60% of Photoshop Users are PIRATES!

[safan80]

http://blog.epicedits.com/2008/03/28/60-of-photoshop-users-are-pirates/


Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me.
We pillage, we plunder, we rifle, and loot,
Drink up, me ‘earties, yo ho.
We kidnap and ravage and don’t give a hoot,
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho

I found this entertaining, so I'm not quoting any of the details you'll have to click the link to see it.

[RPGWiZaRD]

Well if I'd have to guess what's the most pirated software I guess first place would clearly be Windows, then probably MS office as 2nd place and then 3rd Photoshop. But if you compare in a scale such as "amount" percentage of the legal vs illegal users I think Photoshop prolly wins so it's not really suprising numbers for me.

Why? Cuz it's the most popular image editing software, there's interested users in very young age classes as well. It's not either needed in business either except the specialized categories that do lots of image editing etc so there's no huge category of "legal" balance help from the business section for this app really either so.

[Shintai]

Now we just need for Adobe to say that they lost 60% sales too. :p:

(Maybe they lost 5-10%)

[BrowncoatGR]

Also buying it is not an option for almost anyone that doesnt use it professionally

[SoulsCollective]

I'm not surprised given the ridiculous cost. Mind you, I'm not so sure this is a bad thing, as the huge userbase only creates more publicity for their product.

[HellasVagabond]

My name is Jack Sparrow....I like the sound of that :)

[xoqolatl]

I have the license but use cracked Photoshop, if it makes any sense. I got the license for CS2 long time ago as a donation for software project I was a member of (project is now inactive); license covered upgrades for next versions, but I cant obtain a CS3 key from Adobe.

[Papu]

would have taught it was a higher % , the thing is damn expensive , i dont even use it for editing photo's its far oo overly complicated for what most people want to do.

[Empty_Quarter]

I dont find this surprising.

[fellix_bg]

There is no good or bad PR -- just more of it, keeping the product name in the heads of the general/target audience.

[Syn.]

You know the Bill Gates argument "We rather you pirate Windows then other OS"? Same thing applies here as most pirate's get stuck on Photoshop and will eventually end up buying it because they love it so much.

60% of current user base might be currently using the program illegally but that 60% user base makes sure that Photoshop is #1, and as such it will pull in more legal customers.

[ultimeus]

adobe know it, price are not realistic for amateurs, you buy a license only if you work with it professionaly

[xlink]

Now we just need for Adobe to say that they lost 60% sales too. :p:

(Maybe they lost 5-10%)

because that 10 year old has $600 lying around doesn't he?

I'm a moderator on a graphics design website and well...
some things you just don't talk about, and if it is talked about suspension or ban depending on the extent.

[Alucard-]

I think the majority of photoshop users don't use it professionally, so they pirate it for the odd task. I find myself using lightroom more anyways which I somehow got for free from installing the betas and updating. I think the majority doesn't need photoshop for their tasks they just use and pirate it because it's now the standard.

[RaZz!]

i've got a legal photoshop 7.0 copy, but the v7.0 is quite old.

what's the current version of photoshop anyways? i found the new naming scheme kinda confusing... photoshop elements, cs, non cs, cs extended, blablubb... wtf? :p:

which of these versions is comparable to ps7?

[RPGWiZaRD]

There's Photoshop CS2 v9 today... Yes I agree with you this CS naming is a bit confused always makes me think of Counter-Strike as that's what I really associate "CS" with. :p:

[RaZz!]

There's Photoshop CS2 v9 today... Yes I agree with you this CS naming is a bit confused always makes me think of Counter-Strike as that's what I really associate "CS" with. :p:

i've just saw that there's cs3 (v10) already. and photoshop elements (v6) seems to be "photoshop lite" :p:

[Syn.]

i've got a legal photoshop 7.0 copy, but the v7.0 is quite old.

what's the current version of photoshop anyways? i found the new naming scheme kinda confusing... photoshop elements, cs, non cs, cs extended, blablubb... wtf? :p:

which of these versions is comparable to ps7?

Latest version of Ps is v10.0.0.1 aka CS3. The Ps 7 can be compared to Ps CS3 and not. CS3 version has features taken from the mainstream version, Elements, and professional version, Creative Suite, and joins them into one. Ps CS3 Extended is basically Ps with extra 3D Rendering options for creating models and textures, call it Ps with touch of 3DMax.

[Piotrsama]

I use GIMP, free and lets me do what I need.
Don't know how it compares to PS.

[XSAlliN]

I use GIMP, free and lets me do what I need.
Don't know how it compares to PS.

