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Adobe Photoshop

Venom

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I need an inexpensive, safe place to purchase it online. Any suggestions? The price ranges I've seen are from $150.00 to $500.00.

I don't need the Creative Suite or other extras, just the good basics.
 
When you say "safe," do you mean you're looking for a legal copy?

You can get legal copies of older versions for cheap. If you're getting a bootleg copy, then 'safe' is a highly relative term; even if it comes to you sans virus or malware, most of the bootleg software sites any more are run by Eastern European organized crime, not exactly a group I'd like to give my credit card number to.

What do you plan to use it for? If you don't need the full-fledged Photoshop functionality, Photoshop Elements is cheap.
 
If you have a student ID then JourneyEd is a nice place to pick up a discounted copy. Also if you don't need the full tool set you might look into getting a copy of Photoshop Elements instead. It's much cheaper and I think it's only the really advanced features that get cut out.
 
If you just need to do some photo editing and image creation, Photoshop elements is the way to go. It runs about $64 on Amazon but I've seen Walmart and Best Buy sometimes carry it on sale for $59.

If you need the full fledged Photoshop, you can currently download a 30 day trial of CS6 Extended. I'm enjoying the new version myself and since I use several of the Adobe Creative Suite programs regularly, I'll be purchasing the new version.

There is also the new Creative Cloud service for $50 a month. It has a fully functional version of Photoshop online for Cloud subscribers, unlike the version they have at Photoshop.com. But I'm adopting a wait-n-see attitude on that service. I haven't been too impressed with what they're offering.

You can also shop around for older versions of Photoshop. I recommend CS5 Extended or CS4, but stay away from the CS3 version if possible.
 
Or if you could just download GIMP for free. The same functionality as Photoshop and doesn't cost anything.

(It does have a reputation for being difficult to use, but I haven't had any trouble with it. But then again, I've never used Photoshop, so I can't really compare the two.)
 
Brian-M said:
Or if you could just download GIMP for free. The same functionality as Photoshop and doesn't cost anything.

(It does have a reputation for being difficult to use, but I haven't had any trouble with it. But then again, I've never used Photoshop, so I can't really compare the two.)
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I have and even though the PS interface is quit intimidating, I still find it easier than GIMP. Also, since I use Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign together most of the time, the similar interfaces help with the workflow. The GIMP/Inkscape transitions are a little difficult to muddle though and the two programs don't always sync well.

This is not to say I'm against using GIMP. I happen to like the program a lot.
 
Photoimpact is a cheaper alternative. I got mine for under £5.00 at the supermarket.

Photoshop Express is a freebie. Doesn't have all the whistles of photoshop but its free.

Splashup is free and very photoshop like.
 
GIMP is ok for some basic tasks, while a tad difficult to use, but it lacks layers (or does it nowadays have them too), which is an _essential_ thing for any serious photo editing in the long term.

The cheapest way to buy legal software is secondhand licenses of older versions. Photoshop has been perfectly ok since version 5.0 at least, for a typical user. Secondhand licenses are legal in Europe, I am not sure what the situation is in other parts of the world.
 
JJM 777 said:
GIMP is ok for some basic tasks, while a tad difficult to use, but it lacks layers (or does it nowadays have them too), which is an _essential_ thing for any serious photo editing in the long term.
Click to expand...

I'm currently running GIMP 2.6 on Windows 7 and had the GIMP on a Linux system (computer currently not hooked up, so not sure of the version number). It does have layers, layer masks, and most of the standard Photoshop tools. I'd say it's roughly equivalent to PS 7. The sundry floating windows are the only real annoyance.

Windows version is a lot more stable than it used to be; I used to have to do a separate install of the GTK toolkit to get it running, but the last time I set it up I only had to download one executable.
 
JJM 777 said:
GIMP is ok for some basic tasks, while a tad difficult to use, but it lacks layers (or does it nowadays have them too), which is an _essential_ thing for any serious photo editing in the long term.
Click to expand...

As far as I'm aware, GIMP has always had layers. I know it had layers back in 2007 when I first installed an outdated version of GIMP on a Windows 98 machine.

