I get it, we are all in survival mode.

We may be, but Adobe isn't. Their stock price has soared this year. https://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=ADBE

When customers download free content from Adobe, we have an opportunity to educate these users�many of them new to stock�about licenses, copyright, and respect for artists� content.

This is the part that hurts the most, they are talking to us like to idiots. Many people (social media) never heard/cared about copyright, in many countries copyright laws don't exist, what is there to educate?

However, they are making thieves' job much easier by legally downloading images and uploading them as their own to other agencies. It is happening all the time, portfolios consisting of free images taken from Unsp*ash, Pixa*ay, Pix*els.....were reported on SS several times but nobody cares.

It seems this is a great year for bad news. They just can't stop coming.
Everything is going from cheap to cheaper to free.

Quote from: MatHayward on October 14, 2020, 16:42

I've seen a number of tongue-in-cheek comments here about Adobe giving away software. I would like to remind you that we have given away tens of thousands of complimentary subscriptions through the Adobe Stock contributor Bonus Progam over the past couple of years and that we are continuing the tradition again with the 2020 program. So to answer your specific question... yes, for productive contributors Adobe is giving away a free app each year.

Mat, I think your comparison is lacking. I appreciate very much that Adobe is having the bonus programm. It's a nice bonus, but it's not "given away for free". It's tied to a condition. The condition that we contributors manage to sell a certain amount of images or footage and therefore the condition is that we earn Adobe a certain amount of money. We earn you money, you give us a bonus for that.
The proper comparison to the free image collection would be: If a customer downloads 100 paid images, he gets 1 image for free. That would be a more accurate comparison. He earns you money, he gets a bonus in return. That's how our bonus program works.  But you are giving away free images without any conditions. The "customer" doesn't have to do anything to get the free images, while we contributors have to earn you money to get the "free" softwear. Two rather different things, don't you think?


My overall opinion on this free image collection is: I do believe Adobe did this with a good intention and not to screw contributors over. After all, if we don't benefit from this, neither do they, so they really believe it will boost sales.
However, I believe the selection of free images is way too large and don't think it will have the desired effect of more paid customers.  I have a fear it might be the opposite. With such a huge collection of free high quaity images, I don't think people who usually don't pay for images will be motivated to do so now. It just means more free content to pick from for them after all. But people who have paid for images in the past might think "Why should I pay if they give away so many great pictures for free?". Other stock agencies have one free image a week or even month, not thousands of them.

I hope Adobe will monitor customer behavior closely in regards of whether peope who get free content also start buying paid content and will make the right decision to back down from this whole free collection again if they see that it does not work out as intended and I hope that by then the damage done won't be too big. People who have gotten used to getting high quality work for free will have a hard time adjusting to the thought that they should pay for it again and might just search elsewhere for free images instead of getting back to paying for content.

Point taken Firn, you are right. It's not apples to apples. Just noting the multiple references implying Adobe would never give away software.

To your second point, yes, of course we will be monitoring this very closely every day.

Thanks for your feedback,

Mat

Quote from: MatHayward on October 14, 2020, 16:42

I've seen a number of tongue-in-cheek comments here about Adobe giving away software. I would like to remind you that we have given away tens of thousands of complimentary subscriptions through the Adobe Stock contributor Bonus Progam over the past couple of years and that we are continuing the tradition again with the 2020 program. So to answer your specific question... yes, for productive contributors Adobe is giving away a free app each year.

Not wanting to sound ungrateful for two years of free subscription on Adobe CC, but to be eligible we all had to actively produce and upload content to meet the requirements. So Adobe didn't really give it away for free, they received much more content and thus more revenue from active contributors.

This is very true and I apologize if my comments implied that I believed otherwise. That wasn't my intent. My personal belief is the bonus program is mutually beneficial.

-Mat

Recap of conversation last few posts:

Any one with a CC account (I myself use a Photoshop/Lightroom account) is now able to download 100 images per day with each image covering the full lifetime commercial use license?

No....

Oh thank God

...You don't need to be a Creative Cloud member to use Adobe Stock.

*faint sounds of sobbing*

Thanks for your questions

Is there anywhere where we can read about the Licensing terms for the free images, I couldn't find it.
Is there uses they cannot be used for such as Print on demand etc?

Quote from: JustAnImage on October 15, 2020, 05:14

So let me ask, if I am getting this right:

-> Any one with a CC account (I myself use a Photoshop/Lightroom account) is now able to download 100 images per day with each image covering the full lifetime commercial use license? Do those free images cover extended license as well?

No to both questions. You don't need to be a Creative Cloud member to use Adobe Stock. You must have an Adobe ID. The images come with a standard license.
Mat

Thanks again for your answers!

So you only need to have an Adobe ID, which makes it even worse in my opinion

To all on this forum. Who is a competitor to Photoshop software. Is their any ?

Affinity Photo. Very good, one time price (not subscription based).

Quote from: MatHayward on October 15, 2020, 08:29

Quote from: JustAnImage on October 15, 2020, 05:14

So let me ask, if I am getting this right:

-> Any one with a CC account (I myself use a Photoshop/Lightroom account) is now able to download 100 images per day with each image covering the full lifetime commercial use license? Do those free images cover extended license as well?

No to both questions. You don't need to be a Creative Cloud member to use Adobe Stock. You must have an Adobe ID. The images come with a standard license.

Thanks for your questions,

Mat

So anyone who has an Adboe ID, (such as creating an account for a free trial of Photoshop and never paying any money for any product to Adobe in any way), can now get 100 free images a day?

Am I reading that right?

I don't think so. I think he is saying anyone can sign up for Adobe Stock and the free images, trial or no trial.  I know it took me a minute to wrap my head around it, because it's horrific, but there it is.

As long as the free content is not enough to satisfy customers' needs, they might still pay for our content.

But we all know how it went with Storyblocks: a free 'Unlimited' section with a 'Premium' content marketplace. For a while we did get Marketplace sales. Eventually, the free 'Unlimited' section would grow to such an extent and quality level, they could remove the Marketplace altogether.

Not saying that this is Adobe's endgame, but this premium freebies mentality is showing how agencies like to cater to customers looking for free or cheap, instead of premium buyers. It's once again the race to the bottom.
I predict that it won't be long before all major agencies have shifted towards unlimited downloads and artists get a "percentage of the rewards pool". Then it's game over for us microstock artists.

Quote from: mj007 on October 15, 2020, 08:32

To all on this forum. Who is a competitor to Photoshop software. Is their any ?

Affinity Photo. Very good, one time price (not subscription based).

Also, if you want something similar to PS you can buy PS Elements on disc. If you want for video too, there is a PSE + Premiere elements bundle too (one time payment). If you decide for this, buy it from Amazon, it is easier and I had free shipping (of the disc) too: https://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Photoshop-Elements-2020-Premiere/dp/B07X4RR19R/ref=sr_1_2?crid=W4G5LO7W5SKO&dchild=1&keywords=adobe+photoshop+elements+2020+%26+premiere+elements+2020&qid=1602775159&sprefix=Adobe+Photoshop+Elements+2020+%2B%2Caps%2C295&sr=8-2