CS6 vs the CC Subscription

Currently, I am still using CS6 as my processing software with the D500 files. I convert the RAW files to DNG and then into ACR and then into CS6. This seems to work fine, but I am now wondering about the Adobe CC Subscription version and trying to determine if there will be any benefit to going that route. Can anyone tell me what features are in the CC Subscription that I don't have in CS6? In other words, what is to be gained with the subscription version verses staying with CS6.

Much appreciated
Tim

There are numerous new features in the current CC version of Photoshop and ACR that would take too long to detail. Version 6 was so far back I can hardly recall it.

The most significant improvement will be that you would have Lightroom with the CC package and it is streets ahead of ARC in Photoshop and is much more powerful and opens up a diverse range of tools to enable time and quality improvements in your processing workflow.

I have very little interest in Lightroom, so that it is not a selling point for me. So what would some of the "main" more useful features be in CC Photoshop that I don't have in CS6? I am trying to figure out if there is anything in the CC version that would make any significant improvements for me.

If you're doing only photography in PS I would keep the CS6 version for as long as the OS upgrades will allow to run it. But if you're using it as a graphics program - which it actually is - to create art for paying clients, you should upgrade to CC to avoid compatibility issues with newer versions. The CC environment is shaping up to be a completely different beast from what we were used to since 1990, when the first version of PS was released.

Better quality image out put from Lightroom but if that is not important to you I would just stick to the antiquated version of PScc6.

If all you are interested in are the features in the current Photoshop then go to the Adobe site a see the run down on the latest version features. You can even get a trial download if you persist which would arnswer all your questions to your own level of requirement.

You can run two versions of Photoshop concurrently on most systems so nothing holding you back really.

You could give Affinity Photo a try as a Photoshop replacement... Pretty much all the features a photographer uses, no subscription, etc.  The RAW converter ain't great yet but it's pure photo image editing features are pretty much Photoshop CCs equal.

Kim wrote:Better quality image out put from Lightroom but if that is not important to you I would just stick to the antiquated version of PScc6.

This statement is simply not true and somewhat arrogant IMHO! I know tons of great photographers who put out "better quality images" without using Lightroom. You must work for Adobe or something? Can't you simply accept that I know my business and have tried Lightroom . . . . . . I don;t really like it and don't need it. Regardless, this is turning into another one of those threads that I regret posting. 

Jens' comments and advise are the best. I am purely a semi-pro photographer and that is all I use it for. I'll stick with DNG's into ACR into CS6 until it won't work anymore. 

E.J. Peiker wrote:You could give Affinity Photo a try as a Photoshop replacement... Pretty much all the features a photographer uses, no subscription, etc.  The RAW converter ain't great yet but it's pure photo image editing features are pretty much Photoshop CCs equal.

Thanks EJ, I may do that, but it is ACR that I really want. If I want to use a weaker RAW converter, I could just use NXD to CS6.

Tim Lightroom has more controls and refinements than ACR which does enable you to produce better images than the simplified ACR version does. I though you would be interested in that , my mistake. I do not work for Adobe I am in my seventies and only work for a select few clients in terms on photography now.


how long since you looked at Lightroom, it has improved a lot in recent additions.

Tim Zurowski wrote:

E.J. Peiker wrote:You could give Affinity Photo a try as a Photoshop replacement... Pretty much all the features a photographer uses, no subscription, etc.  The RAW converter ain't great yet but it's pure photo image editing features are pretty much Photoshop CCs equal.

Thanks EJ, I may do that, but it is ACR that I really want. If I want to use a weaker RAW converter, I could just use NXD to CS6.

If its just a better RAW converter you want then I would forget about Adobe altogether.  Yes there is a bit of a learning curve but Capture One is so much more powerful and has so much more capability in RAW, prior to ever even converting the file, than ACR that you will likely not need Photoshop at all.  This includes non-destructive adjustment layers and much better tools for pretty much everything except the DAM part which is a bit better in LR and you don't use DAM since you don't use LR.  On bird photos, you really don't need PS at all on probably 99% of your shots - it is only landscape photos that I do some work in Photoshop.  C1 Pro to CS6 is a very viable path, especially in the Windows world where Microsoft doesn't lock you out of older programs like Apple does with OS upgrades and there will be no monthly subscription and quite frankly, much better RAW conversion.   There are outstanding online teaching resources available for free or almost free for C1.

Thank you Archfotos . . . . that is the kind of feedback I was looking for. I am more than happy with CS6 and could easily stay with it for a long time still. The only reason I am considering this is because my D500 files are not recognized by, and cannot be opened into, ACR and I really do not like NXD,

So let me change the thread a bit and ask a different question, other than the extra step involved, are there any downsides to just continuing to convert my D500 NEF files to DNG and working them that way? Are the files degraded in any way?

