Students now catching Adobe in the cloud

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY CATARINA MUIA

Sheridan students in the Faculty of Arts and Animation Departments, and the Faculty of Applied Science and Technology, are being advised to change their software from Adobe Creative Suite 6 to Adobe Creative Cloud.

Adobe CC is similar to Adobe CS6, with few, but major differences.

“CC would be like a CS7 if it was to exist, except there’s a huge difference with how it’s licensed,” said Jeremy Fernie, a 2008 Sheridan graduate who has been working as a Mac Technician at the college since.

“Adobe Creative Cloud’s licensing will be done like a monthly subscription whereas Adobe Creative Suite, was yours when you bought it,” explained Fernie.

Cloud has been out for a while, but Fernie said, “There are thousands of computers on campus, hundreds of machines that faculty use, like laptops, and also students, who are expected to have Adobe CC all the time.”

The school did not want to deal with 2000 subscriptions every month, which is why the college did negotiations with Adobe.

Fernie’s biggest message to students though, is to change from CS6 to CC as soon as possible because, “You can’t open an Adobe CC document in an Adobe CS6 program.”

Students don’t have to worry though, because as long as they keep their CS6 key, which can be found in the MyStudentCentre page, they can always reinstall the old software.

The students’ Adobe Material Fee will go from $132.89, which is what they paid in 2013, to $81.97 if Adobe software is required for their programs.

“Students will receive a one-year license for select applications to use on a personal computer,” said Maxine Fawcett, a Software License Administrator at the college, in an email interview. Adobe decided to use OntheHub services, which Sheridan students have been using for years, she said. “Sheridan staff and faculty are also entitled to a one year Adobe CC home use license available through OntheHub.”

Others believe it would be beneficial for students to remove CS6 and use CC instead.

“I don’t think it makes much of a difference,” said William Barry, a co-coordinator for the Game Development – Advanced Programming Program. “At least with monthly subscriptions, as students pay, their software will automatically upgrade. But with just one license and one payment, students only get the one version.”

Although some programs are being pushed to change from Adobe CS6 to CC, others have barely heard of the changes being made to the software.

“I’ve heard talk that they’re switching to CC this year, but I haven’t checked it out yet,” said Elise Bobet, 21, second-year student in the Bachelor of Animation program in an email interview

Bobet said that her program uses Adobe Photoshop, Flash, Premiere and AfterEffects , but does not yet know if she has to switch for her program.

“Personally, I would stick with the permanent CS6,” said Bobet. “The idea of being able to upgrade is appealing, but monthly payments could really add up, and I don’t know if having the most updated version really justifies the amount you’re paying.”

The Mac Tech department has offered to let students bring their computers to C153 to get the changes made, and they have set up a link for students to do the changes themselves.