Buying Adobe Photoshop off Ebay for Tarot Deck Creation...

[Satori]

...And I'm confused!
How do you know who to trust?
Version 7, version 6, CS2....eeegads!

I see people saying complete with plug-ins, registerable, used and so on and I am sort of frozen and not taking advantage of anything that even looks good because I don't what I'm getting.

Can anyone advise? Should I go for the lesser versions, say 6 or 7? But even they are around 300+ from the folks who say they have them unopened in the retail box...and I've seen the same price for the CS and CS2 sellers.

My girlfriend teaches Adobe Photoshop and has offered to teach me the program for free...she advises getting the 7 even if it is only a disk with plugins as cheaply as possible, and if registerable I can upgrade from Adobe. Does this sound good to you????

Yikers.
Please offer your advice here.

 

[Marua]

I've worked a little with photoshop while in a class, but I have no idea which version it was, or which is best. Maybe you should get it brand new from a store instead of ebay. Super expensive, I know, but that way you can always get help if something isn't working right.
Good thing your girlfriend knows about it. If you cant trust her, who can you trust?
I would buy it new, just in case. I've been scammed on ebay once, and its no fun.
When it comes to electronic equipment and accessories, one can never be too careful.
There could be a million things wrong with it that you dont know about 'till you try it out.
Dont mean to freak you out, just think carefully about it. It totally sucks when something doesn't work right.

 

[darwinia]

I am still using version 6 which is perfectly fine.

Things in the newer versions include text on a path, which is handy and quite a few web design features that are not in version 6. If you can, I would get CS2. You can upgrade from a lower version to CS2 for $168 US from Adobe online.

Plug-ins are filters that do special things. Some of the plug-ins for Photoshop cost hundreds of dollars by themselves and some ship with the program--stuff to do clouds in backgrounds, stuff for art effects, and plugins to read various formats in file types. Sharpening and blurring filters and such come with the program. Sometimes they include trial versions of more expensive plug-ins on the disk--usually limited to 30-day trial.

If you buy a used program, Adobe has a transfer of ownership form online that the seller can fill out for you--then the program will be registered to you. I have an educational version which is exactly the same as the full version except the license does not allow for commercial use. Check which version you are paying for, the educational version will need upgrading for commercial use.

$300 seems good, although if you can get CS2 go for the best version your computer will run. Does your computer have the capability for CS2--check the Adobe web site for system requirements for the newer versions.

Now, as far as having just the disk, that's fine as long as it's a legal copy, because I have found publications like the Photoshop Bible (for whatever version) and other books available on amazon are much clearer and easier to understand than the manuals that ship with Photoshop.

Also, a lot of Adobe's technical Help files are on the disk--very often the manual will tell you to look it up that way anyway.

Hope that helps.

 

[Satori]

Wow.
Thanks Darwinia.
That was a great answer! I appreciate your answer too Marua, but knowing what plug-ins are is a huge piece of the puzzle!

I have the system requirements, but still I'm on a PC not a Mac.

Anyway, I feel better about bidding.
Thanks!

elf

 

[darwinia]

I have the system requirements, but still I'm on a PC not a Mac.

Me too. I love those new Mac commercials, but alas, the dream died when I lost my job last year.

This PC isn't so bad, although my monitor is the pits. I was hoping to get some birthday money to upgrade Photoshop to CS2 but it's pretty expensive, so I feel fortunate to have version 6.

I hope you get a copy of Photoshop, it's a wonderful program. Bit of a learning curve, but you'll never want to go back once you use it. I've got Adobe Illustrator CS and GoLive CS2 as well. If I could afford it, I'd get InDesign too, but I don't have the money right now. I love the way the Adobe products have almost the same interface and work together. Once you learn one, you're in the groove for all the others.

And you thought card decks were addictive. Just whisper the word "software" in the dark of the night. . .

 

[Satori]

And you thought card decks were addictive. Just whisper the word "software" in the dark of the night. . .

LOL, well, at least I'm whispering "Adobe...Adobe".
Not "Peter, Peter..."

My husband would NOT find that as amusing.

I think it comes down to trusting the 'verse. So it looks like the seller from Great Britain will be sending me the CS2.

