Comments on: Where can I buy a cheap copy of Illustrator/Photoshop CS2?

Question: Where can I buy a cheap copy of Illustrator/Photoshop CS2?

*lostatsea* — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 13:32:24 -0800

Does anybody know of anyplace I can get a cheap legal copy of Adobe Illustrator CS2 and Photoshop CS2? I would be fine purchasing a used copy if it was completely legal. I do not have the money right now to buy the software at the normal retail price but would like to learn them. Also, if I were to buy a used product from eBay, what should I make sure it includes to make it a legal copy? Cheers!

By: lovejones

lovejones — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 13:45:56 -0800

Are you/do you know a student/faculty member? The educational discounts are very steep...

By: stenseng

stenseng — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 13:47:05 -0800

If you're a student, or know anyone who is, the student bookstore at their college will often have educational discount copies of Adobe products. Figure ~$300 for the educational vers.

By: polyhedron

polyhedron — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 13:51:10 -0800

Ninety-eight times out of a hundred buying cheap software means buying a pirated copy from some shyster.

If you're affiliated with a university or something they have a discounted version available. The academic editions are still relatively expensive (CS2 Premium academic looks like it's ~$375, more seperately).

I really can't advise you enough to avoid discounted software brokers. You'll only get ripped off. If you can't afford the software do what millions have been doing for years: download the software and use it until you can afford to buy it.

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 14:01:11 -0800

Does anybody know of anyplace I can get a cheap legal copy of Adobe Illustrator CS2 and Photoshop CS2?

Do you really NEED these apps, or can you get by with something cheapers in the meantime?

By: buxtonbluecat

buxtonbluecat — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 14:24:16 -0800

If you're a student, or know anyone who is, the student bookstore at their college will often have educational discount copies of Adobe products.

IIRC, unlike regular retail licenses, the license of the discounted Adobe educational versions explicitly forbid passing that license on to a non-education-type person, to prevent the kind of strawman purchase that has been suggested. The poster explicity said completely legal. If you are a student, then check out your campus bookstore or computer retailer or equivalent. Otherwise, probably the only truly legitimate way would be to find someone with a full retail license who will sell it to you. There's an excellent chance of finding a copy of CS1 this way - is there some feature of CS2 that you absolutely have to have?

By: idiotfactory

idiotfactory — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 14:24:35 -0800

The catch with student versions of Adobe software is that you're not supposed to make any money off of it, strictly for learning purposes.

You could also try picking up CS ($250 Amazon) and learning that instead. CS is close enough to CS2 that you wouldn't notice too many differences at a beginner/intermediate level.

Also, in lieu of Photoshop, you could learn on Photoshop Elements, which is usually $100 instead of $650.

In the meantime, you can get 30-day trials from Adobe. If you really focus, you can learn the software in a month.

Happy Hunting.

By: jkaczor

jkaczor — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 14:38:31 -0800

Some people like 'The GIMP' on either Linux or Windows, sure it's powerful - but then others don't like the UI - especially if you are already trained on Adobe's products.

One freebie that I've used for non-professional level image manipulation on Windows is 'Paint.NET'

By: Glum

Glum — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 14:42:56 -0800

I once bought a very old copy from an eBay seller and then upgraded it cheaply through Adobe. I'm not entirely sure if the licence permits this, but the copy I bought had never been registered so Adobe weren't to know. Of course, you have to trust the seller that it hasn't been registered... Check with Adobe first about the various upgrade fees.

In my experience these copies tend to have been lifted by employees leaving a job. So it's not entirely legal.

By: paradroid

paradroid — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 15:01:08 -0800

inkscape is an excellent free vector graphics tool

By: Mitheral

Mitheral — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 15:10:27 -0800

While you aren't allowed to transfer an educational version you can continue to use it after you have finished your studies. My university has continuing education classes starting from less than $50 and also has a computer store.

Brandon Blatcher writes "Do you really NEED these apps, or can you get by with something cheapers in the meantime?"

You pretty well need photoshop et. al. if you're going to learn those applications.

By: lostatsea

*lostatsea* — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 17:55:52 -0800

Thank you all for your help

By: niles

niles — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 18:10:43 -0800

The 30-day (non-restricted) trials from Adobe.com?

By: IndigoRain

IndigoRain — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 19:59:32 -0800

Wow, the student version of Adobe is that much? When I was in college, we could get, say, Microsoft Office for $10. These days I just use OpenOffice.

By: lekvar

lekvar — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 22:11:13 -0800

Here's what I did:
A friend of mine had Photoshop Student Edition but never used or registered it. She tried selling it on ebay, but no-one wanted it, so she gave it to me. I called Adobe and let them know what had happened. I asked if I could use the student edition of Photoshop to get the upgrade price on CS. They said yes. They also let me switch the license from PC to Mac. They were really cool and helpful about the whole transaction. So I'd suggest checking out craigslist or ebay or wherever else you'd chose to check, buy the student edition, and upgrade.

Oh, and as for checking to see if the copy is legal, you can call Adobe and run the serial number by them to make sure the sn is legitimate. Getting the seller to give you the number before you give them the money is a trick you'll have to figure out for yourself though.

By: grouse

grouse — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 06:01:37 -0800

When I was in college, we could get, say, Microsoft Office for $10

That's because your university already paid big $$$ for everyone on campus to have a license to Microsoft Office. Then you paid $10 for the cost of copying and selling the CDs. It's not because individual academic sales from Microsoft are so cheap.