Why do I have to pay for the Photoshop SDK?

A. You don’t! Technically, you never did, but a few years back a policy change meant that in order to request the SDK, you needed a paid membership in the Adobe Solutions Network. There are lots of good reasons to join the ASN (co-marketing, tech support, product discounts, etc.), but you shouldn’t have to sign up just to get the SDK. So, some time back (at least a year ago) we changed the policy so that you can simply make the request via the SDK via a Web form.
We’ve also split the SDK between two different versions, Basic and Advanced. The Basic SDK includes everything you’ll need except the File Format and File Import/Export information. For that, you’ll need to make a request through the link provided above so that we can do the additional paperwork to get you the Advanced SDK (still no charge).
We haven’t done a good job of communicating this change (in fact, some of the old info still exists & needs to be updated), so I thought I’d blog it here. [Update: There’s also a user-to-user forum for discussion of SDK-related issues.]

0 thoughts on “Why do I have to pay for the Photoshop SDK?

  1. Thanks for the information. I do consulting work on weekends and occasionally get a Photoshop plug-in job. The ASN fees are pretty low, but painful for the level of work I do in Photoshop.

  2. Is there current information if Studio 8 (DW, FL, FW, etc.) will require ASN in the near future for “Adobe approval/certification”, like MM has “MM approved”?
    Any info or thoughts would be informative, thanks.

  3. A step in the right direction – everything was so easy when the SDK shipped with the product. I wish Photoshop had a more open and flexible SDK. One that is is not treeting third party plug-ins as 2nd class citizens. What about plug-in blending modes, palettes, tools, menu items, parsers… ? Please let developers fill the gaps instead of forcing them to develop separate solutions. Open up!

  4. A 4 day waiting period to access the sdk is unbelievable. In this world of OS alternatives like imagemagick this level of formality just doesn’t make sense.

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