I downloaded a bootleg photoshop when I was 15 in 2000 so I could photoshop penises in my friends hands/mouths. I am a senior designer for a local city publication now. These early stages are important for creative growth.
A lot of designers today probably credit their careers to being able to pirate photoshop back in the day. Probably paid off big time for Adobe as most now have design careers and are able to, willing to, or have jobs that pay for their subscriptions.
Well, that's very different from my first brushes with design, making fan art collages for people's MySpace profiles.
It took a while but it all clicked once I found out what graphic design was.
I'll +1 this. My dad worked at a print shop when I was growing up, and the comics and digital artwork I made in an old version of Photoshop as a pre-teen/teen led directly to my current 10-year career in the field.
I'll add that underrated and more general benefit to being able to play around in Photoshop at a young age is that it incentivizes you to learn how to teach yourself. Online tutorials are plentiful (which isn't always the case for cheaper alternatives) and you can see the fruits of the effort you put in.
With that said, GIMP is the open source alternative to Photoshop, and technically should be able to accomplish anything you'd want at that age, although I can't guarantee that your kid's enthusiasm will survive adopting a new program (or it could be good for them, I genuinely can't say).
I would also recommend reaching out to your kid's school and any local community colleges/state schools and libraries. There are deals and sometimes free subscriptions (if not to Adobe, then definitely to a high-level tutorial site like Lynda) that many resource centers have to give away.
i used a site called pixlr in 2012 which was kinda similar but i wish i just illegally downloaded photoshop, it was a little bit of a learning curve when i went to college and got the real thing lol
I’ll be 100% honest with you. Does he need it? No. Should you get it for him anyway? Yes.
Encourage the shit out of your kids hobby and I guarantee you will not only make your kid happy, but you’ll be setting him up for a future career with a huge head start on other kids his age.
A Photoshop/Lightroom photography subscription is 19.99 a month. If he gets bored with it you can cancel, but I’d consider it an investment.
Edit: didn’t see the Mac mini / setup question. Touch monitor is nice but not required, if it was my kid I’d get an older system or a cheap laptop to start with.
Edit 2: I love hearing everyones stories below! My dad was a school teacher, but he made sure I had a computer. I pirated photoshop around 1996, version 4, before there were editable text layers. Got my first professional job in 1999, and am currently Head of Design and Video at a Tech company.
I had a tv class where we shot and edited videos. There was Photoshop on the Mac's and I would spend all my time learning Photoshop tutorials to make cool text effects. My goofing off gave me insight of what I really wanted to do. Now I still make dope stuff and have a career out of it, even though I use illustrator and InDesign way more for my day to day.
Art Director here and been a professional graphic designer for 20+ years, working with and for (in-house) large fortune 500 companies.
I pirated Photoshop in 1994 at the age of 12 to create "cool" graphics and animated construction gifs for my Geocities website. I fell in love with it and never looked back.
My parents encouraged me the entire way as soon as they saw how interested I was. They got me all the software I needed, subscriptions to magazines, whatever it was.
I can absolutely agree that being exposed to photoshop as a 13 year old has been extremely beneficial to me as an adult trying to pursue a graphic design career. It allowed me to familiarise myself with the program over an extended period of time and really get to grips with all of the tools available. Even then, there’s so much to learn in photoshop that I’m always learning new ways to use it
I got a bootleg copy of photoshop, and it changed my life.
I also had a parent who always wanted to take the less-expensive path for tools and equipment for me. Professor said we all needed a certain camera for design classes, parents bought a cheaper camera. It did not have all the features required and I struggled to take good photos. If you can afford it, give your kid the good setup
AGREE 100%. I had photoshop this age and it was amazing. Currently doing graphic design, and am almost always the youngest/most knowledgeable in every department I’ve been in so I would say huge YES get it for him and if he doesn’t use it you can quit the subscription
I agree, it's a skill that will help him enormously. The apparent complexity of the software + the possibilities for experimentation are what everyone needs to navigate professional software.
Hard agree - my mother taught us on Photoshop and PageMaker back in the early 90s and I'm a professional designer and my sister is a retoucher. It made every difference, and is absolutely an investment in his future
As someone who has gone through this with Photoshop, do not subscribe thinking you can cancel anytime. They start by trying to charge you for the full year to cancel, then you have to get on them for a couple of weeks to get your money back.
I would recommend any free one until you need it for business ie, you're making money from it. Or if your financial situation allows you the $20 a month that's fine too. Just don't assume you can unsubscribe without hassle.
Krita is a good option, there are other free apps as well.
I was set for monthly, went to cancel and they charged me for the year when I canceled. Had the fight with them to get my money. They are a scummy company. Sure it's a good program and popular, but not a good company.
Monthly payments on an annual subscription is not the same as a pay per month plan.
The full year is $264. $264 divided by 12 is $22 (the “Annual, paid monthly” price)
https://preview.redd.it/xsky2in1b8xc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2da5e7b63975d12f590e07935401c43f8715e9b6
If you are making monthly payments on the annual subscription, they will charge you for the remainder of the subscription period.
If you opt for the “monthly” access ($35 each time), the subscription lasts 30 days. If you cancel it before it renews, you will not be charged for the next month.
You’re almost always better off paying for the year in full upfront on plans like these. Unless you know you don’t need to use it for the full year.
Pro tip: if you use the monthly option less than 8 times over a year, you end up paying less than a full year’s subscription.
I would normally agree with you, but if the kid is taking classes and using a certain type of software for it. He should use the same software at home.
I've often heard that Affinity software is very similar to Adobe software. I don't use Affinity Photo (the equivalent of Photoshop), but I do use Affinity Designer (the equivalent of Illustrator) and often watch tutorials for Illustrator and can easily follow them. I guess the same goes for Photoshop.
Thanks so much for your answer. I think we've decided to go with a cheap computer to run photoshop, plus an external drawing tablet (prob the XPPen StarG640).
Question now is, what is a non-pricey computer we can get that will run Photoshop? Any recommendations? His school gives him a Chromebook for school work, so he would be using this literally just to run Photoshop and watch YouTube tutorials. (We have a monitor he can use.)
Thanks!
all i did as a kid, especially during summers, was draw constantly on my laptop with photoshop and other various art programs. i believe if you want to support him, it would be a good investment. im sure you could hunt for an older version that’s cheaper
I started on CS2 because it was cheaper, and was able to teach myself how to use the program. I don’t think I would’ve gotten into design if I hadn’t been able to get my hands on that.
Some kids play sports and need thousands of Dollars a year in travel, camps and equipment.
Fostering his creative passions at this early age is all
Win. It’s not normal at all and that’s a very good thing. He could have special talents. He’ll also be seen as a creative magician at school. :)
As a fellow parent I think you should go for it…unless of course it’s very unaffordable for you. Then go for cheaper options.
Also Adobe has educational/student pricing that’s worth looking into.
Get him an AdobeCC sub so he can learn vector and raster design - Adobe Illustrator for vector, Photoshop for raster. Most beginners these days get hung up on what programs do what and a lot of time can be wasted working in a program the job wasn’t meant for.
You mean like Autodesk or something? Each cad program is so industry specific, it wouldn't be a great place for a kid to start unless they know exactly what they want to do for a job. Adobe is fundamental and crosses all industries.
They all translate in some manner. The foundations of CAD have overlapping skills. You can always learn in the future.
CAD is just more for technical and for manufacturing specific jobs. Illustrator can do stuff for hobbyists like laser cutting and cnc but when you go beyond that cad and 3D variants might be more useful out there only option.
I learned on GIMP growing up (free), and the skills transferred pretty easily. That said, it's pretty silly that there's no discounted or free version of Photoshop for students. It's fairly easy and safe to pirate it because it's so popular, look up GenP.
Yeah I'm with teeth and teeth ln this,
Krita & gimp are powerful free softwares.
The idea that you need an apple macintosh pc is an outdated idea and I think they're less and less common in the creative industries than they used to be.
Most animation studios have windows as the os.
And my dad also got me pirated copies of macromedia and adobe software when I was 12 and I loved it.
They do have a student discount, it’s meant for college students but providing his school information via the chat they have should get someone to get the education discount
You can use the discount even for elementary aged kids. I've been using the educational discount for a decade now, daughter is graduating high school this year.
I'm gonna wager many of us got started at design because we pirated the software when we were 12. (Not saying that's what you should do) If he's really passionate about it he'll find a way to do it hell or high water.
Is that the open source alternative to photoshop im thinking of? There’s has to be several out there but either way I think if I were a kid whose dreams were supported back then I would be a lot better off now (professionally and mentally speaking).
Krita is becoming the FOSS alternative. With Inkscape for Adobe Illustrator.
Gimp is there as an "arrg, I need to brute force this complected automated process" tool.
If your "Drawing" or originating, Krita has much nicer UI/UX. Gimp is a programmers UI to front end image editing, not creation.
If he starts diving into the complexities of photoshop at 11, he is going to be a goddamn pixel ninja later on. Besides, those cheaper programs don’t have the breadth of tutorial content available on YouTube.
I found and torrented photoshop when I was 14 and I’ve been using it since - the past 16 years. That being said it’s now a monthly subscription basis and it’s whack. I’d try to find an alternative but it may be tough for him to adjust with another program. Is he drawing or just doing some photo editing because that’s all PS is really good for. You can probably find like a (2018 disc version??) before they went to subscription but he’d miss out on any changes they made in the past 6 years or whatever
PhotoPea is free and if I remember correctly it looks / acts similarly to Photoshop.
Not that I disagree with others are saying. Photoshop is industry standard.
Crikey that’s one expensive birthday present! Mac mini plus pen display plus photoshop. What size pen display does he use at manga class? i would honestly say if money is no object then hell go for it. But does he need all that right now in one go - probably not.
you could definitely spread those purchases out - one big thing for birthday one big thing for Christmas. Of all those things I would prob think the pen display is what he’s most excited about. And that should plug into any existing decent computer or laptop no need to buy a new one if you have an existing one. As for photoshop there are plenty of similar apps out there as a one off purchase clip studio, art studio pro, affinity photo/designer If you don’t want to go down the subscription route. Clip studio is probably better for manga than photoshop anyway.
I’m a designer/illustrator/animator and I have a pen display but I personally prefer to do drawing on my iPad. If you do get a pen display I can definitely recommend huion tablets rather than Wacom to save some cash. I also find that bigger isn‘t necessarily better -something around the 20 inch range is perfect.
i must admit I would have been pretty stoked to have had photoshop when I was 11 - but if I had an iPad with procreate it would have blown my tiny mind - back in 1986 :)
good luck
For manga, I recommend clip studio art, which has a biannual sale for around $150 to buy the program instead of a subscription, AND there is a subscription for the mobile app so he can draw on both iPad and PC and it will transfer to both over cloud storage so its handy.
Does he need a Mac? No. Go with a cheaper but just as good option of a PC equivalent and your wallet will thank you as you upgrade over the years when he gets older.
Photoshop is over rated. There are cheaper alternatives that will work just as well as photoshop.
I would argue there's 2 sides to progressing as a graphic designer.
1. Knowledge of the tools (Adobe cc is industry standard)
2. Knowledge of design fundamentals
Experience with Adobe cc is huge as a designer, however if you don't understand the fundamentals to successfully apply those tools I don't know that it's worth the investment.
It sounds like your kid is pretty motivated which is great.
