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Adobe launched a new cloud subscription services for all its products today that lets you subscribe to individual programs like Photoshop for only $20 a month. But is it cheaper than just buying the program flat out? Here's how the math adds up.

Adobe Introduces CS6 and Creative Cloud for Subscription Based Design Tools

Adobe has announced the sixth version of its Creative Suite alongside a new subscription based…

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The whole thing is a little convoluted, but we pored over the Adobe store to find retail and subscription prices for both Photoshop and the Master Collection to see whether this Creative Cloud service is worth it in the long run—the long run being two years, since that's about how often Adobe updates its software. Subscription prices are calculated using the annual subscription prices, not the more expensive month-to-month prices. We've also added in the Amazon prices for the CS5 versions, since Amazon usually saves you quite a bit of cash when buying the full version of a product (though those prices can fluctuate). Here's what the numbers looks like:

• Photoshop CS6 Retail: $700 ($585 on Amazon)
• Photoshop CS6 Extended with a Student Discount: $250 ($184 on Amazon)
• Photoshop CS6 Upgrade: $200
• Photoshop CS6 Subscription: $20 a month ($480 over two years)

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The Master Collection follows a similar pattern:

• Master Collection CS6 Retail: $2600 ($2020 on Amazon)
• Master Collection CS6 with a Student Discount: $800 ($789 on Amazon)
• Master Collection CS6 Upgrade: $525
• Master Collection CS6 Subscription: $50 a month ($1200 over two years)
• Master Collection CS6 Student Edition Subscription: $30 a month ($720 over two years)

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So, it breaks down to this: If you're upgrading from a previous version of the program, it's quite a bit cheaper to just grab the upgrade from Adobe instead of subscribing. And, if you can get a student discount (which nearly anyone can do), that'll be cheaper too—at least in the case of Photoshop, which doesn't seem to offer a subscription for students. In the case of the Master Collection, the student subscription is cheaper than the regular student version, but still not cheaper than upgrading from a previous version. However, once you get past the two year mark, all bets are off—the subscription is more expensive than buying, even if you plan on upgrading every two years.

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How to Get Student Discounts Forever

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Sales be damned, nothing saves you money like an old fashioned student discount. Here's how to …

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It's all a bit confusing, but our official recommendation is to stick with the retail versions unless you only plan on using your Adobe product for under two years. The subscription is great for the short run (that is, if you can't get a student discount), but it'll cost you quite a bit more in the long run. Are you going to be checking out Adobe's new subscription service? Let us know in the comments.

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• Adobe Photoshop CS6: Overview

Adobe Creative Suite 6 Production Premium for Mac provides a full set of professional tools for video editing, effects creation, graphic design, and image editing – and for outputting all this creative content as Blu-ray discs, Flash video, and just about any video file type imaginable. The Production Premium suite comprises several software programs that are essential to editors, effects artists, and graphic designers: Premiere Pro CS6, After Effects CS6, SpeedGrade CS6, Photoshop Extended CS6, Audition CS6, Illustrator CS6, Flash Professional CS6, Encore CS6, Media Encoder CS6, Prelude CS6, and Story CS6.

For video producers, Production Premium has a tool for every task. If you need to turn down a job, it won't be for lack of a professional software solution. Creative Suite 6 adds a color-grading program, SpeedGrade CS6, which was used on several Hollywood films when it was a standalone program from Iridas. (Adobe has since acquired Iridas technology.) SpeedGrade leverages your system's GPU to open the full dynamic range of your footage, and it works with RAW, HDR, and stereoscopic content.

While SpeedGrade will help you finish projects, the new Prelude will get you off to a faster start. Its unified interface for crucial ingest and logging workflows will have your editor off to the races once it's time to cut footage.

For CS6, all the established programs get a significant update, with faster performance and expanded functions. Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 expands its multicam capabilities, adds tools (Warp Stabilizer and Rolling Shutter Repair effects), accelerates and fortifies its 64-bit Mercury playback engine, and introduces productive little touches such as expanded trimming options and the ability to edit without stopping playback. After Effects CS6 adds a 3D camera tracker and a Global Performance Cache, which lets the software take full advantage of your system's 64-bit hardware to make After Effects quicker and more responsive, even with extremely high-resolution projects.

The CS6 versions of Photoshop and Illustrator enjoy speed and performance enhancements. The 'Mercury' concept is familiar to editors who use Premiere Pro CS5 and up – which employ the Mercury Playback Engine that relies on 64-bit native software to get the most out of your system for fast graphics processing. Likewise, the Mercury Graphics Engine of Photoshop and the Mercury Performance System of Illustrator enable your 64-bit computer to address full system RAM in order to speed imaging and processing tasks and that once slowed down your workflow.

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With that extra processing power, you can enjoy the expanded capabilities of these programs. Photoshop CS6, for instance, offers a Contact-Aware Patch that allows you to choose a sample area that serves as the basis for a patch. Illustrator enables you to convert raster images into editable, scalable vectors – the program's bread and butter.

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Flash Professional CS6 supports updated Flash Player and Adobe AIR runtimes, and you can also export content authored in Flash Professional to HTML. Fireworks features a new CSS Properties panel to let you cleanly extract CSS elements and values.

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Creative Suite 6 Production Premium serves the digital creative professional whose demands grow as quickly as technology advances. Now with professional color-grading software, the suite is as comprehensive as video production suites currently come. Your job might not be getting any simpler, but Adobe Creative Suite 6 Production Premium helps you keep pace with expanded functions, improved performance, and streamlined workflow.