Photoshop -- Academic version?

richtersl

I've been looking at prices for Photoshop because I'm considering switching to it from PSE.

There appear to be two different "flavors" of it available: one appears to be the regular Photoshop while the other is an "academic" one. The prices on the "academic" flavor are less expensive and I was wondering if someone here can explain the differences between the two? :scratch

ChrisJ

richtersl wrote:

The prices on the "academic" flavor are less expensive and I was wondering if someone here can explain the differences between the two?

The academic versions are no different than the normal ones. You just have to be a student/staff/teacher at a school to buy them. It's a great deal if you're associated with education.

Here's a link to Adobe's qualifications web site.

Art Scott

Chris is correct...as long as you have a valid ID from some sort of educational institution, you can be a cusstodian and still enjoy the academic pricing.....I used to use Academic Superstore for my purchases...and it was a real cost saver...

If you ahve children and know one of their teachers real well if you be able to get them to purchase for you....worth a try.

BeachBill

As others have mentioned, it's exactly the same, except it has academic printed on the box, materials, and in the splash screen on startup. Probably in the about box as well. I'm away from the computer where it's installed to confirm...

I just purchased the "academic verison" from journeyed.com last month. I'm taking an 8 week adult education photoshop course through the local K-12 school district which qualified me for the purchase. I also qualify for the purchase of this and other academic software as I have two children enrolled in K-12 schools. I used to buy academic-label software years ago when I was in college. It never dawned on me that we would again qualify now that we have kids in elementary school. But now I know and we will be saving a few bucks on future purchases (can divert the savings to camera related gear).

richtersl

Thanks for the quick replies!
I don't suppose that Dgrin's Finishing School would exactly meet Adobe's requirements.

But I do know a few school teachers....

GraphyFotoz

Gezzzz I never realized this!
I'm a uhhhhhhh.....custodian at a school 3rd shift 18yrs.
Didn't know the pricing benefits could be shared by us bottom rung guys!

Actually you should see the look on Teacher's faces when they see my photo's!!
Sad that society looks at US as being a buncha un-educated doofs. :bluduh :

greenpea

As a staff employee for the University of Washington, I can tell you once possible downside to the academic version is that you can't upgrade it (at least that's what they told me at the University of Washington bookstore).

However its not until you've purchased your 3rd upgrade before it becomes cheaper to have gotten the regular verison.

Mongrel

Hey there Brother!
In my 20th year as a B&G guy (Buildings & Grounds).

Started as a Custodian (ah...don't call me JANITOR, *please*...) in 1982. Took a four year hiatus, returned in 1990. Currently Buildings & Grounds Supervisor of a fairly large (1600+ students and 240 or so staff members) suburban high school.

I'm very proud of the people in this (an similar service professions) and the work that *we* do. No other profession serves ALL of mankind from the street people to the Kings, presidents, and emperors of the world-someone cleans up after them, and that someone is *us*.

I have the academic version as well....lol

GraphyFotoz wrote:

Gezzzz I never realized this!
I'm a uhhhhhhh.....custodian at a school 3rd shift 18yrs.
Didn't know the pricing benefits could be shared by us bottom rung guys!

Actually you should see the look on Teacher's faces when they see my photo's!!
Sad that society looks at US as being a buncha un-educated doofs. :bluduh :

Mongrel

Me thinks you got bad information...

greenpea wrote:

As a staff employee for the University of Washington, I can tell you once possible downside to the academic version is that you can't upgrade it (at least that's what they told me at the University of Washington bookstore).

However its not until you've purchased your 3rd upgrade before it becomes cheaper to have gotten the regular verison.

I read Adobe's website on Academic Limitations and even contacted them directly...

There are NO restrictions on legitimately purchased Academic Versions.

richtersl

I took the plunge!
After doing a Yahoo search on the Internet for prices on retail copies of Photoshop CS2, I came across a page on the Adobe web site with a special offer for anyone who purchased a Canon camera that came bundled with PhotoShop Elements. The offer began August 17, 2006 and runs until November 30, 2006.

Bottom line is that if you supply Adobe with the serial number of the copy of PSE that came bundled with your Canon camera, they'll lop $350 off the $649 retail price of Photoshop CS2!
:jawdrop
I just paid $332 (incl. tax and shipping) for PhotoShop CS2!

And here I was cussing and fuming about what to do with that copy of PSE 2.0 since I already had 3.0 loaded on my system

For anyone who purchased a Canon camera that came bundled with PSE and does not have Photoshop, and is interested in this deal or knows someone who may be interested, here's the link to that page:

http://store.adobe.com/store/products/master.jhtml?id=catCanon

:ivar Still doing the "happy dance".

pat.kane

Here's some info I shared back in August with my sister who had a teacher friend that was looking for Photoshop:

PC or Mac? Just be sure to pay attention to the platform when buying.

