Adobe has just announced that Creative Suite 6 is now available, but there is a wait for for its Creative Cloud product, which will be available May 11, but it is now open for pre-order.
Just two weeks ago, Adobe announced Creative Suite 6 and the new Creative Cloud subscription model. At the time, Adobe was quiet about the actual launch date, but now the details are out.
The dates were confirmed by David Wadhwani, the senior vice president of Digital Media Business at Adobe, who said:
We announced Creative Cloud and CS6 two weeks ago and these releases have caught the imagination of creatives everywhere. Today we’re shipping CS6 and look forward to the beginning of an exciting new era as we introduce Creative Cloud later this week.
The costs are a bit high, as is to be expected, and the Master Collection is priced at $2,599, the Production Premium at $1,899, the Design & Web Premium at $1,899 and the Design Standard at $1,299. High prices are exactly why Creative Cloud has potential, as it only costs $49.99 per month on a yearly subscription.
For many designers, this still isn’t affordable enough, but if you’re already planning on buying the entire Master Collection, Creative Cloud promises a ton of extra perks and future upgrades that make it worthwhile.
This year’s release was interestingly lacking in suspense, as much of the news was leaked long before the official presentation. That said, there are certainly plenty of features to get excited about, including major improvements in Photoshop’s Content Aware Fill tool, Illustrator’s new Pattern Creation tool and Dreamweaver’s emphasis on responsive design.
If you’re still using CS 4, now’s the perfect time to upgrade. As for users of CS 5 or CS 5.5, there’s no need to rush, but the improvements are still worth looking into.
Creative Cloud, which was first announced last August, is fundamentally a $50 per month subscription to all things Adobe.
It’s a massive combination of software and services, featuring the CS6 Master Collection, Muse (1.0), Edge (preview release), Lightroom (coming this summer), Business Catalyst, Typekit (portfolio level), 20 gigs of Dropbox-esque file hosting/sharing, syncing and heavy integration with Adobe’s touch apps.
Over time, a number of new features and releases are promised to CC subscribers, including community galleries, an all new Kuler app, Lightroom 4 and something involving PhoneGap.
The full details are still unconfirmed at the moment, but you can find out everything we know about the solutions here.
If you’re still seeking more information, be sure to check out everything you need to know about this year’s Adobe event.
➤ Purchase CS 6 or pre-order Creative Cloud
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