question regarding Photoshop

Hello all,
I have come to realize that I need to come to the 21st century and get Phototshop. But, I am baffled by all the versions out there. I dont' have 800$ to spend, either.

I have an old, but gold, IBM thinkpad (about 2001?), so I was wondering if you could recommend a good version of Photoshop that would allow me to manipulate my drawings (basic editing) and MAYBE do some digital artwork?

Your advice is appreciated.

Caroline

If you know the version # /name and the approximante price, . .Please!

Photoshop is the industry standard for professional image editing and as such it's the most expensive, but if you're looking for something free there is a program called GIMP that is pretty decent:

GIMP - The GNU Image Manipulation Program
Download GTK+ and GIMP installers for Windows from SourceForge.net

Another one is Paint.NET:

Paint.NET - Free Software for Digital Photo Editing

Both GIMP and Paint.NET are good enough for the average user, but if you're looking for something more 'refined' and willing to pay for it then Corel PaintShop can be found for under $50 and there's also Photoshop Elements for around $200 or so. It's not Photoshop but it has more features than the others I mentioned, but I would definitely give the free ones a try first. :]

I've used GIMP, it's pretty good in terms of simple cutting things out, pasting them, drawing backgrounds, etc. Photoshop cs5 has a trial out that I recently downloaded, after a week I know I need this program, lol! I'm going to attempt to do some stud and sale ads for people to get pay off the cost of it.

Forgot to mention, if you go to Univ/College or know someone who does, see if the local campus computer store has Photoshop available with an educational discount. I know at the local Univ you can get Photoshop CS5 for $299 which is a huge, huge discount.

Just check and see if you can get the educational discount regardless of whether you are a teacher or a student. I use Photoshop CS5 (and it's AH-MAZING) and I got it on educational discount, but I had to provide proof that I was eligible for the discount. As I'm no longer a student, I'm just lucky that my Mum's a teacher. She had to send away her teaching details to prove that she was able to get that discount.

1.) The new Photoshop Elements ($100 or so) has gotten to the point where it's damn near identical to Photoshop. Yes, there's some bells and whistles you won't be getting, but most of those are features that 90% of home consumers don't even use with the full version.

2.) Is the laptop going to be the only computer you install it on? If so, PLEASE make sure you check the system requirements. I don't think too many graphics apps past 2005 or 2006 will run properly on it, if at all.

Now that I've mocked your computer (I'm not really -- Just being funny) here's the good news -- you can find pretty cheap copies of Photoshop 3.0 and Photoshop 4.0, especially for the PC. Those should be old enough they run on your laptop, and be cheap ($50-ish) to boot. (I would suggest Amazon or eBay. Amazon may run about $20 more, but there doesn't seem to be a plethora of normal Photoshops for sale on eBay. Stay away from Photoshop LE. If you think Photoshop Elements might be your thing, try to find the highest version you can that would run on your machine)

Some on Amazon:
Amazon.com: Adobe Photoshop 4.0 for Windows:...

If you can manage 4.0, go for it. PS 3.0 wasn't bad per se, but is a little too pedestrian when compared to the newer versions.

(I've used Photoshop from 2.0 until the newest version on CS5 and I've been a graphic designer for 11 years.)

I have to read that againn in detail and have my resident computer wizard (aka "husband dear") look at what you have written.
Thank you for taking the time to give such a detailed explanation!

Definetly GIMP. Photoshop is too much for an older computer. I also had GIMP and LOVED it(:
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The new Photoshop would be, but not an older version.

That being said, GIMP *would* be a good way for TinyLiny to try out a graphics program without spending any money. I've heard good things about it. If she decides that she likes it she can stick with it. If not, there's always the older Photoshop I mentioned.

I'll try GIMP but my husband said he thought it was harder to work with than PS.