This week, my buddy Blake Rudis and I did a podcast talking about Adobe’s Generative Credits and the changes we’ve seen to them. The podcast is at this link if you’d like to list, but it is over 30 minutes so I get that not every has the time or like’s podcasts. So I put together a little write up below that summarizes some of my thoughts on the topic if you’re some one who prefers to read. It’s probably about a 5 minute read, so if this is a better format no sweat. Enjoy!
COMMENTS
PS: I’d love to hear some of your thoughts on this in the comments below.
But please do me a couple of favors… keep it cordial. If anyone from Adobe does stumble on this, remember they’re on your side. They want to make great software and want to share great features with as many of you as possible.
Next, don’t make it about subscriptions. It’s an old tired argument. Please don’t even bother writing about it. Thanks!
What are Generative Credits and Why Do They Exist?
Generative Credits are a system Adobe has created to help offset the costs of using AI in Photoshop and other Adobe products. You can read more from Adobe by clicking here. The idea is that you can’t just use the features as many times as you’d like without incurring an extra cost. It’s a significant extra cost to Adobe for some of these tools, which they’re passing down in the form of credits to it’s users.
The ideas is that if you use it a lot, then you use more credits (which you’ll ultimately have to pay for). If you don’t use it, then you don’t incur those extra costs.
Keep in mind, Adobe is not the only company doing this. Nearly ever software company in this space, has realized that AI tools cost them more, so they’re all (if they’re any good at it that is) using some type of system to help people that don’t use these tools not incur the same costs, as people who do.
Where Can I Learn More About Generative Credits?
In Photoshop, if you go to the help menu you’ll see an option to learn more about them. In many of the windows that pop up when you use a Generative tool, there are also links that you can click to learn more.
How to Get Generative Credits
Every subscription comes with Generative Credits. Depending on when you signed up for a plan, you may get 100 credits or 25 for some of the basic $120 / year photography plans. Other plans may include more. You can log in to your Adobe account and check how many you have and buy more if you need.
But one of the big problems I have with the credit system is that they don’t roll over each month. Use them or lose them.
So if you’re away on a longer trip one month and don’t get to do a lot of editing, you’ve lost those credits. Then, when you get back and do a lot of editing, and may actually want to use your monthly credits (and maybe even some extras from the previous month), you can’t because they’re gone.
No customer likes that model. And if it cost you something for me to roll them over I could understand it. But I paid for them. You (Adobe) were okay to commit to me that I’d get 100 per month for 12 months (1200 for the year). So let me roll them over, at least during that 12 month contract. Not doing so feels like a money grab.
What Tools Use Generative Credits and How Many?
If you click on the links that show up in several windows in Photoshop, various web pages will explain to you what tools use them and how many credits get used for each tool. If you can figure it out, please let me know, because I sure can’t. But as of now, there is no warning that pops up when you’re using a tool that uses them. However, typically if the tool has the word “Generative” on it, then it does (not always though).
As for how many credits, it used to be just one for Generative Fill when that was the only tool. Now there are other tools and something called “Partner Models” that use them and they use more than one. In some cases it can be 20 or more. So your 100 credits can get used up really fast with 5 photos.
The Problem
The main problem I see and what prompted this write up is that Generative Credits are (in my buddy Blake Rudis’s words) starting to feel like a Vegas Slot Machine. Meaning that you pull and you have no idea what you’ll get. Maybe something great, maybe not. But either way, you’re stuck with the results. Oh, and to take it one step further, you often don’t even know how much you’re betting. With how vague the credit amounts are, I would guess a lot of people don’t even know how much they’re betting.
So now, when you edit a photo, in addition to figuring out what tools to use, what you need to do to get the best image, etc… now you also have to wonder how much money (or credits) you’re spending. Essentially, you’re now in a very creative state of mind, but you have to think about money. Now your monthly or yearly costs for your Adobe plan can now change based on the tools you use.
And don’t even get me started on the “Premium Credits” that were recently introduced.
Sure, you absolutely have free will and you don’t have to use those tools. But that’s where this is a BIG shift for Adobe. They’ve always provided an incredible value by giving us even more than we’ve asked for in our subscription plans (phone and tablet apps, cloud storage, portfolios, libraries that travel with us, presets, stock photos, etc….).
But that’s not the case any more. Now Adobe is just like those games from the App Store that say “In App Purchases” which we all know is code for “Better and/or faster things exist, but we’re going to make you pay for them”. To me, this is a big shift in the image editing industry, and the way we’re used to working with the photo apps we’ve grown to love.
Another Problem
Another problem I have is fairly recent, and that’s the addition of adding a generative credit cost for something that I feel Adobe should already do well – sharpening.
Sharpening hasn’t been touched in Photoshop in years (almost 12). And while Lightroom may have added “Raw Details” and it was promoted as a sharpening enhancement, any research will quickly have you realize it’s not really a tool meant for most photographers. It’s really meant for Fuji X-Trans Cameras and cameras prone to Moiré or repetitive patterns.
Personally I’ve used Topaz for sharpening for years because Adobe just isn’t any good at it. And great… now Topaz is in the Filter menu in Photoshop. But it costs Generative Credits to use (up to 20 of them). I know that Adobe knows that sharpening is important for it’s users, and that they want better sharpening. And I just don’t think it’s right to not address a basic photo editing feature, and instead add a 3rd party one that we (potentially) have to pay for.
One Big Question… Is This What Your Customers Want?
I think a business can frame a lot of decisions around one simple question… Is this what you’re customers want? Well, I think many (if not most) people would answer no. With the current implementation of Generative Credits, we have several problems.
- We don’t fully know which tools use them. If you’re not in the know on it, you can click through many tools and use up your Gen Credits when you didn’t even know you were using them. Show me in this window where you’d ever know you’re about to use your credits.
- We don’t know how many credits we’re about to use. Again, show me in this window where you’re alerted to the fact that you’re about to burn through 20% of your monthly credits at once with this particular tool.
- We use our Generative Credits and we get absolute crap for results. But we can’t get a refund for it even though we’re very unhappy.
To me, this is not a customer focussed change. This is a income generating change. And hey, I’m all for making money – it’s one of my favorite things to do 😉 And I get it… Adobe is in business to make money, as they should be. But something about this whole change feels rushed and just plain wrong.
What Can Make This Better?
Of course the easy answer to make this better is to get rid of these credits all together. I doubt that’ll happen. So where do we go from there?
To me, the answer is transparency. I know Adobe “thinks” they’re being transparent by giving us all of these web pages to look at, that tell us about these credits and what tools use them. But we’ve already seen that this isn’t working. My inbox gets bombarded with messages from people who ask questions about this. It’s like going in to a restaurant with a little sign near the front register, that’s easy to miss, that reads “We have several fees that will be added to your final bill, but won’t be listed on the menu. Please visit our website to see what they are”. (Sadly this exists too!)
To me, they could do a few more things to be more transparent:
1. My credit balance should show up in the top right corner of Photoshop all of the time. Is it cheesy to see a credit balance in Photoshop, just like we see “Gems” or “Coins” in all of those iPhone App Store games? Yep! But no more cheesy than making me pay credits to use the photo editing tools in the first place.
