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Credit: Adobe
Adobe has been at the forefront of image and video software for decades. Photoshop and Lightroom have long been the industry standards for professional photographers, while many filmmakers have been lured away from Apple’s Final Cut Pro to Premiere Pro, not to mention other filmmaking tools like After Effects and Audition.
However, in recent years, some began to wonder whether they should stick with Adobe. Subscription prices are now very expensive, while competing options that are cheaper and subscription-free have improved greatly. Particularly those of Serif Affinity photo is very similar to Photoshop in most respects.
But perhaps even more important than costs: does Adobe care more about photographers and filmmakers? Over the past year, Adobe has been looking to learn generative AI, incorporating it into both its image and video editing tools. Yes, the software company favored by content creators is promoting the very technology that threatens their livelihoods.
Generative filling before and after.
Adobe is keen to emphasize that, unlike its AI generation rivals, it does not scrape creatives’ content without consent. And it believes that tools like Generative Fill can be really useful for photographers who want to enlarge an existing image.
But how reassuring is that really when a customer tells you that you no longer need to create content for them, or even license your stock, because they’re using generative AI instead?
Prices are going up
In short, there are a number of reasons why you might consider switching from Adobe in 2025. So you can imagine the executives of the company, whose market cap currently stands at $196.84 billion, putting their heads together. , trying to find ways to entice you to stay.
But if that’s the case, they have a funny way of going about it. Because Adobe will increase the cost of its photography plans starting in 2025, with monthly subscription prices increasing by as much as 50%.
As we reported last week, Adobe has a big price increase. The 20GB photography plan (including Lightroom and Photoshop) increases from $9.99 / £9.98 in the US and UK to $14.99 / £14.99. The 1TB Lightroom-only plan, meanwhile, will rise from $9.99/£9.98 to $11.99/£11.99 per month, although this now includes Lightroom Classic. However, the Photography 1TB plan with Lightroom and Photoshop remains unchanged at $19.99 / £19.97 per month.
But that’s not even the half of it. These price increases apply to existing subscribers, but the 20GB photography plan is not available not at all for new subscribers after January 15. That leaves only the more expensive options: either take out separate subscriptions for Photoshop and Lightroom, or opt for the very expensive Creative Cloud subscription with all apps.
Interestingly, Adobe doesn’t blame these price increases on external factors such as global inflation. Instead, it claims that the software has gotten so much better that it’s worth the extra money.
2 images of blue leaves side by side, each with a different colored AI-generated frog
In a blog post announcing the changes, Adobe wrote: “For more than a decade, we’ve offered photographers hundreds of innovative features in Lightroom and Photoshop without changing the price of our photography plans. Today we are announcing an update to these plans to better reflect the value they deliver.”
Do you think the improvements to Adobe’s software – such as the major Photoshop updates announced in October – have been so useful that they justify a price increase of up to 50%? Maybe the answer is yes. But I suspect you would still have preferred the choice of paying more for new features rather than having a price increase forced on you.
Especially when many of those new features revolve around generational AI, which feels more like a slap in the face than a useful tool for photographers and filmmakers.
Apple App Store Prices 2024
That said, Adobe is also promising further improvements to the software in 2025, which it says are driven by the photography community. So what are they, and will they be enough to entice you to stick with Adobe?
Cool new tools are promised
In 2025, Adobe is focusing heavily on AI-driven features to improve its photo editing software. And while generative AI may be controversial, there are a number of other AI tools coming our way that could be very useful for photographers’ and photo editors’ workflows.
The first is AI-powered culling in Lightroom. This feature uses AI to identify the best images during import, streamlining the selection process. While this tool won’t completely replace a photographer’s judgment, it can eliminate technically flawed shots and highlight those with the most potential. And that can save you hours of manual work.
More broadly, Adobe plans to add new AI features to Lightroom and Photoshop that will make it easier to perform tedious tasks and speed up your workflow. These, it says, will be along the lines of Distraction Removal – a tool that debuted in Photoshop in 2024 and will soon be added to Lightroom. With Distraction Removal, photographers can remove unwanted elements – such as power lines, people or bumps – with one click.
Two shots of a man sitting on a white wall, in the left shot text is being read Search for distractions, in the right shot all wires have been removed
Another feature that Adobe will bring forward in 2025 is Adaptive Profile for Monochrome. Now in Adobe Camera Raw, and soon in Lightroom, this makes it easier to create high-quality black-and-white images for high-contrast photos such as landscapes and architecture.
Adobe also says it will expand its Quick Actions, which let you perform complex operations with one click. Whether it’s enhancing a portrait, removing noise, or adjusting lighting, these AI-powered tools are designed to simplify the editing process and save you time and effort.
Finally, Adobe says it will focus on making photo sharing easier by 2024. More specifically, it will continue to work with camera companies like Sony, Nikon, and Canon to improve tethering in Lightroom and provide a more efficient workflow during photo shoots.
Other new features may appear
These new features aren’t the only ones we could see in the next twelve months. Judging by the Sneaks announced at Adobe’s Max event in October, Adobe has a lot of emerging technology in the works – and perhaps some of it will see the light of day in 2025 as well.
The big revelations at Sneaks were:
Project clean machine: With this tool you can easily remove unwanted flashes or temporary obstacles in photos and videos, while retaining original details and blending colors naturally.
Project perfect mix: This new technology promises to simplify adding people or objects to images, using AI to match lighting, colors and textures for seamless integration.
Project knowledge: Adobe is developing its Content References system, to make it easier for people to track the origins of photos and videos online, even if the metadata has been removed. This is achieved by using digital fingerprints and a Chrome extension.
Project SuperSonic: This new feature lets you generate sound effects with text prompts or by clicking objects in a video, based on customizable sounds that fit naturally into the audio track.
Should you stay or should you go?
Many of these new features sound quite useful. And in the end, there’s no doubt about it: Adobe’s photo and video editing tools are very powerful, extremely flexible, and constantly being improved. So you can see why the company expects professionals to stay on board in 2025.
But at the same time, many of us have spent the past year tightening our belts and canceling subscriptions, from Netflix to gym memberships, to make ends meet. So Adobe’s price hike will feel like a slap in the face for many photographers and filmmakers, and it will be interesting to see what the consequences will be.
If you’re looking for another option, check out our guides to the best Photoshop alternatives.
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Check out some of the best Photoshop alternatives to see if something else does the job you want for less money. And don’t forget to check if you’re using the best photo editing laptops and the best monitors for photo editing for top results.
