Own a copy of Adobe CS3, but want copy of CS4

I know there is a tight watch when it comes to pirated versions of this software, but my situation is this. I already own

adobe cs3, I want to get cs4, I'm a student and I'm eligible for a fat discount on all adobe products, so if I sell cs3,

then buy cs4, will I get black balled from future adobe purchases? I dont know who monitors this kind of stuff, I'm just

scared that adobe will think I'm trying to pirate stuff, when in fact, i'm just going to deactivate cs3, then sell it to raise

funds in order to buy cs4. I dont qualify for the upgrade, but it doesn't matter bc the discount I'm getting is huge

anyways. DOes anyone know if I can get in trouble for doing this? Am I over thinking this whole situation? I figure I

can deactivate my copy of cs3, sell it on craigslist with the serial number included, and with that $ buy cs4, any one

have any input or comments?

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Adobe's security is tight. We own a couple of licenses for Adobe software and have more problems with it than we would have with "pirated" versions, activating, deactivating, too many instances running and such. I know this is a "problem between chair and computer" eventually, but we are trying hard to do the legal thing and still get "punished" for it.

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Anyhue, your solution should be fine, and I do not think Adobe itself will come and hunt you down for suspecting you doing pirate-ish things. Your solution seems fair and legal to me. If not, screw Adobe, you are taking the effort of doing things legally, that should give you much more credit than those who walk the illegal path.

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Just buy the upgrade for $200 and be done with it. You won`t be significantly better off selling and buying.

I'm curious about your statement, "I don't qualify for an upgrade." It sounds like you bought into a bulk license (about $200) instead of a personal copy at a student discount (about $300). If so, then you have nothing to sell either. If you have a personal copy, you do qualify for upgrades and there's no point of trying to sell it. The solution is to eat mac&cheese and save your pennies until you can afford your own copy.

Other commenters concerning security are right on target. There is so much "back door" system checking in the current build that without having Adobe's administrative toolkit, you'd find yourself with a non-functional install in no time. Buy either an upgrade (if you qualify) or an educational full version. It will make your life easier.

OTOH, for about $50 you can get a current copy of Paint Shop Pro, which as a practical matter will do anything you really need to do to a photo.

I bought a student version for $300 USD, it's a full version and I can get cs4 for the same price, but for some reason I dont qualify for the upgrade so that is that. trust me, if I did I wouldnt' bother with buying and selling.

and just to make things a bit more clear, it's the design premium version, like I said, it's a full version, and I don't qualify for

an upgrade because I bought it last year in December. It seems in order to qualify I should have bought cs3 in the last 2

months, I called adobe to confirm. I guess I should just call adobe again and ask them directly if I can do this. I mean it

doesn't make sense why I shouldn't be able to

I think you have a misunderstanding. If you buy a version and Adobe issues an upgrade within a couple of months you qualify for a FREE upgrade. Otherwise you can pay for an upgrade (typically $160) like any other user of version CS or newer.

well when i called adobe and asked for the upgrade ($160) I was told I still didn't qualify, so I'm just more confused now.

Checking the on-line purchase it's $600 for CS3 Design Premium to CS4 Design Premium (don't know education edition),

cheaper with CS3.3 since it has Acrobat 9 already. I don't know where the $160 costs are in the list. If you want to get the

money back, your best bet is get the upgrade then sell your CS3 version, deactivated so the buyer can register it for their

use and upgrade.

<blockquote>OTOH, for about $50 you can get a current copy of Paint Shop Pro, which as a practical matter will do anything you really need to do to a photo.</blockquote>

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Anyone who has used Photoshop for any time and then tries to use Paint Shop Pro will go crazy. PSP is not a Photoshop replacement. I find it to be a frustrating and unsatisfying program.

how many times do I have to repeat that I am not eligible for the upgrade? It's full price for me no matter what at $300. What

I want to know is if it's legal for me to sell cs3 then buy cs4. The school website I will be purchasing this through does not

allow me to get the upgrade, it's the full version software or nothing.

If you really want to know the answer, you are probably going to have to ask Adobe or a lawyer.

 

None of us here are going to have a 100% accurate answer for you.

yea i get that, i'm just frustrated because it really shouldn't be an issue but adobe makes it an issue. i'll be calling next week to see what they say, thanks for all the input

As someone who has taught ICT in schools and Colleges for more years than I care to remember, it may help to explain Alejandra's posoition to note that student discount priced software, not only from Adobe, is frequently sold with no upgrade rights. Presumably because a student could buy a licence and continue to upgrade when they were no longer eligable for the student price.