To put it simply… Adobe, you’re the one that turned Photoshop in to an online marketplace right? Now that you have, you’d better treat it like one.
NOTE: If you go to the Photoshop Home Screen (click the little house icon in the top left) then you’ll see your Adobe Profile Photo in the top right of the interface. If you click on that, it should show you your available credits.
2. Every time I’m about to use a tool that uses generative credits, show me a small icon that I’ll begin to recognize as the annoying Gen Credit icon 😉 and then show me how many credits I’m about to use. (Some sample screen mockups below)
3. Give us one clear page in the Help menu that shows exactly what tools use Generative AI and credits and how many credits each tool will use.
Finishing Up
Adobe… You know I love you. There would be a huge list of comments and posts I’ve written in your favor over the last 10 years, defending just about everything you’ve done – because I honestly believe you’ve given us the best software in the industry, with amazing improvements and a ton of value – and at a great price of $120 / year which hasn’t changed since 2013. No other software company can say that.
But I really don’t like this whole Gen Credit thing, and I know it’s causing confusion. And that confusion can cause some people to start to look for alternatives. Now, they won’t find a good one. Give me an alternative, and I’ll tell you why you shouldn’t use it. But that doesn’t mean some people won’t jump ship for a lesser product, thinking they’re getting an even trade because the marketing and website of that alternative told them it was just as good.
And that would be a shame, because I bet a lot of them don’t even want these tools and just the lack of transparency and uncertainty and clarity around them could cause them to be leery of it, even though most people don’t have anything to worry about.
Instead of coming across better as time goes on, this Generative Credit change comes across worse. So if credits are going to be part of the future, then please just be more transparent about it. Make it dummy proof with one clear place to find out the information we need.
I have no doubt Adobe will do it, but hopefully it just becomes a priority to get done faster.
Thanks for reading!
I love teaching and photography... In that order. I feel that enjoying photography, and photo editing can get WAY too complicated. So my personal mission (and favorite thing to do), is to create education that simplifies the process of taking great photos, and how to edit them to get the results you’ve always wanted.
Hi Matt –
Your comments are Spot On! Having just read about the the latest PS improvements, I was hot to forge ahead. But now I will tread lightly.
Happy Holidays!
Ken Lippin in Snowy Saint Paul
Oh, and thanks for your clear responses to folks’ comments when needed.
Excellent!
Matt, thank you very much for this clear description of the problem and your constructive criticism. I really appreciate you using your status as one of Adobe’s most influential users to address this issue on behalf of those who are struggling with it.
Great article. Gives me some clarity (as much as you can) about Generative credits.
I hope Adobe is listening.
Matt, I use Lightroom and occasionally PS. Thanx for this info. I had no idea that there was a cost to us GAI. I’ll start looking to see what his has cost me. PS how does Adobe charge you if you dip a
Past your monthly allocation? I’m going now to see how many credits I have. Thanx. Or…don’t have!!
Hi. If you haven’t clicked anything to buy more than you haven’t been charged. If you go past your monthly allocation you can go in your account and purchase more. They won’t auto charge you. This wasn’t really about Adobe hitting your credit card for fees you weren’t aware of. It was about being transparent about how you’re using the Gen Credits you do have. Thanks.
Matt and Blake, thanks for this information and your research. I completely agree with you that $120/yr is a great deal for these products regardless of Gen AI credits.
Let me add to the confusion and probably raise the ire of your readership. Your cell phone account analogy seems parallel to the status of my account. I’ve been following my Gen AI credits for usage and balance of them since March 2025 when I signed up for the annual individual Photography Plan. I waited until to today to reply because the 21st of the month is my Gen AI credits reset day and I wanted to verify my reset amount. I reset to 250 credits per month while paying $120/yr for my plan. This is not the typical 50 credits per month; what the heck we all should say. I reviewed the plan descriptions listed under the “Creative Cloud for individual plans” page (https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/apps/generative-ai/generative-credits-faq.html#monthly-generative-credits) and scrolled until I found plans that listed 250 Gen AI per month. The plan is the Adobe Express Premium plan. I use Adobe Express, formerly Adobe Spark, to build web pages that are slideshows of my photo adventures to share with family and friends.
As I recall when I converted from the monthly $9.99 payment plan to the annual $120 payment plan in March I didn’t do anything special, however, the Adobe Express tag on my account must have been part of this conversion. On my Adobe account management page, it lists my next payment of $119.88 due on March 21, 2026.
Again, thanks for the information and your time. Weird and stranger than truth.
This whole Adobe business model is based on deceit. This is terrible to suggest, but maybe the threat of class action, or boycott would open Adobes’ eyes. All we are asking is to be treated fairly and get what we paid for. What if cell phone companies tried this approach? There would be a revolt. Thanks Matt!
Cell phone companies did this for years. Remember when we used to pay for minutes and they didn’t roll over each month?
surely if Phone companies can rollover data each month, then Adobe can rollover credits
I bet they can. But you’ll remember that early on with cell phones, very few companies did roll data and minutes over. I remember that time clearly. But like most things with most companies… once one does it the others almost have to.
Incredibly well said!! This is not only a thinly veiled money grab (love Blake’s analogy) – IMO it is arrogant (as if to say – “where else can you go”) & totally disrespectful of their customers. Their actions here shout volumes and have undermined the trust in Adobe’s commitment to a fair & customer-centric business model. They have created the specter of what the next set of hidden costs will be.
You may be correct about there not being anything better, but after many (10+) years I am looking for alternatives and have already started to try them.
I would say that Adobe will figure this out probably sooner than later. Probably not worth the time to find an alternative, just to come back to Adobe (which you will). Spend your time on getting better at shooting and editing… not switching software 🙂
Adobe – I hope you are listening…
Thanks Matt for a very enlightening article. I had no idea I was using credits.
The best summary of Gen Credit confusion that I have seen. Really appreciate your analyses and concerns. They are real for users who can’t find and track their credits. Yes, there are some costs to providing extra services. But make it visible and accountable so I can decide whether to use them.
Sure hope that Adobe is listening to your thoughtful analysis and suggestions!
Very well said Matt, thank you.
One other observation;
Similar to the in-store reward cards, don’t mention “credits” or “points”…just be honest and tell us how much in Dollars and Cents, or Pounds and Pence (I am in the UK) it is going to cost!!
Credits typically cost fractions of dollars so I’m not sure this would make sense.
100%
As an amateur, albeit a fairly serious photographer, not being in income generating mode from my photography, this model makes it very difficult to “experiment” with different looks for a photo. Not knowing how many credits you have or are using per use, puts the brakes on creativity.
Concur! It’s shear nonsense. If you can’t amortize the development cost with the price, don’t do it.
Thanks to you and Blake for this very informative podcast/article. It helped me find the menu of functions that require credits and those that don’t (yet), so I can manage my function usage more closely.
While I agree that the Adobe Photography Package is the best deal on the planet, as a retiree, I don’t like their slot machine approach to the cost of post processing an image. And as an amateur, the only one I can pass the cost of post processing on to is my bank account.
