It is important to know that Photoshop Elements - which is so much cheaper that full PS - can do all this stuff.

colin_walls

My first legal copy I bought a few years ago though my college. Since then, I've actually bought a fully legit copy of CS3 (yes, the full version, all 2100 dollars of it), because it's become invaluable to me. Sure, I have a copy of GIMP on my laptop, but, I only use that for screwing around and doing layout work, I almost always bring it back to photoshop and my incredible collection of free and paid for plugins.

However, the program is way to expensive for everyone, and I actually do tell people who want to learn photoshop to get GIMPshop, and see if they like it there first.

DemolitionMan

@smcallah: Another posibility would be cheaper Academic copies, or having access to software to use at school in some way, etc.

I used to gank all the Adobe/Macromedia software, but open source is to the point that I don't bother anymore. Inkscape and the Gimp do all I need.

TheTick

I am pretty sure the majority of people that use photoshop for fun home use are using pirated copies.

However, they are likely to be people that would never buy it at the price it is anyway, so the piracy is not causing any "losses" to Adobe's bottom line. I imagine they feel otherwise.

smcallah

I've been wondering for awhile how so many people seem to use photoshop. I've always considered it to be way too expensive for anything other than business use. For personal use, I've been using Corel Photopaint9 for years now because it was inexpensive to buy. Are photoshop users really shelling out $600 for their own personal copies, or is there a cheaper (legal) way to get it?

Limekiller

@colin_walls: Really? Because I have Photoshop Elements 4.0 for my macbook and it does not have the patch tool. Kind of disappointing too, Elements is missing a lot of features found in Photoshop cs3.

gcguster99t

I get photoshop from school. My network administrator buys multiple liscenses from Journeyed (don't know why a net admin would need Photoshop but w.e.). But for CS3, he only had the Mac ones. :( So I'm stuck with CS2.

ph15h

ps, adding to my above post, also check out the similar Grant's Free Elements tools for Elements 1-3. He also has some tools for later versions but these are alignment tools and not the masking and curves that you can get with Elements 1 - 3.

da5id_nz

If you're going to get Elements, It's worth seeking out an earlier copy - versions 1-3. There are FREE plugins for Elements versions 1 - 3 that allow you to use masking, curves, channel mixing and other features that Elements doesn't normally have. Adobe got wise to this and crippled future versions of Elements (from version 4 onwards) so that this can't be done.

da5id_nz

I myself use Photoshop through the academic license deal at the university where I work. I think they get it for under $150, and the license they buy for me there extends to a home installation for me, too.

Elements is really great software, though, and well worth the price.

I've been thinking about writing something about image editing for a while now. Maybe something that would teach folks the top 3 photo editing techniques that everyone should know. Something like that. And it would use..what software? Elements? Photoshop? A freebie? I'm not sure. But still. Anyone interested in reading a piece on a topic like that?

Scott D. Feldstein

Funny thing- I always suggest pirating Photoshop. But my one friend wanted to be ethically sound with her use of Photoshop, so she purchased it through one of those Academic license resellers (the kind you might see advertised in your college bookstore). She has a Mac and they made the mistake of sending her a copy of the Windows CS3 design suite. She didn't realize it was for Windows until she opened the package. When she called the company to return it, they said all purchases are final - there's no way to provide her with a CS3 for Mac serial number. In the end, she ended up having to resell the software, lost money on the deal, and came to me for a pirated copy. Case in point - if companies that charge a substantial amount of money for software actually had decent customer relations, maybe less people would pirate software.

MMcNasby

ps, I'd buy Photoshop if it was $150 or under. Normally is over $1000 here at non-academic price.

da5id_nz

The issue that I see is more that the random user of photoshop will never us tons of the feature that the software offers just like it was mentioned in this episode. Would a much liter version of photoshop directed tot he general consumer make Adobe earn more money, I don't know, I think adobe is quite satisfied with the corporate niche it has as it has become the standard software application when it comes to photo manipulation and so on. Anyway, nice episode.

dronnac

oh Sandy
you came and you gave without taking
but I sent you away,
oh Sandy

cardsharp

After reading this thread I went online to check the prices of Photoshop. I found me a legal copy of CS3 Extended for NZ$399.00 which is not bad. I am glad I have a copy now.

da5id_nz

[thepiratebay.org]

[www.utorrent.com]

Oneshot417

I love the "You Suck at Photoshop" series, Donny is hilarious and always teaches great techniques. I'll say this is the only video thus far where I dont think he really didn't teach much.

joeny1980

Gee, that Donny sure has a familiar voice.

chuyzero

@chuyzero: Donny sounds a little BenStillerish to me.

