Which Photoshop??

[EleanorW]

Ok, so I'm enrolled as a correspondence student at the Univerisity of Toronto, but I have no student card etc and well Toronto's a long ways from me I'll likely have to try and find a friend of a friend or something who's enrolled at the U of S here?

 

[Plato]

Ok, so I'm enrolled as a correspondence student at the Univerisity of Toronto, but I have no student card etc and well Toronto's a long ways from me I'll likely have to try and find a friend of a friend or something who's enrolled at the U of S here?

Eleanor...
It's worth going to the Adobe educational store and try to place an order. BEFORE you give your credit card info and actually make a purchase, they will tell you what they accept as student ID. You then exit from the web site, accumulate the info and go back.

 

[Dwig]

...I would like to be able to remove unwanted background objects with ease. ( telephone poles, light poles, people , cars etc. )
...

This one point effectively rules out Lightroom as an option. At least having only Lightroom.

 

[burstintoflame81]

well, I decided to just break down and buy so that I was eligable for upgrades and support without having to worry about it being registered to my 13 year old niece who I rarely see. B&H had CS4 for $595 including a free "onOne Software PhotoTools 1.0 Professional Edition Plug-in" Which is $219.95 at B&H if purchased seperately.

 

[Jas23]

Ok, so I'm enrolled as a correspondence student at the Univerisity of Toronto, but I have no student card etc and well Toronto's a long ways from me I'll likely have to try and find a friend of a friend or something who's enrolled at the U of S here?

Eleanor...
It's worth going to the Adobe educational store and try to place an order. BEFORE you give your credit card info and actually make a purchase, they will tell you what they accept as student ID. You then exit from the web site, accumulate the info and go back.

Eleanor, this section of the Adobe Student Editions FAQ outlines what you can do to prove your student status since you don't have a student ID:

If you do not have a current student ID with name date and photo, the student must instead provide a valid photo ID, and one (of the following) corroborating evidence of current enrollment:
Official current non-photo student ID with name and date
or
Official current school transcript indicating name of school and student
or
Official current school tuition bill indicating name of school and student
or
Official current report card indicating name of school and student
or
Other official dated proof of enrollment

Also in case you are wondering, this is the form that they will ask you to submit:
Adobe : Proof of Academic Indentification form

 

[UUilliam]

Why would they allow you to use Student version for professional work?
Think about it, if they do it that way, everyone has a niece who "needs photoshop" so everyone can get it for that price then never upgrade to a full license?

Also to op:

For what your adjustments are, Lightroom is the best to use
but photoshop is better just for the "what if..." factor

elements is basically the cheapo version of photoshop, hasn icer interface, but is allot more restricted.

all of them do what you want, but Lightroom is best suited, i would only recommend photoshop if you wanna do retouching / remodeling, cloning etc..

 

[Jas23]

Adobe even has this up on the Myth Busters section of their Student Editions page:
Adobe Back to School

Myth #2: Student Editions cannot be used for commercial use (in North America only).

Completely Busted!
Student Editions can totally be used for commercial use, all over North America.

 

[icassell]

As a university faculty member, I was also able to buy CS4 at educational discount. It would be silly if a staff member could buy it and not use it commercially. Many computer manufacturers (e.g. Apple) also give educational discounts on their hardware. They don't tell you how you can use it.

 

[Jas23]

As a university faculty member, I was also able to buy CS4 at educational discount. It would be silly if a staff member could buy it and not use it commercially.

Even though your copy allows for commercial use, it's important to remember that some colleges/universities have set up unique purchasing programs with Adobe, and the terms/costs can be different from one college to the next. So while you got a certain deal through your university, it is exclusive to current students+faculty of that institution only.
So you bought your software through your university under what they call "Academic Licensing."

The broader option available to all current college students, (who meet Adobe's eligibility requirements, of course) is buying one of Adobe's "Student Editions" of Creative Suite 4.

Student Editions are different from the Academic Licensing option, which are generally purchased through your school. Instead, Student Editions can be bought directly on Adobe's site: Adobe Back to School or from a 3rd party retailer.

 

[dave196]

I work alot in film editing, and am a higher learning student.
All my software is under educational license, and its allowed. Trust me the people I work for care if your software is legal.

Anyway, for your purpose I would suggest LR2 for balancing and levels, and then possibly the use of GIMP for cloning (I believe it has that feature?). If your ready to really commit to it, CS4 EXT is amazing. Combine it with a tablet and a reasonably computer and you've got an editing suite.

 

[Jas23]

It's also worth mentioning that the rules/restrictions on using the Student Editions for commercial use can differ depending on the country/region that you live in.

In North America specifically, Adobe's Student Editions can definitely be used for commercial use.