I talked to a Dell ASAP guy late last year about upgrading a CS5 VLA license to CS6 (CS5.5 being between, so a “2-back” upgrade) and it was all possible before the end of 2012. Now we are all screwed into always upgrading to the latest version, or never upgrade and just buy a new full version every time.
If you are upgrading a retail box version you may be able to get a sealed box upgrade, but given the last couple of version were heavy on the download and require logging in to an Adobe account tied to the key, it wouldn’t surprise me if they prevent this now too.
That doesn’t sound right, at all, Adobe still offers upgrades from CS5 to CS6 for all products, i’d either contact adobe sales, or a reseller like CDW/PCM/Softmart for verification.
I talked to a Dell ASAP guy late last year about upgrading a CS5 VLA license to CS6 (CS5.5 being between, so a “2-back” upgrade) and it was all possible before the end of 2012. Now we are all screwed into always upgrading to the latest version, or never upgrade and just buy a new full version every time.
If you are upgrading a retail box version you may be able to get a sealed box upgrade, but given the last couple of version were heavy on the download and require logging in to an Adobe account tied to the key, it wouldn’t surprise me if they prevent this now too.
These started out as licenses purchased around 1999-2002 and upgraded to CS4 back in 2009. I think that they would qualify for a retail box upgrade. As far as I’m aware, we’ve never done any volume licensing with Adobe other than the possible exception of Adobe Acrobat.
There are a few options:
- Purchase a boxed upgrade of CS5 (or 5.5), then upgrade THAT to CS6 (total cost should be around $400, roughly $300 less than full purchase cost of CS6)
- Switch to “Creative Cloud” for $30/month and get the full Creative suite (if you need additional software) or Photoshop CS6 “Cloud” for $20. These programs are installed locally.
- Continue to use CS4
Odds are the company can justify spending $400-$700 on the software, if it’s a matter of cashflow, then the “cloud” offerings might be appealing.
However, if you’re not working the software that heavily, CS4 is still usable today.