Anyway, thanks for the help and the clear explanations of Adobe’s new revenue generating scheme. As you said, I don’t begrudge a publicly held corporation making a good profit – I just want to manage how much I contribute to that profit.
The good news is that Generative Credits will not automatically charge to your account. So you won’t have to spend a penny you don’t want to and that’s important to remember.
Love your mockups showing when/where you’d be using credits! I’d also suggest showing the full number of credits you have, so if you only have 4 credits left, you can’t use something that would take 5 credits, or at least you’d know you’ll be paying for it. Sorry if someone already posted this idea. I haven’t yet read through all 145 comments…
Hi. Adobe isn’t charging you automatically if you run out and I doubt they would. So you’ll know when you’re about to buy more credits because you’ll be the one going through the process to buy them.
Thank you Blake and Matt for calling out Adobe for their rookie mishandling of the their new business model. If anything, you were more gentle with them than I would be inclined to be. I wonder if they are not doing irreparable damage to their reputation as an ethical and competent company by the current (and past) mishandling of the implementation of technology and business changes. To be sure, it is the responsibility of a business to remain profitable; it’s fundamental to serving their customers well. Yet, when a company begins to treat their customer base arrogantly and with impunity, one has to wonder how long they will remain a going concern.
Hi John. Other than what I covered, I don’t know what they’ve done that was arrogant and treating customers poorly. I can’t think of a company where I pay the same as I did 12 years ago, and I’ve gotten some amazing features that have seriously saved me a ton of time editing. So while I don’t care for some of the Gen Credit stuff right now, I have to imagine they already knew what we were talking about and they’ll address it. But overall I’m a happy customer as I can’t think of a software company that has given me what they have for such a low price. Thanks.
You left out one other important piece of information that Adobe makes it “hard adjacent” to know: how many credits do I currently have? With your ideas to make each credit selection easy to see, and this other need asked by many, we can be better, more intelligent shoppers of our credit. Imagine going into a store with a credit card and not knowing how much credit we have, buying groceries and not knowing how much they cost. And if an item of food is rotten, we cannot return it for our credit. That triple-whammy is not inviting.
Hi. When I log in to my account and click on my profile photo it’s one of the top things that shows up. If you don’t see this you should definitely contact Adobe. Thanks.
On my Photoshop welcome page the credit details show up when I click on my profile picture on the top right corner
My feelings exactly!! Actually, I’m beginning to use ON1 more because of this nutty approach.
As Paul Blackburn said – Thanks Matt for saying what the rest of us are thinking!
Totally agree Matt.
Agree 100%. Make the credits rollover! And let me know how many credits I’m about to use. Thanks Matt for saying what the rest of us are thinking!
THANK YOU, MATT!!! Your criticism and your suggestions and right on. Please Adobe listen to Matt. Let us know what we are paying for and how much we are paying for it. It’s the right thing to do.
This write up is amazing. Thank you for your clarity and honestly (and the print version). I appreciate how you listed the options to PS and the drawbacks of each.
I only recently upgraded my PS and I never heard of “credits” until reading your email today. I see “AI Denoise” in your mock-up example. Does that mean every time I use denoise I am using credits?
I personally am against a lot of AI stuff such as adding fake backgrounds and sailboats to images, but I do like to remove small, unwanted objects and shadows now and then, and to minimize noise on low light photos.
I REALLY hope Adobe heeds your suggestions!!! Keep us posted.
BTW, you commented on my “creative and unique” photos of squirrels in dioramas “doing people-like things” over 10 years ago and I now have 7 kids books, calendars and puzzles with several publishers, and I am so afraid that people will assume my squirrel photos are just AI (for years they thought they were PS composites or taxidermy squirrels) I think ALL AI images should come with a visible label.
Matt,
Thanks for your succinct and on point comments. As a very long time user and supporter of Adobe products I can truly say that they have missed the target on this one. Obviously this whole process was done by “committee” and the results show it. And to add to the mess, the latest PS update is giving error messages to some users that all of their credits have been used when in fact none have been. Using the previous version will allow Generative tools to be used.
I hope Adobe doesn’t shoot themselves in the foot over this nickel and dime maneuver.
For me as a hobbyist, I prefer to spend more time getting it right in my camera, rather than spending time in front of the screen using Adobe. As for professional photographers they can only hope that the Adobe business model will inspire other competitors to offer customers a better alternative to Adobe..healthy competition is a good thing.
I’m not sure I’ve ever heard anyone say “I’d prefer to get it wrong in camera” 🙂
This sums up the problem very well, Matt. And your proposed solution should definitely be adopted by Adobe.
And what unfortunately also has to be added: Those responsible at Adobe seem to have quite a lot of problems putting themselves in the shoes of their creative customers. And this is not the first time.
This is what I thought would happen when AI tools and apps started appearing. I refuse to buy in to it. Whether it is photoshop or any other app. I like to think I can do what I need to in my creative pursuits. After all it is supposed to be my creativity, not some algorithm that may or may not generate garbage.
Excellent article and enjoyed reading most of the comments as well, I hope Adobe will read and act on your points.
This is bang on!! I wondered if it was just me who was annoyed by this. I guess not. I upgraded and bought more credits, because I need more. I use the gen fill tools a lot. But I still don’t know what I’ve used and what I’ve got left. And I shouldn’t have to search all over the place for that info. I don’t have the time or patience.. Do better, Adobe. Help us out.
Thanks
Margaret
Matt, your comments are spot on. Adobe seems to be taking pricing lessons from the health insurance industry! Can’t tell you what’s covered and we can’t tell you how much it’ll cost until after you’ve bought it! What a great business model (for them!). I have exactly the same thinking on generative credits being taken away each month. Hey, I paid for those so the unused ones should roll over month-to-month, BUT I believe this should be indefinitely – unused credits should never expire. Just my two cents (oh wait, those are going away too!).
This is great. Thanks for writing it and thanks to you and Blake for the video.
I have been a LR user since the first beta and have had a Photo Plan ever since they went to the subscription model. Last December, I changed from paying monthly to paying annually, so I could continue to get the photo plan deal. When I made the change, they reduced my monthly credits from 250 to 100. When I called customer service, they said that only those who had been subscribers before May of 2024 could get the 250 credits. I told them I had been a subscriber for 11 years. No matter how much I tried to make them understand, they insisted that since I had changed my billing, I was now a new subscriber.
This experience told me everything I needed to know about Adobe’s approach to customer service. And I have many friends – among Adobe’s most loyal customers – who experienced exactly the same thing.
That’s absolutely true. What will happen when I use all credits? I didn’t come to this point yet. Will I get pop up message saying that I cannot use this tool? I hope they will not draw money from my contributor’s account.
Thanks for this information. I have been hearing some things about generative credits, but I didn’t know what this was all about. Well said. Thanks for the sharing. I will be much more attuned to look for little bits of information in the future. I enjoy your presentations.
