Photoshop Elements 2025: What's a "3-year term" license?

[James Steele]

So I have Photoshop Elements 2025 and I was getting a promotional nag screen about Photoshop Elements 2025. So I go over and look at their website and there's a sale going on. I think about the upgrade, but I'm very disturbed by the wording. It doesn't say it's a "perpetual" license... it says it's a "3-year term" license. I'm already leery of companies like Adobe trying to force consumers into subscription software. This "3-year term" thing seems shady. What does it mean? After 3 years it expires?

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[stubbsonic]

I suppose it is a sort of clever way to see where our threshold is. As in:

I could imagine paying for software for a 5 year term.

(Adobe: "Missed it by that much." .... Maxwell Smart? ... Anyone?)

[mikehalloran]

Not sure. Since Elements tricked me into buying 2025 after I followed the nag screen without offering the upgrade discount I could have received, I made them give my money back. There are a number of differences including the way that the apps are loaded and licensed. Adobe Support hadn't worked any of that out yet after I purchased.

Both Photoshop and Premiere Elements 2024 work fine over Sequoia 15.3.1. There's no way to make the 2025 nag screen go away other than ignore it.

If/when it's time to upgrade (next macOS?), I will do so. Till then, no thanks, Adobe.

I'm still ticked that Acrobat Professional 2020 is still an active product but doesn't work properly over Sonoma/Sequoia. When 2017 didn't work over Sonoma, Support told me upgrade to 2020 to fix the problem. It didn't and I eventually got my money back. I had to apply the refund to a subscription to Acrobat 360 to make it work. Adobe has since released Acrobat Classic with a permanent license—when my 360 comes up or renewal, I will get Classic instead. I am one of the chorus on the user support boards trying to get Adobe to quit lying to us. Since EOL for 2020 is next month, I don't have my hopes up.

[James Steele]

Both Photoshop and Premiere Elements 2024 work fine over Sequoia 15.3.1. There's no way to make the 2025 nag screen go away other than ignore it.

I'm doing the same thing. I trust Adobe as far as I could pick them up and throw them. "3-year term?" No thanks. I should say "perpetual."