Where did everyone get PhotoShop?

[Hi Ho]

I'm just curious. It seems that so many people on these forums have this $600 program. Assuming the average person doesn't have $600 to spend on photo editing software, where did you get it? I have downloaded the trial and I'm loving it. It is so amazingly powerful. I haven't even gone through half the features yet. The problem is, I don't ahve $600 to spend after my 30 days are up. :(

[Force Flow]

You can usually get it through your HS or college at the educational discount price.

Or, there's a few sites that sell to students; you just have to show them a valid student ID, school letterhead, and I believe there was another thing you could also show.

[Hi Ho]

Really? What's the student price? That would be really nice.

[bailey]

I have seen ad's in computer magizenes that sell used software usally older versions at a lower price.
also some schools that teach it offer it at a much lower cost to students.
and I am sure that you can find some of the older versions on e-bay.

[Hi Ho]

Well I know they use it at my school and there are classes involving PhotoShop. I'll have to check it out. They have Premier Pro too. Maybe they have a discount on that?

[Force Flow]

There are discounts on all adobe software. Sometimes microsoft products too.

[mystvearn]

Free, faculty mac. So no problem there. Though I rarely use it. Using Premier/Studio 9 most of the time

[formerjudge]

hi ho that is hard question to answer as you have to remember that on interpet people can be from any country with that said if they are from asian country probably they buy it from any store for $5-10. In usa most people get it from 4 possible places buy, borrow(friend, relative etc), steal, comes with computer.

[Stryker]

...Assuming the average person doesn't have $600 to spend on photo editing software, where did you get it?
I got it through work, and actually the rest of the suite as well. Photoshop 8, Indesign 8, Illustrator 10, etc... Illustrator is pretty cool. I now LIVE for vector images!! :)

[bailey]

I was given a old computer that had the whole sweet of adobe software, version 6 included and am able to get the upgrades from adobe web sight. it is regestered to me now.

[HAL9000]

Well I know they use it at my school and there are classes involving PhotoShop. I'll have to check it out. They have Premier Pro too. Maybe they have a discount on that?

Educational prices on Adobe products are usually about 1/3rd of retail... so that $600 program should be had for about $200.

[Fuze]

I'm surprised nobody has pointed this out, but I'm willing to bet that the majority of people, even a bunch of people who have replied to this thread have gotten it illegally. It is so easy to pirate/download software programs.

For the record, I do not even have photoshop.

[HAL9000]

Nobody has pointed it out cuz it's considered a taboo topic around here... but I would also be willing to make the same bet.

Same thing tho... I don't have Photoshop.

[Stryker]

I'm surprised nobody has pointed this out, but I'm willing to bet that the majority of people, even a bunch of people who have replied to this thread have gotten it illegally. It is so easy to pirate/download software programs.
Believe it or not, there are a scattered few who have not stooped to illegal software.

[lil Jimmie]

I got PhotoShop 7 with a student discount years ago for a lil over $200.00 USD

[bailey]

just having it is just the beginning, one still has to learn how to use it, it has so many features that no one book can teach it all, and I think it also takes a lot of practice, it ain't that easy to use.
paint shop pro is a lot more less money and has about the same features and is a lot easer to learn.

[Mac Medic]

I hope not too many have it illegally, photoshop has a phone-home feature built in, if it's illegal, they know. Just a matter of time before they start enforcement.

[HellFish]

Im a Fireworks MX 2004 man myself. I just find it so much easier to use than Photoshop.

[colecifer]

i may or may not have stooped to get it, i've never used it since i got it though. I really have no need for it and its way to complicated.

[jeffr]

I bought my copy, paid the full price too, over $600! I just don't like the feel of having pirated software on my computer...it's actually stealing, that's the way I look at it. :D

[Cricket]

I think we have PhotoShop 5 or 6 (not sure since only my wife uses it...or she used to) and my wife bought it when she was taking classes at a local college. I think she paid around $200 for it.

We also have an early version of Paint Shop Pro from a few years ago, but again only my wife used it.

Been thinking about getting Adobe Elements 3.0 but may just get the lastest version of Paint Shop Pro instead...if I ever get around to it.

Right now I just use Adobe PhotoDeluxe 2.0...haha...it's nice and simple and easy to use.

:) Cricket

[sataraid0]

Photoshop elements 2 is an awesome program, and is less than $100 legal. Got it with my camer digital 300 rebel and find no need for photoshop, elements 2 does it all for me. :)

Ya might wanna try it out............Sterling :D

[SonicVanguard]

Our studio's had Photoshop since version 6. We're loving CS - it's a great product.

But like Fuze, I often wonder how so many people get Photoshop - and then they come here asking how to use it....The retail version does come with tutorials and plenty of them. And if you are a proud owner of Photoshop you can get even more tutorials from Adobe.com when you register with them.

Dave.

