Tech: Adobe product updates - kills old versions?

Subject: Tech: Adobe product updates - kills old versions?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Aug 17 - 10:04 PM

I've used Adobe products (Photoshop, Lightroom, InDesign, Illustrator, Acrobat, etc. etc.) for a long time. And the business plan has for several years moved away from discs for sale, they want to force me to pay a monthly fee for their programs. A hefty fee (except that I work for an .edu institution so there are some price breaks.)

I've designed CD covers for several folks over the years, two or three of them were Mudcatters. I've designed posters and invitations for events where Mudcatters performed. I'm totally annoyed to find this weekend that all of those old files are supposedly "corrupt" now - Adobe doesn't want to support anything over a few years old, and my five-year-old version of InDesign is kaput.

Anyone else finding this to be a problem? There was an update recently that I just let go through - I'm pretty sure that's the one that killed off my software.

What else are you using for document design, image manipulation, PDFs, etc - is anything nearly so robust, or do they have the marketplace in a stranglehold? (Bill D, I'm looking at you . . . )

I'm still happy to offer assistance to cover design, disk design, etc., but it just got a bit more complicated. Now if Adobe makes me pay for it monthly I'll have to use it often enough year round to make it worth the expense.

Subject: RE: Tech: Adobe product updates - kills old versions?
From: Mr Red
Date: 23 Aug 17 - 03:45 AM

I still use Photoshop 7. & Premiere 5 (point sumething). The archaic updates like Version 4 of the whole package is so alien I never got into it. Photoshop for that looks to be identical but when an app does what you can cope with there is no incentive to upgrade.
I never got on with InDesign because it couldn't do the one thing I relied on in Pagemaker. Adobe refuse to accept the principle that something that is better still has to do the same things that the old one did. Backward capability (something that Micro$oft address far more than Apple) is being lost in the rush to smarten our phones IME.

Sadly the "Cloud" model is the one that the world is moving to. So what if you can't get broadband at any time?
Though rare (but I don't speak to many on the subject of broadband providers) I know of three serious instances of outages, one tried to run a streaming radio station, another one runs a radio programme (unconnected) and the third lives in a rural location. All lost their service for weeks and all involved BT and two were caused by administrative cock-ups. The other the guy solved by upgrading and the engineer found the cause: a damaged wire!

I stick with what works without connection, &/or is free. The cleverness should be with the user, after all there are more ways of skinning a cat than choking it with cream & butter.

Subject: RE: Tech: Adobe product updates - kills old versions?
From: JHW
Date: 23 Aug 17 - 04:23 AM

I am irritated by constant Adobe Flash updates that all claim the same 'new' features but I can only set it aside for a while as my Firefox bars the many sites using it. (though easily unbarred) I've no idea what else that update is doing.
My Photoshop 6 is on an older laptop which never sees the internet anymore; I'm wondering though what happens if I sent an ad say to someone with the newest version.

Subject: RE: Tech: Adobe product updates - kills old versions?
From: Stu
Date: 23 Aug 17 - 05:25 AM

This is a real issue, but I got shouted down by Adobe staff when I raised it in the graphic design forums. As a graphic designer I've used Adobe products pretty much on daily basis since they were on the first Mac (30 years - gulp!) and their move from perpetual licences to Creative Cloud is, in my humble opinion, nothing short of extortion.

Even though I pay the monthly fee (I need to use Adobe apps) I know if I miss a payment I lose access to all my files. I HAVE to pay to keep going, cannot skip an upgrade or take a payment holiday.

I've look for alternatives but they are few and far between; another reason that monopolies are bad for industry. If you're on a Mac try Affinity Designer (it's cheap). Also, GIMP for photo manipulation.

Subject: RE: Tech: Adobe product updates - kills old versions?
From: Andrez
Date: 23 Aug 17 - 08:26 AM

Hi Acme, it would be useful to know what version of Adobe products CS or earlier you are using as well as what version of OS, I assume you are using Mac OSX?

