Adobe

Adobe

Basic information
Founded	1982
Legal Structure	Public
Industry	Software
Also known as
Official website	https://adobe.com/

Adobe is a software company based in San Jose, California, that specializes in creative software, including photo editing, video editing, animation, illustration, web development, and more. Founded in 1982, the company developed the Portable Document Format (PDF) in 1992, along with a comprehensive suite of creative software. Widespread adoption of their products by novices, industry professionals, and nation-states has enabled Adobe to carve out a significant market share in the creative software industry. In FY24, Adobe's Digital Media Segment reported $15.86 billion in revenue to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Consumer impact summary

Lack of ownership

In 2013, Adobe switched from a perpetual license model to a subscription model (Creative Cloud).

Proprietary file formats

Works created in Adobe software come in Adobe-exclusive file formats such as .psd for Photoshop and .indd for InDesign.

Data breaches

In 2013, Adobe disclosed a data breach affecting approximately 3 million customers. This number was later revised to approximately 38 million. This incident resulted in a $1,000,000 settlement and a commitment to implementing new security policies. In 2019, researchers discovered that Adobe's Elasticsearch database was insecure, potentially exposing the information of approximately 7.5 million users. Breaches impacting U.S. federal agencies and Adobe Commerce/Magento stores also occurred in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

Incidents

Adobe attempted to discontinue Adobe Animate (2026)

Main article: Adobe attempted to discontinue Adobe Animate

On February 2, 2026, Adobe announced to users via e-mail that Adobe Animate, formerly the Adobe Flash Professional series of apps, was announced to be discontinued starting March 1, 2026. They stated that "as technologies evolve, new platforms and paradigms emerge that better serve the needs of the users." New customers would no longer be able to download Animate after March 1, 2026, and existing customers would have until March 1, 2027 to download the software that they had paid for. This means that users who could not download Adobe Animate in time had the software taken from them despite paying for a license. However, after backlash from people still using the software, Adobe backtracked and stated that Animate would be in "maintenance mode", claiming that they will provide security fixes for the software but no new features.

FTC Lawsuit over hidden fees in subscription plans (2024 - 2026)

Main article: Adobe sued by FTC over hidden fees in subscription plans

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit against Adobe Inc. and two of its executives, accusing Adobe of concealing critical terms of its subscription plans and creating obstacles to cancellation, claiming that Adobe's practices violated the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA), which "generally requires companies offering online subscriptions to clearly disclose important subscription information and to provide subscribers with simple ways to cancel". The issue being the seemingly hidden early termination fees for its "Annual, Paid Monthly" subscription plansOn March 2026, Adobe settled the lawsuit for $150 million, which is split into $75 million in penalties and $75 million worth of free services to customers.

Alleged use of user data for AI training (2024)

Main article: Adobe ToS update gives the company rights over consumers' works

Adobe has been accused of using user information for the purpose of training artificial intelligence. In 2024, Adobe updated its Terms of Service, granting itself a "non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license" to users' content. This grants Adobe permission to reproduce, distribute, create derivative works from, publicly display, publicly perform, and sublicense their users' content. This change raises concerns over conflicts with existing non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and intellectual property rights. Users were required to accept the new Terms of Service to access their previously stored content.^{[citation needed (29 Mar 2026)]}

Adobe has stated that it does not use user content to train generative AI, but Adobe may use it for improving its machine learning systems, with an opt-out available. However, no opt-out option was presented during acceptance of the Terms of Service.^{[citation needed (29 Mar 2026)]}

User information leaks and data breaches (2013 & 2019)

Main article: Adobe leaks sensitive user information

In 2013, credit card information and personal data of 38 million users were exposed in a data breach.

In 2019, Adobe left approximately 7.5 million Creative Cloud customer records publicly accessible online due to gross negligence. The database was not protected with a password.

Tracking users' eBook reading activities (2014 - Present)

Main article: Adobe found to track users' reading activities

In 2014, it was revealed that Adobe Digital Editions, Adobe’s e-book reading application, reported extensive information about users' reading habits back to Adobe. This included several unique identifiers, such as which e-books were added to the application, when each one was opened, and for how long, as well as the percentage read and page navigation information.

All of this information was transmitted completely unencrypted in plain text. This meant that someone else using the same public Wi-Fi as another user would have been able to track their reading activities in real-time, entirely undetected.

Transition to subscription-based software (2013 - Present)

Main article: Adobe Creative Suite activation

Adobe initially distributed its software with perpetual licenses, allowing its users to make a one-time payment to own and access a specific application or, through Adobe's Creative Suite, a collection of applications. In 2011, Adobe introduced Creative Cloud, a subscription service that provides users with access to individual applications or multiple applications for a monthly or yearly fee. In 2013, Adobe discontinued Creative Suite.

As of 2025, the only means to access up-to-date versions of many Adobe applications legally is through Creative Cloud. Additionally, the activation servers for perpetual licenses of previous versions of these applications have been shut down, which prevents consumers from activating the software using a legitimate copy and a serial number.^{[citation needed (29 Mar 2026)]}

Creative Cloud offers various subscription options, including monthly plans (with monthly or annual billing) or prepaid yearly plans. There are also plans for individual applications and bundles containing multiple applications. Prices of individual applications range from $22.99 per month or $263.88 prepaid annually. The Creative Cloud Pro subscription, which includes 22 applications and additional extras such as 100 GB of cloud storage, is priced at $69.99 per month or $779.88 per year prepaid.^{[citation needed (29 Mar 2026)]}

Plans billed annually but paid monthly have a cancellation fee 14 days after purchase. This fee is set at 50% of the remaining contract balance. For example, if the user cancels the plan in the seventh month of an annual plan that costs $69.99 per month, they will incur a fee of $174.98. Prepaid annual plans do not offer refunds or cancellation options after the 14-day period.^{[citation needed (29 Mar 2026)]}

iPad edition users' documents forced into the cloud with no opt-out (2021 - Present)

Main article: Adobe forces iPad edition users' documents forced into the cloud

Some of Adobe's iPad applications, including, but not limited to, the digital painting application Adobe Fresco and the document scanning application Adobe Scan, require an account to access and do not offer any option to opt out of syncing all documents created in these applications with Adobe's cloud servers. Similarly, the new non-Classic versions of Lightroom are fundamentally built around uploading all images to Adobe's cloud. Disabling internet access allows the user to work offline, but any files created in the affected apps will immediately sync to the cloud in the background as soon as the device is connected to a network again.^{[citation needed (29 Mar 2026)]}

Paywalling Pantone colors and changes user files (2022 - Present)

Main article: Adobe paywalls Pantone colors and affects user files

In 2022, Adobe removed access to Pantone colors across its Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator Creative Cloud applications, unless an additional $15/month is paid. Consumers reported that the colors in some older PSD files were turning black.

Products

Adobe Creative Cloud

Adobe's previous line of creative software has been joined into a broader ecosystem called the Adobe Creative Cloud. Some of Creative Cloud's products include:

• Photoshop
• Lightroom
• InDesign
• After Effects
• Dreamweaver
• Illustrator
• XD

Depending on plan options, Adobe also offers cloud-based storage, typefaces, stock photos, and other stock files.

References

• Wikipedia contributors (2025-02-03). "Adobe Inc". Wikipedia. Archived from the original on 8 Jul 2025. Retrieved 2025-02-06.
• Rossmann, Louis (2024-06-07). "Adobe roofies all of their customers". YouTube. Archived from the original on 19 Nov 2025. Retrieved 2025-01-15.