[sdkfz]

I got my copy of photoshop limited edition 5.0 with a CD burner, and photoshop elements with a scanner. Quite frankly photoshop LE is way more of a program than I'll ever need and I do not think I have ever used the photoshop elements

[Hi Ho]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think I'll see if I can get PhotoShop CS through my school. The problem is that I don't know who to ask. :)

[formerjudge]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think I'll see if I can get PhotoShop CS through my school. The problem is that I don't know who to ask. :)

bookstore

[PMich]

Photoshop elements 3.0 can be had for about $60 with the academic discount. It is basically a stripped down version and doesn't include all the extras that come with the full suite. It is more than adequate for basic use and a good way to see if you want to drop major cash on the full suite.

[HAL9000]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think I'll see if I can get PhotoShop CS through my school. The problem is that I don't know who to ask. :)

1) Campus computer shop if available
2) Computing services if available
3) Bookstore.

[ric449]

I'm afraid I'm a dirty rotten thief getting mine- file sharing. I just couldn't justify spending so much money on something that I would probably use very rarely. I was right, I hardly ever use it. Doesn't change the fact I stole it though.

[Hi Ho]

Well, judging by the results I have gotten with the trial I would use it all the time. I take lots of pictures and end up editing and fixing a lot of them. I have been using MS Digital Image Pro and it works OK for a lot of stuff but I never thought I could get results as good as I have gotten with PhotoShop. Here's an example:

Before (http://community.webshots.com/photo/59503293/263304347TRRFiC)

After (http://community.webshots.com/photo/59503293/263302963NHXLpV)

It was a stupid mistake to take pictures through a tinted window which I did on a trip to Utah. I took quite a few that way and couldn't see the effect on the tiny camera screen. No matter what I did in Digital Image Pro I couldn't get it to look any better. After a few clicks in PhotoShop and some color balancing it came out like that.

[bailey]

paint shop pro can do the same thing, and just as easy.
nice shot too.

[Hi Ho]

I downloaded the trial of Pain Shop Pro and it looks nice. However, I can already see it's not as feature rich as PhotoShop (understandable) I can't find some of the features I'm already using frequently in PhotoShop. Paint Shop doesn't have a "smart" clone brush like PhotoShop. PhotoShop's healing brush adapts to it's surroundings while the clone brush does just that. It clones exactly.

[fiery]

i use the gimp

[icallmedan]

I use TheGimp 2.0 for my pic editing needs. As good as Photoshop and legally free! I suggest you check it out. Open source is awesome!

[Tebone1]

I got mine through work, The graphics dept wanted to upgrade a few machines so I asked if they could allow me to be included :)

[PMich]

If you are interested, here is a comparison of Photoshop and Photoshop elements:
link (http://www.graphic-design.com/Photoshop/vs_elements.html)

Might be of some help.

[TheJackal]

I have 5.0LE... It came with my copy of Premiere 6...

I must say though, that seeing as how I do very little photo editing, I much prefer MS Paint over Photoshop.

[pillainp]

Hi Ho,


<I>Originally posted by</i><B>bailey</B>
Paint shop pro can do the same thing, and just as easy.
nice shot too.


Here is your pic after a little colour balancing and brightening in Paint Shop Pro.

I use both Photoshop CS and Paint Shop Pro 9 (a little arm-twisting of a dealer pal for whom I sold thirty five systems in twenty days, and he gave me retail versions of both for free in exchange for commission), and I find that PSP is way more easy to use for most of my work than Photoshop, and more often than not does as good a job, for a lot less of my money.

NPP

[doctorgonzo]

I also use GIMP. It's free and I can pretty much do everything I want to do with it. I used to have the 16-bit version of Paint Shop Pro back when it was shareware.

[Mac Medic]

Here is my effort with HiHo's photo, used photoshop CS.

Curves Layer
Color Balance Layer
Duplicate Layer Screened
Gradient Map.

[Stryker]

Since we're sharing... :)

Photoshop 7.0 just using some tricks of the trade. :rolleyes:
Had to compress a bit to upload due to file size.

[bigandy]

Again, gonna have to endorse GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/). Pretty similar to PS in terms of what it can do, and completely free.

[Hi Ho]

I'll check out GIMP. I still like my PhotoShop fix best. The others either look to blue, to green, or overexposed. Maybe it's my monitor?

[Stryker]

I still like my PhotoShop fix best. The others either look to blue, to green, or overexposed. Maybe it's my monitor?
Could also be the fact that this was the first time I've ever tried to fix a low quality photograph with PS... Your monitor is probably fine ;)

[Mac Medic]

Mine is bright, I wanted to bring out the Blues & Greens, never touched the brightness controls though, Never do.

[thefultonhow]

I just thought I'd share my (minimum of) effort with Photoshop CS (Auto Levels and Hue/Saturation were the only adjustments I used). I find that most of the items in the Filters menu are superfluous -- basically the only features I use are crop, healing brush, clone stamp, the blur tool, Image Size, Rotate Canvas, and the stuff in the Image > Adjustments menu (especially Auto Levels/Contrast/Color, Brightness/Contrast, Hue/Saturation, and Shadow/Highlight).

