Is there such a thing as a free photoshop download?

There is no such thing as a legal free Photoshop download.

There are however, free alternatives, such as The GIMP.

Check Adobe student discounts.

http://www.academicsuperstore.com/products/Adobe/Photoshop+Extended?sourcecode=lcg&promocode=0D070H0U

If you need it for school, the school should offer a way for your son to get it for cheap or even free.

@willbrawn: In high school or something, yes, there should either be a free or discounted version or sufficient access on campus. At college, that would be a different story.

I would recommend looking into alternatives if possible. Photoshop, attained legitimately, is expensive. Even with an educational discount.

You could pirate it, but I don’t suggest that.

I recommend looking into alternatives unless he is in high school. Then the school should provide it for him. But if you do want to buy it, I recommend looking on eBay or Craigslist for some older versions of Photoshop. If he has never used Photoshop before those will probably fit his needs.

Would this be on Mac or PC? I’m sure Fluther could suggest some good alternatives.

Yes, 7.0 is free

Well, you can pirate it, but that’s often a difficult process. And, of course, it’s illegal. GIMP is just as powerful as Photoshop, but if he is going to be following strict lesson plans, it might get confusing.

There are free 30 day trials that you can download.

Version 7 is not free, as far as I can tell. Not sure where you got that info. Unless you pirate it I guess.

Photoshop Elements is a cheaper alternative designed for home use. It is not as powerful as Photoshop, but it has a lot of the same features. Photoshop is a professional-level application, not really designed for home users, which is why it’s so expensive.

On the Mac there is Pixelmator which I’ve come to really enjoy. It is much less bulky and much faster than Photoshop and has most of the same features. There are still a few glaring omissions like adjustment layers and the like though.

Also Acorn has a pretty good following on the Mac.

On the PC there are things like Paint Shop Pro and others.

The Gimp is horrible in my experience. The interface is atrocious and hard to use and it just doesn’t “feel right”.

Obviously if he is taking a class in Photoshop then none of these alternatives are going to work, as the class will be all about Photoshop, not program x.

@StellarAirman Yeah. I really like Pixelmator.

I would also recommend staying away from the GIMP, especially on mac. It’s good for playing with, but if you really want to get into image editing, the interface will really start to bother you.

yes, but its illegal.

You can do the free 30 download.

Just sign up with a different email for every month.

What is your son going to school for?

he’s only 13. Hes in year 8. I secretly think he wants it to post cool pics on his myspace and his mountain biking forum, which I don’t have a problem with, maybe he said it’s for school cause he’s always asking me for stuff, which I don’t have a problem with either, I just don’t want to spend $600 or whatever it is. I think I’m gonna do the 30day thing. Thanks!

If it’s required for a class, it should be specified in the syllabus and the school should make arrangements for the students to acquire the software legally. If that hasn’t happened, then he’s probably pulling your leg.

I think he’s pulling your leg. And isn’t it summer?

@trailsillustrated just get him photoshop elements, at that age he could do everything he needs to with that program. And he’ll probably think its the real photoshop too.

Dowloading software on, for example, bittorrent networks isn’t illegal in most countries. In the greater part of the world it is illegal to copy the original and republish on bittorrent networks, but once published it is free for anyone to download (and upload as this in inevitable if you want to be a fair user).

So figure the law in your country but I reccon that when it’s for personal use (no commercial publishing the content you create), there is nothing more logic then to download it of the pirate bay. Just the average school project isn’t worth the hundreds of bucks which is aimed at professionals that produce commercial content for a living.

I’m a student myself, we should run for €8000,- worth of graphic/3d/video-edit software that updates every year. So no fellow student nor teacher is crazy enough to buy the actual software licenses. The rare ones that start selling their work download an old version and buy the 10x cheaper upgrade (so you won’t compensate on features and functionality like when buying PS elements).

If he just wants to use something to edit photos for myspace, facebook. He should check out pixlr . It is a free flash application that is VERY similar to the majority of photoshop’s toolsets.