Hi Matt (and Blake),
Watching your podcast, I understood why I had run out after trying out generative models just three, perhaps four times! Then the algorithm smiled on me and a tutorial about upscaling tools came up in my feed.
The tutorial featured the ETI Image Generator – which turns out to be a collection of AI models. This ETI Image Generator functions as a Photoshop plugin – even in the Beta version. It answers all of your and Blake’s Las Vegas concerns: you know exactly what you will pay per generation (pennies), can easily replenish your credit via Replicate.com. and the quality appears to be at least as good as what Photoshop is offering. Credit seems to be ongoing month to month, but it appears that credit does expire at the end of 12 months. Thanks for your podcast, and check out ETI.
I have only recently experimented with Evoto, but one thing I do like is that you only get charged credits when you export the image. With that thought in mind, if Adobe’s AI produces garbage that you can’t use, something like this would prevent you from being charged for it. Plus, you only get charged once per image, even if you export more than once. So if you export, realize that more work needs to be done, you can do that and export again, and again, without being charged for additional AI usage. Anyway, just a thought. I do think Matt’s idea of telling us what the price is before we hit the button is super necessary. I’m still a fan of Adobe’s products and am probably not going anywhere, but there are definite improvements to be made.
110% agree! Plus, for the hobbyists like me, charging $9.99 per month for 2,000 “Premium” Generative Credits – when I might use that many in a year – ISN’T a good deal.
I’ve tried the new Sharpen AI filter in Photoshop (that Topaz Labs provides as one of Adobe’s third party providers), and it’s not that good. DXO PureRAW or ON1 NoNoise does a better job.
Hi Matt
Cannot find my earlier submitted comment: but it seems that the NonAi ”content aware” fill facility, using a quick circular brush method, rather than the lasso selection, has been removed from ACR and is only available once transferred into a Photoshop files?
All seems still a complicated bit of mess – Although I was in the UK Health Service Authority and Local Government Authority for some roles for some 30+ years!
Kind regards, Geoffrey
Hi. Nothing has been removed from ACR. So, maybe poke around a bit. I don’t fully know the tool you’re referring to as ACR never had any content aware fill, but if it was there before it’s still there now. Nothing has been taken away. Thanks
Matt, I suggest you read Timothy Wu’s “The Age of Extraction” tp better understand what is happening. Truthfully, Adobe is taking away my enjoyment of photography. Do I use Generative tools? No. Will I? No. Event if it means losing my joy of photography? Probabaly.
Hi Matt, Do I use Generative tools? No. Will I? No. (at least not deliberately ???)
I am fully with this comment – I just want to be able to be clear if a ‘tool’ that I click on is using ‘Generative’ Ai or not? e.g. and most commonly for ‘Distraction’ removal the ‘Remove tool’ in Both ACR and Photoshop – 1) there is a tick box on ACR but not in Photoshop? Does NOT ticking the tickbox in ACR mean (as it should?) that Ai is not used – 2) but there is no such option in PhotoshopCC ? All very confusing ?£$?
Kind regards, Geoffrey
I found out the hard way, that to use Nano Banana and Topaz in Photoshop I need to subscribe to premium an extra $9 a month. please add this to your post. thanks.
Where and how can we make our voices heard directly to Adobe?
I just wonder if this is a marketing ploy by Adobe to way overcharge then later back off just a little and make us feel like they did us a favor?
right on!
totally agree with you! They need to make it user friendly as you stated. Does Adobe really need to charge for using the tools in PSCC. When I subscribed to adobe PSCC I was able to use the tools that came with it. Is it really necessary to gouge the customer for more money with credits. If they need money that badly just raise the subscription price (which they did).
Thank you Matt for your attempt to advise Adobe to maintain their reputation and credibility. Yes I agree with your plea for transparency and clear communication. Adobe does not need its customers doubting their intentions. Of course most of us will pay for the service we want to buy occasionally.
Yes for sure would be nice to see what we are using thank you and keep up the great work
Well done Matt. Adobe is certainly not helping themselves in how they chose to roll out the Generative / Premium credits.
Representing your user community, perhaps you could reach out to Terry White and let him know the dissatisfaction of your community. I’ve always viewed Terry as the customer face of Adobe.
Regards,
Jack K.
Matt:
I agree with everything you mentioned in this article especially rolling over unused credits. Clarity is best when the rules change. The new processes are truly remarkable, however, I did not realize I was in a trial period until the first message telling me the trial was over and I should upgrade my subscription in order to continue their usage.
I have a minimum Adobe subscription for Photoshop and Lightroom Classic (and other apps that I do not use) and I pay each year now because money is tight. I am retired and will turn 80 next year. I began using Adobe Elements years ago, and after trying Photoshop, I was inextricably hooked. I use Photoshop and Lightroom Classic for my own pleasure, I don’t know what I would do without it. I mostly do compositing and the Harmonize feature saves a bundle of time. I apologize for being too wordy.
Thanks for listening. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to your future broadcasts.
Steve Fletcher
Excellent analysis and recommendations.
Absolutely agree. And if you think the Photoshop situation is clumsy and confusing, try using the video features in Firefly – they’re even less comprehensible and, of course, more costly.
I really like the idea put forward here of some kind of dashboard or pop-up window that would let me see how many credits each operation will use before I use it and also, perhaps optionally for the billionaires amongst us, a little “You are about to splurge XXX credits, leaving you with a -YYY credit balance. Are you sure?” dialog.
Thank you so much for this ‘heads up’. I am completely an amateur photographer and on a very limited budget (a pensioner for more than 20 years) and need to know how to keep costs down and where and when and how much I am spending. Your ideas are exactly what is needed. Will Adobe take notice?
( By the way, I found the latest Photoshop Summit excellent, yours of course AND Blake’s I found clear to follow.)
Excellent summary of the issues.
AI in the cloud certainly requires additional compute capacity, which should be paid for only when we use it, just like the utility companies who charge based on usage, not on prepaid credits. Adobe should do the same. Rollover of unused credits is the least Adobe can do.
Additionally, I think it is unreasonable to be charged credits when the AI tools generate unusable results. Perhaps the model should be a single credit to generate and possibly some additional credits if the results are accepted. While this may be difficult to manage perhaps requiring feedback for unusable results would prevent the additional credits from our account.
The Adobe engineers are indeed very smart to be able to create these exceptional tools, they should be able to figure this one out.
Hello
Totally agree with you
And this raises another question : I already have Topaz Labs product s (Denoise, Sharpen, Studio, Photo AI, GigaPixel) I have paid for and installed on my computer. In the past, I could them as “Photoshop filters”
If the result of using, for example, “Generative Topaz Labs Sharpen AI” is the same as using it directly on my computer, why should I pay twice ? – It would make sense to recognize that I have it already installed and use it “locally”
I hope it’s clear, as english is not my native language !
