Hello Picktorials - hope you’re all having a lovely holiday season. In preparation for the new year, we’ve made some changes to the way Picktorial is structured as a business. I hope and believe that these changes will help us continue to build impeccable software in the years to come. 2019 is the year of freemium!
What’s Freemium?
Glad you asked! Freemium is a software distribution model that means a basic version of the app is handed out for free, while a more elaborate version is available for paying users. In our case, the Basic version of Picktorial is a fully functional, powerful, versatile, buttery smooth and dead simple photo editing app. And it’s available to use, for free, forever. How’s that for a Christmas gift.
We’ve also released a Premium version of the app. For $5 per month (if you pay annually), you get full RAW photo editing support, unlimited local adjustments (the Basic version supports 2) and priority support. For a powerful photo engine like Picktorial we hope that’s a pretty sweet deal.
Here’s the rundown. Going forward, there will be two versions of Picktorial.
- 1. Picktorial Basic: a full-featured version of Picktorial, free forever.
- 2. Picktorial Premium: RAW support, unlimited local adjustments, batch photo editing, priority support and other cool stuff - for $9.99 per month or $60 per year ($5 per month).
- 3. Picktorial Perpetual: A version of Picktorial that’s frozen in time (with no new premium features in the future), for a one-time payment of $70.
Why add subscription?
Up till now, Picktorial has only been available to download with a one-time purchase. Pay once and you’re done. It’s a nice feeling to pay for something and own it forever, but subscription is a much better model for creating great software. Here’s why:
Reason #1: Bug squashing continues!
Good software is never done - it requires constant attention and effort. At its current state, Picktorial is a robust photo editing app with a whole fresco of advanced capabilities. These algorithms require maintenance so you can continue using Picktorial undisturbed by buggy behavior. Stable subscription income will allow us to continue polishing the existing version of Picktorial forever.
Reason #2: Fuel for improvement
I’d love for you to see our product roadmap - there are some truly exciting things coming to Picktorial in the not so distant future. We have cool ideas about embedding Artificial Intelligence and new photo editing tools in Picktorial. Not only that - YOU have cool ideas for features we could build. I keep reading emails from Picktorial users with fantastic suggestions, and I’d like to see them all implemented. To do that, we need to hire more software engineers. Real smart ones. A subscription model allows us to do that.
Reason #3: Better support and more tutorials
This one is self explanatory. You’re happy when your email gets answered quickly. We’re happy when you’re happy. More support people get email answered quicker, and are also able to create better video tutorials for using Picktorial. It’s a win-win.
Reason #4: No one uses an out of date version
Under our old model, once you’ve paid for Picktorial you get a year of free updates. During that year - update galore - you’re always on the cutting edge version of Picktorial. But once that year is over, you’re using a suboptimal version of the software. We don’t want that. Subscription billing means we can let everyone use the best version of Picktorial, all the time.
Not convinced? We’ve got you covered.
If you still prefer the pay-once model, it’s all good. We’re still offering a one-time-purchase version of Picktorial for $70. It includes everything that the subscription version does, with one caveat: once you purchase, your Picktorial app is frozen in time. Other than mission-critical bug fixes you won’t receive any new updates.
What happens if I already bought Picktorial
While you can continue using Picktorial for as long as you want, the version you’re running is out of date. We’ve recently released Picktorial 3.5, which has a cool array of new features. I know you’ve been with us for a while, and I truly value having you on board. I’m happy to offer 33% discount on top of the annual subscription - that’s just $40 per year - if you upgrade by February 28th. Simply create an account on our website and upgrade via your account settings (or reach out and we’ll be happy to help!).
What if I bought Picktorial on the Mac App Store?
Picktorial 3.5 will be available on the Mac App Store soon. If you’ve purchased Picktorial via the Mac App Store in the past and would like to upgrade, please email us.
Happy new year!
That’s it for today, folks. As always, I’m super proud to have you all using Picktorial, and hope to continue creating great software - and more importantly, enabling great photographs - for many years to come. Over and out.