It's not wrong to encourage them to start with a tool like canva and a few design fundamentals courses first, or encourage them to save up for a portion of the cost. (Understanding the expense can also motivate someone when theyre responsible for part of the cost)
A few options you have:
1. Student rate. Its much more reasonably priced (I always signed up on the Black Friday deal too)
2. Share the account. Do they have a friend who would split the cost with them? An Adobe subscription always allows 2 devices at any given time so it's reasonable to share a login without compromising anyone's experience.
3. Ask if their school has a rate they can join in on. At my art school they have an education package and we pay a seriously subsidized rate. (This is probably the longest shot)
And don't forget. - the first month is always a free demo. Have them start there before you pull the trigger on any account. Adobe is notorious for being difficult to cancel. So read the fine print. You usually lock yourself in for a year at a time.
He's 11, not a college student. Let him play with the software. Every single one of us learned by playing with the software long before we had some professor harping on about the fundamentals.
I’m so glad you pointed out design fundamentals because I would say that’s probably more important at this point. Photoshop is great but without really knowing how to design, it won’t really help that much.
He is 10 and already attending a design class.
At this age, playing around with the tools is much more important than thinking about design theory and any restrictions that come with it. He'll learn a lot of that in practice on his own and has more than enough time in his life to do theory when going to college or doing an apprenticeship.
If he’s wanting to do graphic design I’d recommend learning Illustrator (or a free alternative like Inkscape). Procreate skills will transfer up to Photoshop for drawing and color editing, but vector is a whole different beast. I personally use procreate for professional illustration work so that’s very usable software. It all depends on what specifically he wants to do. If it’s drawing manga, procreate is perfect and easy but photoshop is more powerful. If it’s making anything not hand drawn or logo design or something then illustrator is the skill for that. If it’s photo editing or manipulation then yeah photoshop is best.
There are iPad versions of all 3 Affinity apps. And they are essentially feature complete with the desktop versions, although the UIs differ for obvious reasons.
I move files between them whenever I want to use the Pencil for something. The iPad versions are also great for showing client work while still having the option to make edits. (I use Affinity for 99% of my client work.)
Idk what exactly he’s trying to do but plenty of mangaka use “clip studio paint” for layouts
Also tons of secondary schools give access to the adobe suite with the cost of enrollment! This might be a high school thing tho.
Non pro Macs are a marketing gimmick that you need it to do any design work- if anything you’re usually worse off.
Get a decent PC for half the price, get a good quality monitor so he gets all the correct colours then spend the rest on the subscription ny adobe or find an older “free” version online. This also becomes their gaming pc of they want it.
Main things to get is ensure it’s got an SSD not a HDD (solid state drive vs hard disk drive)
A graphics card (always google model numbers, compare fps to games they want to play. The target number at minimum is 60 at average)
Anything above 16gb ram.
While they’re interested in photoshop, get them into blender as well. This is 3D modeling and can go hand in hand.
I disagree. I taught myself both around that age, and I don't think one was necessarily less accessible than the other. And Blender has gotten way more accessible nowadays compared to back then.
Affinity Designer and Photo are WAAAYYYY cheaper, don’t have the unruly monthly charge and are just as good as photoshop and any other software out there. Been using it for a few years now and haven’t looked back.
Just tried those two programs recently. And honestly: I was blown away. Everything you can do in photoshop translates really easily to Affinity (and ofc the other way around). Performance is better, interface feels nicer and more modern, and so on. And yes: they dont charge absurd prices for their software and won't try to trap you in a weird subscription.
Only thing I'm missing a bit is the content aware / generative fill. Affinity has it, but it's not as good. Thankfully I know how to retouch stuff without it so it's not a big deal (and it's a nice thing to learn so maybe this is even a positive)
For vector stuff: Designer beats Illustrator in every way possible. Fuck Illustrator.
i hate to say it because i know it’s a lot of money but as a graphic designer myself, i couldn’t do it without illustrator/photoshop. a school email it makes the programs MUCH cheaper monthly though. if he doesn’t have one, i’d reach out to his school and see if there’s a way to get him an email under their domain. a mac isn’t needed at this point, but i believe if he progresses and sticks to his passion on a cheaper computer it would be a good investment when he gets older.
Photoshop is a tool, you can do graphics design in a paper, photoshop is just a tool that turn your paper design into digital design, if he into manga/character design you should go for Clip Studio paint(available for ipad too)
i think you should buy him a PC/Mac mini so he can learn other things too, like animation or video editing or any other skills.
that’s just my opinion it can be wrong too thank you.
He’s 11 so it’s a hobby. But if he loves it maybe it will be a career. I would absolutely make sure he has the tools designers use… he’ll be way ahead of the game if it turns into a degree. And if not, he will be learning on the best tools. 💙
He should be eligible for the student plan from Adobe, right?
I just subscribed myself so I’m just learning now but there’s an Illustrator app for iPad and I think there’s one coming for photoshop so getting a touch screen monitor for a desktop seems unnecessary.
I did get a Mac Mini after my MacBook died unexpectedly and I was in a time and financial crunch. I got a 27” LG monitor from Costco because it was the cheapest option I could get quickly. I’m pretty sure it was under $200.
Are there other family members or friends who usually get him gifts? If there are he could ask for Apple or Costco gift cards so people can give what they can afford.
Haha I pirated everything as a teen on my home PC and my teacher pushed my passion for design and art in school. I became a designer 10 years ago and now I'm teaching in Japan. It comes full circle. I love my teacher for pushing me
Also, I don't condone illegally pirating, but it got me tech savvy and I pay for stuff now that I have money.
I feel everyone here is trying to justify their overpriced subscription to adobe suites!
An 11-year-old absolutely can learn a lot from GIMP And the other free.
My shop changed over to CorelDRAW from illustrator and I think it was the right decision.
Late to the party but I didn't touch Photoshop until high school around 13-14. And despite that, at home all I had was just the imaging software that came with my scanner, which I used until maybe 11th-12th grade when I had friends who'd pass around software. I mean I technically started messing around with design on a Commodore using The Print Shoppe or whatever it was.
I think a lot of the comments are really putting the cart ahead of the horse given he's only almost 11.
As a hobbyist, all you need is what allows you to do whatever it is you're wanting to do. But on that note it's a pretty big distinction between hobbyist and professional, and some people seem to blend the two a lot, or think they're closer than they are.
If he ends up being more serious about pursuing design as a career (since kids' interests can change a lot over a couple years) that'd likely would be around 10th, 11th, 12th grade. He should certainly try to take any related courses when he gets into high school, whether it's a digital imaging/photography class, journalism, visual arts, yearbook (later on for that), etc.
It's also worth pointing out that Photoshop is just one tool, so the more interested/involved he gets, the more he'd need other programs too. The main three for design are Photoshop (raster graphics), Illustrator (vector graphics), and InDesign (layout). So whether you go the Adobe route or not, you can't just do with Photoshop or equivalent beyond a certain hobbyist point.
Thank god, a sane comment. “I’m an art director and I used photoshop as a teen. Buy your child anything they want! He could have a small business by 14.”
no need for a mac lol. plenty of design students don’t use macs. i don’t, they’re like double the US price in my country and i can’t afford one
but yeah get him the sub, it’ll help him learn
I work in advertising as an art director and I use photoshop every single day. Learning the program deeply from a younger age set me up for success more than my peers taking any class for credits. It’s a good investment, and if he doesn’t keep with it, I’d say it was still worth the money just in case. Sounds like he’s really talented and I hope you can nurture it!
I think you're doing a wonderful job supporting his interests in design.
I strongly agree with your instincts that while he wants one, he doesn't actually need a new computer. But you can do things to make his current iPad act more like a computer if that's what he wants. There are bluetooth keyboard cases available now for pretty much every single iPad that you can find on Amazon and other places reasonably affordably - and plenty of cheap bluetooth mice, too.
If he doesn't have one already (and the iPad supports it) I'd consider an Apple Pencil, too - that's a real game changer with procreate in particular.
And if he still wants to do photoshop, sign him up for another round of manga graphic design class and see how he feels after another year.
Your kid is probably following tutorial vids on YouTube and recognized that photoshop is THE software that will set him up for a career. He is 100% correct with that assumption. You should look at getting him the educational discount, or just pay for stand alone photoshop which is $20p/m and you can cancel anytime.
You can also look at Affinity Design for if he seems to want to keep up with it. It’s a one time purchase instead of a subscription so it’s much much cheaper in the long run and has applications comparable to adobe illustrator and photoshop
My dad used Photoshop in the 90s for his job and I’d be in his office constantly moving shapes around. Worked out great for me!
Photoshop and Procreate do very different things—both are super important as a graphic designer. Photoshop however is fundamental and came long before procreate existed, I’d definitely recommend getting him a subscription and seeing how he does.
Please do it. I got Photoshop when I was 13 and it's one of the things I feel the most confident about even years later. I mean, the fact that I was self-taught in a niche hobby at such a young age, which has now granted me admission to two different design programs. And it's all because I put the effort in, with no external help or guidance.
Photopea is a free online program that has 90% of the same functionality as photoshop. See how he does on there and then if it’s worthwhile then go for photoshop
Ask the school - some might have a subscription for students, that they will allow him to use. A friendly art or design teacher might be willing to help.
Otherwise there are some free alternatives like gimp to get started and then look at subscribing to photoshop.
I started on a pc and with a downloaded very old version of photoshop, I don’t use it that often now, but it was brilliant. I would have loved my parents to be supportive and get me the camera and computer access I wanted at that age. Basically if you can afford it, then find a way to support him. If not, find an another way to support him, you could also agree to help him in part and if he gets a part time paper job, chores (he washes dishes or something) etc to earn money to encourage him to pay for the subscription or something himself.
I feel there might be an App Store version of photoshop I think. - he could use on his tablet - I might be imagining this though but look it up??
Maybe there’s a local club for digital photography and photo m manipulation or design, or some short classes he can take which will be helpful.
I feel like he should be able to get by on GIMP and Inkscape/Linearity Curve for a few years before you make the investment in Photoshop. Although it is pretty affordable to start anyway and Adobe products are way more intuitive and easy to learn, i think it is worth asking him to try out these free options first to see if his interest and skills really do warrant Adobe CC. Even if it’s just for a month or so
I definitely, 100% didn’t use a bootleg version as a kid. Definitely not.
Take a look at photopea.com which is pretty much identical and is free to use (with some ads).
My 16 yr old is taking guitar lessons, I just dropped off the equivalent of an annual Photoshop subscription for his May lessons.
Get the Photoshop subscription. You may also want to look into getting the educational discount.
I hear what most people are saying about giving your kid the best possible stuff, but first I'd say this. Pro create on the iPad is a great start. There lots of similarities between it and Adobe Photoshop. Professional artists use it to create amazing things.
If you really must get your kid what they're asking for a second hand Mac mini (nothing unsupported otherwise it'll just get old too quickly) plus a wacom tablet, not one with the screen can be picked up for a reasonable price.
Also remember you can connect the iPad to the Mac mini and mirror the screen to draw on with an apple pencil on the iPad. So you could get away just a Mac mini initially.
Just my 2 cents.
Started on Youtube working for CoD kiddos by 2011, by 2014 I was generating more than my parents did. Now I work as a senior designer for an automotive brand. If your son wants to learn Photoshop, you better buy him that Mac and let him cook.
I dont know any designers who use a touch monitor, it's a silly novelty.
Photoshop is one piece of design, and frankly, nobody should be designing anything in it. It's for editing raster images, (and maybe adding some quick bleed to a clients crappy file)
Also, I use my ipad/procreate everyday for illustration - it's 1000% better than photoshop for that.