I thought (no offense intended) that most people's doctored photos were too yellow and/or didn't have enough contrast. I did see a fault with my effort too -- the grass is too dark.

[Stryker]

This is like comparing favorite cars. I think the WRX STi is amazing, but my wife thinks it's the ugliest thing ever created. Everyone has a different idea of what photographs should look like and it's just that simple. Some like colour, some like detail, some like shadow, I prefer to take good pictures so they don't have to be adjusted. All of my "Photoshoping" is creating images and that's when Photoshop really shines. The flexibility and limits are endless when you start with a blank canvas. :)

[Hi Ho]

Well I made it look like it did in real life because I was there and took the picture. :) I used the auto levels and auto color then adjusted the brightness/contrast and messed with the color balance. I always try to take good pictures (of course) but it's not always possible to get it perfect. Most pictures can be tweaked some way or another.

[Stryker]

I prefer to take good pictures so they don't have to be adjusted.
Well I made it look like it did in real life because I was there and took the picture.
Sorry about that Hi Ho!! I didn't realize you took the photo, but no offence intended. :)

[Hi Ho]

No offence taken. Didn't even cross my mind. :) The comment about me making it look like it did in real life had nothing to do with your comment about taking good pictures. I took that through a tinted window which was a very stupid thing to do. When I fixed it in PhotoShop I fixed it the way I remembered seeing it in person.

[thefultonhow]

This is like comparing favorite cars. I think the WRX STi is amazing, but my wife thinks it's the ugliest thing ever created. Everyone has a different idea of what photographs should look like and it's just that simple. Some like colour, some like detail, some like shadow, I prefer to take good pictures so they don't have to be adjusted. All of my "Photoshoping" is creating images and that's when Photoshop really shines. The flexibility and limits are endless when you start with a blank canvas. :)

It's great to take good pictures, but sometimes environmental conditions conspire against you. For example, I need to use the flash most of the time when taking pictures of my kittens, because I take the pictures inside and the kittens are so frisky that with slow shutter speeds, they're just a blur. Of course, the flash makes the pictures way too contrasty, so I use the Shadow/Highlight filter and Auto Levels to fix them up.

Another example: I went to Switzerland over the winter holiday and took along my laptop and digital camera. I took a bunch of photos (pictures at http://community.webshots.com/user/thefultonhow), but the conditions in some of them necessitated doctoring. I took one shot off my grandparents' room's balcony that was spectacular, but was right into the sun. To compensate I blocked out the sun with the roof of the balcony, but then I had to crop the roof out of the picture in Photoshop. In several other cases, it was slightly overcast, so I had to increase contrast (going back the next day was not an option, because I had many other photo ops, ski trails, hikes, etc. to sample!) In a few other cases, there were various other reasons that the photos needed to be doctored -- color was off, composition could be improved by cropping (no optical zoom on my camera), etc. So Photoshop was very useful.

[Stryker]

I think I'm being taken a little too literal. I said I prefer to take good pictures, I didn't say that every picture I take is perfect. ;)

Part of the reason I bought a digital camera is because you can take several pictures of one situation and delete any that don't turn out. This drastically reduces the amount of adjustments I need to make because I have several options to choose from. My camera also allows me to adjust ISO and exposure length, which helps. Use a tripod and open up the sutter longer so you don't get blur but you capture more surrounding light.

[Hi Ho]

Hehehe I'm the opposite. I almost never delete pictures. I usually take a one picture and if it doesn't come out good I'll take another. I know I can usually fix it on the PC. With PhotoShop I'd be even more confident.

[Kov-Ice]

I got the Educational discount (as a teacher) on my Adobe stuff through www.academicsuperstore.com and saved a ton off the retail. All you have to do is fax a copy of your student ID or some other proof of eligibility. I've had good luck with them on all three purchases I've made there.

[Strider]

I actually luck out a little bit for a long time ago I got Photoshop Elements (I think it was still called that, but if not it was on the same principal) and inside the package it said upgrade to Photoshop 6.0 for $150.00 (It was a special discount coupon for upgrading). I said cool so I mailed in the upgrade (Made a Copy First) and about 2-3 weeks go by I get a call from Adobe saying that the coupon in the package was put in by mistake and that it was only for People who already have Photoshop and want to upgrade. Well, I said "Well, it still a mistake and I do believe you have to honor it though" The person on the end of the line thought he was going to pull a fast on me a said "Ok but you have to mail the coupon back in" thinking that I didn't have the coupon. "I said ok I just make a copy of the original and mail you the copy again" :D There was a small pause and by the infraction of his voice I could tell that he was angry, he said "Forget about sending it back in, I just give you Photoshop 6 for the upgrade price of $150.00 and just to let you know this isn't our policy on upgrading" I thanked him and smiling to myself that I got Photoshop for around $240.00 and have been upgrading it every since.

[spyder003]

Aaargh me matey!! Gimme all yer loot :)