Is it possible to buy a used version of PS?

Bystander

I have the poor man's problem -- I want PS CS 2 but don't want to spend $599! An Apple salesperson (I'm a Mac user one reason I'm broke) suggested something I've been thinking about: buy a used older version (rel 6.0 say) and the upgrade package. That should cost a total of about $250, I figure so a savings of #349!

Some sellers on eBay offer a package deal for $300 - $350 -- an old version plus updgrade. But...the old version is of questionable pedigree -- they seem to be OEM copies that somehow got loose. There are some German vendors on SP selling OEM versions of release 6 but these seem shady as well (I'm still 'investigating').

I have an aversion to pirated sw having been a sw developer in a previous life so I thought -- this is simple just buy a used back release and upgrade it, yes?

Well... no. I can't find any. I suspect Adobe makes transfering the sw difficult or maybe there is a black market in such things that I'm unaware of.

So (finally) my question is -- does anyone know where I can buy a nice cleal and legal older version of PS?

Thanks for any advice,
Frank :dunno

colourbox

I don't know where you can get one that's not a scam, but I have heard of people getting legal used Photoshop successfully. From what I have read, Adobe does have a clear process for transferring ownership of the license and people have done it. It's got to be a total transfer, though, because two people can't upgrade from the same serial number. That's where the scam potential is. If they don't let go of their copy, and they upgrade before you do, or never had a valid license in the first place, you won't be allowed to use that serial number for an upgrade discount.

Are enough of the features you need in Photoshop Elements 3? It's very cheap and very powerful, including decent RAW support, and I think there's an upgrade path to Photoshop itself.

spider-t

colourbox wrote:

I don't know where you can get one that's not a scam, but I have heard of people getting legal used Photoshop successfully. From what I have read, Adobe does have a clear process for transferring ownership of the license and people have done it. It's got to be a total transfer, though, because two people can't upgrade from the same serial number. That's where the scam potential is. If they don't let go of their copy, and they upgrade before you do, or never had a valid license in the first place, you won't be allowed to use that serial number for an upgrade discount.

Are enough of the features you need in Photoshop Elements 3? It's very cheap and very powerful, including decent RAW support, and I think there's an upgrade path to Photoshop itself.

Photoshop Elements 3 is awsome. It has just about everything you'd need. But if you do need to go CS, you can get it for half price if you get the academic version.

Take a $20 yoga class at your local comunity college and you'll qualify for student discounts. (That's what I do

http://www.journeyed.com/itemDetail.asp?T1=21271033

cheers!
Trish

Bystander

spider-t wrote:

Photoshop Elements 3 is awsome. It has just about everything you'd need. But if you do need to go CS, you can get it for half price if you get the academic version.

Take a $20 yoga class at your local comunity college and you'll qualify for student discounts. (That's what I do

http://www.journeyed.com/itemDetail.asp?T1=21271033

cheers!
Trish

My wife is a teacher my daughter's in college -- so my household qualifies. This is probably the path of least resistance. :

Bystander

colourbox wrote:

I don't know where you can get one that's not a scam, but I have heard of people getting legal used Photoshop successfully. From what I have read, Adobe does have a clear process for transferring ownership of the license and people have done it. It's got to be a total transfer, though, because two people can't upgrade from the same serial number. That's where the scam potential is. If they don't let go of their copy, and they upgrade before you do, or never had a valid license in the first place, you won't be allowed to use that serial number for an upgrade discount.

Are enough of the features you need in Photoshop Elements 3? It's very cheap and very powerful, including decent RAW support, and I think there's an upgrade path to Photoshop itself.

I have Elements 3. Just started shooting RAW and seems that CS 2 has better support. I'd like to use curves for example. That feature is not in Elements, correct?

GraphyFotoz

Well......

Bystander wrote:

I have an aversion to pirated sw having been a sw developer in a previous life so I thought -- this is simple just buy a used back release and upgrade it, yes?

It software companies didn't charge soooo much for a program that wouldn't happen! I'd think they'd make more $$$ by selling cheaper?
Cutting cd's cost next to nothing now days. I'm sure a HUGE amount of the cost is pure profit.

But then.....that's only my 2cents worth.

Bystander

Karz wrote:

It software companies didn't charge soooo much for a program that wouldn't happen! I'd think they'd make more $$$ by selling cheaper?
Cutting cd's cost next to nothing now days. I'm sure a HUGE amount of the cost is pure profit.

But then.....that's only my 2cents worth.

I agree with your 2cents worth. 'course they do spend a lot on marketing -- but $599 is a ton of $$ for any single user sw package imo.
:uhoh

colourbox

Karz wrote:

It software companies didn't charge soooo much for a program that wouldn't happen! I'd think they'd make more $$$ by selling cheaper?
Cutting cd's cost next to nothing now days. I'm sure a HUGE amount of the cost is pure profit.

But then.....that's only my 2cents worth.

Put it all in perspective.

Does Photoshop (new, not upgrade) cost more, or less, than most of the major pieces of camera equipment bought on this forum? The answer is, less. If I had $700, I'd be able to pay full retail for Photoshop, but would not have enough money for a bottom-of-all-SLRs Rebel XT body without a lens. And a Photoshop upgrade costs less than most of the minor pieces of camera equipment talked about on this forum, like flashes and prime lenses. Yet could a serious photo business more easily do without one lens out of the collection, or Photoshop? Does Photoshop still seem overpriced?

CDs cost next to nothing, but how much does it cost to employ and equip software engineers of the caliber that can build Photoshop? If it is so easy and cheap to do so, where are all the inexpensive competitors that are draining market share away from Photoshop? Oh wait, there aren't any. Hmm... Maybe creating Photoshop takes more resources than it looks at first glance. It's ironic, no one here would suggest that the rights to technically excellent photos should be sold for almost free because it costs nothing to press the button and copy to the computer.

If Photoshop's too expensive for most people, maybe that's because most people don't need all of Photoshop. In the same way that if you showed a nice lens to a regular joe, they would never understand why it should cost $1300. That seems to be the reason Photoshop Elements exists. At $99, it truly is no slouch, it's quite a bargain, seriously, and it can't be accused of being overpriced. Seems like Adobe has it covered.

That's my 2 cents!

(P.S. Yes, Curves in RAW are only in Photoshop, not in Elements.)