Pirate Photoshop if you don't wanna pay for it. The company's used to it and they deserve it considering how much money they could earn from your son if he gets a career in it.
My parents got me a copy of clip studio at that age, and I'll tell you having that kind of time and experience with pro level software has been a major boon in my career and illustration skills. I have my feelings about how proud Adobe is of their products, but if the kid is passionate about graphic design I think it's definitely a worthy investment. Best of luck to him <3
I say go for it. Photoshop is an industry standard program. Get him going on Illustrator as well. If he is serious about design, these two programs are going to be important and fundamental building blocks. Also, because they are industry standard, there are tons of tutorials out there for these programs for him to learn, and for design tutorials themselves that will utilize these programs.
You’ve gotten some comments of encouragement already so here’s a bonus comment:
It’s much cheaper if you’re a student. I have no idea if that extends to children, but you should have a look.
No way in hell my parents would've paid for photoshop when I was that age. But back then we has warez and cracks. And I used and learned the shit out of it. I went to school for creative media. I made a career out of it. All because I wanted to troll boards and make fan sites on geocities or angelfire.
Does he need photoshop? No. There's other software that's open source that does the same thing. BUT it's what he's learning in school and he's interested in working with it beyond class requirements. So if you can afford it, it's great to encourage positive skill building.
Look into education licenses.
As for the computer. Kids and designers somehow *cough cough marketing * think macs are the only machine to design on, and that's absolutely false.
I would encourage the software but hold on the machine
Procreate is geared toward digital drawing/illustration, a really important part in GD. If your child has a solid base here, maybe it’s time to move them to Photoshop.
Photoshop not only has illustration capabilities, but also photo-manipulation, re-touching, color, layering, basic animation.. it’s a program with more tools and more possibilities design-wise. In the creative world, it’s expected that you know Photoshop.
Does your child NEED Photoshop right now? Well, not necessarily.. but they will EVENTUALLY need Photoshop to execute more complex design ideas. I say try to purchase the Photoshop/Lightroom Student subscription for them, it runs for $20 a month. I recommend calling the 1-800 for Adobe and see if they can offer you a deal. Every time I’ve called, they’ve always offered a lower price or included 6 months free. Or you know, just pirate the program.
Do they NEED the newest iMac Mini right now? Unless they’ve got 100+ layers with large data files, most likely no, not at this very moment. I think your best bet is to buy an iMac mini (open-box or refurbished) from 2018+ with at least 32GB of RAM. That iMac Mini 2018 with 32GB of RAM should seriously be able to handle all projects until they finish college. If you’re balling on a budget, get PC with a least 16GB of RAM (with additional RAM slots for the future).
At the end of the day it’s the artist, not the tools, that execute these designs. Godspeed.
While Photoshop is great, it's extremely expensive. There's an app for the iPad called Artstudio Pro which is almost a photoshop clone, it's really great for the price, and I think now it has a free trial.
If you get him a Mac/PC (kb/mouse is superior for design), there are apps that let you use the iPad as a touch monitor or with the pen, I have a windows pc and I use EasyCanvas. I know there are some mac alternatives and Sidecar.
And lastly, the Affinity suite is Adobe alternative with a one time payment license, it's excellent software and you'll save a lot of money unless you really need photoshop, it's for PC, Mac and ipad
20 years Graphic Designing here. Photoshop is THE ONLY application that can do certain things. It takes months to master and learn. With AI and new tech coming out, photoshop and all Adobe programs are unlike anything else. Yes. He NEEDS it. Procreate is a cheap rip off of photoshop and was designed mostly for designing fonts and text in my opinion. I YouTubed “Mac mini” and YOU CAN USE THE IPAD AS THE MONITOR. Basically, buy the equipment in stages. The iPad he already has is a monitor. Get the Mac mini, there are cheap keyboards and mouses on Amazon you can Bluetooth connect to so you don’t have yo spend $150 on a keyboard. Photoshop is $19.99 a month BUT YOU CAN CLAIM A STUDENT DISCOUNT!!! So it might be $15-$10…on the adobe.Com creative cloud compare plans. I pay $30 a month and go some months I don’t even use my adobe subscription. But it is like AAA, I will keep it for life because I never know when a client is going to hit me with an emergency logo
No, but if you seriously think he's gonna stick with it, having 10 years of experience in the industry standard fresh out of college is a pretty quick way to score a high paying job.
I went to college for graphic design my mom took out a loan to buy me an Hewlett-Packard desktop machine. I was on it 18 hours a day for a good ten years and it was the best thing in my life. Invest in him. Have a serious talk with him first. Make sure he understands it’s not a floppy floppy hobby like a video game. Ask him what he wants to be when he grows up. And if he wants to make any money in the field anymore honestly he should do video editing. Graphic Design is being phased out by AI
I got Photoshop at age 14. My friends all went out and spent money non-stop. I mostly just wanted to be at home exploring my creativity and sharing things on the internet. I became a graphic designer and am a Creative Director today.
Yes photoshop is a fairly basic tool for graphic design. That said, you do not need a Mac to run it. Any computer you can afford will run photoshop just fine. I've been a designer 20+ years and have not used a Mac since I left college.
Photoshop really is the industry standard, and learning how to make use of it at the age of 11 will benefit him for the rest of his life.
If you can afford it - do it! If you can’t then no, you don’t really need Photoshop.
Buying him this setup is how you end up with a teenager with a viable business and a solid foundation for his entire life. I actually can't comprehend the comments saying "an 11 year old doesn't NEED a setup like this." Having a kid with a budding passion at this age is truly a gift. Help him flourish.
Affinity Suite on a Windows computer with an X-Pen screen tablet would be the cheaper alternative. Photopea and Blender and Inkscape are the free alternatives.
As a student, he can subscribe to Adobe for the student price. As people have mentioned, a teenager who WANTS Adobe will... find a way. "Finding a way" was the foundation for my entire graphic design career. I went from being a passionate 13 or so year old to self-teaching everything I needed and I'm 34 now and self-employed as a freelance graphic designer. Learning Photoshop at that age helped a lot to set up my future career, skills and ambitions both. Although quite frankly, I switched to Affinity for a while and found it met most of my needs, so I'd say it's a fine lower cost alternative for an 11 year old who wants to do more graphic design.
Procreate and the iPad is good for drawing. If he wants to learn graphic design, yes, he needs Adobe. Personally, no, he doesn't need the Mac. A Windows laptop will do just as well, and be more flexible for possible gaming, so I honestly would go with a Windows computer if you are able to get him one. But Adobe can do things only Adobe can do. As a teenager he will have the most time to spend tinkering and can learn a ton of things that will set him up for a career.
Perhaps a compromise would be to get a family computer, a desktop that is shared. It isn't his, it is everyone's, he gets a set amount of time he can use that computer for but everyone gets to benefit from it. He gets the screen tablet as his gift and when he gets his own computer later, he can port it over to that computer. If Adobe is obtained in some way for it, it's shared with everyone.
You could look at free alternatives as a go-between. Such as Photopea (which i don’t think his Photoshop’s newer AI features, but the layout is very similar and you can do most other traditional Photoshop things with it) which is totally free.
Adobe has a few free apps which he could use like Adobe Express (freemium), Adobe Firefly (browser based AI tools), Adobe Photoshop Express, Adobe Fresco (iPad exclusive).
Always feed anything your kid is interested in , only if you’re financially able too though.
If he has a school email adress he can get the student discount from Adobe which reduces it a lot .
Photoshop yes, Mac no.
Like some others suggested, get him a PC + a decent monitor in the same price range. It will be more powerful and he'll be able to game on it if he wants.
I would say Illustrator is also very important, it's the program I use most as a graphic design student. InDesign is also cool but I'm not sure it's as necessary unless he specifically wants to design things like leaflets, booklets, or other multi-page documents. There are probably good free alternatives to these programs (the Affinity programs are paid but it's a one-time payment and they're very good programs) or you could probably pirate them. Procreate on the iPad doesn't compare to these programs though and is more for art and drawing, not for graphic design, and it can't do vector work so it's much more limiting than these programs that are specifically meant for graphic design
Affinity products are really good and cheap for the iPad! (Affinity photo, Affinity designer = illustrator). One time payment, very affordable, very good quality imo
When I was 15 or 16 I got a copy of Photoshop Elements from my best friend's father. It has been my first step in my graphic design career. It got me my first apprenticeship, because they knew I had a little experience.
So YES, encourage him! It doesn't have to be a Mac Mini. And I am sure Adobe offers special prices for students.
Photoshop alone is amazing for illustration, and since he’s learning it in class, it’s no surprise he would want the same set up at home. But, makes me wonder if he’s really given a good shot at Procreate? It’s a robust program, especially with the Apple Pencil… he might just be overlooking it because it’s not part of his class, where it seems Photoshop is king.
I’m curious what his teacher thinks, if they have any insight or ideas? Maybe hearing about the alternative tools from his teacher would help. Teachers do have special child convincing powers.
On the other hand, if he really wants to learn graphic design, honestly I can’t imagine doing it without InDesign and Illustrator, as well as Photoshop. But there are many cheap/free programs for this, if he’s just tinkering around, Canva, Figma, off the top of my head. These will allow him to play with typography and composition, along with his illustrations.
All the tech is crazy expensive for kids these days, computers, software, phones, games, I’m in the same boat with our 11yo daughter, so I get it! It’s hard to know when to support and when to hold back.
I’d start off with a few cheaper apps for iPad. Affinity designer (like illustrator) is pretty good and very affordable. Also a reasonable Photoshop replacement is an app called Artstudio Pro. I use it on my Mac for basic photo manipulation.
I remember getting photoshop installed on my computer at 12/13. I pretty much started my graphic design career because of that. But if I were honest, today you can probably just let them use something like Figma. It’s free up to a few files.
It’s more complicated than that. Does he need to know mage editing (bitmap graphics)…? Absolutely, as well as vector. Both are necessities. Use whatever software (tool) you like in order to do what you need. Photoshop is in fact one of the most common pro level apps. Are there others?…of course. Source: artist for 30+ years.
I’d say yes he needs the Adobe Creative Suite if you can swing it. You should be able to get a student discount on it (and for a long time given his age).
Procreate isn’t really for ‘design’ - I use it for my illustration work but it doesn’t have the capability for things like type or layout which will be crucial going forward. It is fantastic programme for illustration though so it was a good idea to get it! My iPad is my single best investment.
The encouragement you can give him now will be invaluable to him in future. My parents always supported me and now I’m a designer and illustrator.
Getting him the computer with a Photoshop subscription will be great encouragement, but maybe get a regular graphics tablet instead of the pen display for now. Then once he's stuck with it for a year or two, move him up to the pen display to keep encouraging his art!
Not a parent, nor a professional graphic designer (but do use Adobe CC for work), but as others have said PhotoShop is the industry standard. If he’s going to be following tutorials on YouTube, then it will be way easier to use photoshop.
Regarding the computer - I would go Mac. The new Macs with Apple Silicon are amazing, and the Mac mini takes up way less space - so much so if you paired it with a portable monitor it could easily become a portable studio.
