PhotoShop Question

[CraigSca]

So... I'm checking out some of the dynasties on the other boards, and a lot of people spend their time touching up photos, logos, etc., and the standard for doing so seems to be PhotoShop.

Here's my question - how the hell can one afford the licensing cost? I'd like to play around with the program but I can't justify the $649. How do all these people get the program? Are they all pirating (which I won't do) or are there deep discounts somewhere that I'm just missing?

[rkmsuf]

Come on, pirate.

Live a little.

[sovereignstar]

don't talk about fight club

[Antmeister]

I have Photoshop CS and I got it at a discount rate since I was going to school. In fact I go the whole video collection for about $1100. That included After Effects, Encore, Audition, Premeire and Photoshop CS. I don't have the newest version though.

[Antmeister]

You can also find some version on ebay.

[Bee]

I don't know if this is the case with others or not, but my wife uses a different program but still refers to it as Photoshop.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I just use Paint Shop Pro, which I got for $79. I would love to have Photoshop, Premiere, and After Effects, but I can't afford any of that. I will probably buy the Photoshop Elements/Premiere Elements bundle I've seen in Best Buy for $150 soon, though. As for After Effects, well, I don't think I'll ever get to use that.

[wheels]

Depending on what you need, you could use Photoshop Elements 4.0 for around $95.

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopelwin/

[Godzilla Blitz]

The educational prices on Adobe products are very affordable, and there are usually straightforward workarounds to qualifying for such pricing. I think, for example, one of your children could buy the software?

I get stuff from Academic Superstore (http://www.academicsuperstore.com/market/market.html?category_id=267838), but there are a ton of places that offer similar pricing.

With Adobe stuff, getting their package deals (goes by the name of Creative Suite or Design Bundle) is almost just as cheap as getting just Photoshop, and it comes with some other good programs. I noticed that their current price for Creative Suite is $389.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Dola...

Depending on what you need, you could use Photoshop Elements 4.0 for around $95.

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopelwin/

Doh! Yes, this is an excellent suggestion. Educational price on this one is $65, and it is a simple, effective program for most photo manipulation needs.

If you want to do stuff with logos, though, you might want to be looking at a drawing program like Illustrator (Mac/PC). There must be some cheap drawing programs that are PC-only.

[Antmeister]

The educational prices on Adobe products are very affordable, and there are usually straightforward workarounds to qualifying for such pricing. I think, for example, one of your children could buy the software?

I get stuff from Academic Superstore (http://www.academicsuperstore.com/market/market.html?category_id=267838), but there are a ton of places that offer similar pricing.

With Adobe stuff, getting their package deals (goes by the name of Creative Suite or Design Bundle) is almost just as cheap as getting just Photoshop, and it comes with some other good programs. I noticed that their current price for Creative Suite is $389.

Thanks G.Blitz, and here are the other educational sites. I bought mines from Studica.com while I was still in school. I did use gradware in the past when I lived in San Diego.

http://www.studica.com/
http://www.gradware.com/
http://www.journeyed.com/

[Pumpy Tudors]

Ah, academic discounts. Since I'm no longer a student and I don't have any kids, I'll consider myself pretty lucky to be married to a college professor. She can get me some discounts. I should ask her to make a run to the school bookstore to see what kinds of prices she can get.

Then again, she has to find the school bookstore, which I find pretty funny. She's been teaching there for almost a year, and she hasn't even been to the bookstore yet. I hope her students don't find out about that one.