Photoshop question...

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So, I'd like to get a version of PS to start playing with... nothing major, just to stgart learning. (I have a scanner coming sometime soon...) But, the biggest factor is that I'm mostly broke. So I was wondering which of the older versions might be worth getting? any ideas?

Also, if any here has an older version they want to make a few $$ from, let me know...?

Chris
 
Elements comes usually free with a scanner. Maybe someone has a copy left over?
 
Look on eBay. You didn't hear it from me, but you can sometimes buy a copy, with activition generator, err, activation code, for bupkis. There is a guy in England who had his auction ended, but he was selling CS2 for maybe $20-30, and I think if you spent a tad more you could get it bundled with Adobe 7.0 full version, or lots of other choices. He had positive feedback up the wazoo, and had I um, sampled his goods, I would have, um, left positive feedback.

Not that I would use a copy improperly licensed.
 
ducttape said:
Look on eBay. You didn't hear it from me, but you can sometimes buy a copy, with activition generator, err, activation code, for bupkis. There is a guy in England who had his auction ended, but he was selling CS2 for maybe $20-30, and I think if you spent a tad more you could get it bundled with Adobe 7.0 full version, or lots of other choices. He had positive feedback up the wazoo, and had I um, sampled his goods, I would have, um, left positive feedback.

Not that I would use a copy improperly licensed.
Click to expand...

Yeah... I had a copy of PS 6 that way a long time ago... But anymore I buy the stuff. Just my conviction, I guess. 🙂
 
OK, I actually think the most recent version of PS Elements is the best option. It will probably run you about $100 or less. It includes the most recent interface thingy stuff that CS2 has and all of the functions that you will need. It also has a built in RAW converter if you need that functionality for a digital camera. Now, if you are a student or know one who can buy it for you, I bought the premium suite of PS CS2 with all the associated programs, bells and whistles for $200 from the UConn Coop. That student price is about $1,000 off the bust out retail tag for this baby.

Or, I have a copy of PS6 and upgrade disc to PS7 hanging around which I have never used. These are copies, I assume they will work, but I never installed them.
 
If you are affiliated with any educational institution, or know someone who is- even as a student taking night classes, you can get the CS2 suite- photoshop, illustrator, Go Live, adobe bridge, etc - about 6 programs in all for about half the price of the normal photoshop CS2. It's still pricey- about $400. But if you you outgrow Photoshop elements or want to make masks, this is the way to go. Go to adobe education or education engine online
 
I kind of have to rule against PS elements if you're interested in really doing anything beyond super basic stuff. I don't know your setup, I use macs so with OSX the cheapest version that works with the OS is 7.

But to be honest, I work for a professional studio and we were using 6 right up until 2005 on OS9. My real recomondation next to hitting the bay would be to hit limewire and find a version that's old enough so it doesn't auto connect to the internet. Anything above psd 3 will be a world better than elements and you'll be able to learn all the important stuff like curves and channels.

When I started freelancing I had to buy all this stuff out of pocket so I know it hurts. Believe me!

Good luck!
 
I use PS Elements 2.0 and also 4.0 and they work fine for me. I just won't spend the money for PSCS not being a pro.

Nikon Bob
 
Im using Elements 2 and for basic works is ok. Not sure if worthwhile to upgrade to Elements 4. Only (small) problem most of tutorials I can get from computers magazines etc are about CS or CS2 or 7. Having no economic return from it I prefer not to spend too much money!
rob
 
robert blu said:
Im using Elements 2 and for basic works is ok. Not sure if worthwhile to upgrade to Elements 4. Only (small) problem most of tutorials I can get from computers magazines etc are about CS or CS2 or 7. Having no economic return from it I prefer not to spend too much money!
rob
Click to expand...

There was a rebate on PS Elements 4.0 so I tried it out because you could use 16 bit colour. This is only paritally true as it wants to convert to 8 bit for some functions. It does have some nicer tools than 2.0 but to use them it reverts to 8 bit. If you are happy with 8 bit colour then it is a little better. Needless to say I am not overwhelmed by it. Levels and curves would be nice but I can do that in my scanner program, which strangely I don't. I agree about not spending the money for PSCS2 for the same reasons as you.

Nikon Bob
 
I just bought a scanner and am also broke. I just ordered Elements 4 on ebay for $25 plus $14 shipping. I will be learning too and don't know what to expect but the price sounded right. I plan to read as much of this photoshop forum as possible. 🙂
 
The latest version of Elements is supposed to be pretty decent; I'm not sure I buy one reviewer's glowing comments about the latest Elements (4) offering "85% of Photoshop's power for 15% of its cost", since I don't believe for a moment that Adobe is going to give away that much of the store for so little. What I am willing to believe is that Adobe is giving you a good chunk of the Good Stuff from the full-boat version for not a lot of coin, and that may be all you need. Since it sounds like you scored a copy of Elements 2 for cheap, that should be enough to get you started and whet your appetite at least. So set up that scanner, load the drivers (I hope the person who sold you the scanner at least included the CD with drivers/plug-ins; if not, PM me and I'll try to get you hooked up with the right stuff), load up Elements and play around with it. I think you'll have a good time.


- Barrett
 
I've only used Elements 2.0 so can't speak for how later versions are but as far as I can remember that version was completely useless for any real postprocessing.

I used an old version of PhotoShop (5.x) up until a few months ago and there is not much I use in my newer version (7.0) that I couldn't do in version 5 (which was a version I really liked).

When I was on a loaner laptop for a month or so I downloaded and used wingimp or Gimp for Windows at: http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/
It was pretty decent - and free - and allowed me to do most of the features that PS allows - not as slick..but once again..it is free.
 
There's a version of Elements I use to have that would stitch photos together to make panoramic shoots pretty easily. I use PS7 now and I miss that feature. I should have saved my money and stuck with Elements.
 
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