The thing about Photoshop is that it’s such an important piece of software that even those who don’t use image editing software know its name.
It’s managed to dominate not only the photo editing software industry but our culture, too; no one says ‘that image looks edited’, but instead ‘that image looks Photoshopped’. It carries an extra meaning and stronger value.
But how can such an expensive piece of software survive such a demanding industry?
Photoshop Is ‘Professional’
Let’s not forget that Photoshop has been around for many years, well over a quarter of a century in fact. In the early days it wasn’t such a clear-cut leader in its industry, with the likes of Corel Draw and PaintShop Pro all fighting for dominance of a relatively young market. It could have been any one of the popular image editing suites, but it was Photoshop’s accessibility and focus on photo editing that helped it to stand out.
From there on it’s grown from strength to strength, adding new features with each version and becoming the ‘ultimate’ package for image editing. It reached a point where it became the number one program in its field, with designers, photographers and professionals who needed such software all agreeing that Photoshop was the best tool of its kind.
At that point Adobe could market it is as the software for professionals and, as Reddit user ‘thedylanackerman’ explains, this affects the sort of people who buy the software. “Adobe's consumers are mainly businesses,” he explains, “and they can afford a larger cost than individual people”.
Photoshop Has a Reputation
Once a program earns the reputation as the best photo editing suite out there, it’s hard to dislodge it. With all the money it made Adobe could hire the best developers to improve its features, the best customer support to ensure its users were kept content, and the best marketing to make sure its reputation didn’t dwindle.
What’s more, this reputation means that business owners that might require use of such a service will already know that this is a product to trust. While more cost-conscious companies might look into alternatives, many businesses won’t bat an eyelid at such a cost. Another Redditor, ‘amoeba’, put it rather simply: “If you're paying $50k/yr in salary to a graphic designer, who needs a $2,000 PC every 3 years, $600/yr for Adobe Creative Cloud is no big deal.”
It’s true, most businesses won’t even consider the cost as significant, especially if they know they’re getting the best tool for the job. In fact, when Adobe switched from its licensing based payment to a subscription, it received some negativity from consumers who weren’t willing to pay that much. Businesses, however, shrugged their shoulders and got on with it. They were paying the same each year for new annually released versions anyway.
So Should You Pay This Much for Photo Editing?
No one is denying that Photoshop is a great product, but since it is mostly targeted at professional designers it’s unlikely you’ll need access to such a powerful suite, especially when equally as good software is available.
The cheapest possible price for Photoshop is $9.99 per month, or nearly $120 a year. For Xara Photo & Graphic Designer the cost is $44.99 for a year, and if you decide to stop paying then the software will still function as it always did, just without future updates. It’s just as complete a package as Photoshop, too, and a more than acceptable alternative for those looking for something equally professional.
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