It doesn't, it's like comparing Windows 98 with Windows Vista, different limitations (like updates, and software support) bu you get the point. :)

Funny thing (first page of search google and you have the pirated version for share, and no I didn't any world related to pirated software):

http://www.google.ro/search?hl=ro&q=Adobe+Photoshop+CS+3&btnG=C%C4%83utare&meta=

In my country, Retail Version of Adobe Photoshop CS3 costs between 1700$ and 2200$. Like you said before, most user use only 5% of the real potential of APS (putting a Santa hat on a avatar, home materials editing). So I wish there was an home version at 5% of that price (87$) with full support for all actions but limited to home use (non commercial editing).

Yes I know there other alternative like Gimp, that could do some of the things, but ... APS is more efficient. :yepp: If I'd use it for professional stuff (which involves money gaims) I wouldn't mind paying that price. :P Used to be a APS-er, but I retired for now. :D

[BullGod]

Well the truth is that the real figure is probably much higher. Something like 80% but still Adobe doesn't care. Why? Well if it were 100$ that would be bad but as it is 1000$+ it kinda compensates don't you think? I don't use it any way, I've found out that the more Adobe programs you have installed the slower Windows gets. So I use PaintShop Pro 7, it's only 34MB and does everything that PS does although more choppy. And yeah it doesn't take a freaking hour to install and it doesn't have 10000 registry entries.

[systemviper]

yea, the latest is the CS3 Master suite, cost $2600.00

it's 4 DVD's and has about 16 programs on it.

[Speederlander]

Same thing applies here as most pirate's get stuck on Photoshop and will eventually end up buying it because they love it so much.

Why would they buy it? What would the motivation be unless they are using it specifically in their profession? They get it for free now.

[saaya]

harrrrrrrrr damn they caught us m8ties harrrrr

[Vapor]

Maybe the reason they just came out with the online version? Get a free and legal solution out to the people who really only need basic editing :shrug:

And get the name out even more.

[twilyth]

I just print out the original and use my crayons.

[railmeat]

i have the full version of Photoshop CS2 v9 with my wooden leg...

[NotFred]

Its actually quite a good situation for Adobe. Most home users have a ripped off copy of photoshop that they use for casual stuff. Companies for the most part dont dare use a pirate copy as Adobe could come down on them like a ton of bricks.

However it means everyone knows photoshop, and is relatively adept at using it, so it is far easier for a company to use photoshop rather than the competition. Exactly the same reason a lot of people use windows, its what people know.

[Big SturL]

I believe most of the users that use PS professionally will acutally purchase a license. I wouldn't pay $1000 just to paint amusing mustaches on people...

[NotFred]

Exactly

[Cooper]

First question I have is who actually counted this percentage and how.
Another thing is that price for such product as Photoshop is absolutely fare. This is the professional software. Like 3ds max, autocad, matlab. There are so many years of development and so many human resources spent on creating and supporting these products. I'm not even mentioning sap or sql databases licenses. Check the prices - you'll be amazed ;)

[mcoffey]

Aggred,

Back in the day I was known to have a few less than fully legal copies of SW, but not now, and not for quite some time. If I want to use it, I pay the price. That's only right. If I don't see the value for the price given, I simply don't use it.

I do however realize how people turn to that type of practice given the crappy nature of some of the SW out there right now. But for me, not the way I want to live my life.

andyc

[twilyth]

Aggred,

Back in the day I was known to have a few less than fully legal copies of SW, but not now, and not for quite some time. If I want to use it, I pay the price. That's only right. If I don't see the value for the price given, I simply don't use it.

I do however realize how people turn to that type of practice given the crappy nature of some of the SW out there right now. But for me, not the way I want to live my life.

andyc
That's a fair point, but how do you know something is cr@p until you try it? If you get to use something at work that's fine, but there's going to be a lot of software you can't test drive first. A lot of publishers SAY that they'll give you your money back but then you find out that they won't even respond to your emails. So either you dispute the charge with your credit card company (and what a bunch of pr***s they are) or you eat the bill.

And don't get me started on shareware or free trials that are really crippleware and leave more cr@p on your hard drive than a fly at a buffet table.

If you use something you should pay a reasonable price for it. But you shouldn't pay for something that you won't be able to use. If publishers would be straight with people and offer a decent product at a fair price, I don't think there would be as much of a problem. But 99 times out of a hundred, it's all about the Benjamins. As long as that's the case, people will fight fire with fire.

[Natalia]

I bet there are a large portion of the people that have a pirated copies that justify it because all they ever use Photoshop for is cropping an image, rotating it, and doing 5 seconds of editing.

