PhotoStudio X for .Mac Members

There's a reason this is being offered "free"

Look at the versiontracker ratings for this thing. Why would anyone want crappy software like this?

Wow, it's been a busy day.

Re: There's a reason this is being offered "free"

Instead of bitching, why don't you try it.

Most of the comments in VersionTracker were from people who were pissed about PhotoStudio being listed as freeware, when, in fact, its shareware.

Originally posted by sosumi99
Look at the versiontracker ratings for this thing. Why would anyone want crappy software like this?

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Re: There's a reason this is being offered "free"

Originally posted by sosumi99
Look at the versiontracker ratings for this thing. Why would anyone want crappy software like this?

Click to expand...

Yeah but everyone gets a rating like that when they start comparing it to photoshop. Hell paintshop pro is a good app. but it always overshadowed by PS.

they should have just made .mac cheaper

Downloading now...

Has anybody actually used it? I think we should hold judgement until someone actually sees the software. I think the intended audience is more like the neophyte type, not the Photoshop gurus, so there is no comparison there.

Did anyone else notice that is says for 10.2?

I'll keep my Photoshop, thank you.

It works under Panther just fine.

Originally posted by totally_fly
Did anyone else notice that is says for 10.2?

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Originally posted by Jookbox
they should have just made .mac cheaper

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I think that this is exactly the point that most people will be making. You also have to wonder how they can claim that something that claims to be freeware (which it is not) and has a 1/5 rating on versiontracker can have an $80 value.

I certainly am going to judge the merits of this product based on TWO ratings. The most recent being in Feb of this year, and the other rating complaining that is is a Classic Only app - which was rated in May of 2002!!!!!
I don't know if it is good or not, but I will certainly not make judgments based on two ancient anonymous reviews. Heck, the red-eye feature HAS to be better than iPhoto's.

And, yes, I know those are only commented reviews, but I have usually found them to be somewhat representative of the actual reviews.

EDIT: It seems, based on the ratings, that these may be the only ratings for the product. Either way, I'll try it before passing judgment.

I downloaded the app and opened a photo and then felt a little overwhelmed. I've just invested many hours learning Photoshop, and the Arcsoft app did not appear instantaneously intuitive, so I closed it and decided to stick with Photoshop.

I bring this up not to compare the 2 apps, which is somewhat unfair, but to point out that even the Arcsoft app may have too steep a learning curve to appeal to a pure neophyte.

OTOH, if I was a complete mac newbie and I bought .mac and didn't have PS or PS Elements or anything else besides iPhoto, the Arcsoft app may be a worthwhile benefit. It probably doesn't have quite the learning curve of PS, so maybe it's a good thing. However, it makes it even more clear that .mac is for total beginners; I wish that it offered something for a more experienced user.

First impressions: It has some decent tools, but a crappy, un-Mac-like interface.

It's funny that so many people are complaining about something that Apple is offering .Mac subscribers for free. It's not like they are forcing you to stop using Photoshop or to even download it. This is insane, I for one have found .Mac to be one of the best things I've used with my Mac and every so often Apple throws its users a bone and give us yet another goody that it did not have to do. I love when Apple releases new benefits, it just goes to show that I got some good value out of my $70 investment on top of all of the awesome features that I originally bought it for. I've gotten 4 free games, two free utility programs, a load of discounts, and now a free photo editing program. Sure, it may not make me ditch Photoshop Elements, but I for one am looking forward to taking it for a spin and seeing what its like.

.Mac...very useful!

I don't know about using PhotoStudio--I'm a Photoshop and Painter user. But I can't deny the fundamental usefulness of my .Mac subscription.

It's saved me its sign-up costs in FedEx savings. I use it as an easy FTP site. Uploading <100MB graphics files that my broadband customers can download at their convenience has been a small boon to my business workflow.

The other goodies--Virex, Backup, etc.--are nice-to-haves but not real necessities.

The quickie website is somewhere in-between nice-to-have and necessity.

My primary reason for getting it was for the .mac email address. I was getting rid of AOL and wanted a new permanent email address that was more professional and not prone to spam like hotmail or yahoo. I then discovered how insanely easy making a webpage was and then I got into using my iDisk, which is just beyond awesome and invaluable for sharing data among computers and locations, plus there are all of those other tools such as Backup and then when you add in the free stuff I've gotten since I became a member in September and I can't even think of a reason not to have it. Between all of the free software I've received from Apple because of my membership, it adds up to about $250 or so, which I cannot complain about.

