Xmega Shop
If you only work in one creative discipline, a single-app Adobe license is meaningfully cheaper than the full Creative Cloud suite — the trick is picking the one that actually matches your workflow.
Photoshop: pixel-based editing and compositing
Adobe Photoshop (Single App) is for raster image editing — retouching, compositing, digital painting, and any work built pixel by pixel rather than with scalable shapes. If your work involves editing existing photos or building layered composite images, this is the core tool.
Lightroom: photo cataloging and batch editing
Adobe Lightroom is built specifically for photographers managing large shoots — non-destructive batch editing, catalog organization, and color grading across hundreds of images at once. It's not a replacement for Photoshop's pixel-level retouching, but for the "edit and organize a shoot" workflow, Lightroom is faster and better organized than doing the same work file-by-file in Photoshop.
Illustrator: vector graphics and scalable design
Adobe Illustrator (Single App) is for vector work — logos, icons, print layouts, anything that needs to scale to any size without quality loss. If your output includes logos or print materials that need to work at both business-card and billboard scale, vector tools are non-negotiable, and Illustrator remains the industry standard.
Video editing is a separate license entirely
None of these three handle video editing — that's Adobe Premiere Pro (Single App), a completely separate single-app license from the image and design tools above.
Plugins and extensions can close feature gaps
Each of these tools has a mature third-party plugin ecosystem that can extend core functionality significantly — before assuming you need a second app for a specific task, check whether a plugin for your primary tool already covers it, since that's often cheaper than adding an entirely separate license.
Cloud sync between desktop and mobile versions is included with all three, letting you start an edit on a desktop and continue on a tablet — genuinely useful for photographers culling a shoot on the go, though large files can take a noticeable amount of time to sync fully depending on your connection.
File format compatibility with non-Adobe tools is worth checking if you collaborate with people using different software — all three can export to widely compatible formats (JPG, PNG, SVG, PDF), but native project files (PSD, AI) require Adobe software specifically to edit further.
Tablet and stylus support (Wacom and similar drawing tablets) is mature across all three Adobe apps, though pressure-sensitivity and gesture customization depth can differ slightly — worth testing with your specific tablet model if precise digital drawing is a core part of your workflow.
All three sync settings and presets across devices when signed into the same Adobe account, so custom brushes or presets built on one machine carry over automatically to another.
When the full suite makes more sense
If you regularly need two or more of these tools together, Adobe Creative Cloud — All Apps becomes cost-competitive with stacking multiple single-app licenses — do the math on your actual tool usage before assuming single-app is always cheaper. All Adobe licenses are in Software & OS Licenses.