Not saying I agreee with that viewpoint, but I guess some people don't feel like spending a couple hundred bucks to crop an image.

[Clint]

Now we just need for Adobe to say that they lost 60% sales too. :p:

(Maybe they lost 5-10%)

Don't forget, they also calculate loss with price of today...ie price already compensated for mentioned illegal copying. Talking about eating the cookie and still have it.:rolleyes:

In the old days, wasn't "pirates" those who cracked and distributed the software? Has this become to be the accepted term for "end users" as well?

I do breach copyrights from time to time, when I copy a few pages too much from study material and sometimes the occasional software...both has the same weight regarding illegality btw.

I do however NOT consider myself a "colleague" to the pirates in the philippino sea that plunders boats and kill people..thank you!:shakes:
Call me parasite if you wish, but **** that term "pirate"...keep that epitet for those who deserve it.

[003]

If photoshop cost $100, hell, even $200, I MIGHT consider paying for it. MIGHT.

But $700!? Adobe can shove it if they think I am going to pay $700 to crop an image once in a while.

[Piotrsama]

I bet there are a large portion of the people that have a pirated copies that justify it because all they ever use Photoshop for is cropping an image, rotating it, and doing 5 seconds of editing.

Not saying I agreee with that viewpoint, but I guess some people don't feel like spending a couple hundred bucks to crop an image.

That's my point, for what I do, GIMP is more than enough.
I don't need or want Photoshop.
And I don't think my skills will ever excede what I can do with it, so it's a fine software for me.

[mcoffey]

That's a fair point, but how do you know something is cr@p until you try it? If you get to use something at work that's fine, but there's going to be a lot of software you can't test drive first. A lot of publishers SAY that they'll give you your money back but then you find out that they won't even respond to your emails. So either you dispute the charge with your credit card company (and what a bunch of pr***s they are) or you eat the bill.

And don't get me started on shareware or free trials that are really crippleware and leave more cr@p on your hard drive than a fly at a buffet table.

If you use something you should pay a reasonable price for it. But you shouldn't pay for something that you won't be able to use. If publishers would be straight with people and offer a decent product at a fair price, I don't think there would be as much of a problem. But 99 times out of a hundred, it's all about the Benjamins. As long as that's the case, people will fight fire with fire.

Yep,

Like I said, I can see how people get there, not judging. Games are the best example of crappy SW I pay for and get stuck with crappy performance. But usually it gets taken care off, and I end up living with it. But I always remember that next time I see another title from that same company, and I end up holding off for a while before buying it. Which usually results in me paying less for the SW, and alot of the bugs are worked out by then.

As far as other utility type SW like PS and some of the others, I don't need it bad enough to steal it, if I don't see the value for the price they charge. If I do buy something and get burnt, I go out of my way to make their corporate life hell and I end up winning in the end. I use all remedies availible to me, and there's quite a few:)

I'm the same way about buying music CD's also, but that's just me.

andyc

[Cooper]

If photoshop cost $100, hell, even $200, I MIGHT consider paying for it. MIGHT.

But $700!? Adobe can shove it if they think I am going to pay $700 to crop an image once in a while.

Then why you even think about Photoshop? Paint can do this perfectly fine.

[mcoffey]

That's my point, for what I do, GIMP is more than enough.
I don't need or want Photoshop.
And I don't think my skills will ever excede what I can do with it, so it's a fine software for me.

I use Google's Picasa for free. I really like it and it does everything I need for photos. But' I'll check GIMP out again. I remember it from my Linux days.

andyc

[BullGod]

I bet there are a large portion of the people that have a pirated copies that justify it because all they ever use Photoshop for is cropping an image, rotating it, and doing 5 seconds of editing.

Not saying I agreee with that viewpoint, but I guess some people don't feel like spending a couple hundred bucks to crop an image.

You can use something like irfanview for that. But yeah I know what you're saying. I've always thought that they should do a Photoshop Lite. Something like an 80MB program that you can download for a fair price and has some basic tools and only just a bunch of filters and stuff. And most importantly has only the minimum of Registry entries. But yeah I think that Adobe can not code something simple. They have to make it more complicated than it needs to be...

[Nicksterr]

Drop the price by 80% and include some of the zillion standard plugins and I'll buy it.

[ABXG]

Between Paint.NET and the standard Paint utility in Windows I can honestly say that my copy of Photoshop goes largely unused.

[003]

Then why you even think about Photoshop? Paint can do this perfectly fine.

I occasionally work with layers and a bunch of the more specialized features. Paint does not have the new "quick selection" tool that was introduced in CS3, which owns hard. And no, no other software has anything like it either. Before you tell me to use paint shop pro or something, try out the new quick selection feature in CS3.

[Soulburner]

You can use something like irfanview for that. But yeah I know what you're saying. I've always thought that they should do a Photoshop Lite. Something like an 80MB program that you can download for a fair price and has some basic tools and only just a bunch of filters and stuff. And most importantly has only the minimum of Registry entries. But yeah I think that Adobe can not code something simple. They have to make it more complicated than it needs to be...
It's called Photoshop Elements.

[[XC] NetburstXE]

This doesn't surprise me. Photoshop is so expensive I can see many people just deciding to download it illegally and save $500, despite the risk of being caught.

[BullGod]

It's called Photoshop Elements.

Elements is something like 500MB, I wouldn't call that lite.

[villa1n]

Is gimp less buggy for windows now, it use to hang all the time. I just dual boot into my mint distro and use gimp for photos. But tbh, i would rather do my editing on my laptop, which is vista, so if gimp is stable i ll definately give that a whirl, although i do have a valid cs2 its a pretty bloaty program :P

[rob[GL]]

maybe if the software didn't cost as much as my first car...

[strange|ife]

haha yeah i always thought about that. Most of the adobe products have been easy to crack over the years. I remeber in 11th grade, back in 96 or around there, we had photoshop pirate copies on our school computers..no kidding here. This was hawaii though and nobody gave a rat's arse. Was version 3.5 or 4, can't remeber honestly.

CSS 2.0 was the last i downloaded..still easy to find crack..I dont even use it though, just GIMP which is free

[halo112358]

Well if I'd have to guess what's the most pirated software I guess first place would clearly be Windows, then probably MS office as 2nd place and then 3rd Photoshop. But if you compare in a scale such as "amount" percentage of the legal vs illegal users I think Photoshop prolly wins so it's not really suprising numbers for me.

I was just going to ask, are you talking raw number of pirates or percentage of copies that are pirated :D?

I'm guessing you're right on raw numbers, on percentage pirated this is as high as I've ever seen.

I only know 1 person who bought photoshop, and then he bought an academic copy because the standard is so ****ing expensive.

[twilyth]

Between Paint.NET and the standard Paint utility in Windows I can honestly say that my copy of Photoshop goes largely unused.

downloaded Paint.net - will check it out - thanks.

;2878336']maybe if the software didn't cost as much as my first car...
Yeah, it reminds you of college doesn't it - driving to class in a $500 car with a $300 textbook.

[halo112358]

Between Paint.NET and the standard Paint utility in Windows I can honestly say that my copy of Photoshop goes largely unused.

Why not just use GIMP ?

[ABXG]

Why not just use GIMP ?

I had not heard of GIMP until I read about it in this thread. Also, Paint.NET handles everything I need an image editor for, which is basically resizing, cropping, layering, adding text, and a few other basics things. I don't even use Paint.NET to its fullest :shrug:

[Cooper]

I occasionally work with layers and a bunch of the more specialized features. Paint does not have the new "quick selection" tool that was introduced in CS3, which owns hard. And no, no other software has anything like it either. Before you tell me to use paint shop pro or something, try out the new quick selection feature in CS3.

Well if you want to use these tools - buy the software. High price does not give an excuse for stealing.
I just fail to understand all the complaints about the price...the retail price for professional use. BTW there's also nice discounts on Adobe site for students and educational facilities. So before jumping the gun of accusing a company for selling expensive bulldozer when you only need to clean your backyard do more researches.

[أشرف]

I don't care if people use pirated software or not. It's up to them.

For myself, I hate using pirated software. I tend to download trial software first. If I like it, I buy it. Even if I can't afford it, I'll go ahead and use open-source software instead.

[safan80]

Then why you even think about Photoshop? Paint can do this perfectly fine.

if you want to use jpg paint saves in low quality jpg and you can't adjust that. paint is only good if you save in png. With sites like this one limiting file sizes to 200k paint just will not work.

[Cold Fussion]

Since photoshop has been pirated so much, everyone has a little bit of knowledge in photoshop, it has become the defacto standard for industry.

[Bobsama]

I asked for Photoshop Elements 4.0 and Premiere Elements 2.0--it has everything I use. I have my layers support, my colors, my filters, my everything that I use. It cost me personally $0, and my mum picked up the bill ($100) the Christmas after release. For what many people describe as how they use Photoshop, they'd easily do all that with Elements and still have fun getting many of the more advanced features.

