Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2008/12/14
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On Dec 14, 2008, at 12:50 AM, lug-request@leica-users.org wrote: > Nathan, > You left out a very big and recurring expense - software. Adobe's > programs > dont come cheap - they are a monopoly and charge as such. I just > found out > that to upgrade from the CS3 suite to the CS4 suite is only US$770 > - the > cost of a very good digital SLR. > Cheers > Jayanand We cheapies have long known that there are many low cost digital manipulation programs which will perform most of the functions of Photoshop. Indeed Adobe Elements will do the bulk of what Photoshop does except pre-press work for a retail cost of less than $100. Mac users can use the latest implementation of GraphicConverter, a truly versatile program, for $35. The trial version is free. In fact, if you bought a Mac laptop a couple of years ago, a fully licensed version was included in the software package. For casual image correction work, iPhoto is adequate. I have an aged copy of Photoshop 6 which does everything I need except run on my new iMac. Linux users can use GIMP for free. GIMP does just about everything that Photoshop does. I'm sure that dark side computers (PCs) have even more low cost programs available. The list goes on and on. In short, unless you are heavily involved in publishing, there is no need to use the expensive spread. Larry Z