Thanks anyway and congratulations for your videos ( and Blake’s as well) at the last Photoshop Virtual summit
Have a good day
It’s a cash grab, pure and simple. Part of the current industrial model that you “bought” it, but don’t really own it. Control of the purchase resides with the vendor for the life of the product. Consider the stereo system in your new car that is an expensive and useless piece of hardware that will only function if you may the recurring fee to take advantage of its “special” features. It’s an extension of the “Right to Repair” battle going on now across the consumer product spectrum. Search for “Louis Rossmann” on consumer rights to get an encyclopedic view of the issue. Refer to “Joseph Cristina” for his series “Cutting the Cord” from Adobe.
You don’t buy credits from Adobe, you rent them and when the monthly rent comes due, the landlord doesn’t give you your money back for the days you were on vacation and not occupying your apartment. What possible argument could Adobe give for not rolling over credits you bought but did not use. Adobe may give you an explanation wrapped in a sugar coating that customer satisfaction is their primary goal and by the way I have a bridge to sell you. I think there is a possible class action suit somewhere in the mix.
Suggestion to Adobe, if it really cares (in addition to the excellent suggestions offered by Matt K.) include a button to turn off/on all generative functions. The user can then choose to edit a photo without costing any credits and if happy with the results, save the photo; if not, turn on the generative actions and try again.
Adobe used to be sold in a solid box with a fat manual and a bunch of installation CD’s. Users thought it was the cat’s meow and were happy with the results.,,,Generative Fill? never heard of it.
Matt – you make so many good points, all of which have my wholehearted agreement. To me the two most important ones are:-
* Be honest with us about how many credits each use of Generative AI is going to cost. Your suggestion of a note on the floating toolbar is an excellent one.
* Allow credits to be rolled over from one month to the next. OK, limit this to a one-year cutoff if you must, but at least give us that much flexibility.
One more point: if I understand the system correctly, if you overshoot your credits allowance it will cost you a subscription of $9.99 per month for an extra 2000 credits. Does this imply a commitment to an ongoing monthly outlay or is limited to one month? Is there no smaller “package” of extra credits – say 50 – that can be bought as and when needed?
Many thanks for your excellent analysis of this topic.
This could be the start of building in a lot of additional cost for anything other than basic functionality. Move forward a few years and functions that are not AI now become AI and may incur a charge.
Thank you so much for this interesting page of your blog. ADOBE is on a bad slope facing a tough competition and if they want their customers leave, they have to continue. Ia m not a native english speaking but I follow you regularly and I like your approach of the photography.
A couple of things –
Firstly – it’s well understood in the AI arena that you WILL burn more credits than you budget / plan for as you seek to address the ‘minor’ failings of AI, especially if you have not learnt to write using the correct terminology prompts that are unambiguous so AI does exactly what you want.
Secondly – I’m sure Adobe understand this BUT I doubt many users of Adobe products are unaware of exactly how big a challenge they face from AI and whilst many feel AI is a ‘blight’ on the industry, creating artificial images IS NOT it’s limit. Now those who think like that may bury their heads in the sand, but it cannot be uninvented and unless Adobe sort out its’ charges, it will get left behind – professional arrogance will only take it so far.
Thank you for writing this instead of making me loose half an hour to listen to a podcast (I’m not an english native speaker). I completely agree with everything you say. And maybe Adobe will even take your criticism seriously, who knows?
Great information Thank you
I totally agree, give more choices. For ‘club’ photography we are only allowed our own photos so cannot make full use of the Gen features from Adobe. Should be more selective with what we want in our plans
Absolutely right.
I’ve been a devoted user of Photoshop for many years. I’ve decided to move on to other applications. For me photography is a hobby and Photoshop was always the best. It’s become too expensive for me.
Thanks Matt. Totally agree. Loyal Adobe users like me are feeling more like cash cows than valued customers!
As a start, I would also put in a plea for more transparent / obvious pricing additions.
I’ll be sending this comment to Adobe too.
With warm greetings. Leonard
Thank you Matt for saying it out loud.
Completely agree with you Matt, and Adobe need to be completely transparent with the use of credits, and what it will cost you as the credits get used up. If a user gets charged and the fee is hidden, or not obvious they could be challenged in court and loose out badly. Not sure if USA has something like ACCC in Australia.
Well done. Matt. I agree with you whole-heartedly. Love Adobe and will continue to use it but how hard, with all their computing power and knowledge, would it be to show us exactly how many credits we will be using for any selected tool, and what is our credit balance. Also, the monthly roll-over seems very unfair to users who have actually purchased credits but been unable to use them for whatever reason.
I agree with your assessment of Adobe. They do need to be up front about any additional charges. I often get results that I just can not use. It is often trial and error. At least in Vegas, I know what I am betting.
Thanks for the warning and for the frank and thoughtful feedback to Adobe. AI is becoming the bane of our existence!
Very well done Matt. I agree with the suggestion made by Tim below that a basic Firefly subscription will likely be considerably less expensive than using credits.
Many of us don’t use AI to any great extent. However, I am worried that tools that we take for granted such as AI Remove might eventually become a paid tool.
I too investigated Capture One which I had used in the past. However, until recently I thought that Capture One had not included some of the features that I have taken for granted in Photoshop and ACR. Capture one has improved, and of course you are correct about the increasing cost. Some purchase the current edition of Capture One and only update when they believe the program has added enough new feature to be worth a new purchase. Might be a reasonable way to proceed if one does not want to access the updates on a regular basis.
I enjoy and appreciate your frequent presentations when PS and ACR/LR add new features. Many thanks for helping us Matt.
Their cheapest price is still more than Adobe LR and PS. So you’re paying more for less, and the only person to suffer is you.
Well said in my opinion, the positive accolades, in Adobe’s behalf, but most importantly and to your point – the well laid out issues regarding these credits and their costs. I would add – the cost is not inexpensive,neither the cost to purchase nor the drain per use. Perhaps for those who derive a good deal of income from it’s use, such as the estimated 90% of Fortune 500 companies that are Using Adobe tools, the 10s of thousands of professionals using Photoshop, and 1 02 hundred thousand company users, affordability might not be an issue. For the many thousands of hobbyists and amateur photo and editing enthusiasts, it is extremely difficult to justify. It produces envy and resentment. Adobe has a very impressive net worth of over $200B, an impressive annual net income and cash flow is significant. One would think they could afford to give a decent amount of partner usage for free before charging ridiculous prices, which, by the way, would promote customer loyalty and continued subscription growth.
I like your proposal to make the credit use really transparent, Matt. Only thing I would add is to change the color of the tool if it will use credits. I don’t want to read a page, but I want to easily see which tool will cost me credits before I choose it.
Thank you for the article, Matt. This whole credits issue has totally frustrated me. For the most part I haven’t used the generative tools but the tools are extending into ordinary functions like the remove tool which totally simplified cleaning up images. We were told that if you were just removing something and not asking for more you would not be ‘charged’. Now I don’t know what I’m using that costs me. I don’t know how many credits I get and have no idea why unused credits don’t roll over. I think your points would help a great deal. I tend to avoid apps with that in-app purchase aspect. I don’t want to feel forced out of Photoshop.
Well written and agree completely with you.
Hi Matt, thanks so much for this very informative article. I have known about the credits, but never really looked into them. Your article is a real eye-opener, and I am quite shocked at what Photoshop is doing here. In fact I am very unhappy about the way thing are developing.
