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I'm in Advertising and am thinking of learning Photoshop to enhance my portfolio, but with the research I've done, I've come across various versions of it and am unsure which one would be the best for me. I don't have a MAC (Yet ), just a Toshiba laptop. I'm confused between Photoshop CS3, CS4, what the upgrades and extended versions are, etc... can anyone suggest one for a beginner? Thanks!
I would suggest any Photoshop your laptop can manage just ot get the hang of it. You don't need a Mac to run Photoshop either. Sometimes there are teacher/student editions that are less expensive.
I'm in Advertising and am thinking of learning Photoshop to enhance my portfolio, but with the research I've done, I've come across various versions of it and am unsure which one would be the best for me. I don't have a MAC (Yet ), just a Toshiba laptop. I'm confused between Photoshop CS3, CS4, what the upgrades and extended versions are, etc... can anyone suggest one for a beginner? Thanks!
When you say you are "in advertising" do you mean that you work for an advertising company? Or are you are trying to start your own advertising company or just doing this as a side way to make money? Or you want to eventually work in advertising? Reason I ask is because maybe you'll need an entire CS4 suite (InDesign, Illustrator, Flash, etc) for advertising. Maybe your company could get Photoshop for you.
I always recommend getting the latest version of any software program (especially those from Adobe), but you need to find out if your laptop is capable of handling photoshop. Go to adobe's website and try to download the free trial version of Photoshop CS4. Try it out for a month to see get a feel for it. Then, if all works out, purchase the latest version of if money is an issue, get the student edition.
When you say you are "in advertising" do you mean that you work for an advertising company? Or are you are trying to start your own advertising company or just doing this as a side way to make money? Or you want to eventually work in advertising? Reason I ask is because maybe you'll need an entire CS4 suite (InDesign, Illustrator, Flash, etc) for advertising. Maybe your company could get Photoshop for you.
I always recommend getting the latest version of any software program (especially those from Adobe), but you need to find out if your laptop is capable of handling photoshop. Go to adobe's website and try to download the free trial version of Photoshop CS4. Try it out for a month to see get a feel for it. Then, if all works out, purchase the latest version of if money is an issue, get the student edition.
I work for an Advertising Agency... this is what I went to school for as well. I'd just like to learn the design aspect of it- using Photoshop. My company only has the version that's specifically for Mac's (because the designers only use Mac). I haven't seen any Student editions though, I will look for those.
Oh and I have downloaded the trial version before (just can't remember which one it was) but I had no problems with it.... if I knew what I was doing! Lol
I don't think there's any difference between retail versions and student versions. Adobe gives big discounts to students, and the package is marked for education, but I don't think there's any difference. I've had student versions and can't recall a difference, other than price. But you must be a student or educator to qualify. (Enroll in a Photoshop class at a community college and you'll save enough on the software to pay for the course.)
There's not much difference between Mac versions and Windows versions either. They use different shortcuts, but if you can use one, you can use the other. I use a Mac in my home office, but every Photoshop class I've taken used Windows.
And for training, not much difference between CS3 or CS4 or even the original CS (PS v.8.0). The later versions offer a few more tools, but I'd say the last MAJOR upgrade was CS. Obviously the later the version the better, but any CS version would work.
Since you still aren't familiar with photoshop, almost any version is good to begin with. The differences are with more tools for fine tuning, or tools that perform in one step what before could be done only in 2-3 steps, but the basics are quite similar.
I suggest to read a good book and or take some courses. As for the PC, more important is using a version which isn't too much for computer (if you don't have enough memory for example). Only later, when you are familiar with the basics, step up and select the latest version, or one which is standard at your work place.
Photoshop is a pretty powerful application, but which version you get will depend on what you plan on using it for? Essentially, "CS" is the professional version of Photoshop. CS4 is the later version of it (whereas CS3 was the previous version). This version pretty much has all the bells and whistles, but it is very expensive, around $500-$600 I think? Then, you have Photoshop Elements 6. This is the consumer version of Photoshop. Just as good with plenty of features, but lacks some of the "pro" functions like layers and masks (I think, but Elements 6 might have some of the basics). This is also much less expensive, around $150 or so. If your only interested at cropping, improving colors, saturation, and sharpening your pictures - then Elements is all you will need.
As someone noted, there are plenty of free apps like GIMP that can handle the basics like Elements, and it is free. Google's Picasa can also do some minor picture enhancements too, so you might want to try those out first to see what you need before spending $500.
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Indeed, you can learn any of the Adobe products on either Windows or Mac. As WyoNewk mentioned, the hot keys may be a bit different, but the actions are the same.
You said you wanted to learn the "design" aspect of marketing. But by focusing on Photoshop, you are looking more toward print than multimedia. Is that what you want? If it is, fine. But since marketing involves so many media, I think LaoTzuMindFu brings up a good point. If you can get Adobe Premium CS4, I would go for it. That suite is going to give you the range of products you need to really distinguish yourself in the design segment. Elements and CS3 are not going to give you the range of CS4. Any of the third-party image manipulators are not going to of use if you want to be "seen" in the world of marketing.
Have you talked with your boss about going for classes? Depending upon the company, they may have a tuition remission policy or some type of professional development opportunity. If that isn't an option, you could check with your local community college to see if they offer classes in CS. If they do, and you need to enroll at the school, you should be able to get the student discount as you be recognized as a student. If that is not an option, financially or timewise, then I would suggest the following texts for self-training:
It sounds to me like you know this, but I'll state it anyway. Photoshop is more for creating images than editing photographs. If you want to learn the subtleties of developing digital photos, then I would suggest looking at Photoshop Lightroom and the book The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for digital Photographers.
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), just a Toshiba laptop. I'm confused between Photoshop CS3, CS4, what the upgrades and extended versions are, etc... can anyone suggest one for a beginner? Thanks!
