Too me, the price of photoshop is an arm and a leg xD. I've always wonder, does it need to be that high, or is it for more of a reason? My belief is that their are those people who would get PhotoShop illegally and Adobe rasies the price to make up for the loss. Or, if you are a graphic designer, basicly in order to get your paycheck you need to be at some level, most likely professional, sometimes the lastest program might help you get the edge you need in the GFX Design bussiness... I dunno.. just random thoughts in my head.

I got my version for free :P It was a gift from my uncle, he would kill me if he found out i prefer Gimp LOL.

CS3 came with my comp. I <3 Photoshop.

They have the price the way it is to keep it a professional program so it's used by big artists and companies.

Nah I disagree. It's just to get money.

yeah, everything by Adobe is expensive

I mean look at TSS, she makes amazing graphics with GIMP and that's free...so I still think it's for money =)

Its the quality and features Photoshop offers. I agree that Gimp can produce amazing work but it takes several months and maybe years to get used to it. However, photoshop takes considerably less time to get to know the basic features. Also, photoshop has so many options and features Gimp does not, thus the price if higher.

I had to pay for my photoshop couple of years back and I never regretted it. It took a long time for a 17 year old to get a couple hundred dollars. :)

Then why is it so easy to exploit or get illegal copies?

Because you have dumb senseless people that don't want to buy something that should be only 100 dollars, 200 at the most. And honestly, I don't blame them. I wouldn't buy it. I rather find someone who has a serial code (that was brought) and use theirs. But whatever, all I care about is that I have mines and I'm happy with it. But yeah, I still think it's for the money like Esaul stated.

People who get it free, are more likeley to only use photoshop for stuff like sigs and web designs, nothing professional mostly just for non commercial use. We dont get payed for the stuff we make.

Instead with professional designers they get payed for using the software, for making posters, banners, etc.

Delete this please:(

My CS2 I got for free, CS3 Extended I downloaded from internet. :P
Yeah the prices are too high :(

I find it completely reasonable as it's purpose was solely for professional use. Since it was meant to be a whole package. Photoshop is also used for video editing (masking in Adobe After Effects). It wasn't only made for graphics, but it has a whole lot of uses. :P

I think if your using it for a buisness then the price is reasonable since you're using it to make money.

There is Photoshop Elements that is more reasonably price, but missing some features I heard.

Gimp and Paint.net are good alternatices.