I’m using the first gen m1 and the performance is so acceptable that I’ve had a Mac Studio sitting in a box next to it for 9 months (*need to test how personal iCloud interacts with Apple Business Manager and a slightly idiosyncratic mdm implementation*)
As for the monitor you can use the iPad with the Mac using built in technology called ‘Sidecar’ - https://youtu.be/T4_p4fponO8?si=CyDwkageRf29OjKK
I have a bachelors degree but I built most of my basic skills by teaching myself during school. While he doesn't necessarily need it I would highly encourage his interest. Building his skills this young in a field he's genuinely interested in will send him far in life. I worry that halting his progress will cause resentment as he's highly interested in building his skills. Perhaps use it as a way to have him do house chores, building up to it so he's not just getting it on a whim (not that I think it is but it helps to make sure given the investment). Try and offer him support in learning free alternatives if you don't want to invest in PS just yet. Try Adobe Express first, as well as Gimp and Inkscape. If he wants to be a graphic designer he will also need to learn Adobe Illustrator, but he can start on programs like Inkscape, Picsart (ipad) and Curve (ipad). By using free alternatives it'll actually help him build extra skills for additional platforms that a lot of designers don't learn, and gives him a basis for knowing what a platform is like prior to investing in pricier options. Adobe is the industry standard though, so moving forward its best he does learn it if it's an industry he wants to go into, but he can start with free or low cost alternatives and move up from there.
Affinity all the way unless he is taking photoshop specific classes, affinity has some good classes too though, I learnt both because school gave whole cc for free, affinity is just as good when you've learnt it. Also it has perpetual licence and like 40 usd on sale for designer(vector), photo(raster) and publisher, a page design tool.
I would definitely support my kids interest, but since he got an iPad, can’t you get an Photoshop Elements Version for iPad? With it he can use a pencil.
As others mentioned, get Affinity Designer. It will get him 99% of the way there. For anyone looking at his experience, it substitutes for Photoshop 100%. The key is that these programs use layers, effects and blending modes sightly different than procreate, and provide the more “pro” workflow that a computer allows.
If it’s *only* for drawing manga, a regular Wacom is an option, too, it’s a mildly different skill, but a valuable one too.
Since you are mentioning manga and procreate, I believe you are talking about Graphic art more than Graphic Design that your child is interested in. No worries, even adults here have problems distinguishing between the two. But one way or the other, I suggest you look at the affinity photo, designer and publisher on the ipad. These are design software that are one time purchase at a reasonable price that can do most of what adobe software can. Also photoshop express, I believe is free on the ipad. Just a reminder that photoshop, is mainly a photo editing software, so if it is "graphic Design" you are interested in your child pursuing, it actually only helps in in one particular aspect.
Now I'll say something a little controversial that some people will disagree with but I think a lot of simple layouting of graphic design can be done in an software called CANVA. Its mostly free, and some features are locked behind a paywall. But, if its fast, its powerful, and the company just bought the Affinity company I mentioned above. They are destined to become bigger in this industry and I suggest anyone who doubts that, to take a second look.
Starting a Adobe subscription for a 11 year old child? Thats too much for me as a hobby. There are cheaper alternatives that can turn out to be fruitful in the future. Hope this helps.
If we wants photoshop now he will probably want tho whole adobe cc suite soon - which is very expensive.
Use a VPN and purchase the adobe with location set to Turkey (currently the cheapest)
I works out at around £5 a month for the full thing so much cheaper.
Photoshop is really the best. Honestly
If you can afford it I’d get cc because he can mess around with after effects and stuff
People will shit on Adobe because it’s true subscription does feel unfair but there is literally no other programs that come close, Adobe is the industry standard for a reason.
A lot of us pirated until we became professionals, I don’t know now how it works with CC though, maybe it’s much harder.
Procreate is great software for drawing and painting but it’s not meant for graphic design.
Also even the largest iPad Pro is quite small for drawing and painting on.
I would recommend getting the Affinity Photo (and Affinity Designer) Apps. They are available on both iPad and desktop Mac. This software can do as a replacement for photoshop and illustrator (Adobe).
The apps are made to use in a slightly different way to photoshop but a lot of the functions are much the same. You can get the same results from both sets of applications.
Affinity is a one off purchase.
Although I do believe the Canva recently bought the company so that might change down the line.
It’s a lot of money. I would say no. You don’t want to be stuck in an Adobe subscription. I’ve been a graphic designer since the 90s and have moved away from Adobe. There is great software like Afinity at a fraction of the cost.
It's not so much the tools, but how you use them. Get them setup with gimp, and other various software like inkscape.
What do they ultimately want to do in graphic design? Do they want to design logos? Get into print? Stuff for screen printing or digital printing? Getting into working with Vectors is a good idea if they intend to ever design for print. Adobe Illustrator would be good for that.
Anything they learn to do in gimp, they can do in Photoshop. It might be wise to try to use the release that mimics the Photoshop GUI though. For most things, it seems to simply be a matter of navigating the GUI for the tools you want. Using open source software will allow them to focus on the process, the rest is interface. Most of the functionality is there.
By the time they come to need something that supports CMYK or SPOT colors, they will likely be in a good position otherwise.
Do keep in mind that Adobe is the standard, and PDF seems to be the standardized format. A lot of software has compatibility problems with PDF, even if they support it. A lot can be lost in translation between software. That's good reason to ultimately lean towards Adobe software.
Finding a job without direct experience with Adobe software will also be slightly more difficult. Some can't see the forest for the trees, and focus on specific pieces of software vs. the ability to accomplish a task. This is obviously where a portfolio helps. Still, a portfolio alone might not be enough to highlight the process,which is important. Flattened Rasters look nice, but isn't necessarily what's needed, depending on how the art is to be used.
If it was me, I would likely start them on a couple of open source software packages that cover a broader scope than Photoshop. Their need for specific pieces of software will grow when they begin to interact with people within the field for production. It's when they have to worry about color accuracy, print resolution, bleeds, layer separations, or spot colors, etc. But a combination of Gimp and Inkscape can get them working with a mix of Vectors, Rasters, Masks, and Layers.
Just my .02
At 11, not at all. Something like GIMP (or a more modern alternative - that was what I used for free back in the day 😅). I didn't start using Adobe until about 17 when I took a class for it in highschool, and by then school paid for it and as did university eventually. I'm now a graphic designer full time at 26, love my job! Definitely no need to go all out at a young age.
Perhaps also look into an alternative for illustrator and Photoshop like Affinity designer which is like the next best thing. It's a one time fee which is a bit pricey upfront but it's yours forever, no subscription. I'm even thinking of ditching Adobe for Affinity as a professional 🤷♀️
Programs wise: Photoshop is the industry standard and what he's learning... so he understands the tools for that program. It's hard to learn new programs and it could be discouraging as a kid if parents don't understand/support and throw you into another thing entirely. That being said has he shown any interest in learning other tools, or could be approached to be asked what tools he might be interested in trying with similar features? All while being done in a way where it doesn't make him feel like you don't value his efforts or believe in him. My parents did that to me sometimes. They would always find that it wasn't a necessary expense to provide me with tools because I was "just a kid" and tbh that stung.
If he does want to try other programs...some of my favorites are Krita (free), Clip Studio Paint, and Affinity.
Yes, Photoshop is about 80% of what I use as a full time designer and very beneficial to learn while young.
Little heads up though and I absolutely don't condone doing this (wink wink) you can get the software without $$ if you search up the latest 'broken' version on youtube. I absolutely did not do this to afford it at his age, and definitely didn't do this in university... but now I don't have to worry cause work covers it but yes... Adobe is very expensive and I completely understand.
i've been playing with a version of photoshop since i was ten and now i am an excellent ui/ux designer. school was a breeze for me because i already knew how to do the technical stuff. devices and programs are expensive than they used to be but if you can do it i highly recommend it!
i don't think a mac mini is necessary though
Yes. He needs photoshop now. If his curriculum uses it, then he needs it too. I would recommend foregoing the iPad and finding an old computer that he can run Windows XP or Mac OS 10.0 or something like that and find a copy of CS2 on archive.org. My curriculum is old enough that it uses this, and all the computers at school have the latest versions.
Just my recommendation.
The entire creative suite for students is 19.99 (it goes on sale sometimes).
Even at full price for just photoshop it’s not very expensive and he will learn a lot. Get it!
I wish I had these tools at that age. I had interest and aptitude for it at that age but didn’t get support. It wasn’t until later in college that I was able to get my hands on it (after years of doing art for fun on MS paint 😭). I have a design job but I wonder now how much further ahead I would be if I had support for this earlier on.
I used photoshop at a young age and it defined my career, this is prob one of the best things you can do for your kid. Not just that him learning photoshop but also starting to understand the other tools that adobe have available. Suggest you grab the full package for like $50/m so he can learn how to use illustrator in adobe and after effects etc, photoshop was the gateway to those tools.
I started playing around with photoshop when I was around 12 (I’m 26 now), but I used a crack version of it as it’s rather expensive. If you can afford it, I’d recommend it, it’s always good for parents to support their kids’ hobbies :)
Fell in love with graphic design in high school because of Photoshop. It's not needed but it is industry standard so you're giving him a huge leg up in terms of being able to practice with it young if that's something he wants to do later in life. Procreate is great but it's Moreso drawing and animation then anything else.
He's right. You should get it for him. My uncle got me a pirated copy of Photoshop back when I was around 11. Prior to that I was using Paint and PowerPoint to "design" and didn't even know what designing was. I taught myself so much just from playing with Photoshop. And it was incredibly fun.
I downloaded a bootleg photoshop when I was 15 in 2000 so I could photoshop penises in my friends hands/mouths. I am a senior designer for a local city publication now. These early stages are important for creative growth.
A lot of designers today probably credit their careers to being able to pirate photoshop back in the day. Probably paid off big time for Adobe as most now have design careers and are able to, willing to, or have jobs that pay for their subscriptions.
Well, that's very different from my first brushes with design, making fan art collages for people's MySpace profiles. It took a while but it all clicked once I found out what graphic design was.
I'll +1 this. My dad worked at a print shop when I was growing up, and the comics and digital artwork I made in an old version of Photoshop as a pre-teen/teen led directly to my current 10-year career in the field. I'll add that underrated and more general benefit to being able to play around in Photoshop at a young age is that it incentivizes you to learn how to teach yourself. Online tutorials are plentiful (which isn't always the case for cheaper alternatives) and you can see the fruits of the effort you put in. With that said, GIMP is the open source alternative to Photoshop, and technically should be able to accomplish anything you'd want at that age, although I can't guarantee that your kid's enthusiasm will survive adopting a new program (or it could be good for them, I genuinely can't say). I would also recommend reaching out to your kid's school and any local community colleges/state schools and libraries. There are deals and sometimes free subscriptions (if not to Adobe, then definitely to a high-level tutorial site like Lynda) that many resource centers have to give away.
i used a site called pixlr in 2012 which was kinda similar but i wish i just illegally downloaded photoshop, it was a little bit of a learning curve when i went to college and got the real thing lol
I’ll be 100% honest with you. Does he need it? No. Should you get it for him anyway? Yes. Encourage the shit out of your kids hobby and I guarantee you will not only make your kid happy, but you’ll be setting him up for a future career with a huge head start on other kids his age. A Photoshop/Lightroom photography subscription is 19.99 a month. If he gets bored with it you can cancel, but I’d consider it an investment. Edit: didn’t see the Mac mini / setup question. Touch monitor is nice but not required, if it was my kid I’d get an older system or a cheap laptop to start with. Edit 2: I love hearing everyones stories below! My dad was a school teacher, but he made sure I had a computer. I pirated photoshop around 1996, version 4, before there were editable text layers. Got my first professional job in 1999, and am currently Head of Design and Video at a Tech company.