You are so right, we should know and be able to see what we get and how much we use. It certainly will make life a bit easier if one has the choice while editing! Hopefully your input and that of the uses can make a difference.
Thanks for your article and keeping us informed as to what is going on. I always watch the videos you make and appreciate what you do to help us.
Kind regards,
Diana
yes adobe seems be acting quite greedily which surprises me and I suspect many others . Hope your influence can have some effect on this. Thank you for the info and the warning!
Like everyone else I am confused about credits. I think that your suggestions are spot on, and seem entirely reasonable. I do hope Adobe will make this more transparent.
This criticism is spot on.
Does Adobe use these credits for Lightroom (Classic, Web, or Mobile) AI features? Or maybe that’s to come?
Amen!
Hi, maybe they could simply put an on/off slider in the top corner so we don’t use our credits until we are ready.
Deborah Peters
I would like to see a switch to completely turn OFF AI in my Adobe programs. I don’t like it and I don’t use it. I think personally it is ruining photography as an art.
Totally agree ! Human action is creativity – AI is simply reproducing stealed images without ethics and reflexion
I really enjoyed your podcast!
I haven’t listened to the podcast, but in this article you didn’t delineate how many credits are used for one generation of Firefly or Gemini. Do you even know? I think it is 10 credits for one generation of Gemini (which is far superior to Firefly) and I think 1 or maybe 3 credits for one generation of Firefly. Firefly is really on good for basic stuff. Gemini can be used directly through Google. but they do say that they use your images for AI training.
Hi. Sorry but I’m not sure by the title or intro to this article what would have led you to think I’d cover that 🙂
Wow, harsh. Your title was vague, so hard to tell what was in it.
There is always the basic Firefly subscription that comes with unlimited Standard Generations. I assume that includes ones that normally would charge more that one Credit per use.
I tried everything to check my credits after following the steps that you outlined and could not find anywhere that showed my credits. I will now watch your video to see if missed something
Your idea of labeling with the Credits Bill is a good one.
Simply supplying an accurate table of charges would help. The table here: https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/apps/generative-ai/creative-cloud-generative-ai-features.html#gen-ai-features-by-application
Says that some of the standard generation features charge more than one Credit but doesn’t show how much. It doesn’t even show correctly the ones that charge more that one Credit.
When I’m doing a lot of AI stuff, I keep the Creative Cloud app open, and I keep clicking the thing that tells you what your credits are. It’s the 14th of the month, and I have used half my 250 credits9Renew on Dec. 2), and most of it went to crappy generations that I couldn’t even use. Most months, I don’t use more than 20 or 30, so why can’t they roll over?
I don’t use Photoshop professionally anymore; I’ve been retired for 20 years. But I still use it every day for my hobby photography. I don’t like Affinity Photo, and the new Canva version is just silly. What photographer needs a three-in-one graphic design app? Not this one.
I agree about Photoshop being a bargain at $120 a year. The first version I bought was over $850 back when you could buy a used car for that. Undaunted, I have stayed with Adobe for over 30 years. This AI stuff could push me over the edge, but when you once leave the grandfathered software, it’s a lot more expensive to get back in.
Keep pushing them. They’re more likely to listen to you than to me.
There’s one significant question that I still have. If you use all of your allocated credits, how do you get more, and how much do they cost?
take out a firefly plan on the monthly basis. Pay one month and cancel.
Clearly stated the issues and a solution if they will read and listen. Love Adobe for all the years, but being nickeled and dimes with no clear direction, communication, and telling us what we will owe them — Will not work. Teach us when we make a mistake with no directions. Not Good on Adobe’s part. No upcharge since 2013 is interesting and … shall I say more. $120 is worth it or undervalued. Treat all equal not a class system.
Thanks Matt. I have a Creative Cloud subscription since I do all types of design and photography. I had no idea how the credits work and didn’t know where to find them. I checked my icon in upper right corner of Photoshop and walla, I have 1400 credits! Thank the adobe gods because I pay about $1000 a year for my subscription.
I often need to generate cover images for a monthly magazine and now I know I can without paying more. As you said, I usually have to generate multiple images to find one that works for me and I often use image generation just for inspiration as well.
Excellent summary of the issues. Points 1, 2, and 3 could be easily put into play and make life easier for everyone. The addition of Nano Banana and Topaz to Photoshop further complicates an already murky issue.
I always appreciate your straightforward and direct way of dealing with issues in digital editing.
This became a significant issue for me earlier this month when editing a series of photos spanning from the early 1920s to 2024 for a memorial service. Adobe advised I could not use some features (which ones??) because I had run out of credits.
I pay Au$79.95 per MONTH to use Adobe apps, but only use a handful of them (Lr, LrC, Ps, InDesign and Acrobat), so I was quite annoyed at this situation, especially when I had a deadline to meet.
Your comments are spot on! I hope Adobe takes note and addresses the matter sooner than later.
Thank you, Matt! The Adobe “Generative credits FAQ” is anything but clear and understandable. I enjoyed the recent Photoshop Virtual Summit 7 very much, but ended up not watching any of the AI sessions after I realized that there was almost no way to know what the “cost” of each generation would be. No sense learning a technique I can only use a couple of times per month.
Matt, great article and very well stated. The fact that you are forthright enough to challenge the “Goliath” of photo editing regarding the way they do business bolsters your already immense credibility. Thanks for speaking out for we
“nobody” day to day users of Adobe!
Amen! Adobe, please make Photoshop costs transparent. If you’re minting your own currency (“credits”), we have to know what we’re spending and where our balance sits.
So I get 4,000 per month, next reset is 5 December and I have 3,950 left. I have been doing a lot of AI editing, especially practicing things I am learning in the Photoshop Summit. So I don’t think I will run into any issues, though if I do then I guess it’s a great problem to have as I would be doing loads of editing.
But I have no idea where I used those credits. I have been using Photoshop Beta quite a bit, so do you use credits with the Beta version? Will give it a try tomorrow.
Agree, it should be obvious from the start what cost is involved
It seems like you pretty much speak for all of us.
I am like you, I want much better transparency, knowledge of what I am buying (or have bought), and at least a month’s carry over on what I don’t use. My usage is far from linear.
No Adobe is not always the best particularly if you are replacing a sky where foliage is involved. I had what looked like a perfect selection and when the sky was added the foliage went white. It was much easier in Affinity Photo. I am not sure about the new Canva but most things seem to be working slightly better and you don’t need AI which gives you so much rubbish.
Thanks Matt a great article and helps me understand a lot more I just hope Adobe reads your article
To get access to the fairly extensive Canva AI tools within Affinity Photo requires a yearly $120 Canva Premium subscription.
Not ideal, but a one-time yearly fee is better than the pull-the-lever-on-the-slot-machine Generative Credits model.
Spot on! Adobe … give us transparency and rollover.
Excellent “review” of this whole confusing AI credit system. It will take people like you in the forefront of teaching others about PS to rattle the cage to straighten this out. Please continue to keep tge pressure on them on our behalf!
