Creative Cloud thoughts

[brent]

No. Just as CS5 can't (necessarily) open CS6 files - the "archival copy" won't open the latest versions.

However, the latest versions will be able to "save to archival", if necessary.

Ummm...So what is the purpose of the archival copy then? If it will not open and edit saved files, does it have a purpose?

 

[MickRose]

I appreciate that CC1 (the version due out shortly) wont be able to open CC2 files (a future version due out in 2014 maybe). But when this new CC2 version comes out next year, the question is whether the "archival copy" to which we will have access is actually CC!, i.e. the version which CC2 replaces. If this is indeed the case then I would be able to use this CC! software to edit any file created during the coming year. Or is it that nobody really knows at the moment which version will be available as the "archival copy"?

 

[leonardr]

Ummm...So what is the purpose of the archival copy then? If it will not open and edit saved files, does it have a purpose?

It will open _YOUR_ existing files. It won't help you with any future files that SOMEONE ELSE creates with current/future versions.

 

[brent]

It will open _YOUR_ existing files. It won't help you with any future files that SOMEONE ELSE creates with current/future versions.

So... If clients save their work to the archival version and submit their jobs, we will be good to go?

 

[SlaveToTheMan]

Sounds like as good to go as if you'd be opening an IDML files saved down from CS6/5 etc. Still dangerous, but certainly possible.

 

[brent]

Sounds like as good to go as if you'd be opening an IDML files saved down from CS6/5 etc. Still dangerous, but certainly possible.

Nah, we are so not good to go! LOL. Dangerous, yet possible. LOL Just how we all need to run our production environments! This is such a crappy time to be in printing.

Did you see how many people are having problems with CC already? And CC users right now are just a fraction of the user base. Sorry, but in today's high paced production environment, this is just unacceptable. Abobe really expects us to sign up for something like this? Wow...just wow.

 

[SlaveToTheMan]

I totally agree, it's going to be a train wreck for years to come. It really seems as if Adobe made this decision without any regard for our industry and what we have to deal with on a daily basis to keep clients happy & production moving efficiently. Sure, designers, photographers & the rest may have to get used to a different mindset & even added costs, but we're getting all of that plus the loss in time, revenue & peace of mind that we can continue operating as a business moving forward.

Good times.

 

[dabob]

I mostly disagree with most of the comments here . . . its a cost of doing business - if your ink supplier started charging you 5% more for your ink would you be making this much of a ruckus, true you have other choices but if I have an ink that works I'm not going to change for 5% . . . if your customer wants you to accept CC files . . . imho you should get CC or risk at the least screwing up the job which would cost a lot more than the subscription or at the most losing the customer which could be a train wreck. The only upgrade I didn't get within weeks of release was CS5.5 mostly because I wanted to be ready for the new version files when they started coming in. But also to keep my knowledge level above my customers so that my company didn't look like we didn't care about staying competitive.

All in all - if you want to run with the big dogs you have to get off the porch and pay the entry fee.

 

[kewlbigdan]

I think the software industry today, especially adobe with its suite, are very Application centric. By which I mean, you open an application and do 'Drawing' to a document. If you want to do 'Typing' you open another application and a corresponding document.
I always hoped we would move to a Document centric environment. So you open a document, and say you want to type, so you open the Word module, and a little graphic here, so up pops the Photoshop module, and some graphics, so get that Illustrator module going. All within the same open document. If you wanted animation, web, etc, those modules would be purchased/rented/subscribed as needed. And if you didn't have the module, well you couldn't do that type of work in your document.
Of course I remember Freehand, Pagemaker and Qu..Qua...I cant bring myself to say it.

 

[almaink]

Ya but what if I don't want the CC2 update because it is buggy? Also dabob with this CC option we will never again own anything. Right now I have disks for every application I ever bought, that I can load onto any Mac I please. That will be gone with this Cloud thing, not to mention the PITA it will be downloading and activating these cloud apps every time you get a new computer. What will you do if you hard drive crashes and Adobe's servers are offline and you have a rush job to get out?
Not the way I want to run my shop thats for sure.

 

[Possumgal]

I've seen mention of people having a buggy ole time with CC Illustrator and nothing seems to be improving.

I still don't like paying for stuff I won't ever use. Why don't they have a print cloud and a web cloud at cheaper prices? I'll never use the web apps, and I'll bet most web designers won't ever use print apps, but we'll all be paying for all of them. Two cloud versions wouldn't hurt them.

 

[dabob]

Ya but what if I don't want the CC2 update because it is buggy? Also dabob with this CC option we will never again own anything. Right now I have disks for every application I ever bought, that I can load onto any Mac I please. That will be gone with this Cloud thing, not to mention the PITA it will be downloading and activating these cloud apps every time you get a new computer. What will you do if you hard drive crashes and Adobe's servers are offline and you have a rush job to get out?
Not the way I want to run my shop thats for sure.