BLTMN

@joeny1980: aren't all his tutorials short on educational content? They're funny as hell, but I don't think many people get much out of them, apart from seeing what someone with really good skill is capable of.

Fierock

@DemolitionMan: The main problem for personal home use with GIMP is that, while there is still a lot of good peer support, there is a huge library of tutorials available which use photoshop - while almost all of the concepts in those tutorials can apply for GIMP too, it is way easier to learn using the same software as tutorials.

Fierock

They not too bad.
Also is worth checking out goodtutorials.com for Photoshop tutorials

da5id_nz

@Fierock: That's what worries me about writing that "top three photo edits you must know" article I mentioned above. On the one hand, it would be great if it were software agnostic. On the other hand, the message can get pretty diluted and writing bogged down by trying to make it applicable to everyone.

Scott D. Feldstein

@Scott D. Feldstein: if you used GIMP then everyone (who has admin rights on their computer) could follow your techniques without having to buy anything. Plus I think if you can learn to do something in GIMP you would understand most every other tool...

Fierock

@Fierock:

if you used GIMP then everyone (who has admin rights on their computer) could follow your techniques without having to buy anything.

Makes sense. But as a practical matter, I think everyone who doesn't already have GIMP will just go read another article somewhere else rather than downloading and installing it. It would be instantly limiting the audience to a fraction of what it would otherwise have been.

What I should probably do is investigate how different GIMP, PS and PS Elements are from one another with regard to the three areas I have in mind. If they're not too different, then all is well. If they're very different... then I dunno.

Scott D. Feldstein

@Scott D. Feldstein: Everyone who cares about stuff like that should have a more or less legal version of photoshop/photoshop elements methinks, and those using GIMP should have enough knowledge to translate the instructions for photoshop into something they can apply themselves.

PS: these are informed guesses

citizen.lambda

Vicious cruelty. It takes your breath away, especially when he talks about loneliness in the eyes. That's funny to your inner psychopath. Not worthy of Lifehacker. I'm disgusted.

philosopher_dog

Lighten up, dog. It's hilarious.

That_Bastid

@philosopher_dog: Wow, ok.

Excellent vocabulary? check!
Wonderful grammar? check!
Sense of humor? Negative! Negative! Abort! Abort!

s0crates82

@s0crates82: Probably not a great idea to generalize from your own sense of humour to what is in fact funny, especially if your mind is (apparently) fresh out of adolescence (or still in it?). This shock-jock nonsense may be funny to a room full of college dudes desensitized by the Hollywood blockbuster, but it shouldn't be on Lifehacker.

philosopher_dog

@philosopher_dog: That which is funny is subjective.

I guess where I'm confused is how you think that Gawker Media blogs are such bastions of good taste, moderation, and piety.

Did you miss the warnings in the text below the video about this being a headphones recommended piece, or that it's a bit harsh? You decided to watch it, even though you were warned, and now you're disappointed.

Why did you jump in to the 7th vid in the series without watching the other six? This one is actually pretty mild compared to the first several, and you know, the readers/viewers were warned about its content every single time.

Perhaps we're generally spoiled over here at LH because Gina and Adam are such generally family-friendly editors, but hey, do me a favor, scroll down and click that Fleshbot link.

s0crates82

I'm not going to have an argument with you about the subjectivity of humour. You were the one that said that I had none. I assume you didn't mean that this was just "your view". If it was, then to be consistent with your view about the subjectivity of humour you should keep it to yourself. I don't think that what I'm saying is "subjective", whatever you mean by that exactly. I think if you weren't 20 something you might understand that viciously attacking a woman because she's not under 30, with a hot bod, isn't actually funny, clever or in the least original. If you're not sure about this, ask someone wiser than you to explain this, preferably a woman. Although I don't need to watch this nonsense this is quite beside the point of whether this sort of thing is in bad taste. I think it is. It crosses a line. It's sexist, adolescent humour. Save it for the locker room already. And as Joan used to say "oh grow up"!

philosopher_dog