Should I get photoshop ?

[carter]

I now have a 400D and a decent lens 70-200mm f2.8 IS canon. Everyone seems to use photoshop, but when I looked it's hundreds of pounds...doh !
Question... should I get it as an amateur, or (when the money is there) invest in another lens ?
If i do need Photoshop, what sort of price should I be expecting to pay ?

[Kenny]

Hi Carter

if you know anyone who is a student you can get substantial reduction on the price from adobe.I think when I enquired it was about £174 for the student version of CS4 but it comes as a direct download and no disks and no manual.

Bessy regs

Kenny

[David Worthington]

PShop Elements would do you very well for quite a while and its not too many ££££££...then you can upgrade in a year or so, if ya wanna

[tenchy]

one of the first things I realised when I joined this forum is that there is a lot more things to do to enhance images than I thought.

Images that came out of the camera that were ok, but not wow could easily be wowed up by really simple things like levels and curves.
So now, I consider photoshop to be an essential on a par with a flash or lens.

There are alternatives,Kenny offers one,you may find CS3 cheap now 4 is out. There is also elements which is cheaper,and gimp which is free. There's paint shop too. But if u can stretch to photoshop u will have the L glass of software.

[flybybry]

Here's a quick screenshot of the Gimp editor, in my opinion an ideal solution to anyone on a learning curve at the best price possibel, FREE

To get a copy simply go to:


www.gimp.org

[tinysmall]

Yeah I would go with the gimp. It can do more than elements and almost as much as ps and as said above, it's free.

[carter]

Thanks guys, looks like either PScs4 or gimp would be an asset. I do in fact, have a daughter who is a student, so I will look into that, thanks Kenny.
Getting the wow factor into my photos is exactly want I am looking for.
thanks again all (will let you know how I get on)

[Jenny105]

Re GiMP The download looks interesting. (Also the GNOME foundation that can be donated to).

As you know I'm not tecchy. On the GIMP site there is a direct download, a CD offer and a slow or pay for fast download, not sure if this is GIMP tho.
Can flybybry or other member tell me which is the freebie to download.? Is there a help page onboard in case my intuition fails?
Im always a bit nervous about freebies but I managed to use OPEN OFFICE .

[Alan W]

Get the latest version of Photoshop Elements (£52 at Amazon) because you will probably get CS4 later and it is good to get into the photoshop way of doing things.

[josh_smaxx]

RGB labs middlesbrough, google them and give them a ring, last time i was in (bout 2 weeks ago) they had CS3 Extended in for £60 and were trying to sell me CS4 Extended for £180 if i had a NUS student card.

[vallis]

Re GiMP The download looks interesting. Also the GNOME foundation that can be donated to.

As you know I'm not tecchy. There is a direct download, a CD offer and a slow or pay for fast download, not sure if this is GIMP tho. Can flybybry or other member tell me which is the one indicated above ? Is there a help page onboard in case my intuition fails?
Im always a bit nervous about freebies but I managed to use OPEN OFFICE .

Hi Jenny,
This link will take you to the GIMP for Windows download page (I'm assuming you're a Windows user)
http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html

There's absolutely nothing to worry about with this 'freebie'. The whole idea is that it's 'by the community, for the community' so the entire package has been peer reviewed by hundreds of people to make sure there's nothing nasty in there.

Another alternative is GIMP Shop, which is The GIMP but made to look a bit more like Photoshop. Good if you're trained in Photoshop and wanting to try out The GIMP. It's exactly the same software underneath so again, nothing to worry about. See http://www.gimpshop.com/

V.

[Jenny105]

Hi thanks
Hi I got thru to the links ok but when I tried both they the have choices.
I might find the Gimp shop better as Im used to Elelments and attend classes where PS is used.

However there are 3 or 4 boxes on the left ,not sure which is the one I'm after, Is it Free download. nr top Gimp free download or free photoshop download (bottom box).
Apologies i,m really not tecchy

[vallis]

Hi Jenny,
These are the direct links to The GIMP and GIMPShop installer files.
GIMP: http://downloads.sourceforge.net/gimp-win/gimp-2.6.4-i686-setup.exe
GIMPShop: http://rapidshare.com/files/86270573/gimpshop_2.2.8_fix1_setup.exe

Enjoy,
V.

[Jenny105]

Hi
Sourge force was used to down load stable GIMP ,inc help pages. Its up and running. The interface is different from Elements 4, which is all i have at present, but at tutorials Ive been following Photoshop Mac so at a guess I will click around until I find the 'elements' i like to use.

One query the Sourge force help doesnt seem to have a space to type in the name of the issue needing help . So I'm not finding, say, 'selsction' pages quickly. May be i just need to play longer.
Thanks for the tips

[photo3]

Alternatively you may not need Photoshop at all. For 90% of my shots I use Digital Photo Professional which comes free with Canon cameras.

Andy

[darrenmwinter]

If your heart is set on Photoshop, wonder if it might work out cheaper to buy an older version and then just pay for the upgrade? I did that with the music sequencing software that I use (Ableton Live) - someone flogged an unused copy of Ableton Live on eBay which I snapped up and then upgraded to the full version. Saved me well over half the price from new. Just make sure that any version you buy has been de-registered!

[Kirsty]

Hi Carter the answer to that is yes yes yes!! Not only because of the editing, but camera raw and tif files!

If you email me about it i could get you it and it wont cost you the earth!
halliwell-photographics@hotmail.co.uk

[elephant man]

Photoshop is very hard to learn lol im currently reading as much as I can about it,
you should try gimp first and see how you get on with that