Don't buy CS. It shouldn't cost you any more to get CS2 than CS and there were some significant upgrades between the two. Count on CS3 being released sometime next year though.

First and foremost, you can download a 30-day trial version to meet the immediate need. Go to the following link and look for Try Now at top right:
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/

For purchase, a couple options are available to reduce the cost.

1. Lowest cost option ($200-250) is to buy an older, unregistered version off of eBay (< $100) and upgrade it ($150).

Be very careful about what you buy on eBay -- the software has to be unregistered or you won't be able to upgrade. I'd probably buy a new item and only from someone with a lot of positive feedback. Also be sure to buy based on the item cost AND shipping/handling as some sellers really try to rip you off on S/H.

eBay link

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&satitle=ADOBE+PHOTOSHOP+6.0

Example of a good license to buy (already closed)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270017475335

I didn't shop around for price on the upgrade, but Amazon has it for $150 (no tax or S/H). I bought my upgrade on eBay for $108 shipped to the door, so you can do better on price than Amazon if you're willing to look.

Adobe Photoshop CS2 Upgrade from Photoshop [Any Version]
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0008GM97I

2. Buy the educational version for around $300. Again, I didn't do an extensive look, but here are a couple of options (one with bonus software):

http://www.academicsuperstore.com/market/marketdisp.html?PartNo=752802&qk_srch=photoshop+cs2

http://www.provantage.com/adobe-academic-23102142~7EMRA00E.htm

Here's a FAQ at Adobe that explains the academic version:
http://www.adobe.com/education/purchasing/faq.html

Photoshop is worth the cost. It is an extremely capable piece of software and a lot of web forums, training, advice, etc. is available for free. It's also something the students need to know if they plan on getting into any type of graphics business.

Options for something other than Photoshop?

1. A FREE alternative to Photoshop is GIMP
http://www.gimp.org/
GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It works on many operating systems, in many languages.

I've never used it, but I often see it recommended as a Photoshop alternative for those that can't muster the funds.

2. Photoshop Elements is also very capable for its price.

DifferentSeed

Wacom (http://www.wacom.com) sometimes offers a special too if you buy an Intuos3 tablet you can upgrade Photoshop Elements, that comes with the tablet, to the full version of PS CS2 for around $300. The tablets they offer it with sometimes cost $230 and up but in the end you've got a kickass tablet, kickass software, and still saved a bit of the full retail version of CS2 I originally found it on Adobe's website however, not Wacoms. *shrug*

greenpea

Mongrel wrote:

I read Adobe's website on Academic Limitations and even contacted them directly...

There are NO restrictions on legitimately purchased Academic Versions.

No restrictions? Really? I can buy PS CS2, then upgrade to the next version without a problem (note there is no such thing as Academic Upgrades, only regular upgrades)? Wow!


What am I doing with PSE????

chrisjlee

richtersl wrote:

I've been looking at prices for Photoshop because I'm considering switching to it from PSE.

There appear to be two different "flavors" of it available: one appears to be the regular Photoshop while the other is an "academic" one. The prices on the "academic" flavor are less expensive and I was wondering if someone here can explain the differences between the two?

Yeah here at michigan state university a full version of Adobe cs2 is $120 and the whole creative suite is $380. (http://cstore.msu.edu/)

richtersl

chrisjlee wrote:

Yeah here at michigan state university a full version of Adobe cs2 is $120 and the whole creative suite is $380. (http://cstore.msu.edu/)

Now THAT'S a deal!

:jawdrop

BeachBill

chrisjlee wrote:

Yeah here at michigan state university a full version of Adobe cs2 is $120 and the whole creative suite is $380. (http://cstore.msu.edu/)

Yeah, that's what I bought the creative suite for at JourneyEd.

BeachBill

greenpea wrote:

No restrictions? Really? I can buy PS CS2, then upgrade to the next version without a problem (note there is no such thing as Academic Upgrades, only regular upgrades)? Wow!


What am I doing with PSE????

Correct, there is no "academic" upgrade discount. You have to pay the full regular upgrade price no matter which version you own.

By the way, I still prefer the organizer in PSE4 over Bridge. Organizer can handle thousands of raw images in one directory and display *all* images from the selected directory and subdirectories at the same time. Bridge chokes and crashes on more than say a thousand images in one directory and appears to only support displaying images from one directory at a time.