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08/20/2004 01:00:02 PM · #1 |
OK, so I am very new to photography and I have a couple questions. (1) Is there only one photoshop that is worth money (the Adobe one)? and (2) I found the software to buy for $649 (ouch) and to download for $95, so is there a difference and will they both work?
Thanks for all the help!
Leia |
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08/20/2004 01:04:40 PM · #2 |
| I use Photoshop Elements 2.0 and got it for a cool $99. I doubt it has the features of it's newest brother CS ($649) but is great none the less. I also use Nikon Capture 4 which was also $99 this program is great if you use raw files, or don't have a program that allows you to crop from your original file and then move it to perfection. I havn't figured out how elements does this if it can. |
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08/20/2004 01:05:48 PM · #3 |
| The one for $95 is most likely Elements. Not as advanced as the full PS. If your looking for cheap, a lot of people here have recomended Gimp. It's free. |
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08/20/2004 01:06:11 PM · #4 |
| The version of Photoshop CS will retail around the $649 price you found. But what you found for $95 sounds like Photoshop Elements which is a way striped down version of Photoshop CS, but is very good for beginners. |
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08/20/2004 01:08:10 PM · #5 |
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08/20/2004 01:12:22 PM · #6 |
The $95 PS could also be the full version from one of the many sites across the planet that are hawking pirated software. It seems I get an email daily trying to sell me Windows XP, Adobe CS, etc., at a fraction of the real price. THESE AREN'T LEGAL.
Regarding Elements, you can usually find it at considerably less than $99. Check Amazon.com. Typically there's some promo or rebate that comes with it.
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08/20/2004 03:03:39 PM · #7 |
I have seen Elements down to around $30 with rebates. Check Office Depot and some other chain stores for those.
And PS Elements is a great peice of software, stripped down or not. I do use CS now, but used Elements and E II for about 3 years, and was perfect to learn and then move up to CS.
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08/20/2004 03:52:31 PM · #8 |
Another option would be to buy an old copy off of Ebay and then go buy the CS upgrade. I think you can upgrade as far back as version 3-4. Just make sure the older version is legit.
Might be able to get it for under $300 total that way.
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08/20/2004 03:55:48 PM · #9 |
Originally posted by dacrazyrn:
I have seen Elements down to around $30 with rebates. Check Office Depot and some other chain stores for those.
And PS Elements is a great peice of software, stripped down or not. I do use CS now, but used Elements and E II for about 3 years, and was perfect to learn and then move up to CS. |
I bought my Wacom Graphire3 for $50.00 (rebated from $100) and Adobe Elements was included. I believe that Elements comes with the purchase of the Canon 300D Rebel also.
Message edited by author 2004-08-20 16:00:28. |
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08/20/2004 03:57:18 PM · #10 |
Photoshop 7 or CS (which is technically v8) will certainly give you the widest "use set", but as you've noticed, you would expect it to for the price tag. BTW, I haven't played with it yet, but I believe CS (and possibly 7) can handle RAW files just fine, but you have to be very aware of your white balance calibrations.
Photoshop Elements (now at v2) is a fantasic baby sibling of the full blown Photoshop. It retains virtually all of the most commonly used functions within Photoshop for a fraction of the price. Unless you're doing some extreme photomanipulation or restoration, Elements is likely to be just fine. Elements, however, will NOT handle RAW files all on its lonesome.
I've talked with folks who use Paint Shop Pro (v11? I'm probably way off there) very successfully, but the impression I've gotten is that, while great for photomanipulation, it shows its weaknesses when trying to do very fine corrections to photos that you want looking like photos at the output. Again, I've never used it -- always been a photoshop fan -- but that's the impression I've come away from it with.
I spent just a bit of time playing with GIMP, and while I've heard wonderful, wonderful things about it (especially from the Linux community, go figure!), I personally found the user interface to be rather daunting. Keep in mind, though, that this was at least 4 years ago, so I would hope that some improvements have been made since then.
Those are the big four. I do believe that you'll find some others out there, as I seem to remember both Kodak and MGI put out some very, VERY basic editors (usually free with a new, low-end camera or scanner), but I would strongly urge you to never EVER load these on your machine; they do a great job of nothing but interfearing with other editing programs, and forget about making a clean uninstall. I'm quite happy to screw with my Windows registry on a regular basis, and even I can't make these things go away completely short of "format C:\"!
To buy things legally, I would always check Amazon first. 9 times out of 10 they'll have all of the same offers, etc., in place as all the chain stores, but their base prices are almost always better, even if just by a dollar or two (once shipping's been figured in).
Hope that aided the cause!
Message edited by author 2004-08-20 16:00:51. |
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08/20/2004 04:06:29 PM · #11 |
| You could always register on the Adobe web site, download the trial of Elements, and also install Gimp. Then you should have a while to play with both, and see if Elements is worth the money for your usage. |
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08/20/2004 10:18:41 PM · #12 |
I emember running RAW through my Elements, because it has the "plugin" Adobe RAW, but not sure if they make you pay for that one now(??)
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