So CS3 is dead...what next?

[MG01]

As I mentioned in my welcome post, I'm returning to the hobby after a bit of a hiatus.  I had previously purchased CS3 back in 2009 I think and it had been serving me well, however I've not really done much photo editing in the last 3-4 years and for that I had mainly been using elements on my laptop.  

So after realising a couple of days ago that elements (10 I think?!?) doesn't support HDR files from DSS, I thought I'd dig out the old Photoshop installation disk and that's when the trouble started.

I'd previously de-registered the software when I upgraded my desktop machine several years ago, but when I can to re-register today it tells me that the servers and telephone activation servers have all been discontinued and the product is no longer supported!!

Soooooo...there's no chance of me subscribing to a monthly fee any time soon, so I thought I'd ask what other options are available these days?

Many thanks

[fwm891]

Do you need to register it? If you have the serial number that should be enough. I use CS3 Extended and this is probably the 4 th PC I've installed it on. I've tried registering it in the past with no luck so I just use it.

[MG01]

From what I understand from the adobe forum they released a version a while back that didn’t need the online or telephone activation.  I have my serial number and original CS3 design premium media, but when I put the serial number in I get a screen asking me to connect to the internet to activate or telephone a number (which has been disconnected now)

 

[Alien 13]

If you want an alternative/better option than CS3 then Affinity Photo is the way to go..

Alan

[x6gas]

Well Affinity Photo is the newish kid on the block that seems to be getting some traction...

I have some problems with it as its macro feature isn't anywhere near as good as Photoshop's actions and there are one or two other limitation like fixed sample points only reporting single pixel values (rather than a multi-pixel average) that are really annoying.  But for a capable, layers-based photo editor it's great for the price.  Nik Szymanek is doing a series on it in Astronomy Now...

[Alien 13]

27 minutes ago, x6gas said:

Well Affinity Photo is the newish kid on the block that seems to be getting some traction...

I have some problems with it as its macro feature isn't anywhere near as good as Photoshop's actions and there are one or two other limitation like fixed sample points only reporting single pixel values (rather than a multi-pixel average) that are really annoying.  But for a capable, layers-based photo editor it's great for the price.  Nik Szymanek is doing a series on it in Astronomy Now...

I agree its not perfect, am annoyed that it cant handle ICO files or Nvidia plugins for game design but the software does seem to evolve reasonably fast so I am confident it will get there..

Alan

[MG01]

That's a new one on me...I've pretty much been adobe or gimp my whole life.  The latest versions of GIMP support 16 and 32bit/ channel processing so that was my first obvious thought, but I do struggle with the interface a bit...and when I'm trying to hone my AstroP skills I find it's better to go with what others are using so that there's more discussion and the learning is easier.

I've heard good things about Pixinsight and Startools too...but will go have a look at affinity too

cheers!

[Tenor Viol]

For most people, Affinity has all the capability that they need and is very similar to PS. I got VERY annoyed with Adobe and their approach to support. I work in IT. It is standard practice for vendors to support previous versions of software, usually current plus 2 previous versions. Adobe do not. I used PS Elements for 15 years. I reached the end of my tether when I needed an upgrade after only 12 months because my then new Nikon D7500 was not supported (RAW files). Then the following year I bought my Z6.... Then there was the Mac OS change to 64 bit only.... 

[Ouroboros]

I conclude that they are really only interested in the commercial user.  When you think about it selling high end software applications and then providing repeated updates and technical support was not a great business model. The subscription model makes much more sense commercially.