Help buy refurbished computer for basic Photoshop actions: Image size, Color mode, Edit tools, Level

I don't want to use AI or Adobe Camera Raw. I'm an artist, and I just need to be able to edit photos of my artwork for color accuracy with levels, saturation, contrast, etc. I also need to be able to change image size and color mode for printing, the web, or juried submissions, and edit with tools like skew, for example, so that I can square the photos. Aren't those simple functions/actions?

By @christip83285162

Yes. I understand, I do those things too. You’re right, those tasks don’t use very many Photoshop features. If that is the case, then there is not really much need for the full version of Photoshop for those purposes. Actually, for the tasks you listed, you could do them in the Apple Photos app that already comes with every Mac, iPad, and iPhone…you might not need to buy anything else.

When Photoshop didn’t require a subscription, it cost $599 or more. What’s different since Photoshop CS3 was released 14 years ago is that today, there are numerous low-priced or even free photo editing apps that can do all of those simple tasks quite well enough without paying what Photoshop used to cost 14 years ago. ($599 in today’s dollars would be a lot more!) In addition to Apple Photos, there are so many other good low-cost photo apps on the Mac that can do simple adjustments, and also export copies conforming to the requirements for juried submissions.

Yes, the refurbished laptop you proposed should be able to do those simple things in Photoshop. However, it would still be true that an Intel Mac laptop would run hotter and longer with worse battery life than any Apple Silicon laptop…I know I wouldn’t enjoy it, because my old laptop is a similar 2018 13" Intel Core MacBook Pro, and compared to what we have today, I think my old Intel 13" Mac laptop is one of the least favorite Macs I have ever owned: Hot and slow. I suppose you could get a cheap Intel Mac now if you only planned to use it for a couple of years while you save up to buy a much more current laptop later.

I wish Adobe would provide a photo editing program that provides these very basic functions.

By @christip83285162

They do sell one, and they have for many years. Look for Adobe Photoshop Elements, which is available at online stores as well as through Adobe. It is sold for under $100, no subscription, so you only pay once. Although it’s a “cut-down” version of Photoshop, it has all of the basics. And because so many years have passed since Photoshop CS3, some features in the current version of Photoshop Elements are actually more advanced than CS3 was (although again, you might not need those newer features for the purposes you stated).

Now there is another Adobe option, because they also offer basic photo editing functions in Adobe Express, which you can actually use for free, with paid options available for more features. It runs in a web browser so it works on a wide range of computers, and is also available as a mobile app for phones and tablets. The options are very basic, but you do get to make adjustments and resize, and might be enough for your uses. It is designed as a simple and very accessible all-in-one graphics editing tool. Below are screen shots of editing a photo in a web browser using Adobe Express.

So that’s two affordable photo editing options, just from Adobe alone, and there are also many more cheap options out there.

Below, on the left I am editing in the Photo module of Adobe Express. On the right, I am using Adobe Express to resize the image to 1920 pixels on the long side, which is an example of a requirement of juried competitions. If Adobe Express is lacking some features like skewing or perspective crop, try Adobe Photoshop Elements instead…still a lot cheaper than Photoshop.

@9430303 perhaps better avoid buying Intel macs now as things have moved on.

But if you feel you can manage without the latest macOS maybe you'd be OK.

Depends what OS it does support because Photoshop is pretty much optimised for the most recent couple macOS versions. 

As Bob wrote, check this out

I hope this helps
neil barstow, colourmanagement net - adobe forum volunteer - co-author: 'getting colour right'
google me "neil barstow colourmanagement" for lots of free articles on colour management
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