Adobe photo deluxe, photoshop, which to buy?

Factual Questions
1

I had an older adobe photo deluxe cd rom. That software has served me well to this point, but I would still like to get something better. I recently switched to a new Dell PC with XP and discovered I cannot install the new cd rom because it has been scratched up too many times. My budget is limited, but I have decided to buy another version of photo deluex or an older version of adobe photoshop (version 5 le for example) on e-bay. I have heard adobe photo deluxe ver 4 will not run well on xp. Is photoshop version 5 le a good buy, or is there something better i can get cheaply?

2

Have you considered Adobe Photoshop Elements? It looks like it sells for about $82 on Amazon right now. It’s sort of a stripped-down version of Photoshop, but it contains most of the popular tools. I haven’t used it myself, so you might want to look up some reviews to see how it fares.

3

I own and use Photoshop Elements myself. I was previously a user of full-blown Photoshop, but found myself very rarely if ever using several of its harder to learn tools.

Thus, when Elements first came out and I understood it was basically Photoshop without those tools, I bought it right away and have been happy with it since then. Definitely recommended.

4

Photodeluxe is free so that’s a point in its favor. I use it a lot and it does quite a few things but I also use Irfanview and MS-Paint for simpler things. I am often working on a graphic and continually transferring from one program to another depending on what I want to do. For basic stuff I do not need anything more and I would not get another much more bloated program unlwess I really needed it.

5

As another former Photoshop (full version) user, I vote for Photoshop Elements. Definitely worth the money.

6

For non-professional work, The Gimp is good. It started off as a Linux equivalent to Photoshop, but now there are Windows versions out. And its completely free.

7

Photoshop Elements. highly recommended.

And Gimp is also available for MacOS X, as MacGimp, if you’re so inclined.

8

PS Elements 2. Great deal for the money.

9

I just took a look at Amazon.com, and Photoshop Elements 2.0 is selling for $82 less 2 rebates:

Adobe $30 if you buy by 12/31/03

Amazon offers another $10 if you buy today, 12/20/03

Just thought it might help you make up your mind.

FTR, I’ve never used “Elements”, and I don’t have a relationship with Amazon, (other than as a consumer) but it still looks like a great deal :slight_smile: