Getting Photoshop

[zed]

OK I've been using PS CS3 for many years, but with the latest windows 10 update, its become nearly unusable (with high DPI it has gone backwards since the latest update, and now cursors are screwed in PS and everything is tiny)
but from searching it seems you cant buy it outright anymore but have to subscribe ~$200NZ a year (cheapest option)
Now I'm not a big user of PS so this is far too much, what are my options, eg possible to outright buy it, and then lose the ability to upgrade to latest version all the time? Or buy an older version?
or even use something else?

 

[Pressure]

Newest version is subscription only.

If anyone in your family is a teacher or student, they can grab it for a very low monthly payment. You only need the account active the months you use it, so it will most likely be cheaper than outright buying Creative Suite (I remember when CS were $1799.99 ...).

For as low as $19.95 (EDIT: a month!) you can have it for years and always the newest versions. If you only need Photoshop and Lightroom the price is cheaper at $9.95 a month.

 

[orangpelupa]

Is the newest photos hop hidpi friendly?

 

[Davros]

The gimp is very powerfull
and its free opensource, the downside is there is a learning curve
https://www.gimp.org

https://pixlr.com/editor/
Is an online image editor from autodesk I dont know if its powerfull enough for you

ps:
How about Adobe Photoshop Express for Windows 10
its cut down but free
http://downloads.techradar.com/downloads/adobe-photoshop-express-windows-10-app

If your prepared to pay £62
there is Corel paintshop pro x9
http://www.paintshoppro.com/en/products/paintshop-pro/standard/?hptrack=en2so3
There is a free trial
I used to use paintshop pro years ago before corel bought it it was owned by jasc
and was shareware (but still worked after the 30 days earlier versions had no time limit) and was very happy with it

Right now I use paint.net (its free) but I only need the basics

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I despise the GIMP UI! Can't use it for toffee. Krita is a better PS alternative I think. I tried it on SP4 and couldn't get the pressure-sensitivity on the stylus to work though, so haven't properly investigated.

I actually still use PaintShop Pro 7, from circa 2000 and given away free on a coverdisk! It's a shockingly capable app. Only thing I really lament are the vector tools, but other apps aren't much better. Attached is a 'photoshopped' wedding invite I created for my sister's wedding. Better include source images to show what I had to work with. Given I'm so familiar with PSP7, I don't want to swap to any other app, and these subscription only options are definitely to be avoided.

Sketchbook Pro has also gone subscription. I bought an older version outright for use on the Surface Pro.

 

[Arwin]

I'm no fan of the GIMP UI either, but I got used to it and it does the trick for my personal needs at least. But I don't do a lot of real photoshopping ... Did need to disable some of the font scanning it does at startup to prevent it from being slow starting up.

Oh and apparently the Creators Edition (which I can't install) has an improved Paint app.

 

[digitalwanderer]

I still use Photoshop 6 for quick things.

 

[Davros]

I despise the GIMP UI! Can't use it for toffee.

Try it for photo editing

I still use Photoshop 6 for quick things.

Paint.Net would probably be faster for simple stuff (I think it started life as a microsoft demo for Dot Net)
Edit: it did
https://www.getpaint.net (6.7mb)

Only thing I really lament are the vector tools,

Corel Draw used to be the go to program for that.

try SK1 (free)
https://sk1project.net

Inkscape (free)
https://inkscape.org/en/

Sketchup Make (formerly google sketchup)
free for non commercial use
https://www.sketchup.com/download?sketchup=make

If you want to do 2d animation
Synfig Studio
http://www.synfig.org

 

[Cyan]

I'm no fan of the GIMP UI either, but I got used to it and it does the trick for my personal needs at least. But I don't do a lot of real photoshopping ... Did need to disable some of the font scanning it does at startup to prevent it from being slow starting up.

Oh and apparently the Creators Edition (which I can't install) has an improved Paint app.

I learnt quite a bit about using GIMP last year, and had a classmate that is a genius at it. It is so powerful if you know how to use it. However, I have the same problem with GIMP, especially the UI I don't get used to.

I despise the GIMP UI! Can't use it for toffee. Krita is a better PS alternative I think. I tried it on SP4 and couldn't get the pressure-sensitivity on the stylus to work though, so haven't properly investigated.

I actually still use PaintShop Pro 7, from circa 2000 and given away free on a coverdisk! It's a shockingly capable app. Only thing I really lament are the vector tools, but other apps aren't much better. Attached is a 'photoshopped' wedding invite I created for my sister's wedding. Better include source images to show what I had to work with. Given I'm so familiar with PSP7, I don't want to swap to any other app, and these subscription only options are definitely to be avoided.

Sketchbook Pro has also gone subscription. I bought an older version outright for use on the Surface Pro.
View attachment 1962 View attachment 1963

hahah, lots of people would like to attend that wedding just looking at the design. Nice stuff. Lots of work behing it, I guess? Maybe you were the best man.

To the OP, some other alternatives not listed here, though I'd give Krita a try:

http://alternativeto.net/software/adobe-photoshop/

Also there is the goold ol' CorelDraw, with vectors support, but last time I checked, a year ago, it costs a little.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Corel Draw used to be the go to program for that.

try SK1 (free)
https://sk1project.net

Inkscape (free)
https://inkscape.org/en/

Sketchup Make (formerly google sketchup)
free for non commercial use
https://www.sketchup.com/download?sketchup=make

If you want to do 2d animation
Synfig Studio
http://www.synfig.org

Tried a few. Even bought Corel Draw last year I think. I just can't get on with their implementation of vectors though, perhaps because I'm so conditioned to PSP7's very straight-forward approach? Adding gradients and stuff just seems so awkward! Sort of thing where you have to spend time learning the tool and I just don't have that sort of time or inclination any more. That's perhaps the most important thing for any app these days - they are all very well featured, and it's more a case of which one syncs with your own thought processes to provide the most fluid interface that's the one worth getting. Ignoring price-tag...

 

[Davros]

I'm so conditioned to PSP7's very straight-forward approach?

Well PSP9 has a free trial (unless it has to be free)

 

[zed]

For as low as $19.95 you can have it for years and always the newest versions.

Its not only $19.95 for years, its $19.95 every month, which over years of use adds up to hundreds of dollars. Sure if I was using it often that would be OK but I'm not.

I did try out the gimp again, they've improved the UI. In the Menu choose -> Windows -> Single-Window-Mode
Though from looking at it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIMP_version_history 2.10 looks like it will be nice, a major overhaul of the UI

but who knows when that will be out, I was going to do a preview build, but it seems a major PITA to get all the dependencies sussed out
https://www.gimp.org/source/#gimp-requirements looks like I'ld need at least 10+ packages, 7 base ones plus jpg,png,python,zlib etc
If someone knows where I can grab a prebuilt version that would be sweet

I'll have a look at the above programs, The only things I really want are hi DPI ready and scripting ability

 

[Davros]

I think 2.9 is the experimental version of 2.10
What’s Left To Do for GIMP 2.10
Since the release of v2.9.2 we have been mostly fixing bugs and completing the work we had started earlier. We are not planning to add any major new features in v2.10.

get the windows version 2.9.5 here :
http://www.partha.com/downloads/Gimp-2.9.5-cce-64bit-portable.exe (portable version)

ps: /note to self
Shifty is now the official B3d wedding and divorce poster maker....

 

[BRiT]

@Davros oh, what does a divorce poster look like?

 

[Davros]

Here's the source Image

 

[Pressure]

Its not only $19.95 for years, its $19.95 every month, which over years of use adds up to hundreds of dollars. Sure if I was using it often that would be OK but I'm not.

I thought that was pretty much implied it was a monthly cost as I mention it again in the next sentence. As mentioned before it used to cost $1795 ... now it's only $9.95 or $19.95 a month.

But then again, I also bought CS1, CS2, CS3 and CS4 ...

I am on the $19.95 a month plan and it is simply fantastic value for the money.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Its not only $19.95 for years, its $19.95 every month, which over years of use adds up to hundreds of dollars. Sure if I was using it often that would be OK but I'm not.

That should be perfect for you then. Only pay for the months you plan to use it and don't pay when you don't. Granted the cost goes up to 29.99 USD per month for a monthly subscription plan, but if you don't use it a lot, just plan around that so that you only need to use it one or two times a year.

Regards,
SB

 

[Davros]

now it's only $9.95 or $19.95 a month

Wonders if you can block photoshop in your firewall and reset the date before you run it

 

[digitalwanderer]

Wonders if you can block photoshop in your firewall and reset the date before you run it

That doesn't sound very ethical though now does it Dav? I mean what's the difference between doing that and using amtemu.v0.9.2-painter.exe to just crack it entirely?

 

[Davros]

All done in the name of research of course