Which Photoshop?

<p>I would like to get Photoshop for my I-Mac. Is there a specific version I should be looking at? I can't be spending $1000 on the latest and greatest. Is there something around the $200-300 range that I could start with?<br>

Thanks for any input!<br>

Jason</p>

<p>Photoshop Elements. You might also consider downloading a copy of the Gimp (free).</p>

<p>Or, if it is available for a mac, Paint Shop Pro--about the same price as Elements, but with far more power.</p>

<p>Another vote for Photoshop Elements. It does all I need it to and I find it better for my needs than Paint Shop Pro. </p>

<p>Back when I was a novice Photoshop user, I enrolled in a beginning Photoshop course at the local community college. Not only did I learn the basics of Photoshop, but as a student at an accredited college I was able to buy the full version of Photoshop with an educational discount, which I think is within your target price range. Elements is adequate for many people,so it may be just what you are looking for, but Photoshop offers a lot more and I think you'll find that many of the online resources for post-processing assume that you'll be using Photoshop.</p>

<p>You should look at Lightroom. For most people, Photoshop is overkill. Lightroom is designed for photographers and makes a lot of activities much simpler, including organizing and finding your photos, which will become a problem when you get to a certain point.</p>

<p>Another vote for Photoshop Elements. It contains all that you should need for wedding/general photography. Otherwise, one needs to improve the images coming out of the camera.</p>

<p>Another vote for either a) enrolling in a course and purchasing the educational package or b) going with Photoshop Elements. I would be leery of trying to purchase older versions (maybe used, maybe serial number cancelled due to misuse/piracy) and there are no other real discounts available unless you work for the government. The full version is such a handful to use that a basic intro course is a good idea anyway.<br>

And funniest thing is that there is a banner ad for Elements magazines & lessons running in the footnotes here right now as I type.</p>

<p>Lightroom. Nuff said.</p>

<p>Thank you all for your responses! All great information. I am also looking into photography classes at my local community college but, everything is full until the Fall!<br>

Thanks again!</p>

<p>Lightroom is OK, but I think most Mac users prefer Aperture. Frankly, I think Photoshop Elements is the thing for you if you are more interested in processing pictures than "managing" them, which is what Lightroom and Aperture are all about</p>

<p>And, again, the "i" is lower case and attached to the main word, thus "iMac"<br>

Otherwise, you reveal that you are a Mac newbie.....</p>

<p>Actually a lot of Mac users, like myself prefer Lightroom. Most professionals in fact do. Aperture is gaining ground but most use Lightroom regardless of the platform.</p>

<p>Lightroom is what I use 99.9999% of the time. If it had Smart Sharpen, I'd probably never use photoshop itself</p>

<p>Chacun a son gout, but my sources indicate Aperture as the professional choice on a Mac, all the same.</p>

<p>Be that as it may, Photoshop, even in the Elements version, has so many possibilities, functions, filters, color spaces, and so on that it is practically unlimited. Learning to use it "full strength" on the other hand can be a steep climb, so a class is a good idea if you have any available. Some of us (I started with version 2.5) have had a long time to pick things up more gradually.</p>

<p>If you have school-age children, you can purchase the academic version of Photoshop for about $300 without having to enroll at a community college. That's $100 more than the student version (for higher ed students), but still a good deal. Google "Photoshop education discount" to find places to buy. You'll need a copy of your kid's report card or student ID.</p>

<p>Note that all of the academic versions are licensed only for non-commercial use, though. So if you're planning to use it for business purposes, you'd be violating the terms of the license.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, your sources are incorrect in my experiences. I know a VERY large number of professional photographers, most of which that use Mac and I would say 80% use lightroom and 20% use aperture on the apple platform. As I said before, we're talking pros here, not people who just buy it because you can get it pre-installed.</p>

<p>Adobe Photoshop CS4. Nothing else at all</p>