Photoshop - Help in what to buy from where??

Simon7685

At a recent parents evening, we were told that our daughter would benefit from having Photoshop and Illustrator available to use from home, as she studies towards her GCSE'S.

I thought this would be a simple pop to the shop and buy a disc, apparently not!

All these different prices on Adobe and everywhere else I've looked, access to the cloud etc, it is all just a bit too much for me and I am a little out of my depth, to say the least.

Can someone please point me in the right direction of where to go and what exactly I need to buy as there are so many different things, I don't really know where to start!!

Thanks in advance

gjchester

Simon7685 wrote: »

Can someone please point me in the right direction of where to go and what exactly I need to buy as there are so many different things, I don't really know where to start!!

Thanks in advance

Adobe don't sell software as a "unit" any longer, you have to subscribe to it.


Photoshop starts at £8 a month for students, and for photoshop and illustrator you'd be looking at £15 or so. That assumes the school is registered with Adobe.


You do get more than just the two apps, but if they are used is another matter, and if you cancel your subscription then you lose edit access to the software.
The software also needs to check in on a semi regular basis (every 30days) to remain in full edit more, after 30days it will go into read only mode till it can check in to the Adobe mothership.

colin79666

As above, have a look here: https://creative.adobe.com/plans?store_code=gb

notanewuser

I bought PS Elements 12 for about £40 not so long back........

Gloomendoom

I bought Photoshop on a disc not so long ago. As far as I am aware it is still available for education. It's still blummin expensive though.

Personally, I'd look at some of the cheaper alternatives.

https://www.udemy.com/blog/illustrator-alternative/

Gimp is probably the best Photoshop alternative... and it's free.

http://www.gimp.org/

cookie365

GCSEs are a miserable enough experience already without having to use the dreadful gimp

Photoshop Elements is easy to use and I'd be surprised if it can't cope with anything she needs to do at GCSE level.

An alternative to Illustrator is a bit trickier - have a look at Inkscape as the first option.

Gloomendoom

cookie365 wrote: »

GCSEs are a miserable enough experience already without having to use the dreadful gimp

Photoshop Elements is easy to use and I'd be surprised if it can't cope with anything she needs to do at GCSE level.

Elements would also be a better grounding for using the industry standard full blown Photoshop than Gimp. It would certainly make the learning curve less steep.

gjchester

Gloomendoom wrote: »

I bought Photoshop on a disc not so long ago. As far as I am aware it is still available for education. It's still blummin expensive though.

Photoshop CS6 was the last one that you could buy as a "full " disk. After that Adobe went to the subscription model for the full Photoshop.


Elements is available to buy as a offline installable product, its a cut down version of Photoshop, but may do what the OP's daughter needs.


There is no elements version of Illustrator, its either pay Adobe or use something else...


And yes its expensive but its the industry standard so it what you have to pay unfortunately, that's why I never upgraded from my CS4 version, that cost me enough on my student licence, can't really justify spending a lot more on an upgrade...

Gloomendoom

gjchester wrote: »

Photoshop CS6 was the last one that you could buy as a "full " disk. After that Adobe went to the subscription model for the full Photoshop.

And yes its expensive but its the industry standard so it what you have to pay unfortunately, that's why I never upgraded from my CS4 version, that cost me enough on my student licence, can't really justify spending a lot more on an upgrade...

It was CS6 I bought, about three months ago. I would have preferred the subscription version but my employer's purchasing system can only cope with outright purchases.

Simon7685

Thanks for all the info and suggestions you have given me. Not being very tech minded, I am still struggling on what to do for the best, the school have advised to stick to Photoshop and Illustrator as they are the programs they use at school, so I think that makes sense rather than getting a different cheaper one.

So the one on Adobe at £15.88 a month includes Illustrator. If I opted for that what exactly do I get?
I am assuming you download the program from Adobe and install it onto the laptop, the subscription then allows you to receive all updates and newer versions automatically?

Thinking about a worst case scenario and for whatever reason I found myself unable to keep up the subscription (not that I expect it) do you still have access to using the programs, or does it stop working?

Sorry if this sounds a bit thick but I am just a bit concerned about forking out £15 a month and not actually owning a working program that you can keep. Or am I barking up the wrong tree? I am not used to all this, when I wanted Microsoft Publisher many years ago I went out and bought it and owned the program for life!

colin79666

If you stop paying it will stop working, that is how the subscription model works. New versions are included in the price.

You subscribe on the site and it provides you with a download link for the software.