Photo Shop

[only me]

Excuse the ignorance! who makes it and how much is it? Have currently got Paint Shop Pro and Adobe Photo Deluxe (old version) but you guys all seem to talk about Photo Shop. Is it much better than Paint Shop Pro? If the latest edition of PS is expensive, would you recommend an older / cheaper version?

[Bodo]

Photoshop is made by Adobe and cost just under £1k in the latest Creative Suite version. (Or just over £500 without the other creative suite software)

For private editing, PaintShop Pro or The Gimp are much better value.

>> Edited by Bodo on Saturday 18th December 10:15

[Ex-biker]

only me said:

Excuse the ignorance! who makes it and how much is it? Have currently got Paint Shop Pro and Adobe Photo Deluxe (old version) but you guys all seem to talk about Photo Shop. Is it much better than Paint Shop Pro? If the latest edition of PS is expensive, would you recommend an older / cheaper version?

Made by Adobe.

CS is Bl**dy expensive. Elements is much cheaper.

I use V7. There is not much missing compared to the latest version.

I'd buy second hand from (eg) Ebay or borrow a copy from a friend.

I would recommend doing a course on how to use it. I spent iro £50 on a 10 week (night) course at college just learning the basics. I found this easier than trying to read a book to inderstand it and you have the advantage of asking how to create certain effects etc.

[simpo two]

PhotoShop is pretty much the industry standard. The latest version is CS (which I thought was about £400) but versions 7 and 6 are pretty likely to meet all your needs too.

A quick trawl of eBay found hundreds of entries, not least stuff like http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=80254&item=5738927098&rd=1

[GetCarter]

I have Photoshop, but still do most things in Paint Shop Pro - only the really clever stuff needs Photoshop. I'd stick to what you know unless you are finding there are things you can't do. (Or you just want to pi55 around).

Steve

[ehasler]

One advantage of Photoshop over the others is that most of the "How to..." articles in photo magazines are aimed at either Photoshop, or Photoshop Elements. Some do include PaintShop Pro, but if you're intending to learn by following these tutorials then it's something to bear in mind.

"The Gimp" is supposed to be very good, and it's free I believe, but you'll be more on your own when learning to use it.

[Phil S]

If you go to www.adobe.com you can download a 30 day trial of the latest Photoshop CS, then you can attempt to decide if it is worth it or not. But the chances are in 30 days you will have used under half of what it is capable of.

I always found Paint Shop Pro to be 'incompatible' with Photoshop users and vice-versa. If you get used to one, you will probably hate the other at first!

[simpo two]

Phil S said:

If you go to www.adobe.com you can download a 30 day trial of the latest Photoshop CS

Download

Phil S said:

But the chances are in 30 days you will have used under half of what it is capable of.

Generous - I use about 2%!!

[Phil S]

www.adobe.com/products/tryadobe/download.jsp?ftpID=2354 151Mb for the windows version = 20 minute download if you are on Blueyonder who have just generously upgraded all their customers to 1Mbit

I'm not sure it is the full version though. I have used it previously and didn't notice any difference from the cd, but the cd is 560Mb ish from memory. At a guess they will have taken out all documentation but i'm not sure what else. I doubt any trial user will notice anyhow!

[docevi1]

you'll probably find the download is missing some of the textures/shapes that the CD contains hence the smaller download.

[greenphotos]

I use Photoshop 7.

Fact: One in 10 copies of Photoshop are actually licensed !!!!!!

;-)

I use it loads, and probably only use about 70% of it's features. Paint Shop pro is good, and easier to get the hang of, but layering, actions, and colour flexibiliy are far better in PS7.

[Phil S]

A lot of software developers such as Adobe want their products to be crackable as it does actually help them out in the long run! Microsoft is the same.

[_dobbo_]

Phil S said:

A lot of software developers such as Adobe want their products to be crackable as it does actually help them out in the long run! Microsoft is the same.

Let's face it, of all the people on here that use it, I wonder how many are actually licensed. And if forced to pay for it, how many would make do with Paintshop Pro at 1/10th the price...

[Phil S]

Exactly, but when you start to use it professionally the company doesn't have an option of hacking it and using it for free so they will pay for it

It's like drugs, they get you hooked for free when you're messing around at home, then charge through the teeth when you need them!

I guarantee there would be a viable alternative to Windows by now if it wasn't so easy for the home user to get it for free.