We all know about Adobe, but what is Adobe Creative Cloud and is it worth paying for? Adobe Creative Cloud is a collection of over 20 desktop and mobile applications for creativity, design, user interface, user interface, and video.
Adobe Creative Cloud also has other features like font packs, online storage, and backups.
There are different packages available for Adobe Creative Cloud, so whether it’s worth it for you depends on your needs and if there are enough free alternatives available on the market.
The complete Adobe Creative Cloud bundle – 20+ apps for $ 52.99 / month
Let’s take a closer look first at the full Adobe Creative Cloud suite, which costs $ 52.99 per month and includes over 20 apps, plus other features.
Before we dive into each app and its features, Adobe’s pricing needs to be explained in more detail. Although advertised as $ 52.99 per month, that’s the offer price if you opt for the annual plan. This means that if you do not cancel your subscription within the 14-day return period, the only way to opt out of your monthly billing is to pay the remaining annual fee.
There is a monthly fee that can be canceled at any time, as is the case with most other online subscription services. However, it costs $ 79.49 per month. Luckily, you can buy standalone apps for $ 20.99 a month with an annual plan, or $ 31.49 a month on a monthly basis. There are also discounts for students and teachers.
Ultimately, however, Adobe Creative Cloud is expensive, and unlike in the past, there is no way for it to simply buy a one-time license for its software right away.
So what apps are included in Adobe Creative Cloud?
Photography and Design
The following photography and design apps are included with the full Adobe Creative Cloud subscription.
- Photoshop – creating graphics, photographs and illustrations.
- Illustrator – Create illustrations and vector graphics.
- Adobe XD – Design and prototype the UX of a website / app.
- Dimension – Create realistic 3D images and product branding.
- InDesign – Design and layout for printing.
- InCopy – Lets you edit copies in tandem with InDesign.
- Spark – Quickly create custom graphics and web pages.
- Animate – Create interactive vector animations for video or games.
- Dreamweaver – Create responsive website designs.
In some cases, this list will have applications that are critical to your work, but if you just need general graphic design and editing, Photoshop can do most of the tasks here with some practice. There are also free Photoshop alternatives such as GIMP or Paint.NET.
Even so, Photoshop cannot be beaten in many ways. Adobe has been working on the app for two decades, so they’ve really improved themselves in the industry.
Photoshop is not a must – you can get the basics with other applications for free, however many argue that Photoshop is the number one option. Photoshop also has the largest support for official guides and community guides.
Animate shares a similar story of being one of the best options for working with vector animation, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t free alternatives to use for basic work.
It might be worth considering the other apps in the suite, for example if you want better animation or UX design tools. Even then, there are always free alternatives. For example, Canva is a great free Spark alternative that you can use to create eye-catching posters, social media posts, images for web design, and more. Google Web Designer can be a great free Dreamweaver alternative for web design.
Ultimately, with Adobe photography and design apps, it really depends on the case. Sometimes you can get by with the free alternative, and sometimes Adobe really is the best choice. This will depend on your specific needs, but given how a yearly commitment can work with Adobe, it’s always worth trying the free alternatives first before signing up for a full Adobe Creative Cloud subscription.
Video and Audio
Adobe Creative Cloud also comes with a number of great video and audio editing tools. Here’s a quick overview of what’s available.
- Premiere Pro – professional-grade video and movie editing.
- Premiere Rush is a fast video editing and sharing tool.
- After Effects – Create great visual effects for videos.
- Audition – audio recording and mixing.
Let’s start with Premiere Pro, one of the most renowned video editing tools in the industry. Perfect for everything from cutting YouTube videos to making a full movie. Fortunately, this is a very competitive market, which means that you can find free video editing alternatives
There are also other great paid video editing packages like Sony Vegas Pro.
Sony Vegas Pro can be purchased with a one-time license, which some may like.
According to many, it’s the inclusion of After Effects that makes them stick with Adobe Creative Cloud. After Effects is the most powerful tool for creating stunning visual effects, and learning After Effects can take your video production to the next level. If After Effects already costs $ 20.99 a month on an annual plan, adding Premiere Pro, Photoshop, and any other app for a total of $ 52.99 suddenly doesn’t seem all that fantastic.
Add-ons
In addition to apps and their individual features, an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription gives you access to more features. For example, you get 100GB of cloud storage that’s perfect for both backing up your creative work and making it easy to collaborate with others in real time.
Adobe Fonts allows you to freely access and commercially use thousands of fonts, each of which can be used across all Creative Cloud applications. You also have tools to showcase your creative work through Adobe Behance, and you can save and collaborate on assets such as brushes, materials, and designs through Adobe Creative Cloud Libraries.
Is Adobe Creative Cloud Worth The Price?
Adobe Creative Cloud might be worth the price, but is it worth it for you? It all depends on your individual needs. In most cases, a free Photoshop and free alternative to Premiere Pro may suffice, but sometimes individual applications will be much better.
We recommend starting with the free alternatives first, and if you can’t access the features you want, consider paying for Adobe Creative Cloud later.
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