Updating Photoshop & CS3

[KTrain]

Let's just say that a "friend" has a less than legitimate copy of the Adobe Creative Suite 3 on their computer.

This friend would like to purchase the update to CS5.

Is this going to work?

[MickMcGeough]

I seriously doubt it. It wouldn't be very smart of Adobe to give out upgrade copies without validating a current license.

[photon]

It used to be you could get away with it if you had a CD the software would recognize.

But I know more recently for other Adobe products (the Macromedia stuff) you would actually have to put in the license key for the product you are upgrading from and it would actually contact their license server and a) verify the key b) make sure it hadn't already been used for an upgrade and c) flag it so it couldn't be used to upgrade again.

Of course the software also would install stuff on your computer so that if 2 people on the same network were using the same software at the same time it wouldn't let you (i.e. if you installed Dreamweaver on a laptop and a desktop and tried to run both at the same time it would protest).

I'm not sure if Photoshop goes that far though.

[Barnes]

Depends on your friend's license. I have a friend who has an enterprise, site license that requires no registration or authentication.

[FanIn80]

Not saying I have any personal experience with this kind of stuff, but there's a very strong possibility that this "friend" should be able to gain access to a full copy of CS5, which may or may not carry the same level of legal legitimacy.

Putting that aside, I don't see why it wouldn't work. Unless the CS5 CD carries a database with blacklisted activation codes on it. In order to use most illegitimate CS installs, you have to edit your Host file to prevent the system from calling home - which should prevent any kind of legitimacy checks.

[BlackArcher101]

What's the point of purchasing an upgrade to illegal software?

If they are purchasing it so that it's legal, it probably won't be since I'd think the TOS probably requires a valid key to upgrade from in the first place. This would be for entirely moral purposes it seems.

Don't purchase upgrade; download "full version" of CS5 online; full fuctionability; illegal software
Do purchase upgrade; no need to download from online; full functionability; still illegal software

Seems that's it's paying for nothing gained?

[Regulator75]

I'm surprised this thread hasn't been locked yet.

[KTrain]

I've discovered a much more legitimate solution to my friend's problem.

Student and Teacher pricing on Adobe products.

$1,899 for the full version of the Design Premium package.

$449 with the teacher discount.

http://www.adobe.com/education/products/creativesuite/

[SebC]

Originally Posted by KTrain

I've discovered a much more legitimate solution to my friend's problem.

Student and Teacher pricing on Adobe products.

$1,899 for the full version of the Design Premium package.

$449 with the teacher discount.

http://www.adobe.com/education/products/creativesuite/

Which is still insane if you're just a casual photographer... where is the amateur photographer who's never sold a photo in his life pricing?

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by SebC

Which is still insane if you're just a casual photographer... where is the amateur photographer who's never sold a photo in his life pricing?

GIMP - The GNU Image Manipulation Program

and

http://picasa.google.com/

I kid, but for what most users would get out of the CS suite, this covers most of it. Would be nice to have a better photoshop option though.

The best bet is to buy copies of previous versions from ebay. Much more reasonably priced.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by SebC

Which is still insane if you're just a casual photographer... where is the amateur photographer who's never sold a photo in his life pricing?

PaintShop Pro

http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satelli...1#tabview=tab0

[Russic]

Originally Posted by SebC

Which is still insane if you're just a casual photographer... where is the amateur photographer who's never sold a photo in his life pricing?

I'm an amateur photographer who's never sold a photo in his life so I can help! True I'd love to have the HDR tools and "remove my ex-girlfriend from this image" mode, but for 99% of your photographic needs I believe you can get by really well with Lightroom or Aperture (both around $200). Their handling of RAW photos is exquisite and they help you with your workflow and allow you to focus not only on photo processing but the handling of your files, metadata etc. Since I switched to Aperture I've almost completely stopped using photoshop. I only use it now for complex removal of objects (which generally means I took a poor photo to begin with). If you want to drop a few hundred dollars more and take your photos to the next level you can look at the NIK software package. NIK is the crackpipe your photos beg for.

[Phaneuf3]

Originally Posted by SebC

Which is still insane if you're just a casual photographer... where is the amateur photographer who's never sold a photo in his life pricing?

Was going to suggest GIMP but since rathji beat me to it, your situation is exactly what they built photoshop elements for. At about $80, it'll do most of what the casual hobbyist is looking to do.... also, consider looking into lightroom.