GCSE Art

[Everhopeful]

I know (so don't tell me) that this will be a lot of work. DD is of a perfectionist tendency wrt art, so I am dreading this more than a bit!

However, I have a technical question for any art teachers among you: which sort of Photoshop is best? Her teacher has said something airy along the lines of "any old Photoshop will do, she can just upload into what we have here", but I'm thinking a) surely all the different flavours have different capabilities and b) not all are necessarily compatible. I figure Y9 (as now) is the best time to get it, as she'll need to learn how to get the best from it asap, but I'm baffled what to get (it'll be an old version anyway, I'm not that rich!)

[Kuppenbender]

I'm not an art teacher, but a long time user of Photoshop. I just wanted to clarify whether you mean 'Photoshop' as a generic term for photo editing software (Paintshop pro, Serif Photoplus, Gimp etc....) or whether you need the actual 'Photoshop' by Adobe.

If you only need 'any old' photo editing software, most of them can be downloaded for a free trial period (and Gimp is entirely free). Some of these will do most of what Adobe Photoshop does for a lot less money. Why not try one or more out before you buy?

For the Adobe Photoshop, that can also be downloaded for a months free trial. You can buy the paired down version (Photoshop Elements), but the full, latest and greatest version can only be bought on a subscription plan (£8.57 per month for students).

There is an alternative. Adobe are giving away the 10 year-old version of Photoshop (version CS2) because they can't be bothered to check pirate versions any more. You need to register with Adobe to access the download page
(helpx.adobe.com/creative-suite/kb/cs2-product-downloads.html) but contrary to the warnings (they don't really want to give it away for nothing) it works on Windows 10, though you will need Adobe Raw Convertor software (also free) to use modern camera files.

I'm sure an Art teacher will be along soon to help.

[Everhopeful]

I tried DD out with the idea of alternatives, but she says they use Photoshop at school (not sure what version: some flavour of CS I think) and so this will be what she has to use in the exam, hence she wants to be used to it. I'm happy to get CS2, but don't you already have to have it, ie be able to quote a valid serial number? It didn't seem to me that we were eligible. Art teacher reckons we should be able to get the student discount too, but I can't work out how to get that!

[Kuppenbender]

Adobe have 'disabled the activation server' for CS2 products. In other words, they've switched off the serial number validation system.

On the link I gave you (to Adobe's own site, which you'd have to register with to access the download) they have a generic serial number (1045-1412-5685-1654-6343-1431 for Windows) to activate Photoshop. Just click on 'English' in the table of languages.

Photoshop hasn't fundamentally changed in the past ten years, but you're probably right to go for the latest edition (CC 2015), if that's what she'll be using for the exam.

The link for the latest student edition of Photoshop:
creative.adobe.com/plans?single_app=photoshop&promoid=5JRH8K43&mv=other
But unless I'm missing something, that's exactly the same price as the non-student edition of Photoshop. £8.57 per month. There is a discount for all the Adobe creative software (illustrator, Photoshop, Premier Pro etc...), but not for just the Photoshop/Lightroom package.

[Everhopeful]

O-o-o-h, that's what it means! I just thought it meant they wouldn't be supporting it. There is something in the rubric about being an existing user, but perhaps this is simply that you need to have an account. Anyway, thanks Kuppenbender, you've been a great help.