’s a very handy resource from Jamie Spencer – the complete set of essential keyboard shortcut cheat sheets for every major Adobe CC application… These comprehensive sheets can save you loads of time every day by speeding up your work and allowing you to bypass the need for mouse clicks and movements, getting you to the function you need in the fastest possible way. They are extremely helpful assets to have in your arsenal – and can easily be consulted anytime as an instant reference, or printed out in high resolution and posted, or even used as desktop wall­paper. They are completely free and available for download here:

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Let’s face it, Adobe’s traditional product prices have seemed expensive over the years, espe­cially if you’re on a student’s budget. The last perpetual version available, Creative Suite 6 from 2012, historically had full prices ranging from $399 for Dream­weaver through $999 for Photoshop Extended and on up to $2,599 upfront for the Master Collection suite, which contained all CS6 applications. As cool and powerful as this software was, it’s hard to afford when you’re in school – even after the student/teacher discount.

Adobe eventually stopped selling CS6, as the version reached EOL and end of support – but fortunately the company still offers deep discounts for education customers on the newer CC release. A few years ago, in fact, they increased the discount on Creative Cloud to up to 70% off the regular prices. And while there are a lot of misconceptions about CC, the main products like Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, etc., still download and run on your desktop as normal.

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A reader asked about a message he received from Adobe about a change in CC subscrip­tion pricing in North America. Per the company’s email, some membership costs will be rising 5-6% for individuals in the US, Canada and Mexico – the first increase since Creative Cloud came out in 2012. Here is an excerpt from the notice Adobe sent about the pricing adjustment in these countries:

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Now that the Adobe CC release has become ubiquitous with over 15 million paid customers, more folks are asking us whether the new versions of the tools in the Creative Cloud can read or save older data/document/project file formats like CS6, CS5.5, CS5, CS4 & CS3…

In fact, since Adobe’s flagship creative toolset CC 2018 is now six major releases past CS6 from 2012 (which they no longer sell), file version compatibility can some­times be an important decision point in moving forward.

In the past, new Adobe product versions have often brought different or expanded file formats to support significant new features – and customers want to know if their existing projects will easily carry forward with them when they upgrade, or if they will be able to save back to older formats for coworkers or clients who may still be running an earlier revision of the programs…

OK then, here’s how it works. Generally, your new CC tools will be able to open and use any and all earlier CS project and data files – including CS3, CS4, CS5, CS5.5, and CS6 files – with no problem or loss of information. In other words, all Adobe software is able to read or import file formats from previous versions of the same program – and it should happen seam­lessly and automatically. The only exception to this is Premiere Pro, where it’s best to open/edit projects in the same versions that created them.

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