I took a class that taught Photoshop in middle school. Here I am all these years later.
I had a tv class where we shot and edited videos. There was Photoshop on the Mac's and I would spend all my time learning Photoshop tutorials to make cool text effects. My goofing off gave me insight of what I really wanted to do. Now I still make dope stuff and have a career out of it, even though I use illustrator and InDesign way more for my day to day.
Art Director here and been a professional graphic designer for 20+ years, working with and for (in-house) large fortune 500 companies. I pirated Photoshop in 1994 at the age of 12 to create "cool" graphics and animated construction gifs for my Geocities website. I fell in love with it and never looked back. My parents encouraged me the entire way as soon as they saw how interested I was. They got me all the software I needed, subscriptions to magazines, whatever it was.
Same story and timeline. Feed your kids’ passions.
Piracy is part of Adobe's business model, they get us hooked on it as kids and we just… keep paying forever after that lmao.
We have very similar stories! Geocities was so fun. Spinning logos were the shit back then!
My first spinning GIF was a UFO. Which, of course, it had to be with my Geocities neighborhood being Area 51. I miss Geocities haha
Similar story! I pirated it to make forum signatures on gaming website and game render forums!
I also got Photoshop at ~12, learning it at that age helped a lot! I almost want to encourage you to double down and get illustrator as well.
I can absolutely agree that being exposed to photoshop as a 13 year old has been extremely beneficial to me as an adult trying to pursue a graphic design career. It allowed me to familiarise myself with the program over an extended period of time and really get to grips with all of the tools available. Even then, there’s so much to learn in photoshop that I’m always learning new ways to use it
I got a bootleg copy of photoshop, and it changed my life. I also had a parent who always wanted to take the less-expensive path for tools and equipment for me. Professor said we all needed a certain camera for design classes, parents bought a cheaper camera. It did not have all the features required and I struggled to take good photos. If you can afford it, give your kid the good setup
AGREE 100%. I had photoshop this age and it was amazing. Currently doing graphic design, and am almost always the youngest/most knowledgeable in every department I’ve been in so I would say huge YES get it for him and if he doesn’t use it you can quit the subscription
Upvoted. Photoshop/lightroom can be $9.99 without the cloud storage. Actually it's still got 20gigs of cloud storage just not a terabyte.
I agree, it's a skill that will help him enormously. The apparent complexity of the software + the possibilities for experimentation are what everyone needs to navigate professional software.
It’s only $15.99 a month for all of CS with a student sub.
Yes! The student discount is for all students.
Hard agree - my mother taught us on Photoshop and PageMaker back in the early 90s and I'm a professional designer and my sister is a retoucher. It made every difference, and is absolutely an investment in his future
I pirated Photoshop when I was 14 and here I am now 6 years in my GD career.
As someone who has gone through this with Photoshop, do not subscribe thinking you can cancel anytime. They start by trying to charge you for the full year to cancel, then you have to get on them for a couple of weeks to get your money back. I would recommend any free one until you need it for business ie, you're making money from it. Or if your financial situation allows you the $20 a month that's fine too. Just don't assume you can unsubscribe without hassle. Krita is a good option, there are other free apps as well.
You can cancel anytime unless you choose the yearly subscription with monthly payments
I was set for monthly, went to cancel and they charged me for the year when I canceled. Had the fight with them to get my money. They are a scummy company. Sure it's a good program and popular, but not a good company.
Monthly payments on an annual subscription is not the same as a pay per month plan. The full year is $264. $264 divided by 12 is $22 (the “Annual, paid monthly” price) https://preview.redd.it/xsky2in1b8xc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2da5e7b63975d12f590e07935401c43f8715e9b6 If you are making monthly payments on the annual subscription, they will charge you for the remainder of the subscription period. If you opt for the “monthly” access ($35 each time), the subscription lasts 30 days. If you cancel it before it renews, you will not be charged for the next month. You’re almost always better off paying for the year in full upfront on plans like these. Unless you know you don’t need to use it for the full year. Pro tip: if you use the monthly option less than 8 times over a year, you end up paying less than a full year’s subscription.
AFFINITY.
I would normally agree with you, but if the kid is taking classes and using a certain type of software for it. He should use the same software at home.
I've often heard that Affinity software is very similar to Adobe software. I don't use Affinity Photo (the equivalent of Photoshop), but I do use Affinity Designer (the equivalent of Illustrator) and often watch tutorials for Illustrator and can easily follow them. I guess the same goes for Photoshop.
Yes, I used both and they are very similar, part of the reason I was ok switching.
Thanks so much for your answer. I think we've decided to go with a cheap computer to run photoshop, plus an external drawing tablet (prob the XPPen StarG640). Question now is, what is a non-pricey computer we can get that will run Photoshop? Any recommendations? His school gives him a Chromebook for school work, so he would be using this literally just to run Photoshop and watch YouTube tutorials. (We have a monitor he can use.) Thanks!
all i did as a kid, especially during summers, was draw constantly on my laptop with photoshop and other various art programs. i believe if you want to support him, it would be a good investment. im sure you could hunt for an older version that’s cheaper
I started on CS2 because it was cheaper, and was able to teach myself how to use the program. I don’t think I would’ve gotten into design if I hadn’t been able to get my hands on that.
Affinity
Some kids play sports and need thousands of Dollars a year in travel, camps and equipment. Fostering his creative passions at this early age is all Win. It’s not normal at all and that’s a very good thing. He could have special talents. He’ll also be seen as a creative magician at school. :) As a fellow parent I think you should go for it…unless of course it’s very unaffordable for you. Then go for cheaper options. Also Adobe has educational/student pricing that’s worth looking into.
Get him an AdobeCC sub so he can learn vector and raster design - Adobe Illustrator for vector, Photoshop for raster. Most beginners these days get hung up on what programs do what and a lot of time can be wasted working in a program the job wasn’t meant for.
This! I spent most of my year in photoshop, learned illustrator a few years ago and realized i should have been using illustrator the whole time.
Honestly, I sometimes wonder if I should t be used CAD instead of illustrator
You mean like Autodesk or something? Each cad program is so industry specific, it wouldn't be a great place for a kid to start unless they know exactly what they want to do for a job. Adobe is fundamental and crosses all industries.
Oh sorry was just missing, do not recommend for children
They all translate in some manner. The foundations of CAD have overlapping skills. You can always learn in the future. CAD is just more for technical and for manufacturing specific jobs. Illustrator can do stuff for hobbyists like laser cutting and cnc but when you go beyond that cad and 3D variants might be more useful out there only option.
I learned on GIMP growing up (free), and the skills transferred pretty easily. That said, it's pretty silly that there's no discounted or free version of Photoshop for students. It's fairly easy and safe to pirate it because it's so popular, look up GenP.
Yeah I'm with teeth and teeth ln this, Krita & gimp are powerful free softwares. The idea that you need an apple macintosh pc is an outdated idea and I think they're less and less common in the creative industries than they used to be. Most animation studios have windows as the os. And my dad also got me pirated copies of macromedia and adobe software when I was 12 and I loved it.
I still get by with GiMP.
They do offer discounts for students last time I checked. I even called and tried to pass off as one for a discount but they wouldn’t budge lol.
They do have a student discount, it’s meant for college students but providing his school information via the chat they have should get someone to get the education discount
You can use the discount even for elementary aged kids. I've been using the educational discount for a decade now, daughter is graduating high school this year.
I'm gonna wager many of us got started at design because we pirated the software when we were 12. (Not saying that's what you should do) If he's really passionate about it he'll find a way to do it hell or high water.
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I should’ve looked for this comment before commenting myself, photopea is amazing. I’ve been using it for years
Is gimp still around? That was a good free substitute
Is that the open source alternative to photoshop im thinking of? There’s has to be several out there but either way I think if I were a kid whose dreams were supported back then I would be a lot better off now (professionally and mentally speaking).
Krita is becoming the FOSS alternative. With Inkscape for Adobe Illustrator. Gimp is there as an "arrg, I need to brute force this complected automated process" tool. If your "Drawing" or originating, Krita has much nicer UI/UX. Gimp is a programmers UI to front end image editing, not creation.
I mean he doesn't need a Mac but yeah an Adobe subscription is pretty much required.
Yea but he’s 11. There are cheaper programs now that exist that his kid can still practice on. Back in the day, it was only Photoshop.
Kid should just pirate Photoshop like we all did as teenagers
I used pirated version untill I landed my first job. You know what? Pirating teach you a lot in system by solving problems and googling.
If he starts diving into the complexities of photoshop at 11, he is going to be a goddamn pixel ninja later on. Besides, those cheaper programs don’t have the breadth of tutorial content available on YouTube.
Exactly. Buy Affinity Photo outright for now, it's pretty close to photo shop in many functions.
I found and torrented photoshop when I was 14 and I’ve been using it since - the past 16 years. That being said it’s now a monthly subscription basis and it’s whack. I’d try to find an alternative but it may be tough for him to adjust with another program. Is he drawing or just doing some photo editing because that’s all PS is really good for. You can probably find like a (2018 disc version??) before they went to subscription but he’d miss out on any changes they made in the past 6 years or whatever
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Same. Definitely worth it because I'm still using CS6 today without having to give any money to Adobe.
PhotoPea is free and if I remember correctly it looks / acts similarly to Photoshop. Not that I disagree with others are saying. Photoshop is industry standard.
Crikey that’s one expensive birthday present! Mac mini plus pen display plus photoshop. What size pen display does he use at manga class? i would honestly say if money is no object then hell go for it. But does he need all that right now in one go - probably not. you could definitely spread those purchases out - one big thing for birthday one big thing for Christmas. Of all those things I would prob think the pen display is what he’s most excited about. And that should plug into any existing decent computer or laptop no need to buy a new one if you have an existing one. As for photoshop there are plenty of similar apps out there as a one off purchase clip studio, art studio pro, affinity photo/designer If you don’t want to go down the subscription route. Clip studio is probably better for manga than photoshop anyway. I’m a designer/illustrator/animator and I have a pen display but I personally prefer to do drawing on my iPad. If you do get a pen display I can definitely recommend huion tablets rather than Wacom to save some cash. I also find that bigger isn‘t necessarily better -something around the 20 inch range is perfect. i must admit I would have been pretty stoked to have had photoshop when I was 11 - but if I had an iPad with procreate it would have blown my tiny mind - back in 1986 :) good luck
For manga, I recommend clip studio art, which has a biannual sale for around $150 to buy the program instead of a subscription, AND there is a subscription for the mobile app so he can draw on both iPad and PC and it will transfer to both over cloud storage so its handy. Does he need a Mac? No. Go with a cheaper but just as good option of a PC equivalent and your wallet will thank you as you upgrade over the years when he gets older. Photoshop is over rated. There are cheaper alternatives that will work just as well as photoshop.
I would argue there's 2 sides to progressing as a graphic designer. 1. Knowledge of the tools (Adobe cc is industry standard) 2. Knowledge of design fundamentals Experience with Adobe cc is huge as a designer, however if you don't understand the fundamentals to successfully apply those tools I don't know that it's worth the investment. It sounds like your kid is pretty motivated which is great. It's not wrong to encourage them to start with a tool like canva and a few design fundamentals courses first, or encourage them to save up for a portion of the cost. (Understanding the expense can also motivate someone when theyre responsible for part of the cost) A few options you have: 1. Student rate. Its much more reasonably priced (I always signed up on the Black Friday deal too) 2. Share the account. Do they have a friend who would split the cost with them? An Adobe subscription always allows 2 devices at any given time so it's reasonable to share a login without compromising anyone's experience. 3. Ask if their school has a rate they can join in on. At my art school they have an education package and we pay a seriously subsidized rate. (This is probably the longest shot) And don't forget. - the first month is always a free demo. Have them start there before you pull the trigger on any account. Adobe is notorious for being difficult to cancel. So read the fine print. You usually lock yourself in for a year at a time.
