[Eagle]

What is this 'Adobe' you speak of?... ;)

[Xenonsoft]

I heard that Adobe can track whether your files have been created by illegal versions or legit versions. Is that true?

[IS-James]

If you are just learning and not producing commercial work then the student editions of Adobe's products are considerably cheaper than the commercial versions. You can buy them straight through Amazon and the whole Design Premium edition of CS4 is only £249.

At that price I think it is difficult for anyone to justify using an unlicensed copy.

As for people who are running a business and need to buy the full (non student) edition of CS4 then yes it is a lot more but £1400 is not a lot of money considering all of the other costs of starting up a business.

I know there are a lot of businesses, design agencies in particular, that don't pay for their software but especially after recent articles about trojans in illegally downloaded software I wouldn't feel very safe working with them.

It is just part of the cost of doing legitimate business as much as taxes or paying rent on your offices. It is the businesses that stick by their morals and ensure they are fully licensed that suffer when every back-bedroom designer is using unlicensed software, fonts and images, enabling them to charge half as much per hour.

[Xenonsoft]

Agreed IS-James. Welcome by the way.

[IS-James]

Thanks, I stumbled across this forum after someone mentioned it on the uk business forums.

[TLHDesign]

Hey guys,
I just bought the design suite CS4 from the US at a discounted rate and it turned out to be already used! now in the process of trying to claim back the money which is stresssful!!!

Does anyone know of any place or site which sells the CS4 suite for mac at a discounted rate that is real and licensed? Its a bit steep at £1500 especially as Im not a student!?

x

[Pixels Ink]

Find yourself a student friend and get them to purchase it on your behalf ;)

[TLHDesign]

Doesn't the student edition one last as long as the student is in college so it expires when the course ends and then u have to upgrade????

[30two]

I reckon 99.9% of students use/have used cracked software while learning at uni. To be honest, I think Adobe turn a blind eye to the students using pirate software as it ensures that they have a continued user base and large market share well into the future. If they really cracked down on it (pardon the pun), then students may turn to other software which could, long term, change the industry standard and work against them. Admittedly, that is less likely now that Adobe has eaten up most of the competition :)

As a business it's a different story though. If you were a mechanic, you wouldn't go and nick a load of tools then set up a garage!

[TLHDesign]

Well I have friend that is a full time university student student so iI could get the student edition and use his registration but would it then be licenced in his name and will i have to upgrade when he graduates?

any help?? xx