PhotoDeCal forum

CS3 extended adds some capabilities for 3D imaging and video.  It doesn't add any complexity to Photoshop (you can just ignore these features if you want), but unless you actually want to work with 3D or video, there's really no reason to spend the extra money on this vs. the regular version.

I know they were selling Photoshop CS3 for $209 earlier in the semester, but I think the deadline for the deal passed.  The $294 price now is probably the best deal you'll find anywhere, and since it's the same for both regular and extended, I guess it wouldn't hurt to go with extended.

I'm personally using Photoshop, but I have used Lightroom and Lightroom is already a very capable tool.  To me, the difference is that Photoshop is an image editing tool, while Lightroom is a photograph workflow tool - basically with Lightroom you're just applying broad settings to the photograph ("increase contrast", "warmer white balance", etc.), while with Photoshop you can do more to fine-tune your images, all the way down to the pixel level.

Is $300 worth it for the Photoshop > Lightroom?  Photoshop definitely has some advantages, but to be honest I might've balked at that price, especially having Lightroom already.

Another option might be to pick up a used copy of say CS or CS2 (lots of sellers on ebay, and occasionally on buy/sell boards like photography-on-the.net and fredmiranda.com).  There are some nice features in CS3, but CS and CS2 get you 100% of the functionality that you'll actually use on a daily basis (curves, sharpening, shadows/highlights)

I bought my copy for $209 at the scholar's workstation (the student computer store at Hearst Annex), and that's probably the best price you'd find anywhere.

I think they have now it at $294 now, and you might be able to find copies around that range (the going rate on ebay seems to be $300+, which is about the same as buying from the scholar's workstation + tax).

I'm not aware of any places with better deals, and I don't really think you'd find one - regular Photoshop is $600, and the only ones that sell for cheaper are the academic versions, and those are only officially available at places like the scholar's workstation.

Also another thing to keep in mind, make sure you know whether the copy you're buying is a full version or an upgrade version.  An upgrade version is only installable on a computer that already has CS or CS2 installed on it, I believe.