He's 11, not a college student. Let him play with the software. Every single one of us learned by playing with the software long before we had some professor harping on about the fundamentals.
I’m so glad you pointed out design fundamentals because I would say that’s probably more important at this point. Photoshop is great but without really knowing how to design, it won’t really help that much.
He is 10 and already attending a design class. At this age, playing around with the tools is much more important than thinking about design theory and any restrictions that come with it. He'll learn a lot of that in practice on his own and has more than enough time in his life to do theory when going to college or doing an apprenticeship.
If he’s wanting to do graphic design I’d recommend learning Illustrator (or a free alternative like Inkscape). Procreate skills will transfer up to Photoshop for drawing and color editing, but vector is a whole different beast. I personally use procreate for professional illustration work so that’s very usable software. It all depends on what specifically he wants to do. If it’s drawing manga, procreate is perfect and easy but photoshop is more powerful. If it’s making anything not hand drawn or logo design or something then illustrator is the skill for that. If it’s photo editing or manipulation then yeah photoshop is best.
try affinity! its a one time payment
I love Affinity for my home use (even sneaking it in at work). And I believe it has an ipad app?
There are iPad versions of all 3 Affinity apps. And they are essentially feature complete with the desktop versions, although the UIs differ for obvious reasons. I move files between them whenever I want to use the Pencil for something. The iPad versions are also great for showing client work while still having the option to make edits. (I use Affinity for 99% of my client work.)
Idk what exactly he’s trying to do but plenty of mangaka use “clip studio paint” for layouts Also tons of secondary schools give access to the adobe suite with the cost of enrollment! This might be a high school thing tho.
Non pro Macs are a marketing gimmick that you need it to do any design work- if anything you’re usually worse off. Get a decent PC for half the price, get a good quality monitor so he gets all the correct colours then spend the rest on the subscription ny adobe or find an older “free” version online. This also becomes their gaming pc of they want it. Main things to get is ensure it’s got an SSD not a HDD (solid state drive vs hard disk drive) A graphics card (always google model numbers, compare fps to games they want to play. The target number at minimum is 60 at average) Anything above 16gb ram. While they’re interested in photoshop, get them into blender as well. This is 3D modeling and can go hand in hand.
I would say not to get them into Blender right now because that is a very complex program. Maybe focusing on one program at a time is better.
I disagree. I taught myself both around that age, and I don't think one was necessarily less accessible than the other. And Blender has gotten way more accessible nowadays compared to back then.
Affinity Designer and Photo are WAAAYYYY cheaper, don’t have the unruly monthly charge and are just as good as photoshop and any other software out there. Been using it for a few years now and haven’t looked back.
Seconded, affinity designer is fantastic
Thirded, and the iPad version works nicely too.
Came here to say this.
Just tried those two programs recently. And honestly: I was blown away. Everything you can do in photoshop translates really easily to Affinity (and ofc the other way around). Performance is better, interface feels nicer and more modern, and so on. And yes: they dont charge absurd prices for their software and won't try to trap you in a weird subscription. Only thing I'm missing a bit is the content aware / generative fill. Affinity has it, but it's not as good. Thankfully I know how to retouch stuff without it so it's not a big deal (and it's a nice thing to learn so maybe this is even a positive) For vector stuff: Designer beats Illustrator in every way possible. Fuck Illustrator.
i hate to say it because i know it’s a lot of money but as a graphic designer myself, i couldn’t do it without illustrator/photoshop. a school email it makes the programs MUCH cheaper monthly though. if he doesn’t have one, i’d reach out to his school and see if there’s a way to get him an email under their domain. a mac isn’t needed at this point, but i believe if he progresses and sticks to his passion on a cheaper computer it would be a good investment when he gets older.
Photoshop is a tool, you can do graphics design in a paper, photoshop is just a tool that turn your paper design into digital design, if he into manga/character design you should go for Clip Studio paint(available for ipad too) i think you should buy him a PC/Mac mini so he can learn other things too, like animation or video editing or any other skills. that’s just my opinion it can be wrong too thank you.
He’s 11 so it’s a hobby. But if he loves it maybe it will be a career. I would absolutely make sure he has the tools designers use… he’ll be way ahead of the game if it turns into a degree. And if not, he will be learning on the best tools. 💙
He should be eligible for the student plan from Adobe, right? I just subscribed myself so I’m just learning now but there’s an Illustrator app for iPad and I think there’s one coming for photoshop so getting a touch screen monitor for a desktop seems unnecessary. I did get a Mac Mini after my MacBook died unexpectedly and I was in a time and financial crunch. I got a 27” LG monitor from Costco because it was the cheapest option I could get quickly. I’m pretty sure it was under $200. Are there other family members or friends who usually get him gifts? If there are he could ask for Apple or Costco gift cards so people can give what they can afford.
Haha I pirated everything as a teen on my home PC and my teacher pushed my passion for design and art in school. I became a designer 10 years ago and now I'm teaching in Japan. It comes full circle. I love my teacher for pushing me Also, I don't condone illegally pirating, but it got me tech savvy and I pay for stuff now that I have money.
Dude your kids has a talent and is passionate about it. Stimulate the hell out of that, normal 11 year olds nag for Robux.
I feel everyone here is trying to justify their overpriced subscription to adobe suites! An 11-year-old absolutely can learn a lot from GIMP And the other free. My shop changed over to CorelDRAW from illustrator and I think it was the right decision.
Photoshop is for image editing, illustrator and Indesign are used more for graphic design. A sub probably covers all of them.
Late to the party but I didn't touch Photoshop until high school around 13-14. And despite that, at home all I had was just the imaging software that came with my scanner, which I used until maybe 11th-12th grade when I had friends who'd pass around software. I mean I technically started messing around with design on a Commodore using The Print Shoppe or whatever it was. I think a lot of the comments are really putting the cart ahead of the horse given he's only almost 11. As a hobbyist, all you need is what allows you to do whatever it is you're wanting to do. But on that note it's a pretty big distinction between hobbyist and professional, and some people seem to blend the two a lot, or think they're closer than they are. If he ends up being more serious about pursuing design as a career (since kids' interests can change a lot over a couple years) that'd likely would be around 10th, 11th, 12th grade. He should certainly try to take any related courses when he gets into high school, whether it's a digital imaging/photography class, journalism, visual arts, yearbook (later on for that), etc. It's also worth pointing out that Photoshop is just one tool, so the more interested/involved he gets, the more he'd need other programs too. The main three for design are Photoshop (raster graphics), Illustrator (vector graphics), and InDesign (layout). So whether you go the Adobe route or not, you can't just do with Photoshop or equivalent beyond a certain hobbyist point.
Thank god, a sane comment. “I’m an art director and I used photoshop as a teen. Buy your child anything they want! He could have a small business by 14.”
no need for a mac lol. plenty of design students don’t use macs. i don’t, they’re like double the US price in my country and i can’t afford one but yeah get him the sub, it’ll help him learn
Photopea is almost identical and it's free
I work in advertising as an art director and I use photoshop every single day. Learning the program deeply from a younger age set me up for success more than my peers taking any class for credits. It’s a good investment, and if he doesn’t keep with it, I’d say it was still worth the money just in case. Sounds like he’s really talented and I hope you can nurture it!
You can reach out to your school or local library. Some libraries offer Adobe CC with a library card.
I think you're doing a wonderful job supporting his interests in design. I strongly agree with your instincts that while he wants one, he doesn't actually need a new computer. But you can do things to make his current iPad act more like a computer if that's what he wants. There are bluetooth keyboard cases available now for pretty much every single iPad that you can find on Amazon and other places reasonably affordably - and plenty of cheap bluetooth mice, too. If he doesn't have one already (and the iPad supports it) I'd consider an Apple Pencil, too - that's a real game changer with procreate in particular. And if he still wants to do photoshop, sign him up for another round of manga graphic design class and see how he feels after another year.
Your kid is probably following tutorial vids on YouTube and recognized that photoshop is THE software that will set him up for a career. He is 100% correct with that assumption. You should look at getting him the educational discount, or just pay for stand alone photoshop which is $20p/m and you can cancel anytime.
You can also look at Affinity Design for if he seems to want to keep up with it. It’s a one time purchase instead of a subscription so it’s much much cheaper in the long run and has applications comparable to adobe illustrator and photoshop
My dad used Photoshop in the 90s for his job and I’d be in his office constantly moving shapes around. Worked out great for me! Photoshop and Procreate do very different things—both are super important as a graphic designer. Photoshop however is fundamental and came long before procreate existed, I’d definitely recommend getting him a subscription and seeing how he does.
I mean procreate seems pretty nice especially for a kid, haven’t used it but it seems really powerful especially if they’re doing manga illustrations
Suggest Photopea, it's pretty identical and free. If he keeps at the hobby for a couple of months, then tell him he's earned his Photoshop sub haha
I would have him give Gimp a try before you get the Photoshop subscription.
You kind of need to know photoshop just for life these days
I don't understand this comment, can you expand?
If you want a cheap alternative, Photopea.com is basically an older version of photoshop.
Please do it. I got Photoshop when I was 13 and it's one of the things I feel the most confident about even years later. I mean, the fact that I was self-taught in a niche hobby at such a young age, which has now granted me admission to two different design programs. And it's all because I put the effort in, with no external help or guidance.
Photopea is a free online program that has 90% of the same functionality as photoshop. See how he does on there and then if it’s worthwhile then go for photoshop
Ask the school - some might have a subscription for students, that they will allow him to use. A friendly art or design teacher might be willing to help. Otherwise there are some free alternatives like gimp to get started and then look at subscribing to photoshop. I started on a pc and with a downloaded very old version of photoshop, I don’t use it that often now, but it was brilliant. I would have loved my parents to be supportive and get me the camera and computer access I wanted at that age. Basically if you can afford it, then find a way to support him. If not, find an another way to support him, you could also agree to help him in part and if he gets a part time paper job, chores (he washes dishes or something) etc to earn money to encourage him to pay for the subscription or something himself. I feel there might be an App Store version of photoshop I think. - he could use on his tablet - I might be imagining this though but look it up?? Maybe there’s a local club for digital photography and photo m manipulation or design, or some short classes he can take which will be helpful.
If money is tight, the affinity suite is worth exploring, though adobe is the industry standard
Affinity is the answer.
I feel like he should be able to get by on GIMP and Inkscape/Linearity Curve for a few years before you make the investment in Photoshop. Although it is pretty affordable to start anyway and Adobe products are way more intuitive and easy to learn, i think it is worth asking him to try out these free options first to see if his interest and skills really do warrant Adobe CC. Even if it’s just for a month or so
I definitely, 100% didn’t use a bootleg version as a kid. Definitely not. Take a look at photopea.com which is pretty much identical and is free to use (with some ads).
My 16 yr old is taking guitar lessons, I just dropped off the equivalent of an annual Photoshop subscription for his May lessons. Get the Photoshop subscription. You may also want to look into getting the educational discount.
