: I'm looking into buying a copy (new or used) of Photoshop 5.5 for Mac off
: eBay. Predominantly, there are Photoshop 5.5 "LE" (Light
: Edition?) versions for sale, running around th $10.00US mark.
Blayne,
I held off posting because I figured someone here would know more than I do about this. I used to use an earlier version of Photoshop LE and I'm pretty sure it allowed color table editing. The main thing that you give up with the LE editions is the ability to edit layers. This may or may not be significant for you, but it does allow a lot of flexibility - you can modify a layer without having to worry about losing earlier work. Now, if you can afford it, I would highly recommend that you consider getting a full edition of Photoshop 7 or later. which includes Adobe Image Ready. The value of image ready, which was designed primarily for work on the web, is that it's primary purpose is modifying color tables. You can do this in real time and see before and after pictures as you make changes. This is the program you really need, but I don't think it's available as a stand-alone. And besides, you really should have a copy of Photoshop - it's an awesome program.
With luck, perhpas you can find someone on e-bay selling version 7, which is 2 or 3 years old now. As a student, you save a fortune off the list price, but at $650, it's still incredibly steep. If you have any old version of Photoshop at all, however, the academic upgrade price is $170 - still a lot of money, but less than the cost of some text books. If I ever upgrade, I'll sell you mine, but I have yet to see anything compelling from Adobe to make me want to spend $170 out of my own pocket, so I'll probably wait for the next version upgrade, which is I think another year away.