Quite basically--Elements is more than enough for me. I'm 17--I can't afford a $1000+ software package that my school uses, so for 10% the cost I can get 95+% of the functionality. I don't need to buy CS2 or CS3 or whatever--an old version or a reasonable lite version of Photoshop is more than enough for me.

That, and Premiere was interesting to try out. I don't have a camera, so it's sort of useless. Still, $20 more for decent video editing software.

[GAR]

i thought it would be more than 60%, id say more like 80%

[awdrifter]

How did they come up with this # though, is the softwares reporting back to Adobe? Maybe we need better cracks.

[safan80]

How did they come up with this # though, is the softwares reporting back to Adobe? Maybe we need better cracks.

did you click the link?

[B.E.E.F.]

Personal use users then.

I'm not spending $800 on a piece of software to edit pictures as a hobby. If it's not bringing me income, then I'm not buying it.

[B.E.E.F.]

Like 3ds max, autocad, matlab. There are so many years of development and so many human resources spent on creating and supporting these products. I'm not even mentioning sap or sql databases licenses.

Now the question is:

Which would make more of a difference?

1. 60% of users having pirated versions most likely used for personal use. Licence is expensive and people can't afford to spend $1000 to crop pictures and fix contrast. They wouldn't have bought it in the first place.

or

2. No pirated versions. -60% of the current users since the licence is expensive. Can't afford it, so they don't bother. What is p-hot-o-shop?

[conzymaher]

I think its a much higher % Evryone has Photoshop and only Companies / Pros buy it and I bet the companies that do buy it install it on several machines..

[Clue69Less]

I have CS2, which I paid for (ouch) but it's a business cost so at least it's deductible. I'd like to upgrade to CS3 because it kicks ass but am too busy buying liquid cooling parts and GPUs to afford software right now. Too bad Adobe is so pricey because they have excellent products. I'd like to buy the entire CS3 suite and that's a grand for the educational copy. Damn!

[Emerica]

You know Adobe either released or is supposed to be releasing a free version of Photoshop, maybe to cut down on this pirating.

[Syn.]

You know Adobe either released or is supposed to be releasing a free version of Photoshop, maybe to cut down on this pirating.

https://www.photoshop.com/express/landing.html

[Mjhieu]

haha my whole country's using pirate software, even the gorvernment too. Microsoft sell their vista with 400usd, but here, i can easyly got 1 copied included activation only for 3 usd dollars. With 400usd, u might have mountain of pirate DVD softwares, os and games :D. Mr Bill came to my country just 1 year ago, yeah but he cannot stop this mess. :D

i thought it would be more than 60%, id say more like 80%

[Brother Esau]

because that 10 year old has $600 lying around doesn't he?

I'm a moderator on a graphics design website and well...
some things you just don't talk about, and if it is talked about suspension or ban depending on the extent.

What 10 year Old has the first Inc ling to use Photoshop? Now the more relevant statement is what adult has $800.00 -$1000.00 just to toss into software and $200.00 -300.00 just to get updates when released?

[Brother Esau]

haha my whole country's using pirate software, even the gorvernment too. Microsoft sell their vista with 400usd, but here, i can easyly got 1 copied included activation only for 3 usd dollars. With 400usd, u might have mountain of pirate DVD softwares, os and games :D. Mr Bill came to my country just 1 year ago, yeah but he cannot stop this mess. :D


This country does not want to stop Pirating because just like the Drug Trade in this country they have no desire to stop that either because they make more money through the legal system by not stopping it!

[BiFfMaN]

i usally prefer the Title "Freelance Nautical Goods Acquisition Personnel"

[xlink]

I bet there are a large portion of the people that have a pirated copies that justify it because all they ever use Photoshop for is cropping an image, rotating it, and doing 5 seconds of editing.

Not saying I agreee with that viewpoint, but I guess some people don't feel like spending a couple hundred bucks to crop an image.

if any of those users go onto become more enthusiastic about digital art them might find themselves shelling out for a version so they can do commercial work at some point in their lives. I don't think adobe is worried.

What 10 year Old has the first Inc ling to use Photoshop? Now the more relevant statement is what adult has $800.00 -$1000.00 just to toss into software and $200.00 -300.00 just to get updates when released?

I used 10 as an arbitrary number. average user on that forum is around 16-20 or so. And most of those people are in school and don't have $$$ floating around.

[Cobalt]

I tried using GIMP, I really did, but its so limiting compared to PS and the interface is god awful if you want to switch between separate applications while you work. Its also missing half the feature that I find essential in PS so its a no go for me.

Luckily I managed to sneak a key off my work's group licence. Not strictly in the spirit of it but I am mainly using it for work.