If you've got CS1 and have not yet upgraded to CS2 and are now ready to goto CS3 - there's a sweeeeet deal out there that will save you some cash.

You can order the upgrade straight to CS3 and pay however much for it.
You can also still order the upgrade to CS2 and you'll pay about 40% less for this upgrade.


.... and guess what. That CS2 upgrade qualifies you for what they call a "Post Announce Upgrade" which I totally don't understand how or why - but basically, if you buy CS2 after they've announced CS3 (that would be now), once it arrives you can call Adobe and they will send you.... for free (you pay shipping) the upgrade to CS3.

Yep. I didn't mis-speak there. I guess in an effort to not hurt people that just purchased an upgrade or something, if you just purchased CS2, it's just as good as CS3 - just make a phone call.

In my case I went from Photoshop CS1 stand alone to CS3 Design Suite (which includes a fresh new copy of Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat Pro) for only $499 by purchasing the CS2 upgrade and trading up. If I'd just ordered the same upgrade straight up to CS3 - it would have been $899.

If trading up CS1 PS standalone, the CS2 upgrade is only $160, where the straight up CS3 upgrade is $199.

Here's the official word on Adobe's site:
http://www.adobe.com/uk/support/service/postann.html

Just call the order number on their store site and ask about how a "Post Announce Upgrade" works. The person I dealt with said this offer was good until June on the CS products - don't know if that's official time though.

Kevin,

Thanks for the tip. I have Photoshop (CS2) and want to upgrade to the C3 version which will run faster on my Intel based Mac. I also wanted to purchase Indesign (which is a part of the Creative Suite) for album design. I called Adobe and they said to upgrade to the CS3 package that includes Photoshop and Indesign (Design Standard) it was $899. A little more than I was hoping to spend.

OOPS-I wasn't done with my reply yet and accidentaly sent it somehow.

Anyway, after reading your post I decided to call them back and ask what it would be to upgrade from just Photoshop to the CS2 Creative Suite. $499, and I get a free upgrade to Creative Suite CS3!!!!

Just upgrading from Photoshop only (CS2) to Photoshop's CS3 version is $199, which I would have done regardless, so for an extra $300 I get the new Indesign and rest of the CS3 Creative Suite too!!

Thank again,
Vanessa

Yikes! I'm with Vanessa! That's a bummer, I already upgraded... wonder if there's anyway to hide my previous upgrade? (or... maybe I can buy a really old copy of photoshop on ebay, then upgrade that?)

Hey that never occured to me that you could do the same thing going from CS2 stand alone to CS2 Suite. Sweet. "Sweet". lol.

That's a good idea Tim - but if anyone does this, know that they take a pretty close look at you and the product before doing the swap. I had to give them serial numbers, they looked up past registrations of the product, they checked all my personal info a few times then you have to sign and fax a legal document and they have to get their department head manager (on hold about 15 minutes) to double check it all and sign off on it.

... and I can just see where that would get you considering 90% of software on ebay is bogus.


My good friend that's a graphics designer is going from Suite 2 to Suite 3 and he's paying more for that switch than I am to go from an old stand-alone PS alone up to the suite. It's funny only because I'm usually on the opposite side of these good deals. lol.

Good call on InDesign - that's where I'm going also. (Starting another thread for that topic).

for sure, there's a lot of bogus stuff on ebay, but if you shop wisely, and you buy a very old version of photoshop, it's all legit and fine.

I've had many a friend who didn't want to pay the full-price for photoshop, so they bought an old version, such as 5 or 6 on ebay, in original packaging, fully legit for like $20, then upgraded that to the current version... quite the cost savings.

But yes, make sure you know what you're looking for when purchasing anything on ebay.

But if you have Creative Suite, you can't upgrade just Photoshop (which is why I won't ever pay for a copy of Photoshop again).

Ummmm..... okay.

Why would you want to upgrade just one piece of a system intended to work together? If you don't want to use the other pieces of software then why buy the suite? If you buy Photoshop then you can upgrade just Photoshop.

Apparently I'm missing something.

Are you saying you refuse to pay Adobe for software because they've wronged their users by not allowing someone to upgrade parts and pieces of a bundle without upgrading the entire bundle?

Yea, I don't get that.

And the upgrade for the entire bundle (usually 4 to 8 individual programs depending) is only a few bucks more than the cost to upgrade a single piece. I've always found Adobe's upgrades to be very reasonably priced. With CS3 - all the programs are as near to "complete redesigns" as you could get - priced individual you're still getting like $3000 worth of software for $1200 retail, and well under $1k for the upgrade. It's like they're giving you 4 major applications for free, and complete redesings of the others. How could one possibly complain over that???


Hey, maybe you should check this out... Corel

LOL!

I notice the link says UK. Is it for British people only? Just want to clarify.

The "suite" is just a bunch of separate programs - some of which are decent (Photoshop, Indesign) and some of which aren't (GoLive in my version), and some of which I no longer need (Flash). They share no meaningful functionality - just compatibility.



Yea - I am saying that. And it's a lot more expensive to upgrade the version I have than just Photoshop. It's cost them one customer for life.

All they are doing is trying to lock you in to their product line - at their prices - whether or not that's best for you. And they have been busy buying up all the competition and eliminating any choices you might have. (But, hey, Microsoft does it so it must be ok to do business that way.)

Monopolies are not good for anyone.

That's an interesting perspective for sure.

As already suggested you could buy an old version of PS stand-alone from ebay for $20 and upgrade that?


I'm actually happy to see Adobe buying up some of the other stuff. I think having Flash and DreamWeaver tied directly to Illustrator and Photoshop is a dream come true for anyone in the design world. It allows for greater compatabillity between the pieces which means smoother workflow for the rest of us.

But Microsoft is certainly the root of some, if not all evil. I think MS products would be great if they weren't so horribly designed.

I think Adobe puts out some knock-out products. Photoshop was WAY ahead of it's time from day one. I also used to use Adobe Video Collection back in my video days - AfterEffects creates nearly every commercial you see on TV. That was a masterpiece of a product and it really had no significant competors until apple released Motion.

That's too bad you feel jabbed by them though. I've always thought Adobe products are worth 3 times what they charge, and I couldn't do my job without Photoshop, so whether they charge me $149, $199, $449, or $800 - doesn't really matter that much. It's the core piece of code that allows me to make a living doing what I love, and for less than a grand anyway you add it up - that's a bargan.