Photo shop right for me?

[Shockey]

My daughter uses Picnic for editing a few pics here and there it looks really easy to use.
I use Photoshop Elements 4, works great easy to use. Elements is all you would ever need for photo processing, don't mess with shooting your pictures in Raw, stick with Jpeg...make it easy on yourself.

 

[GFreg]

Are you looking to sell your work? Like others have said, Photoshop is a much more powerful tool but it is likely that you won't use 90% of what it can do.

I am just an amateur and I don't plan trying to sell anything in the near future. I now use Adobe Lightroom2 and I love it. I have used PS up until CS2. I don't really ever find myself missing the capabilities that PS offers. You can download a free trial of Lightroom and Photoshop from the Adobe website. Give it a shot. It will all come down to price vs. funtionality. One thing I can tell you though. If you go with PS...learn how to use it! There are so many neat things you can do. Get your dollars worth.

Photoshop CS4: image editor | Adobe Photoshop CS4
Lightroom 2: Adobe - Photo Management Software - Photoshop Lightroom

 

[Wolverinepwnes]

if you're a student somewhere you should be able to get photoshop (non upgradable) for 200$

 

[KmH]

It's not a sale, those are everyday prices for Adobe Student Editions which are exactly like the full retail version.

Not exactly. You cannot sell anything you've edited in a Student Edition.

No, this is not correct. It is my understanding that the old licenses stipulated that, but the current do not. You can sell stuff you do.

Adobe - Search: student edition commercial use Here's a better link: http://www.adobe.com/education/students/studentedition/faq.html

3rd one down - "Student Edition FAQ - North America"

After re-reading, I think you may have mis understood what I was saying abou the acquition cost of Adobe Student Editions?

At any rate, in North America, Student Edition Adobe sftware can be used by the student for commercial purposes.

 

[robbie_vlad]

Does Lightroom use "layers" as well so you can easily undo changes? Sorry for the threadjack, I've just been looking for some new editing software as well.

 

[Darkhunter139]

No lightroom does not use layers. I suggest trying the 30 day trial on adobe's website. Changes are easily undone though. It really depends on what kind of editing you want to do, lightroom is no photoshop. I really think eventually you would want both but if you're on a budget Lightroom is good to start out with (is for me at least)

 

[itznfb]

To my knowledge a student edition is not the same as an academic license. A student edition is distributed through your school. You've already paid for this student edition through your tuition and these editions are NOT available through any type of retailer.

An academic license however is available to ANY student through sources like JourneyED. These licenses are much more restrictive than student editions since you're actually paying full price for student editions,,,,, you just don't realize it.

 

[robbie_vlad]

Yea, I'm a senior in high school, so I don't exactly have an abundance of money haha. I'll try the downloadable trial though, thanks.

 

[burstintoflame81]

If you can afford it, get photoshop. I was in your same position several months ago and bought Corel Paintshop Pro because it was on sale. I quickly upgraded to CS4 and am EXTREMELY glad I did. Also, its not $1000 unless you get the maxed out version. Mine was like $500 ( still a lot though ). It has a big learning curve, but you can probably get a lot of books from your local library. Thats what I did. Some of them you will read 2 or 3 times and each time you will absorb something else, or find a new way to do the same thing only maybe quicker etc.

Another really nice feature that shouldn't be overlooked as well is that CS4 comes with Adobe Bridge for organizing your pics and adding metadata, and also Adobe Camera Raw which is like a streamlined photoshop for adjusting minor things before opening the full CS4 program.

 

[Inst!nct]

didnt read through the thread

but first look for free trials
second look for GIMP

 

[spunkychic]

I've been using picasa and recently bought photoshop elements. I'm amazed at how much it can do and it's really easy to use. I don't know what I'm missing out (yet) from lightroom and cs4, but feel it's a great way to start out. Also, I don't understand why people are saying not to get elements if you shoot in RAW. I can edit my RAW pictures in elements. Is it just easier in the other programs or something?