Adobe Photoshop is a bit of a dinosaur. It’s been around for almost 30 years and, in that time, has become the industry standard for photo editing and manipulation.
It’s also become very expensive. If you want to buy Photoshop outright, it will cost you $999.99 for the “Extended” version or $199.99 for the “Standard” version. There is also a monthly subscription available for $9.99/month.
So, can you still just buy Photoshop? The answer is yes… but it’s not quite as simple as it used to be. If you want to buy Photoshop, you have two main options:
Option 1: Purchase the full version of Photoshop outright.
Option 2: Subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud and get Photoshop as part of your Creative Cloud membership.
If you decide to purchase Photoshop outright, you will own the software and can use it indefinitely. However, you will have to pay for upgrades yourself – Adobe does not offer free upgrades to new versions of Photoshop (or any of their other products) to people who have purchased the software outright.
If you decide to subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud, you will have access to all of Adobe’s creative products, including Photoshop, for a monthly fee. The biggest advantage of this option is that you will always have access to the latest version of Photoshop (and all of Adobe’s other products) as soon as it is released. The monthly subscription fee is currently $9.
So which option should you choose?
It really depends on your needs and budget. If you are a professional photographer or graphic designer who relies on Photoshop for your livelihood, then subscribing to Adobe Creative Cloud is probably your best bet. However, if you are a casual user who only needs occasional access to Photoshop, then purchasing the software outright may be a better option for you.
In conclusion, whether or not “you can still just buy Photoshop” really depends on what suits your needs best- both in terms of budget and how often you plan on using the program.
