Adobe does not keep record of bundled LR upload

[harvey999999]

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I've just spent an hour with Adobe's customer service trying to upgrade my Lightroom 4 (which came bundled with my M9-P when I bought it) to Lightroom 5. Adobe has no record of my "order" for Lightroom 4 - presumably because I did not "purchase" it but got it with my camera - and virtually accused me of lying. So I only have the option of buying the full Lightroom 5 at double the cost of an upgrade from Lightroom 4. Anyone else in this situation?

[Jeff S]

Some Adobe folks are not familiar with the Leica approach. This topic has come up before, and according to this post, for instance, you would have to fully purchase LR 5, even though you have LR 4, since you need a new license. After that, you'd get free upgrades until LR 6, and then just have to pay the incremental upgrade fee to LR 7. That is, unless LR changes its system, goes to the cloud, etc.

 

Jeff

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[hoppyman]

I've just spent an hour with Adobe's customer service trying to upgrade my Lightroom 4 (which came bundled with my M9-P when I bought it) to Lightroom 5. Adobe has no record of my "order" for Lightroom 4 - presumably because I did not "purchase" it but got it with my camera - and virtually accused me of lying. So I only have the option of buying the full Lightroom 5 at double the cost of an upgrade from Lightroom 4. Anyone else in this situation?

 

Hi Harvey, this is a bit of a confusing topic with more than one aspect to it. I hope that some of this may be useful. Bear with me for the parts you already know as it may help someone else.

 

Adobe doesn't actually bundle anything with the cameras. The TAN, camera serial number registered with Leica and the option to download from a Leica hosting are just vehicles for Leica to give you an LR serial number. It is done that way to reduce fraud (people "guessing" camera serial numbers). You could use a copy of the same download 100 times or whatever, Only a serial number that complies with that version is necesary and you need to comply with the EULA of course. Tht basically lets you install it on two machines at a time providing you only use one of them at the same instant. LR actually doesn't have any activation function as such and in theory you could install on more (but would be in breach of the EULA).

You can use that number to obtain a perpetual licence for the version current when you download.

 

Then as usual you can later download free point updates but you have to pay for a version change (LR4 to LR5) as you know I think. Either the upgrade version or a full new one which is more expensive.

 

Did you actually register your copy of LR as one of your Adobe products with your Adobe ID? If you do that (and it is painless) then you could use that registered serial number to prove your qualification to use the upgrade copy.

The same serial number will not work on a new version however.

 

If you are buying as a download from the Adobe AU website and you are logged in with your Adobe ID, all you should need to do would be select the upgrade version then tick which qualifying version you own (and have installed) and you will be charged the AUD 99 price only. In fact the price is exactly the same currently for an upgrade from any registered LR version from 1 forward.

You will need the qualifying version actually installed for the upgrade to work.

If for some reason you don't have that then you could reinstall and register it on your machine first.

 

In every case point or version upgrade the download is actually the entire program identical to that on a CD/DVD media. By the way LR5.2 should be close to release (currently in BETA)

Edited August 21, 2013 by hoppyman

[hoppyman]

Some Adobe folks are not familiar with the Leica approach. This topic has come up before, and according to this post, for instance, you would have to fully purchase LR 5, even though you have LR 4, since you need a new license. After that, you'd get free upgrades until LR 6, and then just have to pay the incremental upgrade fee to LR 7. That is, unless LR changes its system, goes to the cloud, etc.

 

Jeff

Not quite right Jeff. Yes you need to pay for a VERSION change (LR4 to LR5). But a valid serial number copy licensed via the Leica entitlement is exactly the same as a retail purchase hard copy or a download copy. Any of them entitle the licencee to the cheaper upgrade price for the next version.

By the way I think that you can already obtain LR as a Cloud product but we can still alternatively purchase perpetual licences. Rumour has it that there may be a future photographer specific Cloud bundle option with Photoshop CC. Maybe something will emerge when the initial 12 month discounted offers expire?

Edited August 21, 2013 by hoppyman

[Guest WPalank]

the guy at the other end, in Mumbai, gave me an email months ago when I had the same problem. I sent him a camera receipt and then I did a screen grab somewhere on the Leica AG page that said my camera came bundled with the LR software. He sent me a link to the software upgrade the next day.

 

Unfortunately, I did not keep the email or the screen grab email. So I'm just saying it is possible.

[tobey bilek]

Absolutely correct. After an hour on the phone, I asked if the serial was in the program header somewhere. It is under help menu. Search the 5 possible selections.

 

They then offered to record it for me.

[hoppyman]

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You can retrieve the serial number from any Adobe product via the help menu of course. As previously mentioned simply registering your product allows you to see the recorded details from your Adobe account anyway. Also, having an Adobe ID gives you access to more downloads and info as well. I don't know why you wouldn't?

Glancing at mine I see every Adobe product I have had for the last nine years, with serial number and date of registration.

But you don't even need any of that, if you purchase the upgrade versions as a download it will just work providing it can detect the existing version on install, using the existing catalog for example.