Thanks EJ. I did download a demo of C1 awhile back, and while it looks like a very good comprehensive program, I am just not ready to make that big of a change right now. I must admit it was initially quite overwhelming for me. Plus, I can't afford the initial cost right now either. Although, I do love the sentiment of forgetting about Adobe altogether I will probably look at that option down the road when I have no choice but to leave CS6. For now it costs me nothing to continue using it, and if CC doesn't really offer me much, then why give Adobe any more money ($12.50 a month in Canada)!

Tim Zurowski wrote:So let me change the thread a bit and ask a different question, other than the extra step involved, are there any downsides to just continuing to convert my D500 NEF files to DNG and working them that way? Are the files degraded in any way?

The short answer is no - no there isn't any image degradation.  Just hang onto the NEF files as youa re doing.

Thanks EJ

Do you use C1 for everything now, or do you use it in concert with Affinity Photo? I still plan to check them out

I use C1 and Photoshop CS6 but may go to Affinity when CS6 is no longer viable. I will not give Adobe another penny, ever, unless their business model changes.

Hey Tim, 

I'm pretty much in your position on this. Wanting to get a d500, still using CS6, and not wanting to pay a monthly to Adobe. Maybe I am taking the thread in the wrong direction, but it seems you were asking for what specific features are to be gained in CC, vs. CS6. In my looking at tutorials, the ACR filter within PS (vs. using a smart object), the haze filter, and the radial gradient filter (possible similar effect to Nik control points), would seem to be very useful. Plus of course not having to do the dng conversion for d500 files. 

I hope this is helpful. I'm interested in your decision. 

Richard

Hi Richard, and thanks for confirming that there are others in the same boat as me  I had a quick look at Affinity Photo this morning, and on the surface it appears it "may" do what I need, but will require some initial learning curve that I do not have the time to deal with right now. While the program looks quite similar to CS6, it still only took me a couple of minutes before I hit some stumbling blocks that I could not resolve on my own. So it will likely require some tutorials and asking questions at their forums.

I have pretty much decided for now that, like EJ, I do not want to dump anymore money into Adobe's pockets. While $12.50 a months seems inexpensive, that is still $150 a year. Affinity photo only costs $69.95 US and they have a helpful forum and (unlike Adobe) appear to be a reasonable friendly helpful company. So I will stick with CS6 for the time being, and at the same time, play with Affinity until I have a better idea if it will be a decent alternative to move to.

FWIW, the DNG thing is not really an issue at all. It only takes about 2 seconds to convert one 14 bit NEF file, and you can batch convert them as well. My biggest concern was whether or not it was degrading the RAW file's quality at all. Since it is not degrading, I see no reason at this time to just keep moving on with CS6.

I have both (CS6 still installed) and I really love a couple of features in CC that CS6 doesn't have. I love the haze filter in CC, as I do a fair amount of aerial work up here in Maine where the humidity and fog can create problems from the air. Sometimes it works well on wildlife images in hazy or foggy conditions too. Secondly, I like the new pano stitch program as I feel it does a fantastic job, regardless of the number of images involved. It also corrects distortion once you have made your final image. I know you don't typically shoot aerials, or for that matter panoramics, so these features would mean little to you. There are other features I use but too long a description for here. As another poster mentioned, go to Adobes' site and click on the new features page for more info. 

As a follow up on the Affinity Photo (AP) possibility, I have downloaded and installed the trial version. After playing with it, and posting some questions about certain comparable features at the AP forums, I haven't found anything yet that AP can't do that I use in CS6. It is basically just learning how things are done differently in a different program. I am sure in time it would all become second nature for me like it is with CS6. AP does Actions (Macros), Content Aware (different name and process) Free Transform (again different process and done in layers) and many many others. I am getting much moire serious about completely switching over to AP and dumping Adobe altogether. I admit the AP RAW converter is not quite up to ACR, but it is still fairly decent in it's own right. Plus the developers appear to listen to their clients and update the program based on client requests. So far the only downside I can see is that it is a bit slower, especially in loading and developing the RAW files. For $69.95 it seems like a very inexpensive viable alternative to Photoshop.

Tim Zurowski wrote: I haven't found anything yet that AP can't do that I use in CS6.

Thus my recommendation

Tim Zurowski wrote:As a follow up on the Affinity Photo (AP) possibility, I have downloaded and installed the trial version. After playing with it, and posting some questions about certain comparable features at the AP forums, I haven't found anything yet that AP can't do that I use in CS6. It is basically just learning how things are done differently in a different program. I am sure in time it would all become second nature for me like it is with CS6. AP does Actions (Macros), Content Aware (different name and process) Free Transform (again different process and done in layers) and many many others. I am getting much moire serious about completely switching over to AP and dumping Adobe altogether. I admit the AP RAW converter is not quite up to ACR, but it is still fairly decent in it's own right. Plus the developers appear to listen to their clients and update the program based on client requests. So far the only downside I can see is that it is a bit slower, especially in loading and developing the RAW files. For $69.95 it seems like a very inexpensive viable alternative to Photoshop.

Don't forget you can use plugins in Affinity Photo.