Looking to get Photoshop

And start learning how to use it, do any of you image synthesizers have a suggestion or preference on the version you use?

Personally, I'm happy with good old 7.0. The CSx versions definitely have a lot more to offer, though. For the basics 7.0 is pretty decent, and shouldn't be too expensive secondhand or something now. If you've got the money to spend and the determination to learn, you could look into one of the CS versions.

I would just assume that the most recent version is probably the best one.

It really depends on what you'll be using it for. If you want to learn to make signatures / small graphics, then 7.0 should suit you fine. If you want to do more complex things, I would start saving up for CS. There aren't huge differences between CS2 and CS3, which is why I still use CS2 - although I will probably upgrade to CS4 pretty soon, just so I'm not too far behind. >_>

I'd suggest downloading the trial from Adobe and try it out.

Well, see how you're starting out, I think it's wise to start small. I don't think it's wise to spend a lot of money on software that you don't really know how to use, because in the end you could just become frustrated and just give up.

But maybe not.

However, I'd suggest Photoshop 7.0. That's a really good one. I've been using that for about five years now. Although I kind of gave up a few years ago, but I'm still not that bad with it. But yeah, I think Photoshop 7.0 would be good for beginners. Read up on tutorials and stuff.

Well, I use GIMP right now, so upgrading to Photoshop isn't some experimental thing, I really want to do it. I'll probably do what Linkey said, and try a demo before I buy anything. Thanks for the input so far guys.

Originally Posted by PyroShadow

And start learning how to use it, do any of you image synthesizers have a suggestion or preference on the version you use?

If you're just learning, you can get any version of Photoshop made in the last ten years (seriously). The basic functions have not changed much.

I just got Photoshop CS4, and as someone who does serious heavy-duty work on Photoshop on a daily basis, I can say that CS4 has a LOT to offer over CS3, and older editions like CS, CS2 and Photoshop 7 cannot even compare. But if you don't know Photoshop at all, chances are you won't notice the enhancements - or even understand them. Meaning CS4 is a waste of your money and effort.

The GIMP does do a good job of being a free, BASIC image editor. It lacks a good deal of functionality that Photoshop has.

If you're looking to dive into the most basic version of Photoshop, get Photoshop Elements. It's a good place to start, because it has all the really essential Photoshop tools. Once you learn more, you can move to the full version. I wouldn't get any full Photoshop under CS3, because they changed up the entire interface for CS3 and beyond. CS4 improves the interface; it's actually changed up quite a bit from CS3, but nothing radical. The difference between the Photoshop 7/CS/CS2 and CS3 interfaces is pretty radical, though.

On that note, anybody who says that CS2 is comparable to CS3 - in any form - is talking out of their nose. CS3 is so much improved from CS2, it's crazy. Aside from the new interface and polished tools, it offers more layering options and smart filters. Smart Objects I believe were introduced in CS2, and Smart Filters build off of that concept. They are indispensable, as is the introduced-in-CS3 "warp" functionality.

CS4 has canvas rotation (great for painters and illustrators used to rotating a piece of paper on a desk, this is similar functionality), content-aware scaling (a feature I've wanted FOREVER, which basically acts as a negative space detector and resizes only the negative space in a picture dynamically), basic 3D modeling and texturing, and is 100% GPU-powered, which means its about ten times faster than any other version of Photoshop ever released.

Honestly, I didn't think CS4 was going to be so much improved over CS3 aside from the whole being GPU-powered and whatnot, which I suppose was a big thing anyway. But man, was I wrong. They really made CS4 something incredible.

Originally Posted by Jason

On that note, anybody who says that CS2 is comparable to CS3 - in any form - is talking out of their nose. CS3 is so much improved from CS2, it's crazy. Aside from the new interface and polished tools, it offers more layering options and smart filters. Smart Objects I believe were introduced in CS2, and Smart Filters build off of that concept. They are indispensable, as is the introduced-in-CS3 "warp" functionality.

1. Smart objects were introduced in CS2.
2. The key new features in CS3 are specialized and not ones that the general user would find useful.
3. Smart filters are also a concept introduced in CS2, and only perfected in CS3.
4. A pretty new interface isn't worth $199 to upgrade. Neither are modest changes to existing tools.

Now CS4 on the other hand, is worth the upgrade simply for the ability to import and paint 3D models.

Personally, if you are going to put money into it, wait for the new CS4 to come out.

Originally Posted by sugarpoultry

Personally, if you are going to put money into it, wait for the new CS4 to come out.

Heh, if I woulda known you would reply here, I wouldn't have sent the PM...my bad ^^;;

Photoshop is really awesome, but if it's fairly basic stuff you want to do maybe go for something free like paint.NET, but thats only if you want to do basic things.
If you really want to get into the whole image shopping thing then go for Photoshop, but as someone said before, CS4 isn't too far away so it's probably a good idea to wait for it. I hope to get CS4 myself at some stage...
To learn photoshop, you need patience. I have none so I gave up about half way through learning lol.
Good luck with it!

Originally Posted by sugarpoultry

Personally, if you are going to put money into it, wait for the new CS4 to come out.

Erm, it's been out for at least a week ... like I said, I already have it. You can buy it right now.

Erm, it's been out for at least a week ... like I said, I already have it. You can pirate it right now.

Bad Jason!

I have Photoshop CS3, works perfect and it's the most complete (and bug free) version I've ever had.
Been working with Photoshop since version 6.0, after all these years it's become quite easy for me to create something in PS. When I started with Photoshop, the immense choice of things you can do to your image was a bit scary. But after a while I learned some quick and relatively easy methods on creating things like signatures, wallpapers and avatars.
Tutorials are your friend! Serious. I learned most of my skills by following both newbie and expert tutorials. Now I can say I'm a Photoshop expert (though even experts don't fully know ALL of the options, ok maybe they do, but that's not an expert, that's a guru ) by creating a lot of things.
I mean it, the more you fool around with things in Photoshop, the more you'll learn. Same goes for tutorials. Here's a great PS tutorial site Quality Photoshop Tutorials - PSTuts.com
Good luck with them!

K, this is kind of thread Necromancy, but I have one last question...if I were to get CS4, what edition would you guys reccomend?

^ Well.. if you have the money I'd go for the complete package with the 'extended' version. However, I know Adobe's Creative Suit software costs a lot of money, and basically you can find it all over the internet if you're willing to take some risks regarding viruses, trojans and whatnot.
The CS3 edition I own, is a Student edition. Which offers all of the essential things in the CS3 'extended' or 'pro' edition, but without the crap most users don't use anyway. I think it cost about half of the 'pro' version, but it had a student/school discount since there were like 40 other students who also bought it.

So yeah... if you can get the student edition, do it! If you can't and are willing to pay about 1000 dollars for the 'extended' CS4 then go ahead, big spender.
And if downloading the software from the internet isn't your thing, go for CS3. CS4 is nice and all.. but do you really need it when the previous version does the exact same job, only without the 3D modelling and such..?

I have CS4, it's excellent. The only problem with Photoshop is that as it gets more recent, less work is required to get the same result. As such, newer versions require you to have less skill-- so if you're required to use a lower-quality program, it's going to be nigh impossible to, for example, render in GIMP if you're used to the CS3 extract tool.

I'd recommend starting on CS2 or CS3.