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Photoshop Tutorials

Janet

Dances with Bees
Contributing Artist
I upgraded and side upgraded till I got CS5. So glad I did as it was their last best version that wasn't a monthly subscription.
 

DanaTA

Distinguished
I just couldn't afford any more upgrades. I've been thinking about the subscription...it's supposedly only $10/month. But, even that would be a hardship some months. :( :confused:

Dana
 

Janet

Dances with Bees
Contributing Artist
I thought it was closer to 40 a month. Haven't looked in a long time though.
 

Miss B

Drawing Life 1 Pixel at a Time
CV-BEE
I abhor any kind of subscription setup, but $9.99/month isn't too high a price.
 

DanaTA

Distinguished
I abhor any kind of subscription setup, but $9.99/month isn't too high a price.

To be fair, I seem to remember Photoshop costing considerably more than $120. So I don't think it's such a bad thing. I think you can still use it after the subscription is up, but you don't get any updates. I may be wrong about that, though.

Dana
 

Rae134

Renowned
CV-BEE
Contributing Artist
Nope, once the subscriptions ends you can't use the software. (Most files are backwards compatible so you should be able to open them in older software but of course you loose any of the new software features IF you have saved them to your hard drive because you'll loose anything still in your cloud until you re-subscribe or you can backsave where possible and save to your HD)
 

Miss B

Drawing Life 1 Pixel at a Time
CV-BEE
Another reason I don't like subscriptions. I saved to my HD, or it doesn't get saved.
 

Janet

Dances with Bees
Contributing Artist
There are cheaper alternatives, Gimp and here's a new one Affinity. Haven't tried it out but it looks pretty good.
 

Miss B

Drawing Life 1 Pixel at a Time
CV-BEE
I tried Gimp years ago when I still had an older version of PS on my last Desktop, and installed Gimp on my first laptop. It's not bad, it uses a lot of goodies made for PS, but I was so used to PS after using it for years, Gimp just seemed a little awkward.

I suppose I could get used to it, if at some point it becomes necessary, but I'm not going to do it just so I can have the latest version. I happen to like PS CS2, and it does everything I need it to do. I'm a firm believer . . . if it's not broken . . . why fix it bother getting a newer one, and that's not just for 2D graphic software.
 

Jan

Adventurous
I use Paintshop Pro a really good program. Not a subscription either. Program is from Corel. The latest version is 2021 which I bought recently and this has some great new features Especially good for photographers. Scrapbooking or just graphics also. Check it out. While at it, check at scrapbookcampus.com for tutorials, tips, help. Has a forum also.
 

Miss B

Drawing Life 1 Pixel at a Time
CV-BEE
I used PSP for many years (versions 6 thru 9) and, in fact, moderated a PSP forum back in the day. I still have version 7 installed because I like it for quick screenshots.

The only reason I stopped using it was because I found Corel was leaning the software more towards photographers, and since I stopped using my camera when I stopped traveling decades ago, I didn't think it would be as useful for me as I was finding Photoshop at that time.
 

Jan

Adventurous
Miss B, Photoshop here in Australia was always too expensive and still is on subscription when you take in the US Dollar conversion to AUS Dollars.
Used mainly by people who work in Graphics and that sort of thing for business. Of course some can afford it as well.

Actually PSP is great for doing graphics as well, not just photography. Maybe does not do all the finer jobs Photoshop can do, but for the price, is good.
 

Miss B

Drawing Life 1 Pixel at a Time
CV-BEE
Yes, PSP was always reasonably priced. It's also good it's featuring all kinds of graphic work now. I just found with version 10 (or whatever they called it back then), they were featuring photographic manipulation more than the kind of 2D graphic work I was using it for. The more current versions probably feature both graphic, and photographic, work now-a-days. I just don't see me going back to using it as my primary 2D graphics app. I guess it's what you get used to that you prefer to use.
 
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robert952

Brilliant
Miss B - great point that you use software you are most comfortable using. Me? PSP since V1.0 when it was little more than a bit map editor.

As you point out - reasonable (comparative) pricing for PSP. 2021 version was $64 US upgrade for me. It is $80 upgrade online, a hundred for full version. (Since I am a long time customer I guess I got another bit off?) Even with those prices, they throw in extras: PhotoMirage Express (motion effects software - cool if limited use); Painter Essentials (V7 this time around); Aftershot 3.0 and a couple other goodies (backgrounds, stock photos, and brushes).

A lot of tools for under $100. And, like you said, put the install file on your HD and a backup copy somewhere else and it's yours forever with no other costs. (They even keep your serial numbers for all the software you've bought on their site.)

I was never a big fan of Adobe products because of 1. price and 2. not as intuitive for me. Seems they take 3-4 steps when PSP does same with simple 'drag and click.' This may have changed for current versions. But, I never got used to using Adobe products. (Exception is a third party software they market called Captivate for creating training presentations. Great software if your LMS can handle it.)

I have (and do use) many 'freeware' like GIMP, Inkscape, and such. They all keep getting better with their open source approach. It's like having the right tools in your toolbox when you need something different.

BTW, If you have the standard Microsoft Office suite, PowerPoint has a lot of photo editing tools. Not the power tools of PSP or PS. But more than enough basic tools to do quick photo edits for a presentation: . recolor, a handful of artistic effects, and, of course, cropping/resizing. (Such helps reduce the Death by PowerPoint).
 
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Miss B

Drawing Life 1 Pixel at a Time
CV-BEE
I tried Inkscape once, but couldn't quite get a handle on it. I do like ImageReady, which comes bundled with Photoshop, so use it when I need to have an .SVG image.

I'm a huge fan of open source freeware as well, as I've been modeling with Blender since version 2.4x, and now they're up to 2.8x, which I haven't upgraded to yet, because they've completely changed the UI. They did that back in the day from 2.4x to 2.5x, but then it really needed it. Now I think they did it because n00bs were finding the 2.7x UI hard to get around in. I've been using it so long I don't find any of it hard, unless it's something I haven't tried yet, and YouTube is overflowing with Blender tutorials, so no problem. ;)
 
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