In the version I have on my current machine (Ver. 2.6.11) you can bring up the layers dialog though: Windows-->Dockable Dialogues-->Layers (Or just press CTRL-L)

IIIClovisIII said:
I downloaded GIMP.....

I want the resynthesizer......I don't know a thing about reading these files and downloading it from the source (github.com).

Here's a link to what the new author says

http://registry.gimp.org/node/25219

and his plugin suite:

https://github.com/bootchk/resynthesizer

I use Windows.
Click to expand...

I haven't installed resynthesizer, and I use Ubuntu. But I did manage to find some info that might help you...

http://www.ehow.com/how_8706108_inst...izer-gimp.html

Or if you prefer a video...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkPBEsYSIps
 
Astreja said:
I'm currently running GIMP 2.6 on Windows 7 and had the GIMP on a Linux system (computer currently not hooked up, so not sure of the version number). It does have layers, layer masks, and most of the standard Photoshop tools. I'd say it's roughly equivalent to PS 7. The sundry floating windows are the only real annoyance.

Windows version is a lot more stable than it used to be; I used to have to do a separate install of the GTK toolkit to get it running, but the last time I set it up I only had to download one executable.
Click to expand...
The current version of GIMP, 2.8, has a single window mode:
GIMP 2.8 introduces an optional single-window mode. You can toggle between the default multi-window mode and the new single-window mode through the Single-window mode checkbox in the Windows menu. In single-window mode, GIMP will put dockable dialogs and images in a single, tabbed image window. The single-window mode setting is of course preserved if you quit and start GIMP again. Single-window mode removes the necessity for users of having to deal with multiple windows. Developers: Martin Nordholts, Michael Natterer Interaction Architect: Peter Sikking
Click to expand...
http://www.gimp.org/release-notes/gimp-2.8.html
 
IIIClovisIII said:
I need an inexpensive, safe place to purchase it online. Any suggestions? The price ranges I've seen are from $150.00 to $500.00.

I don't need the Creative Suite or other extras, just the good basics.
Click to expand...

What's wrong with buying it from the Adobe website? I'm thinking of doing the same, and would like to know if there are good reasons why I shouldn't buy it there.
 
Orphia Nay said:
What's wrong with buying it from the Adobe website? I'm thinking of doing the same, and would like to know if there are good reasons why I shouldn't buy it there.
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Adobe doesn't offer the best prices, unless you are a student or educator. I sometimes see the Photoshop boxes at the retailer a little cheaper, but AMazon gives the best prices.

Orphia Nay said:
I have. It's too complicated.

I've tried Photoshop and it seems simpler. Plus, Kid Nay uses it professionally, so he can help me. :)
Click to expand...

Don't be too fooled. Both can be very vexing and I've run into my fair share of UI complications with both programs. I recommend checking out places like lynda.com and photoshopessentials.com just to get your basics. Also, if you are buying any books, Lynda has a great PHotoshop one, and just about anything written by Scott Kelby is pretty good. Avoid anything with "Classroom in a Book", "Tips & Tricks", or "Secrets" in the title (I find them not to be too well written and several of the "tutorials" they publish can be found online for free). If you are purchasing the Creative Suite I recommend Allan Wood's The Graphic Designer’s Digital Toolkit. I use this as my textbook in my "Intro to Computer Graphics" class.
 
Brian-M said:
Or if you could just download GIMP for free. The same functionality as Photoshop and doesn't cost anything.

(It does have a reputation for being difficult to use, but I haven't had any trouble with it. But then again, I've never used Photoshop, so I can't really compare the two.)
Click to expand...

Actually, GIMP doesn't have the same functionality as Photoshop.

It has all the functionality that most people know about, but for folks like me who have been working in pre-press professionally for decades (I started with Photoshop 1.0.7), there's a whole lot of functionality that more casual users just never see.

Don't get me wrong, GIMP is a great program, and if you're not doing pre-press or professional work, it does everything you're ever likely to need. But it absolutely, positively does not have all the same functionality as Photoshop.
 
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