Listen Up, Adobe

You don’t edit it, you Photoshop it. Adobe Creative Cloud’s most popular graphic design product is no doubt the ultimate Photoshop. Within Photoshop, there are millions of ways to edit, create and recreate a new project. As a college student who can barely afford the Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, I, too, am interested in Photoshop alternatives. Competitors include Procreate, Affinity Photo, ArtRage, and Rebelle, amongst others. Do the alternatives truly compare?

The biggest competitor nowadays seems to be Apple’s Procreate. Procreate is a drawing design application that is easily accessed via Apple’s iPad models. The compatible Apple Pencil adds a new level of creativity that Photoshop does not have. You can physically draw on the screen, allowing you to be even more invested than before. Personally, I do not own an iPad, so I don’t have access to this application. The flaw here is that most heavy-duty Graphic Design creatives typically do their work on a laptop or home desktop. The question poses: Will Procreate expand their capabilities to be computer friendly? If this happens, Photoshop faces a huge threat. Although one may not be able to draw on a computer screen, the editing and modification functions Procreate provides, certainly competes with Photoshop for a more consumer-friendly price-point. A procreate subscription starts as little as $9.99/mo.

Why can’t I just buy Photoshop outright? The subscription plan also creates a barrier for consumers. I would much rather pay a bulk subscription price rather than my student $24.99 monthly. Not only that, but if you are not a student, Photoshop plans stretch to about $75 per month. As a newly started Graphic Designer myself, that is an unaffordable price. Photoshop is not friendly to newer self-made designers. Despite all of this information, this fact still holds true: Photoshop has the most different ways to digitally edit photos, create marketing campaigns, and construct new digital products. That is why it is still so successful.

For Photoshop to not get completely diminished by these up-and-coming competitive software applications, they need to adjust with the times. COVID-19 has demolished start-up companies across the world, but it also has revived a whole new life for digital media. Website design layouts, social media advertisements, and other forms of digital marketing, are now at an ultimate prime of importance and consumer impact. How can Photoshop edit their accessibility to meet consumer needs? The answer is simple: lower prices, and higher incentives. I would recommend the Adobe team find a new marketable price. This could be a one-time fee, or a monthly subscription price-point that doesn’t break the bank for newcomers. The digital era is one that is being embraced primarily by millennials and Gen Z. We are the future of technology. If Photoshop can recognize that a lot of their consumers are not students, a price-point that gains them new clients will ultimately make the company more revenue. As far as higher incentives go, Adobe has so many other applications other than Photoshop. Personally, I am a huge fan of Adobe Illustrator. By creating package deals and price-points, such as the Adobe Creative Cloud Bundle, I was convinced to buy the Photoshop application. This bundle should deduce their prices in coherence with regular Photoshop sales.

Photoshop is an application I would like to see stay alive. Tweaks need to be made internally within the company for the millennial generation to embrace this application. If these adjustments are made, there is no denying that Photoshop will remain relevant in the world of digital media and graphic design.

-Kat Haines
Seedbox Digital: Digital Marketing Intern
LinkedIn | Website