I have several versions of the CS series up to CS6. I am using Mac OSX 10.9.5. As I have no desire to keep updating my OS just for the sake of an "improved customer experience" my Adobe products are working just fine. There is no way I would be going to the cloud based subscription model for any of the reasons cited above. This is working on the principle of "if it aint broke, don't fix it'.

That said I have had problems with updates from Adobe but found this UK website with the latest updates for a whole range of older Adobe software. I was able to find all the most recent updates for all my software there. The link i used is: http://www.adobe.com/uk/downloads/updates.html.

Hope this helps and hope to hear about your versions and OS used to see if there is any other useful advice.

Cheers,

Andrez

Subject: RE: Tech: Adobe product updates - kills old versions?
From: Vashta Nerada
Date: 23 Aug 17 - 09:34 AM

Acme is a Windows user. The product available in 2013 would have been CS 6.

Subject: RE: Tech: Adobe product updates - kills old versions?
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 23 Aug 17 - 11:05 AM

I remember back in 99 / 2000 Further education colleges using multiple copies of Photoshop with a single serial number..
and tutors making available CDRs for student's home use...

ah.. such simple innocent idealistic times...

Subject: RE: Tech: Adobe product updates - kills old versions?
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Aug 17 - 12:48 PM

I have for several years refused all attempts by Adobe to 'update' or install any of their products.

Almost any video format can be played using VLC 'videolan' or Pot Player.

For PDF I use only https://www.tracker-software.com/product/pdf-xchange-viewer (for viewing)
or https://www.tracker-software.com/product/pdf-xchange-editor for the very occasional editing.

For image manipulation, I use several... but seldom need anything as powerful as Photoshop. I have "The Gimp", which will do almost anything Photoshop does..... but it's quite a learning curve.

Irfanview, Photoscape and Arcsoft do all the editing I need.

For screenshots I love MWsnap and DuckCapture... but even fancier is PicPic... though it is payware (I'm not sure where I got my free copy)

I'm not sure all those will solve your problems, but I don't do commercial work.

Subject: RE: Tech: Adobe product updates - kills old versions?
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 23 Aug 17 - 01:05 PM

15 years ago, when I last did a job involving image manipulation;
[Mostly painstakingly touching up by hand scratches and dust marks on archive photos ]
the employer stipulated that legal licenses must be obtained for all software in case of unexpected audit.
PaintShop Pro was fine enough for the job, and much cheaper than Adobe.
Also free copies of older versions were available with PC magazine CDs.

Though last thing I remember is around 2003 paintshop pro was buggered by newer versions...???

Subject: RE: Tech: Adobe product updates - kills old versions?
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 23 Aug 17 - 01:17 PM

Out of curiosity/nostalgia.. I just quickly googled a review of the latest version of Paintshop Pro...


https://www.ephotozine.com/article/corel-paintshop-pro-2018-ultimate-review--31249

"There are two major plus points to owning PaintShop Pro 2018: 1, it's subscription free and 2, it's easy to use for all levels of ability.

Corel has worked hard to make PaintShop Pro fast and effective and we have to praise them for continuingly trying to find ways to speed up workflow for its users. We also have to commend their efforts in making PaintShop Pro a piece of software a pro or someone who's just dipping their toe into the big photo editing pond can use. The introduction of the Essentials workspace is an excellent idea and it's been executed well. Plus, there's still space for those with a little more photo knowledge to stretch their imaginations and even this area, which worked perfectly well in previous versions, has been streamlined to make the photo editing process even quicker and smoother. Corel always works hard to ensure all levels of photo editing ability are catered for and again, we commend them for that.

Not every photographer will find all of the updates/new features useful but the fact that the software is faster, still easy to use and subscription free should grab the attention of many. In fact, those looking for an Adobe alternative should take a long hard look at Corel PaintShop Pro 2018 as we're more than happy to 'Highly Recommended' it."

Subject: RE: Tech: Adobe product updates - kills old versions?
From: DaveRo
Date: 23 Aug 17 - 02:33 PM

JHW wrote: I am irritated by constant Adobe Flash updates that all claim the same 'new' features...