I also suspect that the (non-free) upgrade will work for you. It's an issue of what the software release package allows. I

upgraded to cs3 from Photoshop 7, the version before cs1. No problem, and that was after roughly six years. I think you

spoke with someone challenged. That said, I do not own the premium version.

 

Also, check out Aperture if you use a Mac. It does not do everything, but it does almost everything much faster, and it is

superb for cataloging.

Alejandra--

 

Because Adobe heavily discounts the educational version of the software, upgrades are not offered for these versions of their products (this applies to all Adobe software). You have a couple of options; first, Adobe does offer a path to move your educational version to a full commercial version, making you then eligible to upgrade that and all future versions of the software. Of course you need the $$$ to move to the commercial version.

 

Second, you could simply buy the CS4 version of the software (full version) at the educational price again (assuming you are still in school) which typically runs about $299 (USD). BUT, I just noticed on one of the educational software outlets (www.creationengine.com) that adobe offers a Photoshop CS4 Extended Student Edition (College Students Only) for $199. I am not certain what the big differences are, but you might want to check it out.

 

I hope this helps.

 

--David

Alejandra,

 

Exactly what David says +

 

If you deactivate from your computer it is 100% legal to sell your software, CS3 or anything else, on to somebody else.

 

Stop worrying.

 

Take care, Scott.

People might try to tell you that within your original license there was a student use clause but believe me you are doing nothing wrong.

 

Seems a shame that an obviously honest person can be caused such worry when most students wouldn't give a thought to downloading torrents of the software they want with cracks and effectively unlimited use.

 

Take care, Scott.

I appreciate your responses Scott and David, it makes me feel a little better about doing what I'm going to do bc I am going to deactivate so why should adobe care if I sell it or not? I think I'm still going to call and when I do, I will come back and let you all know so that we are all the more smarter

Why do you feel that CS3 is inadequate for you? What specifically do you need that's in CS4 but not in CS3? Adobe would like its customers to be like Pavlov's dogs, salivating and shelling out $200 when the bell rings. I know it's heretical to say this, and I run the risk of offending Adobe's most loyal defenders, but unless there's some new feature or enhancement that you absolutely need, the cost of the upgrade may not be justified. Think about whether you really need to upgrade. Just because it's the "latest and greatest" isn't in itself a reason.

Ted,

 

The reasons are many and varied but two that spring to mind are content aware scaling and RAW capabilities for newer cameras. Adobe are very good at pushing customers to upgrade, no more RAW updates are to be released for CS3 for instance, yes other programs can do it but if CS4 will do it in one go then why not, Adobe continue to build in obsolescence to some of their products, CS3 is on the way out unfortunately.

 

Take care, Scott.

Scott, I'm aware of those enhancements. I'm merely encouraging Alejandra Olivares (or anyone else who feels compelled to give Adobe $200 for an upgrade) to think about whether she actually needs them. I've thought about it and decided I don't, even though I can afford it. I gave similar thought to the upgrade from CS2 to CS3 and decided it was indeed compelling enough to merit spending the money. I don't feel the same compulsion about CS4.

 

Also, although Adobe "encourages" upgrades by providing raw support for newer cameras only with the latest versions, they generously provide a way for those who choose not to upgrade to use their new cameras with older versions. When they update Camera Raw to add new cameras, they also update the free DNG converter. Users of CS, CS2, and CS3 need only download the updated DNG converter and convert their raw files to DNG, which the older versions can then read. The extra step is inconvenient, but it's cheaper than buying a Photoshop upgrade.

Ted I agree,

 

But Alenjandra has obviously decided that she does want to upgrade, so who are we to suggest she doesn't need to?

 

I use CS3, but didn't have 2 came straight from CS. I will get CS4. I also have Lightroom, a program I really like and use much more than Photoshop, RAW support for Lightroom matches CS4 so I don't need the upgrade to get the RAW capabilities but I still think 4 is the way to go, for me.

 

I also have the free DNG converter and am a big fan of open source file formats, Adobe are very good at them, I hate the idea that all these various proprietary RAW file formats could be poorly supported in the future so am converting all my RAW files to DNG's.

 

Take care, Scott.