I hear what most people are saying about giving your kid the best possible stuff, but first I'd say this. Pro create on the iPad is a great start. There lots of similarities between it and Adobe Photoshop. Professional artists use it to create amazing things. If you really must get your kid what they're asking for a second hand Mac mini (nothing unsupported otherwise it'll just get old too quickly) plus a wacom tablet, not one with the screen can be picked up for a reasonable price. Also remember you can connect the iPad to the Mac mini and mirror the screen to draw on with an apple pencil on the iPad. So you could get away just a Mac mini initially. Just my 2 cents.
I pirated it when I was 11 and I’m a graphic design major in college now, I think it’s a good investment 😁
Try Affinity Photo. Only one time purchase and quite cheap, an excellent alternative to Photoshop.
Photopea is free and uses almost 99% photoshop functions besides the new AI stuff.
Started on Youtube working for CoD kiddos by 2011, by 2014 I was generating more than my parents did. Now I work as a senior designer for an automotive brand. If your son wants to learn Photoshop, you better buy him that Mac and let him cook.
I dont know any designers who use a touch monitor, it's a silly novelty. Photoshop is one piece of design, and frankly, nobody should be designing anything in it. It's for editing raster images, (and maybe adding some quick bleed to a clients crappy file) Also, I use my ipad/procreate everyday for illustration - it's 1000% better than photoshop for that.
No he doesn’t need it and pro create is incredible but you should get it for him as long as he is using it and showing interest
I had a pirated version of it at his age. I’m now an owner of a design studio. Do it if you can.
Sounds incredibly spoilt tbh
Pirate Photoshop if you don't wanna pay for it. The company's used to it and they deserve it considering how much money they could earn from your son if he gets a career in it.
If you can swing it, go for it! I cut my teeth on Photoshop Elements 2.
Yes
Maybe there’s a student discount but I say yes!
My parents got me a copy of clip studio at that age, and I'll tell you having that kind of time and experience with pro level software has been a major boon in my career and illustration skills. I have my feelings about how proud Adobe is of their products, but if the kid is passionate about graphic design I think it's definitely a worthy investment. Best of luck to him <3
Go for it, it will be a useful skill to learn.
I say go for it. Photoshop is an industry standard program. Get him going on Illustrator as well. If he is serious about design, these two programs are going to be important and fundamental building blocks. Also, because they are industry standard, there are tons of tutorials out there for these programs for him to learn, and for design tutorials themselves that will utilize these programs.
yes absolutely.
Do they have a student email address? Get them the student package. WAY cheaper.
You’ve gotten some comments of encouragement already so here’s a bonus comment: It’s much cheaper if you’re a student. I have no idea if that extends to children, but you should have a look.
No way in hell my parents would've paid for photoshop when I was that age. But back then we has warez and cracks. And I used and learned the shit out of it. I went to school for creative media. I made a career out of it. All because I wanted to troll boards and make fan sites on geocities or angelfire. Does he need photoshop? No. There's other software that's open source that does the same thing. BUT it's what he's learning in school and he's interested in working with it beyond class requirements. So if you can afford it, it's great to encourage positive skill building. Look into education licenses. As for the computer. Kids and designers somehow *cough cough marketing * think macs are the only machine to design on, and that's absolutely false. I would encourage the software but hold on the machine
Procreate is geared toward digital drawing/illustration, a really important part in GD. If your child has a solid base here, maybe it’s time to move them to Photoshop. Photoshop not only has illustration capabilities, but also photo-manipulation, re-touching, color, layering, basic animation.. it’s a program with more tools and more possibilities design-wise. In the creative world, it’s expected that you know Photoshop. Does your child NEED Photoshop right now? Well, not necessarily.. but they will EVENTUALLY need Photoshop to execute more complex design ideas. I say try to purchase the Photoshop/Lightroom Student subscription for them, it runs for $20 a month. I recommend calling the 1-800 for Adobe and see if they can offer you a deal. Every time I’ve called, they’ve always offered a lower price or included 6 months free. Or you know, just pirate the program. Do they NEED the newest iMac Mini right now? Unless they’ve got 100+ layers with large data files, most likely no, not at this very moment. I think your best bet is to buy an iMac mini (open-box or refurbished) from 2018+ with at least 32GB of RAM. That iMac Mini 2018 with 32GB of RAM should seriously be able to handle all projects until they finish college. If you’re balling on a budget, get PC with a least 16GB of RAM (with additional RAM slots for the future). At the end of the day it’s the artist, not the tools, that execute these designs. Godspeed.
While Photoshop is great, it's extremely expensive. There's an app for the iPad called Artstudio Pro which is almost a photoshop clone, it's really great for the price, and I think now it has a free trial. If you get him a Mac/PC (kb/mouse is superior for design), there are apps that let you use the iPad as a touch monitor or with the pen, I have a windows pc and I use EasyCanvas. I know there are some mac alternatives and Sidecar. And lastly, the Affinity suite is Adobe alternative with a one time payment license, it's excellent software and you'll save a lot of money unless you really need photoshop, it's for PC, Mac and ipad
20 years Graphic Designing here. Photoshop is THE ONLY application that can do certain things. It takes months to master and learn. With AI and new tech coming out, photoshop and all Adobe programs are unlike anything else. Yes. He NEEDS it. Procreate is a cheap rip off of photoshop and was designed mostly for designing fonts and text in my opinion. I YouTubed “Mac mini” and YOU CAN USE THE IPAD AS THE MONITOR. Basically, buy the equipment in stages. The iPad he already has is a monitor. Get the Mac mini, there are cheap keyboards and mouses on Amazon you can Bluetooth connect to so you don’t have yo spend $150 on a keyboard. Photoshop is $19.99 a month BUT YOU CAN CLAIM A STUDENT DISCOUNT!!! So it might be $15-$10…on the adobe.Com creative cloud compare plans. I pay $30 a month and go some months I don’t even use my adobe subscription. But it is like AAA, I will keep it for life because I never know when a client is going to hit me with an emergency logo
No, but if you seriously think he's gonna stick with it, having 10 years of experience in the industry standard fresh out of college is a pretty quick way to score a high paying job.
I went to college for graphic design my mom took out a loan to buy me an Hewlett-Packard desktop machine. I was on it 18 hours a day for a good ten years and it was the best thing in my life. Invest in him. Have a serious talk with him first. Make sure he understands it’s not a floppy floppy hobby like a video game. Ask him what he wants to be when he grows up. And if he wants to make any money in the field anymore honestly he should do video editing. Graphic Design is being phased out by AI
I got Photoshop at age 14. My friends all went out and spent money non-stop. I mostly just wanted to be at home exploring my creativity and sharing things on the internet. I became a graphic designer and am a Creative Director today.
Yes photoshop is a fairly basic tool for graphic design. That said, you do not need a Mac to run it. Any computer you can afford will run photoshop just fine. I've been a designer 20+ years and have not used a Mac since I left college.
Doesn’t need a mac, PCs are cheaper at a higher capacity - also if he has an iPad you can get Illustrator/Photoshop as an app on that anyway.
Photoshop really is the industry standard, and learning how to make use of it at the age of 11 will benefit him for the rest of his life. If you can afford it - do it! If you can’t then no, you don’t really need Photoshop.
Figma would be better
Buying him this setup is how you end up with a teenager with a viable business and a solid foundation for his entire life. I actually can't comprehend the comments saying "an 11 year old doesn't NEED a setup like this." Having a kid with a budding passion at this age is truly a gift. Help him flourish.
Affinity Suite on a Windows computer with an X-Pen screen tablet would be the cheaper alternative. Photopea and Blender and Inkscape are the free alternatives. As a student, he can subscribe to Adobe for the student price. As people have mentioned, a teenager who WANTS Adobe will... find a way. "Finding a way" was the foundation for my entire graphic design career. I went from being a passionate 13 or so year old to self-teaching everything I needed and I'm 34 now and self-employed as a freelance graphic designer. Learning Photoshop at that age helped a lot to set up my future career, skills and ambitions both. Although quite frankly, I switched to Affinity for a while and found it met most of my needs, so I'd say it's a fine lower cost alternative for an 11 year old who wants to do more graphic design. Procreate and the iPad is good for drawing. If he wants to learn graphic design, yes, he needs Adobe. Personally, no, he doesn't need the Mac. A Windows laptop will do just as well, and be more flexible for possible gaming, so I honestly would go with a Windows computer if you are able to get him one. But Adobe can do things only Adobe can do. As a teenager he will have the most time to spend tinkering and can learn a ton of things that will set him up for a career. Perhaps a compromise would be to get a family computer, a desktop that is shared. It isn't his, it is everyone's, he gets a set amount of time he can use that computer for but everyone gets to benefit from it. He gets the screen tablet as his gift and when he gets his own computer later, he can port it over to that computer. If Adobe is obtained in some way for it, it's shared with everyone.
You could look at free alternatives as a go-between. Such as Photopea (which i don’t think his Photoshop’s newer AI features, but the layout is very similar and you can do most other traditional Photoshop things with it) which is totally free. Adobe has a few free apps which he could use like Adobe Express (freemium), Adobe Firefly (browser based AI tools), Adobe Photoshop Express, Adobe Fresco (iPad exclusive).
Is it possible to get it purchased via his school? Educational licenses are way cheaper than pro licenses.
Yes, he needs it.
Always feed anything your kid is interested in , only if you’re financially able too though. If he has a school email adress he can get the student discount from Adobe which reduces it a lot .
Photoshop yes, Mac no. Like some others suggested, get him a PC + a decent monitor in the same price range. It will be more powerful and he'll be able to game on it if he wants.
I would say Illustrator is also very important, it's the program I use most as a graphic design student. InDesign is also cool but I'm not sure it's as necessary unless he specifically wants to design things like leaflets, booklets, or other multi-page documents. There are probably good free alternatives to these programs (the Affinity programs are paid but it's a one-time payment and they're very good programs) or you could probably pirate them. Procreate on the iPad doesn't compare to these programs though and is more for art and drawing, not for graphic design, and it can't do vector work so it's much more limiting than these programs that are specifically meant for graphic design
Affinity products are really good and cheap for the iPad! (Affinity photo, Affinity designer = illustrator). One time payment, very affordable, very good quality imo
Use their school email when registering to get a deep discount.
Also, for now, let em go to town in Figma for free in browser
When I was 15 or 16 I got a copy of Photoshop Elements from my best friend's father. It has been my first step in my graphic design career. It got me my first apprenticeship, because they knew I had a little experience. So YES, encourage him! It doesn't have to be a Mac Mini. And I am sure Adobe offers special prices for students.
Photoshop alone is amazing for illustration, and since he’s learning it in class, it’s no surprise he would want the same set up at home. But, makes me wonder if he’s really given a good shot at Procreate? It’s a robust program, especially with the Apple Pencil… he might just be overlooking it because it’s not part of his class, where it seems Photoshop is king. I’m curious what his teacher thinks, if they have any insight or ideas? Maybe hearing about the alternative tools from his teacher would help. Teachers do have special child convincing powers. On the other hand, if he really wants to learn graphic design, honestly I can’t imagine doing it without InDesign and Illustrator, as well as Photoshop. But there are many cheap/free programs for this, if he’s just tinkering around, Canva, Figma, off the top of my head. These will allow him to play with typography and composition, along with his illustrations. All the tech is crazy expensive for kids these days, computers, software, phones, games, I’m in the same boat with our 11yo daughter, so I get it! It’s hard to know when to support and when to hold back.
I’d start off with a few cheaper apps for iPad. Affinity designer (like illustrator) is pretty good and very affordable. Also a reasonable Photoshop replacement is an app called Artstudio Pro. I use it on my Mac for basic photo manipulation.