Vergiss Adobe! Denen steht das Wasser bis zum Hals!
I appreciate your effort to clarify the credit model. I also agree with your position regarding available credits, credits required for a mod, and why pay credits if you don’t use the proposed changes.
My situation, I use credits in LrC. I basically never know how many credits I have. Being ignorant is easy than me trying to figure it out while I debating how to improve the image, so as they say, ignorance is bliss.
Go for it, I hope Adobe is listening.
I agree with you 100 percent.
Very timely! Well stated! I agree! Good suggestions!
With the price of a subscription going up to $14.99/mo., I can see Adobe facing a lawsuit if they don’t get more transparency.
Hi Mike. The price only went to $14.99 if you let it and chose to pay monthly. If you switched to yearly your price stayed the same. https://mattk.com/adobe-2025-pricing-update-faq/
Thanks for put this out there — it summarizes my feelings exactly. I would add the additional problem is that I work with Topaz tools as well — their new model means I’m paying a subscription there, too. Am I going to pay again to use Topaz tools inside Photoshop? No.
I agree, I really need to know what each generative app charges for credits, how many I have, and what will I be charged for using one. Thanks for sharing this, and I truly hope Adobe reads your comments.
I’ve been researching Adobe sites with very unclear statements and tables. So thanks for letting me know I’m not the only one confused. I hope Adobe takes your good suggestions and helps their customers feel better, or at least feel knowledgeable, about this.
I appreciate that the podcast was also available as a transcript. Much easier and faster for me to read. And more likely to read it. Great info, didn’t realize we don’t know ahead how many credits are used. Yikes. Thanks.
Couldn’t agree more with everything you say. The “pay as you go, once through the monthly subscription and again (and again!) with Gen credits” model is here to stay. There’s no excuse for lack of easy transparency.
To be truly transparent the proposed icon system should show that the cost of using a tool will be, say, 20/100 i.e 20 out of your balance of 100.
When sub standard results are obtained there should be no credits grab. Here in the UK we have a protection under consumer regulation for physical goods that says when you buy something it has to be of merchantable quality which means that it must do what it is held out to do. If it doesn’t then there is an undeniable right to obtain a refund without any questions being asked
When the result of using a tool isn’t what it is held out to do by Adobe, it’s the same thing except it’s not a physical item it’s an intangible digital item. Nevertheless, the principle should be the same so Adobe needs to work on this aspect. Not easy but it’s their moral obligation (which should translate into a legal obligation) not to be seen to profit from something that doesn’t work.
They’re not charging you for the resulting image; they’re charging you for the computer time/electricity to generate that image.
Thanks Matt! I hope Adobe listens to you!
As far as rollover goes, I think there is method used by Grocery store gas statiob credits. You can use them up in the month you earn them and the next month (60 days at most). There good reasons to not let folks hoard credits.
Other than that I think we need to see how the mArketplace evolves.
Matt,
Great article and I think a point that you made that hits me like a ton of bricks, is the roll over factor. That is something they could easily compromise on. As you said, I also have the annual Photography plan and get 100/mo. of credits. I signed up for 1200/yr. If one month I don’t use the credits I should find them still there the next month.
Nice and simple, logical, to the point. Hopefully, you will reach them with just that if nothing else. Thanks
Services like OpenAI have this capability – next to your account name there is a total of your credits for the month (like Adobe, these don’t roll over so they are also use or lose). Different AI models cost a certain amount of credits, and you see how much it will cost before you generate the image(s). This isn’t rocket science.
I completely agree with this assessment, in particular with respect to the lack of use ability or the effort you have to go through in order to get a usable result.
Especially, when even the pros have to go through three or four iterations of the partner AI generative models to come up with one good picture. At least with firefly you get three. And for a lot less than the other models where it’s truly a crapshoot.
What is more outrageous to me than anything? Is that essentially Adobe’s customers have become their beta testers. In the corporate business, world, if you’re doing beta testing and are not an employee, you get paid to do that, or at least have free use of the product being tested. Moreover, with the rapidity, the AI is moving, that means that some aspect of what Adobe is offering will always in Beta. From my perspective as a consumer, we are being treated just the opposite and being charged for doing their testing. It’s making me kind of resentful.
Also, something like harmonize from my perspective is not really in the same category as generative AI and yet we are being charged not even the same but more. I for one will not be using it as it’s relatively easy. Albeit with a little bit more work to do it manually.
In my humble opinion Adobe is setting itself up to become the Amazon of all things photographic. They don’t need to expend the cash to buy other software like Luminar, Topaz, etc… they simply partner with them, and take a piece of the pie. Less cash outlay, more cash income. The ultimate corporate way of how do we do more with less and increase profitability. This I just the tip of the iceberg.
Very good read and I agree with all your points. After reading the blog on my phone, I thought I would open Lightroom on it to log into my account. After pressing the Lightroom icon I pressed my name to see my account. And there staring back at my was my Generative Credit account. I have 245 left out of 250. Very easy to find which I guess is a positive
Thats a great recap and opinion. I hope that Ado e listens carefully and completely.
Give me one command to switch off all generative commands. I don’t want to think about credits so allow me to switch the use of them on or off.
Offer an all in Photoshop with generative tools so I can decide what version of PS I want to buy.
This goes for the use of credits in Lightroom if this is contemplated.
You nailed it!
I looked up in my account and it said I have 25 credits each month. Well if I’m gonna do anything 25 credits will be gone in no time. Also, I own generative AI through Topaz so why should I pay to use it in Photoshop? I’m not happy unless they give us more credits per month for the photography membership 25 credits doesn’t seem like very many you mentioned something about 100 that would be a lot better but that’s not when I what I saw when I looked at my account.
“Also, I own generative AI through Topaz so why should I pay to use it in Photoshop?”
Because it’s infinitely better, is the simple answer. Honestly, Topaz Gen AI isn’t even in the same universe as Photoshop at this point. I just tried the latest version to make sure I hadn’t missed anything and the results were time consuming and laughable.
In the favor of Topaz, however, a lot of their generative tools can use the GPU, just at a slower rate and with not as great results, but not the worst I have seen, either. They do warn you when you are going to hit something that uses a lot of credits or will take a lot of time.
Keep in mind that Topaz started out as a creative tool in its inception. Want your photo to look like Monet? Topaz was the answer. I use it more in the realm of graphic design, where it excels. Other tools just can’t handle things like upscaling text. Topaz video is amazing. Sometimes the scaling tools beat out Photoshop and On1 – it is often image dependent.
But they do a bit better at warning you about generative costs (not perfect – better)
ok, get over it. There is no free lunch. My unlimited internet is capped and it slows. When I don’t use all of bandwidth it’s just lost cycles/bandwidth.
Excellent blog! Here is my take: [a] Charge us for credits only if we use the results. The current results are still too touch and go to know if we will use them. This would force Adobe but also its partners to make progress on the quality and value of the AI tools. [b] Find a way to roll the credits forward. For example, October credits expired at the end of November or even December. The downside of this is that it puts the burden of managing this credits, especially partner credits on Adobe. However, this would likely make it more acceptable to users to adopt the usage of credits.
