[Porscha!]

For those who know stuff about computers!

Looking into buying this can get it new for the student price of £235.00, is this a good price?

With it you get -
Indesign
Photoshop Ext.
Illustrator
Flash Pro.
Dreamweaver
Fireworks
Acrobat 9 Pro.
Adobe Bridge
Device Central
Version Cue

Also if I swap computer (may well do next year) will I beable to transfer programme onto new computer?

[trixman]

Yes, that is a great price.... and yes, you can transfer your licenses.

There's everything there you'll need, unless you plan on editing video software.

You'll need a decent'ish' computer to run these at run pelt though, or just upgrade your ram if your editing large photos.

[Dave_3]

I agree with Paul, take their arm off for that lot.

More RAM is great for all the history/undo functions in Adobe products, and the more the better for video editing (as a lot of it is buffered in RAM for real time play back). Faster processor means effects and layer comps are computed quicker.

Also a good graphics card is a must - but for you 2D quality and colour correctness are probably more important than 3D performance.

Adobe keep bringing out these updates ... I have a full CS2 set and the upgrade price for that alone is CONSIDERABLY more expensive than the Student license !

D.

[Porscha!]

Thanks both

I'm wondering if I will need to get a new computer, mine is very slow (may have something to do with having about 7000 photos saved all over the shop, most I can't find when I want them lol), it is very slow to load up any programme!

No idea what RAM and graphics card it has, can't imagine anything great as it was quite a cheap computer when new, my old mac is no good either, infact that doesn't work now.

[trixman]

Go Mac It's the only way baby

[Dave_3]

Originally Posted by trixman

Go Mac It's the only way baby

[cough] [cough]

For Porscha, and what she wants to use it for, and to make up for the fact she is only driving a BMW while she is at UNI you are probably right. She can treat herself to a MAC.

D.

[NFS]

Originally Posted by Porscha!

For those who know stuff about computers!

Looking into buying this can get it new for the student price of £235.00, is this a good price?

With it you get -
Indesign
Photoshop Ext.
Illustrator
Flash Pro.
Dreamweaver
Fireworks
Acrobat 9 Pro.
Adobe Bridge
Device Central
Version Cue

Also if I swap computer (may well do next year) will I beable to transfer programme onto new computer?

I can point you in the direction of a 'free' version of photoshop if you want to 'try before you buy'

If your camera can shoot in RAW, it's worth getting photoshop just for adobe bridge / camera RAW.

A JPEG from my camera is about 4 meg. A RAW image taken at the same time is closer to 10 meg.

The difference in quality is really striking.

Unfortunately the Canon 400D only shoots in RAW in the 'creative modes' so in 'full auto' I only get JPEGS.

[trixman]

You can download direct from Adobe on a one month's trial, fully functional. it is a bit annoying having the cracked versions and always worrying when an update comes along.

[Porscha!]

Yeah I can shoot in RAW, it's a Nikon so can shoot in RAW even in Auto, which I really do need to start using less!!

I will download the trial, can you download design premium? and see how it copes on this computer, as I wasn't going to upgrade yet if it doesn't I'll hammer the student loan in January on a mac Like macs the best because they, erm look nice !

[trixman]

think its best for you at the moment just to try photoshop trial, think that's all you'll need to start with. Plus the package is simply the 'group' of products, not one large program that has them all in... if you get my drift...

If your looking initially at photography, and not upgrading to Mac, you'll need more RAM for the great history function (like Dave said), a decent graphics card and finally a quicker chip for processing power.

You can get away with most of it, just takes longer to process your changes.

You'll also need a very good monitor that's calibrated (something you have to do to make sure your 'screen' image comes out the same as the printed one)... otherwise all the small changes you do to your images (contrast/levels etc) will be a waste.

Forget the amount of information you have on the drive, as that's fairly irrelevant to the speed (unless it's absolutely full, then you need to upgrade).

[NFS]

Originally Posted by trixman

You'll also need a very good monitor that's calibrated (something you have to do to make sure your 'screen' image comes out the same as the printed one)... otherwise all the small changes you do to your images (contrast/levels etc) will be a waste.

This is one thing I've really struggled with since getting a little more into photoshop / photography.

I have a Samsung 22 inch monitor and a Canon MP610 5 ink printer.

I've used various programmes to try to calibrate the monitor 'by eye', but no matter what I do the printed photo's are always darker than they appear on the monitor.

Colour rendition is very similar, it's just the levels.

I was thinking about getting one of these:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ColorVision-...9001341&sr=8-1

But it seems a bit daft to spend £60 on something that I'll only use once.

Do these sort of auto calibration systems really work?

[Porscha!]

Right so would buying a computer rather than another laptop be better? For monitor etc.

I only have a laptop at the moment which I could keep for internet and what not.

Thanks for all info I do not have a clue with computer - what is good and what isn't etc.!

