[timmijo]

I have always wanted a disc of the Photoshop Master Suite (or just Photoshop), and then Adobe CC replaced the box system of purchase. Now, on eBay, boxed versions are either extremely overpriced or extremely cheap (pirated). Maybe I am overly concerned about what it is that I have been missing. I use Elements 11. My beef with Elements 11 is that there is no white balance correction, just "remove a color cast", but it is not measurable and is clunky. I wish there were white balance correction and exposure correction both on the main interface of Elements in Expert mode.

In the interest of not wanting to overspend on something that maybe I do not really need, can anyone recommend a Photoshop alternative? I would be willing to purchase for a modest price or download an open-source software. I have just heard of GimpShop.

A user-friendly interface for working in Raw would be nice. I've seen what Aperture looks like, but I use Windows and often wished there were Aperture for Windows.

So, I am looking for an editor that can do everything that Photoshop Elements can do with the addition of white balance and exposure correction on the main interface. Is this what I have been missing for lack of having the real Photoshop?

Any easy, legit way to get a DVD of any CS version, 4, 5, or 6?

Thanks

[RGlasel]

anyone recommend a Photoshop alternative?

If you are only working with photos (not building layers, designing textures, etc.) then this http://www.paintshoppro.com/en/products/paintshop-pro/ will do everything Elements will, with much better workflow tools for working with several pictures at once. I don't find it as versatile or handy as Lightroom, but Lightroom by itself isn't much of a photo editor. If you have never used the full slate of programs in the "professional" PhotoShop packages, you may not realize how much of its functionality you will never use, unless you plan to become a full-time graphic artist. It depends on what your needs are; do you ever need to edit portions of individual photos, or do you just need to apply adjustments to the entire photo? If you never need to do more than adjust the entire image, you have a few free options; otherwise, Gimp is your only practical free option.

Any easy, legit way to get a DVD of any CS version, 4, 5, or 6?

You have already checked out eBay, outside of that, no. If you need a full-featured photo editing package, Corel Graphics Suite can still be purchased on a DVD and is about a third of the standalone price of Creative Suite (when it was being sold that way). When I need to do a head transplant or apply a mask to make adjustments, I use the PhotoPaint part of the Corel Suite, and I use the CorelDraw part for newsletters, posters, etc.

[vonBaloney]

Well...CS2 they are giving away free now...

[OregonJim]

The Gimp would fill your needs nicely. It has all the features of the full version of Photoshop, but you will not be able to use third-party Photoshop plugins with it. However, there are quite a number of open source Gimp plugins available.

GimpShop is just the Gimp with a tweaked user interface to make it "feel" more like Photoshop.

[RGlasel]

a tweaked user interface to make it "feel" more like Photoshop

Which can only be a good thing, because the UI for Gimp is unique, and I don't mean that in a good way.

[OregonJim]

the UI for Gimp is unique, and I don't mean that in a good way.

If you've spent years learning Photoshop, then yes, the Gimp is frustrating to get around in. Same for any other two pieces of software. It depends on where you start.

[timmijo]

I do a lot of fixing in post. Sometimes I do global fixes on the whole photo if, say, the white balance was wrong on the camera. There are also times when I swap eyes or heads or eliminate distractions in the backgrounds and use layers for that. I use layers for skin repair in portraits. I do have Lightroom 4 but did not want to mention that to add another issue in. Usually, I resort to LR4 when I know I need good white balance and exposure adjustment, and for boosting the photo with a bit of clarity and vibrance. Also for de-noising a photo, but it would be great to have all those features in one program. Another issue is that LR4 is set to work in 16 bit but when it sends the photo out to Elements, it must reduce it to 8-bit if more post processing is done.
As a person who tweaks photos one at a time, I do not currently have a need for mass-post-production in LR4. Not yet, but it is there for when I want it.

Oh, yes, I did just get a Huion 610 Pro graphics tablet but have not downloaded the drivers yet ... I can draw and thought a tablet would be nicer than a mouse for enhancing photos in PSE11.

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Last edited by timmijo; 06-09-2014 at 12:28 PM. Reason: added an afterthought

[boriscleto]

Another issue is that LR4 is set to work in 16 bit but when it sends the photo out to Elements, it must reduce it to 8-bit if more post processing is done.
As a person who tweaks photos one at a time, I do not currently have a need for mass-post-production in LR4. Not yet, but it is there for when I want it.

The GIMP won't help you there...it won't support 16-bit until v2.9, and it does not support CMYK.

[photolady95]

I just downloaded and installed the free CS2 from Adobe. It really is free, comes with serial numbers too. Since VonBaloney mentioned it, I thought I'd give you all the link: It reads my K-30 .DNG files just fine on my Windows 7 computer. They are also giving the Mac version away too.

https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/entitlement/index.cfm?e=cs2_downloads

[Oldbayrunner]

For $9.99 per month you can have both the latest version Photoshop CC 2014 and the latest Lightroom...

[photolady95]

For $9.99 per month you can have both the latest version Photoshop CC 2014 and the latest Lightroom..

Yeah but that's online and I don't like cloud stuff. And at almost $120 per year, free still works better for me.

[Oldbayrunner]

It's not online you download the software to your hard drive and work off that but you do need to connect via the internet once a month to verify your license to use it, which btw it did before automatically unless you blocked it through your firewall....... 5 Myths About Adobe Creative Cloud - Terry White's Tech Blog Plus that $120 allows you to use software was over $1000.00 combined initially and your $120.00 covers the newest release editions such as this complete new version CC 2014 released a few days ago, where as before you would spend over $600.00 for an upgrade package. Not having to shell out the big chunk at one time is well worth it to me for a software I have been using and purchasing for years ever since CS2.

[timmijo]

I think I will go for the $9.99/monthly photographer's option of Photoshop/Lightroom in the Cloud ... after much thought (and after looking at rising prices of old disks of the CS suite on Ebay).

[Kerrowdown]

photographer's option of Photoshop/Lightroom in the Cloud

Good call, I don't think that you will regret this decision, enjoy all the PP your about to embark on.

[Oldbayrunner]

I think I will go for the $9.99/monthly photographer's option of Photoshop/Lightroom in the Cloud ... after much thought (and after looking at rising prices of old disks of the CS suite on Ebay).

Here's a couple of links to aid you with the learning curve;

Learn Photoshop CC | Adobe TV

https://www.youtube.com/user/Photoshop

Best way I found to use these is to open Photoshop CC and work along with the videos.