Hi!~
Adobe is coming up with new service call Adobe Creative Cloud whereby you can pay to use the software whenever you need to use the software. Monthly subscription required-around US$ 50 per month. My main question to the users of Corel and all die hard fans of Corel is how this will effect the users and artists of Corel world? Will new artist jump to use Adobe instead of Corel? What are the strength and weakness of cloud service? And strategically lets guess what would be Corel next move? I think this would be fun. What say ye?
I've been struggling with this since I first heard about the Creative Cloud. I started my career using Adobe and Macromedia products, and that's what the agencies and design studios used where I worked (I actually favored Freehand over Illustrator for a long time -- that's part of why I like CorelDraw so much). Oh, and QuarkXPress too, but anyway... When CorelDraw 11 came out for Mac, I jumped in and bought a copy for use at home on my iMac.
Later on when I started freelancing in 2005, I dropped a lot of cash to get Adobe CS Design Premium, plus the Macromedia Studio with Dreamweaver, Flash, Freehand, and Fireworks. At that time I was doing a lot of print design as well as website work, so I got a good bit of use out of the software included in those bundles. I never came back to CorelDraw until X3 because I was working on a Mac...
Fast-forward a few years and now I strictly do website design and development. I work entirely on a ThinkPad W510 running Windows 7 and the software I most frequently use consists of the CorelDraw suite, PhotoLine, Sublime Text, and Filezilla. I have not used Adobe products in two or three years now and I've managed just fine.
Sure, I left Adobe and switched back to Corel in large part due to money -- Adobe was and is very expensive by comparison. But CorelDraw feels like more of a value for my business, and that's where I'm really torn. CorelDraw is like a Swiss Army knife: I can design for web or print; I can open Illustrator files; I can design logos if necessary; or I can create my own promotional materials. Instead of using a little bit of several software packages -- I'm using all (or at least most) of CorelDraw.
So, that's it for me -- I suppose a lot of my conflict comes down to value. Even though it's much more accessible, will $50 per month and access to nearly all of Adobe's software offerings add a lot of value to my business? I'm really not sure. Fireworks is about the only thing I'd like to get my hands on, and sure I'd probably use Photoshop for a few things. But I'm afraid nearly everything else would simply go unused...
Addison said:CorelDraw is like a Swiss Army knife: I can design for web or print; I can open Illustrator files; I can design logos if necessary; or I can create my own promotional materials. Instead of using a little bit of several software packages -- I'm using all (or at least most) of CorelDraw.
Same here been using Draw for many years for creating web assets and story boards. Also have the Adobe stuff here, need both. Draw is way better than AI for graphic design. I also use Photoshop daily. To me Draw and Photoshop is the ideal combo for creation.
I would NEVER use on on line service such as what Adobe is offering. Quit the program and you loose your tools and work. You would be dependent on them like a drug addict and you really gave up control. If 50.00 a month makes the offer appealing you are not thinking right business wise.
Addison said:I suppose a lot of my conflict comes down to value.
The most valuable thing is your creative talent and not the tools. Should be no conflict. Buy what you need to be your best and never share your work product'/techniques with an on line company.
My 2 cents,.