Well if you don't want the CC@ update because its "buggy" stop your subscription and wait for the CC3 update . . . one of the biggest advantages with the cloud is that as soon as there is a bug fix - you get it - you don't have to ask, it asks you. As for never again owning anything, in truth you don't own anything now but a perpetual license to use their software - you don't own the software, and yes you can load the cloud version on any mac you please (as long as its hardware will let you) you just can't run more than 2 copies at one time just like now. And in the unlikely event that your drive crashes concurrently with adobe's servers are going down the odds of that happening are a lot less than winning the powerball lottery. When was the last time you found the Adobe site down??? Or Yahoo, Amazon, Ebay, or Google - it just doesn't happen anymore - all the servers are in more than one place on different boxes on different power grids, I would find it much more likely to have your grid go down rather than all of Adobes server farms go down at the same time.

And once you download the CC version, it lives on your computer and it will run without internet connectivity just like CS2,3,4,5,5.5, and 6 do today - the cloud is just a way to eliminate the disks and get you updates faster -I have always been one to have the disks physically present in my desk drawer like you but imho the only one you need to have around now is a good system disk so if your computer does have a hard crash you can install a new hard drive and be off the the races in a reasonable amount of time - and if that happed you would still need the internet for system updates to your basic system disk to bring it up to the version you find most stable, i.e. OS 10.6.8 in my case.

just my 2 cents worth.

 

[brent]

And once you download the CC version, it lives on your computer and it will run without internet connectivity just like CS2,3,4,5,5.5, and 6 do today - the cloud is just a way to eliminate the disks and get you updates faster -I have always been one to have the disks physically present in my desk drawer like you but imho the only one you need to have around now is a good system disk so if your computer does have a hard crash you can install a new hard drive and be off the the races in a reasonable amount of time - and if that happed you would still need the internet for system updates to your basic system disk to bring it up to the version you find most stable, i.e. OS 10.6.8 in my case.

just my 2 cents worth.

Dabob, I think you should do a bit more reading up on this. There have been numerous problems with the cloud software...I suggest taking a look at the Adobe forums for more information.

 

[dabob]

Brent . . . .

Looked around the forums and didn't see anything that changes my mind . . . with every software release there are gonna be bugs - at least that's what I've experienced - didn't make me become a truck driver though and I for one will be signing up at least when my customers start sending me CC files, I would love to be in the position to dictate to my customers how to run their business but if they choose to use CC I will answer back "NO PROBLEM!" bring it on.

BTW I have been using MUSE in the cloud environment for a while now and haven't had any issues that amounted to anything . . . . like I said - its just my 2 cents

 

[brent]

No worries then, dabob. I think for now, our shop is just going to stay with CS6. 95% of our customers send us print-ready pdfs anyway, so we still have some time. We cannot afford ANY downtime as our shop is always fast breaking. I wish you the best of luck with CC, it scares the hell out of me.

 

[FlexoGrunt]

I can picture major disasters in places that use things like DeskPack or other plugins like we do. I have visions of logging in one day with a full stack of jobs only to find that nothing works and there is no way to "rollback" efficiently. By that I mean *Click*.



And the double DING. Everyone's talking about the CC costs. Think about what Adobe can charge vendors like ESKO to stay current with their plugins. That in turn forces them to charge more as well.




I understand subbie based logic. It's a great way to get gobs of money. I'm hoping Adobe sees that print houses may need a different path than designers.

 

[earl]

In our situation, this will cost Adobe income. Instead of purchasing 5 licenses for CC, we will be riding CS6 into the grave, and adding one seat of CC to handle the jobs that require it. Our customers all send us PDFs except for a rare few. Someone mentioned their customers are afraid to export to PDF? What do you think is easier: a PDF export and upload, or packaging up all fonts, images, and .indd files and then uploading a huge archive, only to have the printer be responsible for linking it all up and creating the PDF? That's 10 years behind in my opinion.

 

[Possumgal]

As long as you can get your customers to make proper PDFs. That can be a big sticking point.

 

[Tpyo]

...About websites being never going down. I go by the axiom, "Just because it hasn't happened up til now doesn't mean it can't happen in the future." What does happen these days of internet attacks and provider issues is a danger of online access problems. I much prefer to be able to work onward whether I have internet or not. My backups are on and off site; neither involves a third party's servers. I don't need nor want the cloud storage; its use would honestly open me up to more security issues than I am comfortable with.

 

[dabob]

Now that its July . . . are there any more thoughts on the cloud???? -

I just got my subscription, I was already paying 16 bucks a month for Muse and got the whole package for 20 bucks a month for the 1st year - so far so good . . .