[Dave_3]

One of the most important things for me is working in a linear colour space by calibrating my output to the correct gamma levels. Colour exactness is not so critical for me (as I don't print that often).

In most PC/Mac setups doubly bright colours are NOT represented that way on screen (more like a version of log).

Initially it will seem wrong as your old calibrated images will look too washed out (bright, high contrast), but any new work will be much better balanced.

Have a look here, good examples : http://www.gijsdezwart.nl/tutorials.php

Printing is a minefield ... with CMYK, RGB and sRGB all mingling and conflicting with computer displays and printed results .... shudder.

D.

Originally Posted by NFS

This is one thing I've really struggled with since getting a little more into photoshop / photography.

I have a Samsung 22 inch monitor and a Canon MP610 5 ink printer.

I've used various programmes to try to calibrate the monitor 'by eye', but no matter what I do the printed photo's are always darker than they appear on the monitor.

Colour rendition is very similar, it's just the levels.

I was thinking about getting one of these:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ColorVision-...9001341&sr=8-1

But it seems a bit daft to spend £60 on something that I'll only use once.

Do these sort of auto calibration systems really work?

[trixman]

Yep, agree with Dave, it's an absolutely beyatch to get calibration spot on. For professional printers it's not so hard, they'll have their calibration software to give to you and you can set your software to that... but for home printing it's tough. Many printers will offer calibration settings, Mac has a calibration tool built in (great aren't they... hint hint) but in the end it usually comes down to experience on how the colours will reproduce (unless you want to spend thousands on expensive calibration tools and top end monitors).

Porscha, I have a 17" Mac laptop and it's fine for most things, you can always buy a used screen off ebay (apple cinema screen is a good one, high resolution and consistent colour reproduction for an LCD) and just plug it into the laptop to use as a main screen.

I do this when in the UK and away from the 'power' desktops, have a screen, mouse, keyboard all setup and just plug the laptop in... works great.

[Mr Plum]

My new camera is spitting out 10meg JPEGs - I shudder to think what size the raw files are going to be - let alone once I get them in to photoshop! Think that buying a new camera might result in me having to buy a new computer to handle the images.

It also has a video function which is I suspect will cripple my computer! Useful stuff above for consideration when I need to buy though...

[Aurora Bearialis]

I got the full CS3 at work. But only got regular Photoshop and Illustrator CS. So to the OP can you ship one over the pond to me here in the US?

[trixman]

Not sure they'll do that mate, usually won't allow a student license to be used more than once (i.e. you can only buy one copy).

Might be worth checking though...

[Aurora Bearialis]

Originally Posted by trixman

Not sure they'll do that mate, usually won't allow a student license to be used more than once (i.e. you can only buy one copy).

Might be worth checking though...

can't you use a KeyGen? or if you are not connected to the internet so that it sends the information. That's what I've heard

[NFS]

There are people in the world who have been running full versions of Photoshop CS2 and CS3 for several years that were activated using KeyGens.

I believe that they auto update perfectly

[Porscha!]

Originally Posted by trixman

Not sure they'll do that mate, usually won't allow a student license to be used more than once (i.e. you can only buy one copy).

Might be worth checking though...

Think that is right BUT I may well beable to get more copies Plenty with student id who won't be buying this PM me if you are still interested.

Thanks for the info on the monitors, been to my local Apple retailer who recommended -

http://store.apple.com/uk/configure/...mco=MTkzOTI5Mg This one plus 4GB memory and the 24" screen.

with all software I would want too (CS4, Office for mac (don't really need this, only a word processor of some sort), Aperture) it works out to £2300 that is with 500gb external hard drive, to be honest I wasn't looking to spend that much on a computer and sure I could find a monitor display on ebay, as that is over £600 new!

They also put in Applecare protection and to be quite honest I don't know if I'd need this it's not really cheap.

Direct through Apple is cheaper because their student discount is greater. but I think if I go into my retailer and told them I could get for a certain price I think they would go down to it.

[sheps]

Originally Posted by NFS

I can point you in the direction of a 'free' version of photoshop if you want to 'try before you buy'

If your camera can shoot in RAW, it's worth getting photoshop just for adobe bridge / camera RAW.

A JPEG from my camera is about 4 meg. A RAW image taken at the same time is closer to 10 meg.

The difference in quality is really striking.

Unfortunately the Canon 400D only shoots in RAW in the 'creative modes' so in 'full auto' I only get JPEGS.

Sorry to go off-topic, but I'm looking to buy myself my first digital SLR, and have read some good things (to the point of almost buying) the 400D with an 18-55mm lens.

Would you recommend it as a good starter for a untalented (but highly enthuastic!) amatuer?

[- Paul -]

Originally Posted by NFS

There are people in the world who have been running full versions of Photoshop CS2 and CS3 for several years that were activated using KeyGens.

I believe that they auto update perfectly

and CS4