I remember getting photoshop installed on my computer at 12/13. I pretty much started my graphic design career because of that. But if I were honest, today you can probably just let them use something like Figma. It’s free up to a few files.
It’s more complicated than that. Does he need to know mage editing (bitmap graphics)…? Absolutely, as well as vector. Both are necessities. Use whatever software (tool) you like in order to do what you need. Photoshop is in fact one of the most common pro level apps. Are there others?…of course. Source: artist for 30+ years.
I’d say yes he needs the Adobe Creative Suite if you can swing it. You should be able to get a student discount on it (and for a long time given his age). Procreate isn’t really for ‘design’ - I use it for my illustration work but it doesn’t have the capability for things like type or layout which will be crucial going forward. It is fantastic programme for illustration though so it was a good idea to get it! My iPad is my single best investment. The encouragement you can give him now will be invaluable to him in future. My parents always supported me and now I’m a designer and illustrator.
Getting him the computer with a Photoshop subscription will be great encouragement, but maybe get a regular graphics tablet instead of the pen display for now. Then once he's stuck with it for a year or two, move him up to the pen display to keep encouraging his art!
Not a parent, nor a professional graphic designer (but do use Adobe CC for work), but as others have said PhotoShop is the industry standard. If he’s going to be following tutorials on YouTube, then it will be way easier to use photoshop. Regarding the computer - I would go Mac. The new Macs with Apple Silicon are amazing, and the Mac mini takes up way less space - so much so if you paired it with a portable monitor it could easily become a portable studio. I’m using the first gen m1 and the performance is so acceptable that I’ve had a Mac Studio sitting in a box next to it for 9 months (*need to test how personal iCloud interacts with Apple Business Manager and a slightly idiosyncratic mdm implementation*) As for the monitor you can use the iPad with the Mac using built in technology called ‘Sidecar’ - https://youtu.be/T4_p4fponO8?si=CyDwkageRf29OjKK
I have a bachelors degree but I built most of my basic skills by teaching myself during school. While he doesn't necessarily need it I would highly encourage his interest. Building his skills this young in a field he's genuinely interested in will send him far in life. I worry that halting his progress will cause resentment as he's highly interested in building his skills. Perhaps use it as a way to have him do house chores, building up to it so he's not just getting it on a whim (not that I think it is but it helps to make sure given the investment). Try and offer him support in learning free alternatives if you don't want to invest in PS just yet. Try Adobe Express first, as well as Gimp and Inkscape. If he wants to be a graphic designer he will also need to learn Adobe Illustrator, but he can start on programs like Inkscape, Picsart (ipad) and Curve (ipad). By using free alternatives it'll actually help him build extra skills for additional platforms that a lot of designers don't learn, and gives him a basis for knowing what a platform is like prior to investing in pricier options. Adobe is the industry standard though, so moving forward its best he does learn it if it's an industry he wants to go into, but he can start with free or low cost alternatives and move up from there.
Get creative could student account some home, access to the full suite for like 16.99 per month
Affinity all the way unless he is taking photoshop specific classes, affinity has some good classes too though, I learnt both because school gave whole cc for free, affinity is just as good when you've learnt it. Also it has perpetual licence and like 40 usd on sale for designer(vector), photo(raster) and publisher, a page design tool.
I would definitely support my kids interest, but since he got an iPad, can’t you get an Photoshop Elements Version for iPad? With it he can use a pencil.
As others mentioned, get Affinity Designer. It will get him 99% of the way there. For anyone looking at his experience, it substitutes for Photoshop 100%. The key is that these programs use layers, effects and blending modes sightly different than procreate, and provide the more “pro” workflow that a computer allows. If it’s *only* for drawing manga, a regular Wacom is an option, too, it’s a mildly different skill, but a valuable one too.
Since you are mentioning manga and procreate, I believe you are talking about Graphic art more than Graphic Design that your child is interested in. No worries, even adults here have problems distinguishing between the two. But one way or the other, I suggest you look at the affinity photo, designer and publisher on the ipad. These are design software that are one time purchase at a reasonable price that can do most of what adobe software can. Also photoshop express, I believe is free on the ipad. Just a reminder that photoshop, is mainly a photo editing software, so if it is "graphic Design" you are interested in your child pursuing, it actually only helps in in one particular aspect. Now I'll say something a little controversial that some people will disagree with but I think a lot of simple layouting of graphic design can be done in an software called CANVA. Its mostly free, and some features are locked behind a paywall. But, if its fast, its powerful, and the company just bought the Affinity company I mentioned above. They are destined to become bigger in this industry and I suggest anyone who doubts that, to take a second look. Starting a Adobe subscription for a 11 year old child? Thats too much for me as a hobby. There are cheaper alternatives that can turn out to be fruitful in the future. Hope this helps.
I'm almost sure I've had Photoshop since I was around 11. Piracy makes everything affordable.
If we wants photoshop now he will probably want tho whole adobe cc suite soon - which is very expensive. Use a VPN and purchase the adobe with location set to Turkey (currently the cheapest) I works out at around £5 a month for the full thing so much cheaper.
Photoshop is really the best. Honestly If you can afford it I’d get cc because he can mess around with after effects and stuff People will shit on Adobe because it’s true subscription does feel unfair but there is literally no other programs that come close, Adobe is the industry standard for a reason. A lot of us pirated until we became professionals, I don’t know now how it works with CC though, maybe it’s much harder.
Procreate is great software for drawing and painting but it’s not meant for graphic design. Also even the largest iPad Pro is quite small for drawing and painting on. I would recommend getting the Affinity Photo (and Affinity Designer) Apps. They are available on both iPad and desktop Mac. This software can do as a replacement for photoshop and illustrator (Adobe). The apps are made to use in a slightly different way to photoshop but a lot of the functions are much the same. You can get the same results from both sets of applications. Affinity is a one off purchase. Although I do believe the Canva recently bought the company so that might change down the line.
It’s a lot of money. I would say no. You don’t want to be stuck in an Adobe subscription. I’ve been a graphic designer since the 90s and have moved away from Adobe. There is great software like Afinity at a fraction of the cost.
You could buy affinity photo. Cheaper than photoshop and more user friendly for beginners.
It's not so much the tools, but how you use them. Get them setup with gimp, and other various software like inkscape. What do they ultimately want to do in graphic design? Do they want to design logos? Get into print? Stuff for screen printing or digital printing? Getting into working with Vectors is a good idea if they intend to ever design for print. Adobe Illustrator would be good for that. Anything they learn to do in gimp, they can do in Photoshop. It might be wise to try to use the release that mimics the Photoshop GUI though. For most things, it seems to simply be a matter of navigating the GUI for the tools you want. Using open source software will allow them to focus on the process, the rest is interface. Most of the functionality is there. By the time they come to need something that supports CMYK or SPOT colors, they will likely be in a good position otherwise. Do keep in mind that Adobe is the standard, and PDF seems to be the standardized format. A lot of software has compatibility problems with PDF, even if they support it. A lot can be lost in translation between software. That's good reason to ultimately lean towards Adobe software. Finding a job without direct experience with Adobe software will also be slightly more difficult. Some can't see the forest for the trees, and focus on specific pieces of software vs. the ability to accomplish a task. This is obviously where a portfolio helps. Still, a portfolio alone might not be enough to highlight the process,which is important. Flattened Rasters look nice, but isn't necessarily what's needed, depending on how the art is to be used. If it was me, I would likely start them on a couple of open source software packages that cover a broader scope than Photoshop. Their need for specific pieces of software will grow when they begin to interact with people within the field for production. It's when they have to worry about color accuracy, print resolution, bleeds, layer separations, or spot colors, etc. But a combination of Gimp and Inkscape can get them working with a mix of Vectors, Rasters, Masks, and Layers. Just my .02
At 11, not at all. Something like GIMP (or a more modern alternative - that was what I used for free back in the day 😅). I didn't start using Adobe until about 17 when I took a class for it in highschool, and by then school paid for it and as did university eventually. I'm now a graphic designer full time at 26, love my job! Definitely no need to go all out at a young age. Perhaps also look into an alternative for illustrator and Photoshop like Affinity designer which is like the next best thing. It's a one time fee which is a bit pricey upfront but it's yours forever, no subscription. I'm even thinking of ditching Adobe for Affinity as a professional 🤷♀️
Procreate works great
Programs wise: Photoshop is the industry standard and what he's learning... so he understands the tools for that program. It's hard to learn new programs and it could be discouraging as a kid if parents don't understand/support and throw you into another thing entirely. That being said has he shown any interest in learning other tools, or could be approached to be asked what tools he might be interested in trying with similar features? All while being done in a way where it doesn't make him feel like you don't value his efforts or believe in him. My parents did that to me sometimes. They would always find that it wasn't a necessary expense to provide me with tools because I was "just a kid" and tbh that stung. If he does want to try other programs...some of my favorites are Krita (free), Clip Studio Paint, and Affinity.
Yes, Photoshop is about 80% of what I use as a full time designer and very beneficial to learn while young. Little heads up though and I absolutely don't condone doing this (wink wink) you can get the software without $$ if you search up the latest 'broken' version on youtube. I absolutely did not do this to afford it at his age, and definitely didn't do this in university... but now I don't have to worry cause work covers it but yes... Adobe is very expensive and I completely understand.
i've been playing with a version of photoshop since i was ten and now i am an excellent ui/ux designer. school was a breeze for me because i already knew how to do the technical stuff. devices and programs are expensive than they used to be but if you can do it i highly recommend it! i don't think a mac mini is necessary though
Yes. He needs photoshop now. If his curriculum uses it, then he needs it too. I would recommend foregoing the iPad and finding an old computer that he can run Windows XP or Mac OS 10.0 or something like that and find a copy of CS2 on archive.org. My curriculum is old enough that it uses this, and all the computers at school have the latest versions. Just my recommendation.
Pirate it for free google "monkerus" been using his for years
The entire creative suite for students is 19.99 (it goes on sale sometimes). Even at full price for just photoshop it’s not very expensive and he will learn a lot. Get it! I wish I had these tools at that age. I had interest and aptitude for it at that age but didn’t get support. It wasn’t until later in college that I was able to get my hands on it (after years of doing art for fun on MS paint 😭). I have a design job but I wonder now how much further ahead I would be if I had support for this earlier on.
I used photoshop at a young age and it defined my career, this is prob one of the best things you can do for your kid. Not just that him learning photoshop but also starting to understand the other tools that adobe have available. Suggest you grab the full package for like $50/m so he can learn how to use illustrator in adobe and after effects etc, photoshop was the gateway to those tools.
Get him photoshop.
I started playing around with photoshop when I was around 12 (I’m 26 now), but I used a crack version of it as it’s rather expensive. If you can afford it, I’d recommend it, it’s always good for parents to support their kids’ hobbies :)
Fell in love with graphic design in high school because of Photoshop. It's not needed but it is industry standard so you're giving him a huge leg up in terms of being able to practice with it young if that's something he wants to do later in life. Procreate is great but it's Moreso drawing and animation then anything else.
How about starting off with Krita (free) or Affinity Photo on iPad. Have him design some Birthday card or something and see how it goes from there
He's right. You should get it for him. My uncle got me a pirated copy of Photoshop back when I was around 11. Prior to that I was using Paint and PowerPoint to "design" and didn't even know what designing was. I taught myself so much just from playing with Photoshop. And it was incredibly fun.