Adobe PhotoShop vs. Microsoft Access

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Adobe PhotoShop
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
Adobe Photoshop is the best known graphics product on the market.
$20
per month
Microsoft Access
Score 7.7 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Access is a database management system from Microsoft that combines the relational Microsoft Jet Database Engine with a graphical user interface and software-development tools.
$139.99
per PC
Pricing
Adobe PhotoShopMicrosoft Access
Editions & Modules
Single App
$20.00
per month
Microsoft Access
$139.99
per PC
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe PhotoShopMicrosoft Access
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Adobe PhotoShopMicrosoft Access
Considered Both Products
Adobe PhotoShop
Chose Adobe PhotoShop
I've used Adobe Photoshop for many years now. Unfortunately I have not had time to sit down and learn these other products to find out which I like better. While at home I use Apple Photos and I have tried paint.net a couple of times but due to the availability of Adobe …
Chose Adobe PhotoShop
There is NOTHING like Photoshop to do a plethora of tasks that includes simple photo resizing to more complicated tasks like photo manipulation and logo creation and software wireframing. There are other programs who do one or two things well, but Photoshop gives the user so …
Microsoft Access
Chose Microsoft Access
I haven't really used another database product other than Microsoft Access since the mid-90s. I don't even remember which program I did use, but needless to say, it did not have as much functionality nor was it as user friendly as databases today. So I really can't say how …
Chose Microsoft Access
MS SQL is a more powerful tool but I love the reporting feature in MS Access. MS Excel is useful for complex calculations but to me, MS Access helps me organize that data. InfoPath is similar to MS Access in that you can create forms for data entry, but it does not include …
Chose Microsoft Access
Microsoft Access databases are more suitable for us because we are a smaller team. It's easy for us to export the reporting. It's also easy for people to create their own databases as well! Microsoft Access is honestly a one-stop-shop for us, and we figured we were not at a …
Chose Microsoft Access
Microsoft Access is a good data management tool. and it excels in that area, which is what we needed the most. It was simple to use and easy to learn. Database management can be done with multiple users in Access. And we can have reports for data summaries, or for any specific …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
Adobe PhotoShopMicrosoft Access
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User Ratings
Adobe PhotoShopMicrosoft Access
Likelihood to Recommend
8.7
(189 ratings)
8.1
(98 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.4
(30 ratings)
10.0
(15 ratings)
Usability
9.8
(14 ratings)
10.0
(4 ratings)
Availability
9.0
(3 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(54 ratings)
6.4
(5 ratings)
In-Person Training
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(6 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Configurability
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.0
(1 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
4.0
(1 ratings)
5.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe PhotoShopMicrosoft Access
Likelihood to Recommend
Adobe
I use Adobe PhotoShop to do practically all of my business from my home in Turkey. Many customers find the cost of Adobe PhotoShop to be prohibitive, thus they turn to substitute alternatives and illegally downloaded pirated software. Regulations like torrents, sales, and price increases lead to a number of financial issues. Change can be advantageous.
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Microsoft
Microsoft Access can be easily implemented with training. It doesn't require expert level skill for basic reporting functions - but can be scaled to a complex database with sophisticated users. Its appropriate to consider if excel needs to be used to create reports, or if there are data entry needs - with corresponding reports.
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Pros
Adobe
  • Brush customization. There are many available brushes for illustration, and each can be customized to fit the needs of your specific style.
  • Integration with other Adobe products. It is essential that the images I create be accessible in Adobe Indesign and Illustrator, and [Adobe] Photoshop can be placed and edited easily within those programs.
  • Advanced editing. The possibilities for editing photos [are] endless, with new features being added constantly.
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Microsoft
  • Very easy to create entity-relationship diagrams for various tables and designing mock layouts.
  • Really easy to navigate as it hold[s] the classic Microsoft UI. Another good thing is that it comes with the complete MS Office Suite.
  • It is really fast when joining multiple tables no matter what type of join.
  • Works on pretty much same SQL scripts so no need to learn a new language!
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Cons
Adobe
  • Expensive - It is too expensive to buy Photoshop alone, and hence leading the user to purchase the entire Creative Cloud Package though he/she is not even aware of half of those apps.
  • High System Spec - Requires high system specifications to run the application smoothly, and to use it at its best.
  • Process lag - When it comes to large-sized files, the application becomes laggy taking much time even to render a single layer.
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Microsoft
  • Microsoft Access has not really changed at all for several years. It might be nice to see some upgrades and changes.
  • The help info is often not helpful. Need more tutorials for Microsoft Access to show how to do specific things.