 

[rota]

I wish you the best with it! Once you have crested that learning curve (and it's steep. your forehead may hurt from bashing it against the screen!), you will have a most addictive and useful tool at your disposal. I use it every day, and I constantly wonder what on earth I did before it existed.

 

[darwinia]

Just some more clarification on plugins.

I use Owen Ransen's great program "Repligator" within Photoshop as a plug-in. It is also a stand-alone program. Very often these filters can be used alone, or from within Photoshop--you decide that when you install it--there is a way to link such plug-ins to Photoshop. Kai's Power Tools (now sold by Corel) is another well-known plug-in for Photoshop.

And a really good one is Fantastic Machines Paint Engine, which is still free.
http://fantasticmachines.com/store/

Let's see, Alien Skin's Eye Candy is a good one http://www.alienskin.com/
and Blade Pro http://www.flamingpear.com/

The nice thing about Balde Pro is that you can download free settings and install them in the effects folder. The Paint Shop Pro crowd often swaps stuff like this. Very often, the same filters, brushes, gradient settings etc. work in both Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop, although sometimes to have to change the file suffix to swap them between programs, which doesn't hurt anything.

8BF is the file format for Photoshop plugins, so your file will be called "splodgy.8bf" or similar. When you download these free ones, you just stick the file in the Photoshop Plug-Ins folder and they will then be listed in the drop-down menu within the program. That's all there is to it. You can also make up another folder somewhere and link it to Photoshop and manage your plug-ins that way. It's easy.

Pricewise, you go from free plug-ins (which may or may not be useful) to shareware types like Repligator which costs $30 to $50 depending on whether you want Pro or Home features. Check here for what Repligator does--it has 100 effects gathered into the one program--lots of examples on the pages and Gallery.
http://www.ransen.com/Repligator/default.htm

A lot of plug-ins are geared for professional photographers and graphic artists and thus the price is geared toward that market, so very high.

Here's a page where you can look at some free ones.
http://www.freephotoshop.com/html/free_plugins.html

On the menu on the left are "Commercial Plugins" so you can get an idea of what those are.

Anyway, have a browse and look at the examples and you'll get an idea of how the plug-ins work with Photoshop to give you special effects.

Sorry, I love Photoshop, I get a tad carried away. <g>

 

[Sheri]

Hi Elf!

I would be careful of software from eBay. It might be legitimate but it also might not be. Not only could it be pirated and missing things, but it also might be loaded with nasties. A coworker was all excited about getting Microsoft Office for $10 on eBay and it wouldn't work AND it infected her computer with viruses. If there is a problem, you may not be able to get your money back even using a credit card because they fulfilled their commitment to ship you something (regardless of whether you were happy upon receipt).

Adobe offers a 30 day FREE trial of the full version of the software. I have a iMac G5 and I downloaded it and used it for the 2 of Wands card I did for the 4th AT deck this year. The first card (The World) took me 3 weeks with a variety of free/open source tools that did portions of what I needed. With Photoshop it took me only hours to finish my card! It was VERY user friendly, I didn't need to use the help at all. The only thing with the trial version is that you get a splash screen at the start of the program counting down the days you have left before the trial expires.

Good luck on your quest!

valeria

 

[Satori]

I just copied this off of one of the ebay seller's descriptions of a product:

"Academic Software - FAQ
Q: What is the difference between retail software and academically priced software?
Academically priced software have the same functionalities and capabilities of the retail version.The software itself installs the exact same as the full priced version, and doesn't ask for any academic information. However, Academic software generally comes with a sticker on the box that reads "for Educational use only".

Q: Can Academic software be used for commercial purposes?
A: This is a great question, many of the software companies would like you to believe the answer is no and often attempt to scare customers by placing text on the box that says, for example; “for educational use only” or something to that effect, but rest assured it is in fact legal to purchase and use Academic software for non- educational purposes. The truth is that the First Sale Doctrine protects our right, as well as yours to buy and use Academic software.

Software companies have attempted to circumvent the first sale doctrine by creating elaborate licensing agreements, in which they claim that the software can only be used for educational purposes.
Several courts however have found that once you purchase software, you have the legal ownership and the software companies cannot restrict how the software is used and therefore have upheld the first sale doctrine."


I found this informative.