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Adobe Photoshop Review: Price, Features and Score

Adobe Photoshop at a glance: $19.99 a month, on Windows, Mac, web, iOS and Android. Below are its plans, what its own site says it does for an author, its score and the products to compare it with. We did not test it ourselves; the data was checked on October 7, 2026.

Prices and data checked October 7, 2026 · Author Score computed by a published formula, not paid for

Adobe Photoshop on the BookBird Author Score

Author Score · book cover design · #10 of 10 ·

Best for: Authors or designers building covers from scratch with pro tools

BookBird Author Score2.2/10 #10 of 10 book cover design. Worked out from Adobe Photoshop’s own pages, its price and US searches for its name, not typed in. Author jobs50 pts8.3/50Each of the 6 author jobs on the book cover design list is worth an equal share of 50 points, and counts only when Adobe Photoshop’s own pages confirm it. 1 of 6 confirmed = 8.3 points. A job the vendor does not mention earns nothing.Cost25 pts5/25Adobe Photoshop costs $239.88 a year on its cheapest plan. Free earns 25 points; the dearest book cover design product with a US price, Adobe Photoshop at $239.88 a year, keeps 5; prices in between fall in a straight line. $239.88 = 5 points.Adoption25 pts9.1/25Searches, 20 points: 70 a month for “photoshop book cover”, against Affinity, the most searched in this category (12,100), on a log scale = 9.1. Trend, 5 points: down 56% (last three months against the first three of the year) = 0; a fall of half or more earns 0, no change 2.5, a rise of half or more 5. 22.4 of 100 points= 2.2 out of 10 The full method, with every product’s points →

Author jobs, from Adobe Photoshop’s own pages

  • Not stated: Print covers sized for KDP (not stated)
  • Not stated: Ebook cover sizes (not stated)
  • Not stated: Book cover templates (not stated)
  • Not stated: Images and fonts cleared for commercial use (not stated)
  • Yes: Print-ready export
  • Not stated: 3D mockups for promotion (not stated)

Adobe Photoshop pricing

Subscription. Free trial: 7 days. The plans as Adobe Photoshop’s own site listed them on October 7, 2026, in US dollars:

  • Photoshop: $22.99 a month (annual commitment, billed monthly; desktop, web and mobile, Adobe Express Premium, 100GB storage)
  • Photoshop (annual, prepaid): $263.88 a year
  • Photography: $19.99 a month (annual commitment, billed monthly; Photoshop plus Lightroom)
  • Creative Cloud Pro: $69.99 a month (annual commitment, billed monthly; 20+ apps)

USD prices read from Adobe's own price API (web_commerce_artifact, country=US) behind adobe.com/products/photoshop/plans.html; the page itself shows local currency by visitor country. 7-day free trial stated on the plans page.

What Adobe Photoshop offers

From Adobe Photoshop’s own pages, checked on October 7, 2026:

  • Layer-based photo editing and compositing
  • CMYK colour mode for print separations
  • Save as Photoshop PDF with PDF/X presets for print
  • Generative AI fill and expand with monthly credits
  • Runs on desktop, in the browser and on mobile
  • Plan includes Adobe Express Premium and cloud storage

Runs on: Windows, Mac, web, iOS and Android. Exports: PSD, PDF, JPG, PNG and TIFF. Works offline. Launched: 1990.

Who Adobe Photoshop suits, and what its pages do not say

Best for: Authors or designers building covers from scratch with pro tools.

Not confirmed on Adobe Photoshop’s pages when we checked: print covers sized for KDP, ebook cover sizes, book cover templates, images and fonts cleared for commercial use and 3D mockups for promotion. That is what the vendor states, not a test; a feature can exist without being described, and the score only credits what is.

About 70 people a month search Google in the US for “photoshop book cover”, down 56% over the past year (Google Ads data via DataForSEO).

Adobe Photoshop alternatives

SoftwareScorePrice fromBest for
Canva8.5Free plan; paid from $20 a monthAuthors on a budget making ebook covers and promo graphics
BookCoverZone8.3$99 one-timeAuthors who want a designer-made premade cover without commissioning one
DIY Book Covers8.2Free plan; paid from $19 one-timeBudget authors wanting AI-made ebook covers with one-time credit packs
Book Brush7.2$149 a yearAuthors who want covers plus ad graphics in one yearly web subscription
Venngage Book Cover Maker6.9Free plan; paid from $120 a yearAuthors already using a general web design tool on a subscription

Compare: All book cover design · All software for authors

Adobe Photoshop questions

How much does Adobe Photoshop cost?

$19.99 a month. Adobe Photoshop lists 4 plans; the full list is under Pricing above.

What does Adobe Photoshop run on?

Windows, Mac, web, iOS and Android, according to its own site.

Is there a free trial of Adobe Photoshop?

Yes, 7 days.

What file formats can Adobe Photoshop export?

PSD, PDF, JPG, PNG and TIFF, according to its own site.

How the score is computed: the formula, step by step. Prices and features were read from Adobe Photoshop’s own site on October 7, 2026; nobody pays to be listed.