  • Be careful naming objects such as tables, forms, etc. Names that are too long can get cut off in dialog boxes to choose a table, form, report, etc. So, I wish they would have resizable dialog boxes to allow you to see objects with long names.
  • I wish it could show me objects that are not in use in the database for current queries, tables, reports, forms, and macros. That way unused objects can be deleted without worrying about losing a report or query because you deleted the underlying object.
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Likelihood to Renew
Adobe
We get a lot of use out of this software. It's vital for work with production in our industry and has a lot of cross-functionality - creating social media images, retouching photos, editing photos, creating gradients, and more. It's pretty fuss-free in that we haven't had to reach out to support and the program hasn't crashed on us. We are trained on the software (so again, this isn't for beginners), but for detail-oriented designers and creatives like ourselves - it's a no-brainer.
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Microsoft
I and the rest of my team will renew our Microsoft Access in the future because we use and maintain many different applications and databases created using Microsoft Access so we will need to maintain them in the future. Additionally, it is a standard at our place of work so it is at $0 cost to us to use. Another reason for renewing Microsoft Access is that we just don' t have the resources needed to extend into a network of users so we need to remain a single-desktop application at this time.
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Usability
Adobe
I've used it for a long time and would consider myself a Pro user at this point. I know where everything I need is, have custom actions set up to make common actions faster, and have my workflows automated so much that everything is easy. Occasionally, a new version of Photoshop will change a common usability feature which will slow things down for a short time before I'm able to adjust, but generally I really like my setup. However, if you're new to Photoshop, it is likely going to take you a while to figure out how you can best use the features.
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Microsoft
Microsoft Access is easy to use. It is compatible with spreadsheets. It is a very good data management tool. There is scope to save a large amount of data in one place. For using this database, one does not need much training, can be shared among multiple users. This database has to sort and filtering features which seem to be very useful.
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Reliability and Availability
Adobe
Adobe Photoshop is very reliable, but is never 100%. There have been times when Adobe Photoshop has had trouble opening, but nothing a little computer restart couldn't fix. I use Adobe Photoshop on a Mac for both work and at home on a daily basis, and I would be lost without it.
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Microsoft
I don't think the program has ever failed me. It is one of those programs where there is always a solution if you know where to look.
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Performance
Adobe
Speed can be an issue when you are dealing with large files for large format printing or billboards. When working on web images, speed is not an issue.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Adobe
While I never contacted Adobe directly, there is so much content out there in the form of YouTube videos, Lynda/LinkedIn learning that almost any issue, including bugs, can be worked around (and this method is generally faster as there's no turnaround time involved).
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Microsoft
While I have never contacted Microsoft directly for product support, for some reason there's a real prejudice against MS Access among most IT support professionals. They are usually discouraging when it comes to using MS Access. Most of this is due to their lack of understanding of MS Access and how it can improve one's productivity. If Microsoft invested more resources towards enhancing and promoting the use of MS Access then maybe things would be different.
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In-Person Training
Adobe
So, I received the training at the HQ and it was train the trainer training. A good time, I spent a week at their campus
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Adobe
I took a course so it really helped. I didn’t take the course until much later after beginning to use it, so I wish work would have sent me right off the bat. It would have alleviated a lot of frustratinon
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Microsoft
there is no key idea, since it is easy to implement Microsoft Access
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Alternatives Considered
Adobe
Canva is a great tool for creating infographics and it's free with limited options. Adobe Illustrator CC and Adobe InDesign are much more suited for creating infographics, however, I still selected Adobe PhotoShop primarily because of my familiarity with all of the tools and hotkeys. There are always workarounds from with Adobe PhotoShop, and I just haven't taken the time to learn how to use Adobe Illustrator CC as effectively.
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Microsoft
Crystal is easier for report writing, but isn't a database solution. Salesforce is lovely, but much more expensive than an old copy of Microsoft Office. For a small budget, [Microsoft] Access was really the only viable option. I only wish it was easier to write complex reports.
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Scalability
Adobe
It seems expensive compared to the free/cheap programs now available
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Adobe
  • Saved our company thousands of dollars by editing in house.
  • Has given us the ability to do things on the fly and get projects done faster.
  • Having the original .psd files saved has given us the ability to go back and reuse and update photos and graphics instead of starting all over again.
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Microsoft
  • Not having to recreate queries or reports every time you want to use them.
  • Once an item is created and saved as part of the database, you save manpower by not having to recreate them.
  • ROI from a usability standpoint is great. Solid product with great functionality that requires low maintenance usually.
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