Originally posted by QuiteSure
However, it makes it even more clear that .mac is for total beginners; I wish that it offered something for a more experienced user.

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Duff-Man says.....that is ridiculous. I am *far* from a beginner, very very very far....and I find my .mac account extremely useful and convenient, worth the money easily to me....being a professional, my *time* is worth $$ and .mac features like isync save me more $$ in unwasted time. As for this piece of software, it's just a little bonus, not likely to make me ditch photoshop elements or anything, but I'll give it a look......oh yeah!

I agree, I am not a beginner, either, and love .Mac. Just because Apple isn't giving you a $500 photo editing program for free doesn't mean .Mac is for beginners.

As far as the program goes, it looks very similar to Photoshop Elements with the same basic interface layout and feature set. It just seems to have a more elementary GUI design. It's not bad by any means, in fact, if I didn't already have Photoshop Elements, this would definitely be my primary program for simple editing.

Originally posted by Powerbook G5
It's funny that so many people are complaining about something that Apple is offering .Mac subscribers for free. It's not like they are forcing you to stop using Photoshop or to even download it. This is insane, I for one have found .Mac to be one of the best things I've used with my Mac and every so often Apple throws its users a bone and give us yet another goody that it did not have to do. I love when Apple releases new benefits, it just goes to show that I got some good value out of my $70 investment on top of all of the awesome features that I originally bought it for. I've gotten 4 free games, two free utility programs, a load of discounts, and now a free photo editing program. Sure, it may not make me ditch Photoshop Elements, but I for one am looking forward to taking it for a spin and seeing what its like.

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This sums everything up. I mean it is a FREE software! If it is half-ass good it is still good. AT least you can do things you couldn't before.

vs Photoshop Elements

It would of course be unfair to compare this to Photoshop, but, given that both this and Photoshop Elements 2.0 list at $99, a comparison with Photoshop Elements seems fair.

So: Any comparisons? Without playing with it in detail it seems PhotoStudio is more along the lines of PhotoDelux from Adobe, maybe slightly more advanced, but nowhere near Elements' market ...

Makes me wonder why Apple snubbed Adobe and went with ArcSoft for a promotional deal ...

Since we are on the .Mac topic I have a question. I've asked this before in other forums but didn't get a response. I remember reading somewhere that I could somehow "trick" idisk into using my my web server space? Does anyone know how to do this?

I have a .mac account, but would like to increase my 100meg space by using my web servers space.

Anyone? Thanks.

Re: vs Photoshop Elements

Originally posted by jettredmont
It would of course be unfair to compare this to Photoshop, but, given that both this and Photoshop Elements 2.0 list at $99, a comparison with Photoshop Elements seems fair.

So: Any comparisons? Without playing with it in detail it seems PhotoStudio is more along the lines of PhotoDelux from Adobe, maybe slightly more advanced, but nowhere near Elements' market ...

Makes me wonder why Apple snubbed Adobe and went with ArcSoft for a promotional deal ...

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This ArcSoft programs gave me the impression of a poor man's Photoshop Elements. It has the same basic tools and same basic interface, heck, it even has it all arranged in the same way as Photoshop Elements. It just doesn't seem as well integrated or developed. I'd say if you were to look at both side to side at the store, that you'd be hard pressed to pick this above Elements, though. If it were maybe $20-30, then I could see it offering people something, but considering that you can find Photoshop Elements in many places for around $50, it just won't hook many. But as a free program, I'd have to recommend anyone who has .Mac and doesn't already have Photoshop to give this a try.

Apple must have gotten a REAAALY good deal from ArcSoft for this one.

I was in Wal-Mart the other day and they're selling Photoshop Elements for $58. Now, if Wal-Mart can sell PA for $58 and still make a profit off of it (then again they may not be selling it at a loss given it's Wal-Mart) Why does Apple have to take another image editor (a crappy one) valued at $80 and give it away.

I got Photoshop Elements for $45 back in October and I've seen it many places for $50-60, so I have to assume the actual program isn't that costly, but just marked up by resellers.