With Creative Cloud you pay a monthly fee and you’re eligible for continuous Adobe upgrades throughout the year (you decide when to update). Creative Cloud spreads out the expense and eliminates the huge startup cost. See details below.
Need just a single app or a shorter commitment? It’s no more than $21 a month per app. So go ahead… hire a temporary designer to help with a project and pay for just a month of software on an extra Mac.
Adobe Creative Cloud includes every Adobe product – Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat, Dreamweaver, Animate, Muse, Lightroom, Premiere, After Effects, Audition, SpeedGrade, Prelude & Encore, plus mobile apps, cloud storage & collaboration. Cost is $53 a month (1-year contract).
Each Adobe license can be installed on 2 computers (Mac or Windows). Adobe license agreements require the two computers be used by the same person but this is not enforced by the software.
Use more than 3 computers? Creative Cloud apps are normally downloaded and installed on-demand by each user. If your organization has more than 3 computers, you might consider Creative Cloud for Teams. This plan allows an administrator to manage and deploy software installations and gives you greater cloud storage space.
Like most new software, Adobe applications require an Intel i5, i7 or Xeon processor, 8 GB of memory and OS X Yosemite 10.10. While it’s possible to run Adobe apps on a Mac from 2009, you’ll certainly be much happier with a 2012 or newer Mac.
Learn how to purchase a license & activate, then install & update.
What’s new in Adobe apps?
New in 2017: Collaborative library features. Photoshop: adjust facial features, templates, new search panel for entire app. Illustrator: align to pixel grid, templates, export multiple sizes simultaneously. InDesign: publish online w/o plugins; better footnotes. Dreamweaver: updated interface, developer workspace. Animate: virtual camera to pan & zoom over animations. Premiere: redesigned captions, virtual reality & collaboration tools.
New in 2016: Photoshop: content-aware crop, face-aware liquify, Match Font. Illustrator: faster export. InDesign: clearer user interface, better stability over net. Dreamweaver: new user interface, code editor & CSS. Animate: replaces Adobe Flash & works with more formats. Muse: integration with Adobe Comp iPad app. Premiere: character animation, virtual reality. Stock: premium content, contributors. Adobe XD: new user experience app.
New in 2015: Photoshop: multiple artboard sizes, device preview, add or remove haze. Illustrator: auto-save. InDesign: publish multiple docs simultaneously. Dreamweaver: sites dynamically adjust for screen sizes, preview & testing. Muse: Typekit fonts, blogs, shopping & widgets. Adobe Stock 40 million images. All apps include Mercury engine speed improvements. Learn more and watch Adobe videos.
New in 2014: Photoshop: Blur gallery motion effects, perspective warp for individual images, focus mask depth of field control. Illustrator: Live Shapes non-destructive transformations. InDesign: drag-and-drop tables. Muse: Hi DPI display support. Dreamweaver: view & modify HTML markup in interative tree. Premiere: masking, tracking. After Effects, Flash, Fireworks, Acrobat Pro XI & Lightroom are included with Creative Cloud, as well as iPad & iPhone apps.
New in 2013: Photoshop: Smart Sharpen, up-sample low-res images, camera shake reduction, style sheets, 3D. InDesign: Retina Display, Sync Fonts, better font search & in-line preview, QR codes, faster performance. Illustrator: images in brushes, Touch Type, Sync Fonts & better font search, CSS creation/extraction, multitouch trackpad/iPad support. Dreamweaver: greatly improved CSS Designer, Fluid Grid layout, Edge web fonts, JavaScript, jQuery UI widgets. Muse: new web design app lets print designers lay out web pages using familiar tools like InDesign – no coding required.
New in 2012 (CS6): dark interface. Photoshop: content-aware patch & move, text style sheets, blur gallery. InDesign: Alternate layouts for page sizes & devices, linked content & collector tools, PDF forms. Illustrator: fast Mercury engine, advanced image trace & patterns, blurs, gradient strokes. Dreamweaver: native Cocoa, build apps for iOS & Android, fluid grid, better Live View, device themes, CSS3 transitions. Flash: Adobe Air runtime, sprite, platform extensions.
New in 2011 (CS5.5): InDesign: ebook control, Folio Producer (interactive tablet pubs). Dreamweaver: Live View, CSS panel, preview for tablets & smartphones. Flash: content scaling on devices, shared assets, touch gestures.
New in 2010 (CS5): CS Live Review. Photoshop: 64-bit, content-aware fill, edge-detect, HDR Pro, Puppet Warp reposition, lens correction. InDesign: interactive audio/video elements, ePub, SWF, track changes, repurposing tools. Illustrator: perspective tools, variable stroke, bristle brush. Dreamweaver: PHP, WordPress, Omniture analytics, related files, Browser Lab testing; Flash: Illustrator integration, Catalyst, Builder, type controls, snippets.
New in 2008 (CS4): tab windows. Photoshop: content scaling, adjustment panel, Lightroom integration. InDesign: cond text, preflight. Illustrator: multi art boards, transp gradient, Blob Brush merges paths, adjust similar objects simultaneously. Dreamweaver: Photoshop integration, live view, Code Navigator (CSS). Flash: InDesign integration.
Concerned if Creative Cloud is right for you? Read the top Adobe Creative Cloud myths. Or explore alternatives.
Print apps
- Photoshop - image editing
- Illustrator - vector graphics
- InDesign - page layout
- Acrobat - PDF
- InCopy - multiuser writer/editorial
- Bridge - graphics & video asset management
- Lightroom - photo library management
Web apps
- Dreamweaver - site design
- Muse - pages without coding
- Fireworks - site & app prototypes
- Animate - interactive design
- Edge - content builder
Video apps
- After Effects - motion graphics
- Premiere - editing & production
- Audition - audio editing
- Prelude - ingest & logging
- SpeedGrade - color correction
- Media Encoder - conversion
- Encore - Blu-ray & DVD mastering
- Story - screenwriting tools
Mobile apps
Learn more about all the Adobe apps for iPhone & iPad
- Capture
- Illustrator Draw
- Photoshop - Sketch, Lightroom, Mix & Fix
- Comp CC
- Preview CC
- Spark - Page, Post & Video
- Premiere Clip
- Photo Editor
- Behance
- Portfolio
- Creative Cloud Libraries
More details at the Adobe web site and Adobe videos.