[c] Given that the apps (e.g. LrC, PS) are part of the platform that will generate the AI stream of income, should they not be discounted? This is similar to the latest Affinity which is free to use UNTIL you leverage its AI components.
When I try to see my generative credit balance, I get a message that the app is “Unable to load section.” I recently returned from a long trip and have been editing about 2,000 photos, using generative processes frequently. I am under the Photographer’s Plan, so I don’t have a huge number of credits, but they don’t seem to run out this month. Maybe if I can’t see my credit balance, neither can Adobe?
If they are going to charge extra to use things like Gemini, instead of unfairly paying for generative credits every month, use it or lose it, I would at least prefer like topaz does to buy a varying size package of credits that do not expire and then when you use them up you can buy more. That would be much fairer.
I have long admired the two of you and the training you have given to the Photoshop community. Because I have been super busy with a major client that has me using InDesign more than Photoshop these days, I haven’t had time to research this and really appreciate this explanation and clarity. With all the other AI options out there, one would think Adobe would want to continue great customer service to keep their users. Now, I will be on the lookout for other options when the need arises as this just seems like a slap in the face and a huge money grab to me. Hopefully they will listen to your suggestions which may be of some help.
Matt (and Blake) – Thanks so much for taking the time to deliver this important message. Adobe needs you to help educate us on how to use their products. And when there are problems with these products that message needs to be delivered as well. So thanks for taking the lead on this.
I got all excited about the Ai partners, until I saw that they are not available for my Photography plan. Unless, of course, I either upgrade or pay for credits from the get go. Nickle and diming their customers.
After the photo shop summit recently I tried some of the AI features, the partner ones. Well after a few tries with horrible results suddenly had no credits left so agree with you totally. I usually only use it for expanding and removing things and love it. I bought some more credits then realized it was then a monthly subscription, cancelled immediately and now waiting for my next month’s allocation. I have never run out before.
I totally agree!
100 credits is basically nothing. How much do they cost? How do you pay for them? Your suggested improvements are obvious and overdue. Hard to believe Adobe has botched this so badly.
It depends on the tools. If you use Generative Fill, that’s 1 credit so you get 100 uses – which is probably way more than I’d do in a month. The other questions are all in your Adobe account. Thanks.
The answers may be there but they are exceedingly hard to find. After visiting my account and searching the FAQs I still have no idea how much a credit costs in cold hard cash or how to buy them if needed. Adobe should be ashamed of themselves for this fiasco.
Thanks Matt. I recently purchased the Lr course and the Ps virtual summit to help understand as I am transitioning to all new versions from the pre-AI.
I now see / understand how Lr (I assume cr in Ps) does new denoise only on raw files. Ok and it’s great but would love to understand:
1. When and where Lr Denoise should be replaced by other plug ins for raw files;
2. For non raw files, do you still recommend topaz or dxo for denoise use and/ or sharpen, and what do you think of dxo as the only plug in, given that topaz now going to subscription model?
Any other basic outline of workflow (if not covered in Lr course) to clarify your current thinking about which ones and how to use for denoise and sharpen, especially with older tiff-based scanned photos that have grain and noise.
Thanks for all this good content,
Marc
Hi Marc, and thanks.
1. I use Topaz when I have a problem photo. One with really high ISO, a little soft and a tight crop where I’ve lost resolution. That’s when I call on something like Topaz and I think it does a better job. However, that’s not most of my photos. For most of my work, LR DeNoise is plenty.
2. Yes I recommend Topaz. I personally don’t care for DxO but I know many like it. As for subscription models, it doesn’t affect me. I’m one to upgrade every year anyway, so I’m basically on a subscription anyway. Oh, and don’t hold out too long that Dxo won’t do the same thing. Software companies already know this is the only way to stay in business and be profitable.
Hope that helps. Thanks.
I appreciate your comments. I concur. This feels like a money making scam. My issue is that it seems like their development dollars are going towards AI and other extra priced tools and they’re just pocketing the annual subscription. For me as an amateur user I’m sure to ditch Adobe and whilst Lightroom / Photoshop is the best, others are good enough. A lot depends on what they put forward as my renewal subscription. A sad day.
Hi David. In fairness, EVERYONE’s development dollars are going to AI tools because that’s where the future is if you want improvement.
And to your “extra priced” comment, Lightroom got Assisted culling, stacking, Snow Mask, Variance adjustment, Reflection removal, Dust removal, and better object masking. All of those are free and don’t use generative credits. So… yes, we did get a few features that cost extra but remember that’s not really my issue. My issue is the transparency of that. But I do think overall we got many more features in the latest updates that don’t have anything to do with credits as well.
What a great Write UP! You nailed every question I had. After seeing a Scott wednesday infomercial on the newest Google AI capability of course I had to test it. I sometimes tried two or three tries on the same image.
I had no idea I was possibly going to be charged for it. Scott, etc. certainly never mentioned it.
Thanks You and Blake for a very useful education and constructive criticism on the subject.
Certainly appreciated. Dale
Thank you so much for this communication. You are two of the most trusted people in the space and I appreciate the views you shared in hopes Adobe will listen to you, to continue improving and providing transparency that is needed today, more than ever.
Agreed. Though I’m going to give Adobe the benefit of the doubt here and assume it’s a case of ‘they grew a bit too fast and lost themselves in the process’. Let’s hope they’re working on it.
I would agree and I think we said that in our podcast. I don’t think they’re “trying” to make this difficult. It’s uncharted waters at this point and I have to believe that this will become more transparent in the future.
So a team of people (how many?) dreamt up a feature that essentially costs people something (money/credits) and nobody thought to put a price tag on it?That’s essentially what we’re saying here. I don’t buy it. Charging for something, and therefore putting a price on it (each feature usage) so your customers know how much it’s costing, is not uncharted waters. It’s a concept that has been around since people started chiseling on stone. Sorry, but you’re giving them too much leeway with this aspect. And look at the rate they pump out new features! They have had ample time to implement, at the very least, a “wallet” counter so we know where we’re at and can at least see it ticking down when we use a tool.
Thanks for calling them out on this. I appreciate what you do. I teach people on workshops and have absolutely no clue what to tell people about this stupid credit system.
I’m sure Affinity will make you pay for things too, in the future. But all they have to do is be more transparent about what you’re paying, and it won’t take long for people to move. Although they need a Lightroom clone first.
It is my understanding the photography plan does not include Flux or Nano banana. You have to go to Pro plan to access those two. I am a hobby photographer so I have no interest in a higher plan. I agree Adobe needs to clarify and simplify the credits.
That is correct. You can purchase a plan for $9.99 or more, depending on how many credits you need
Well said Matt.
Good post, Matt.
I’ve long been a pretty happy Adobe LRC plus occasional Photoshop user, but I now keep my eyes open for alternative options. The non-rollover of credits each month is just a plain ripoff. The lack of clarity in what credits you’re about to use is just rubbish customer service. Adobe should be careful – nothing is for ever and they’re burning up a lot of customer goodwill lately.
Cheers
Iain