I don't know anything about other Adobe programs, but these Flash updates are mostly security fixes, not new features.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security.html#flashplayer

Macromedia Flash, as it was, is very old and like most programs of similar vintage never designed with security in mind. So it's constantly under attack from bad guys who craft videos and games to attack its vulnerabilities. As you said, Firefox tries to persuade you not to use it.

Subject: RE: Tech: Adobe product updates - kills old versions?
From: GUEST,Bill D
Date: 23 Aug 17 - 03:31 PM

Somehow, my cookie was eaten by aliens while I was posting my list above.. 'guest' was me

Subject: RE: Tech: Adobe product updates - kills old versions?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Aug 17 - 10:23 PM

Adobe has the market share to hold us hostage. As difficult as some of their applications are to learn, once you know how to use them, there is no competition. I once had a system in place for making PDF files that involved about three different small free programs (because I didn't own Acrobat and it was expensive). Now Word and other programs will save just about anything as a PDF - an Adobe standard - and we don't think twice about it.

Subject: RE: Tech: Adobe product updates - kills old versions?
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 24 Aug 17 - 03:04 AM

File sharing is cheaper!!!

Subject: RE: Tech: Adobe product updates - kills old versions?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Aug 17 - 07:10 AM

In what way? The strangle-hold extends to program software, if those are the files you hint at sharing.

Subject: RE: Tech: Adobe product updates - kills old versions?
From: Stu
Date: 24 Aug 17 - 07:44 AM

Macromedia. Ah, those were the days. Many an afternoon spent trawling through Lingo code trying to find out why the bloody hell everything had stopped working in my Director presentation because I inadvertently left a semi-colon in the wrong place.

Subject: RE: Tech: Adobe product updates - kills old versions?
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Aug 17 - 08:30 AM

One of the pdf varients, PDF/A has been an ISO standard since 2005.

Subject: RE: Tech: Adobe product updates - kills old versions?
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Aug 17 - 09:03 AM

In fact, looking further, PDF itself is an ISO standard, the latest being ISO 32000-2

Subject: RE: Tech: Adobe product updates - kills old versions?
From: DaveRo
Date: 24 Aug 17 - 10:52 AM

pdf 'standardisation' has been a hard road, though, as often happens when you try to standardise a 'de-facto standard'. (Remember the 'document wars'?) Most of it is now controlled by an external body but some still by Adobe - e.g. 'Adobe Javascript'. I think this javascript is what causes so many security vulnerablities: you're better off with a reader that doesn't support it for day-to-day use.

History and standardization of Portable Document Format

It doesn't help that organisations that publish pdf files often use Adobe software and produce the default version of pdf that it produces rather than the lowest version that the document needs. That ensures maximum incompatibility with free pdf readers, which used to be a common problem on Linux. That happens less often now - I think the format has stopped evolving so fast.

It also doesn't help when, as happened recently, a building society (US: a sort of bank) publish an application form with white text on a pale blue background. I don't have a colour printer.

Subject: RE: Tech: Adobe product updates - kills old versions?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Jul 19 - 03:25 PM

I set up a new computer recently and have been trying to fill it with as much of the software that is in the old one without paying extra to do it. I discovered a set of the disks from Adobe CS 5 (Photoshop, Bridge, InDesign, Illustrator, but alas, no Dreamweaver) and was able to install it. The trick is that while you can no longer authenticate the old software (the link they provided to do that has long been a dud) I had the codes I'd printed out when I first installed them on the other computer. Since I installed a newer version (CS6) on that computer I'd uninstalled the old CS5 and that way I have the right to reinstall it on a computer I own. Yes, it's funky in some ways but many of the things I need to do are still doable, I just have to hunt around to remember how.

MS software comes through my employer (the cloud) and other things like the older version of Nero that had all of the stuff in one place (now they split it up and charge more to get all of the parts) let me install it. I have a few more to add in eventually, but this has me up and running.

That said, I may not be able to work on things from the old computer that were developed in the newer software. That computer isn't networked (that's why I had to retire it - it refuses to communicate unless I reinstall or refresh Windows 10, at which time I'd lose all of that software) but I can work on it and save for the older version then move it by thumb drive to work on. Or just finish the work on the old computer and then move the end product.

Computers. You can't live with them and can't live without them.