Photoshop for Mac

[jimothy]

MrsJimothy has decided she wants to get into image editing. She's played with a few features on aperture, and now wants to take it further. So I downloaded Gimp for Mac, and bought her a book on it. Nice and cheap thinks I. Unfortunately, she cannot get on with it - the book bears no resemblance to the mac version, the whole X11 integration is poor and for a computer numpty like her, its a pain.

So I said I'd look into getting her Photoshop.
So I looked at how much it would cost.
When I picked myself back up off the floor, I decided to investigate cheaper options.

So can any photoshop experts help with the following questions?

What is elements? I gather its a cut down version, but does it have things a beginner will miss?
What will run on an old 12" G4? We are planning to upgrade at some point, but not yet.
If elements doesn't cut the mustard, will an older version like CS or CS2 run ok on the G4?
Does anyone have a second hand copy of CS or CS2 for sale?
If we upgrade to a MacBook Air (she wants to use it on trains, so lightweight is better than power), will that run a later version ok?

Sorry for sounding like a numpty, I've no idea about photoshop... Thanks in advance!

[Gemm]

I haven't used Elements myself but I'm sure it's perfect for beginners.

I have CS3 on my 12" G4 Powerbook and it runs fine. Although all my main editing is done on my desktop PC, it works fine for an occasional tweaking while I'm away from the desktop. But you'll definitely need a proper mouse for more serious editing.

[Fly Boy]

Why not book 'her' in at your local Apple store for a FREE workshop session?
I've got one next Thursday on 'how to use Finalcut Studio'
http://www.apple.com/uk/retail/workshops/

or for a reasonable price buy her a 1:1 session with an Apple genius ;-)

http://www.apple.com/uk/retail/onetoone/

FB

[jimothy]

Fly Boy said:

Why not book 'her' in at your local Apple store for a FREE workshop session?
I've got one next Thursday on 'how to use Finalcut Studio'
http://www.apple.com/uk/retail/workshops/

or for a reasonable price buy her a 1:1 session with an Apple genius ;-)

http://www.apple.com/uk/retail/onetoone/

FB

Thanks, but they only cover apple products and she's worked her way round Aperture. If they did Gimp training, then it might be worth it...

[jimothy]

Gemm said:

I haven't used Elements myself but I'm sure it's perfect for beginners.

I have CS3 on my 12" G4 Powerbook and it runs fine. Although all my main editing is done on my desktop PC, it works fine for an occasional tweaking while I'm away from the desktop. But you'll definitely need a proper mouse for more serious editing.

Fast enough for basic learning with small images? Its only the 667MHz one with 640MB RAM, no idea how this compares to yours.

[Gemm]

jimothy said:

Fast enough for basic learning with small images? Its only the 667MHz one with 640MB RAM, no idea how this compares to yours.

Mine's 1.5GHz + 1.25mb RAM, so it probably would make some difference. You could always download the trial and see how it runs.

[spydersingh]

Fly Boy said:

Why not book 'her' in at your local Apple store for a FREE workshop session?
I've got one next Thursday on 'how to use Finalcut Studio'
http://www.apple.com/uk/retail/workshops/

or for a reasonable price buy her a 1:1 session with an Apple genius ;-)

http://www.apple.com/uk/retail/onetoone/

FB

Are you a "Genius?"

[Fly Boy]

spydersingh said:

Are you a "Genius?"

Far from it, i wish i was though...