Photoshop way overpriced?

[Eefness]

So seriously? 600-700 dollars, the price of a decent computer, for a single program.

Now I might just be an idiot but this seems a tad extreme. I mean shit, I use GIMP quite a bit and it basically does everything I want it too, and it is free! But then there is Photoshop; asking an arm and a leg for a program that is constantly changing its layout and adding updates 90% of people dont even use.

So far I only know 1 person who bought Photoshop legit, and even she says she long ago had to turn off auto updates. Most everyone else just pirates it. i can understand $100, even 150. But 700? Hell Id be ok if I could just buy the basic program, no updates or extra features I dont use or even need.

All Im asking is Whats the deal? Is Adobe just being unreasonable or is there some sort of super secret special thing about it that makes up for the cost.

 

[clipse15]

So seriously? 600-700 dollars, the price of a decent computer, for a single program.

Now I might just be an idiot but this seems a tad extreme. I mean shit, I use GIMP quite a bit and it basically does everything I want it too, and it is free! But then there is Photoshop; asking an arm and a leg for a program that is constantly changing its layout and adding updates 90% of people dont even use.

So far I only know 1 person who bought Photoshop legit, and even she says she long ago had to turn off auto updates. Most everyone else just pirates it. i can understand $100, even 150. But 700? Hell Id be ok if I could just buy the basic program, no updates or extra features I dont use or even need.

All Im asking is Whats the deal? Is Adobe just being unreasonable or is there some sort of super secret special thing about it that makes up for the cost.

The reason is because professionals use it in their buisness and end up making much more money. Thats basically it its not marketed for the general public to just fuck around with which i why they havent released a 60 dollar version of photoshop

 

[Hero in a half shell]

There are special student rates that cut the price massively (Yes, I bought Photoshop for my uni course.)

But the reason it is so expensive is because it is a proper professional programme, individual looking to do some amateur mucking around shouldn't even be considering it for purchase, but as someone else suitably called it, in the "Wild West" days of the internet it was available for free, so everyone used it and made it really popular with people that were never it's intended audience.

It's like if due to some illegal but untraceable duplications everyone was able to get free access to an actual Ferrari Formula One car, and then someone decided because it was so popular they would properly buy one for doing the school run, popping to the shops, etc. and realised they actually cost way over what any regular person could afford or be prepared to pay for a vehicle.

 

[unoleian]

There is a consumer-level Photoshop. It's called Elements. Does everything --most-- people need it to do. And it's <$60USD

Photoshop CS version is a professional-level program that's more than just a bunch of tools to make pictures pretty. It's designed expressly for professional-level services, and the reason it's so expensive has more to do with much of the technical mumbo-jumbo and the work involved in the back-end that 99% of hobby-level users do not need, speaking more about color management systems and print-throughput/pre-flight options and controls that are only of interest to professionals, but require extreme precision and control to maintain, and sometimes have massive licensing fees unto themselves to feature as a component of the software suite.

They also target these products with a premium price to actually help discourage normal consumers from purchasing them. These are professional-level tools made for professional-level people to make money with, not given to every Tom, Dick and Sally on the street who then turn around and give photo-manipulation and design services a bad name, if piracy hasn't done that enough already.

You want cheap Photoshop to mess around with photos? Go buy Elements. It's pretty feature-packed and most people don't have a need for the myriad of options available in the Professional-level software, which comes at a premium regardless of its nature. Just go look at Autodesk programs. Those --start-- at a cool grand, and can go as high as $10,0000 for the full suite. Shit, their software is so expensive, they will actually --give you a computer-- as part of the licensing deal.

 

[Rainmaker77]

There is a consumer-level Photoshop. It's called Elements. Does everything --most-- people need it to do. And it's <$60USD

Photoshop CS version is a professional-level program that's more than just a bunch of tools to make pictures pretty. It's designed expressly for professional-level services, and the reason it's so expensive has more to do with much of the technical mumbo-jumbo and the work involved in the back-end that 99% of hobby-level users do not need, speaking more about color management systems and print-throughput/pre-flight options and controls that are only of interest to professionals, but require extreme precision and control to maintain, and sometimes have massive licensing fees unto themselves to feature as a component of the software suite.

They also target these products with a premium price to actually help discourage normal consumers from purchasing them. These are professional-level tools made for professional-level people to make money with, not given to every Tom, Dick and Sally on the street who then turn around and give photo-manipulation and design services a bad name, if piracy hasn't done that enough already.

You want cheap Photoshop to mess around with photos? Go buy Elements. It's pretty feature-packed and most people don't have a need for the myriad of options available in the Professional-level software, which comes at a premium regardless of its nature. Just go look at Autodesk programs. Those --start-- at a cool grand, and can go as high as $10,0000 for the full suite. Shit, their software is so expensive, they will actually --give you a computer-- as part of the licensing deal.

Exactly, I use both Photoshop and Newtek's Lightwave (a 3D program like Autodesks Max or Maya).

I've been looking into purchasing Max for extra resources at work and increased compatibility with clients work, however the licence for the program is £3,500 and the standard renderer most people use costs £1,000.

That?s almost £5,000 for one program. The reason? It's an incredibly complicated piece of software and for the end users it will usually pay for itself after the first few jobs.

Unfortunately unless you?re a student getting pieces of software like this for recreational purpose it virtually impossible (legally), and that?s a shame. It really limits your customer base when your product is unattainable unless you?re already in the business or a student. The rising cost of the 3D software I use (Lightwave) has meant it is falling out of fashion in favour or Maya or Max.