PM7 / Planned features road map

[Craig_S44]

Hi PM People,

I get you need to move to a subscription model and support this because I know that there is tremendous room for new features particularly in the AI space,  unlike some other software that I use which moved over to subscription model but has limited new features that could be added or needed for a large part of the user base for that software.

What I strongly urge you to do, however, is release some info on what the first round up dates are looking like post subscription introduction. People like to know what they are paying for. :-)

Cheers

Craig

[Max Lemesh]

I’m currently trialing the new PM v2024.3 as it is now called, and struggling to see any difference from my latest PM6! Apart from universal app (standard and plus in one), new icon and new name. And new pricing.

Found out on Facebook that PM now supports webp format, which is great, but I would never know that.

So yeah, feature list and road map would be great

[ahoward]

We're working on it.

[Craig_S44]

We're working on it.

Good to hear.

Really hoping that facial recognition and QR code reading with ability to write to metadata from the embedded info will be somewhere on that list.

Craig

[martink]

+1
Ideally it would be have been good to know some waypoints and time scales for the journey we are embarking on before the change in the pricing structure.
Any idea when that roadmap might be available?
Martin

[elianoimperato]

I’m currently trialing the new PM v2024.3 as it is now called, and struggling to see any difference from my latest PM6! Apart from universal app (standard and plus in one), new icon and new name. And new pricing.

Yes, new pricing. What is certain is that it has become a more expensive app. This is the reality.

[platti]

We're working on it.

Yes, you have to. Otherwise your pricing is not arguable.

[Kirk Baker]

We have had various price changes over the years.  We even tried lowering the price for a while which didn't produce increased sales beyond the expectation of a new version release.  Photo Mechanic has stayed at around $150 for a new license for most of its 20+ year span.  Our costs have increased as have costs for all kinds of things (food, clothing, electricity, gasoline, health insurance, cars, rent, houses, etc.) but PM has had roughly the same price.

We're currently considering upgrade pricing for existing perpetual customers that want to move to the new perpetual license.  When we have reached a decision, we'll let you know.  We don't expect that many of you current PM6 users will want to move to the new perpetual Photo Mechanic license because, frankly, as Max said, there isn't much different about the new release.  This is true.  But that will change in the coming months and perhaps eventually some of you will want to take advantage of an upgrade price.

-Kirk

[C-F]

KirK,
Having PM6+ since it came out, I just enrolled to the subscription model. Would a possible upgrade pricing be retroactive for someone like me?
Thanks.

[Horst H.]

I hope there a a lot of new features. If you compare to Photoshop, that cost me 80 Euro per Year on Black Friday week, and there a a lot of new features during the updates.

[vale]

We have had various price changes over the years.  We even tried lowering the price for a while which didn't produce increased sales beyond the expectation of a new version release.  Photo Mechanic has stayed at around $150 for a new license for most of its 20+ year span.  Our costs have increased as have costs for all kinds of things (food, clothing, electricity, gasoline, health insurance, cars, rent, houses, etc.) but PM has had roughly the same price.

-Kirk

But you go from 150$ for a few years (one major version of software) to 350$ every year (not related to major versions). Why wasn't an option to have a yearly fee of 80-100$ for every user?

[Stenis]

We have had various price changes over the years.  We even tried lowering the price for a while which didn't produce increased sales beyond the expectation of a new version release.  Photo Mechanic has stayed at around $150 for a new license for most of its 20+ year span.  Our costs have increased as have costs for all kinds of things (food, clothing, electricity, gasoline, health insurance, cars, rent, houses, etc.) but PM has had roughly the same price.

We're currently considering upgrade pricing for existing perpetual customers that want to move to the new perpetual license.  When we have reached a decision, we'll let you know.  We don't expect that many of you current PM6 users will want to move to the new perpetual Photo Mechanic license because, frankly, as Max said, there isn't much different about the new release.  This is true.  But that will change in the coming months and perhaps eventually some of you will want to take advantage of an upgrade price.

-Kirk

I have a perpetual licence of PM 6 Plus that I bought when the Plus-version was released. I think I paid just below 200 U$.
Sometimes I have heard people that wanted to add PM in their work flow say using DXO Photolab, that they considered that expensive.
I have never agreed on that because I think PM Plus has added tremendous value for me.
It really have added productivity when maintaining metadata.

Frankly it is much about how you value your time when valuing the contribution that PM gives.

Do you think you have failed a little in your work to get people to see these advantages fully.
In fact, I think PM Plus have been very price worthy - almost cheap.

I understand that you will go into a subscription business model and that is fine with me as long as it doesn´t stall development of the software completely.
My dream is that you open up to tie metadata not only to pictures but also to Office-, PDF- and all sorts of other files.
Even photographers have all sorts of files to organize that are not pictures.

This would have a huge potential of widening your user base.
Will we in some foreseeable future be able to get something like that?

Last question:
When do you think we will be able to integrate PM Plus in a C2PA-work flow?

I also have to say I really appreciate your frequent presence in these dialogs.
Camarea Bits really shines when it comes to the dialog with its users.

[vale]

They are working on a features road map for at least 2 months, yeah, their engagement is tremendous.

@Stenis - when they will incorporate c2pa, you'll not be the beneficiary of its implementation, because only those with subscription will get it. Soooo....good luck with your actual perpetual license.

[Stenis]

OK, I will see what I will do.

Will be interesting to see where the new prices are landing.

[myotis]

We have had various price changes over the years.  We even tried lowering the price for a while which didn't produce increased sales beyond the expectation of a new version release.  Photo Mechanic has stayed at around $150 for a new license for most of its 20+ year span.  Our costs have increased as have costs for all kinds of things (food, clothing, electricity, gasoline, health insurance, cars, rent, houses, etc.) but PM has had roughly the same price.

We're currently considering upgrade pricing for existing perpetual customers that want to move to the new perpetual license.  When we have reached a decision, we'll let you know.  We don't expect that many of you current PM6 users will want to move to the new perpetual Photo Mechanic license because, frankly, as Max said, there isn't much different about the new release.  This is true.  But that will change in the coming months and perhaps eventually some of you will want to take advantage of an upgrade price.

-Kirk

I've already explained, why for me, the new pricing after nearly 20 years of using PM, has reluctantly forced me to look for an alternative, even though a "full" replacement doesn't exist.


But, I would like to suggest offering an option for long term perpetual license holders a "loyalty" upgrade to a subscription with a permanent 50%  discount.

This is something that two other programs that went subscription offered, which  I took advantage of. And I could afford to commit to this sort of pricing for PM.  I have no ideological objection to a subscription, specially if it allows PM to develop more quickly, it's just too big of a commitment for me at its current pricing.

It seems like it would be good marketing for existing long term users, and hang onto customers who feel the jump in pricing is forcing them to look elsewhere.

I have no idea of the numbers involved of course, but I would have thought encouraging loyal users to switch to a subscription albeit at a reduced rate, would be good for the cash flow. And, that by keeping people like me in the "PM family" who have promoted PM and provided unofficial support for PM in several Photo Forums, across many years, would also be useful for PM.

I realise that you will have already bounced around all the options, but still felt the need to suggest it.