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Photoshop CS2 for free?

Forum|Forum|8 years ago
February 14, 2017
10 replies
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I've seen several websites advertising Photoshop CS2 for free, is this true?...

[Piracy sites removed by moderator]

There are far more sites like this if you search.

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer Test Screen Name

These sites are liars. They don't care that if you follow their instruction you will have unlicensed software. They don't care that if you're a business and you get audited, you face large penalties.

The deal is, this is a REPLACEMENT CS2 for people who ORIGINALLY PAID FOR CS or CS2. The replacement is needed because the original no longer installs properly. That's all. If anyone else uses it, it's no better than any pirate software off the web.

ProDesignTools

Community Expert

Creative Suite 2 was never free, nor authorized for use without a valid license. Here is an article from that time:

Adobe: Rumored Free Download of CS2 Software Isn't Actually Free

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Legend

HEGGA, your arguments amount to nothing. It is illegal. This is like saying it is OK to steal good left on show outside a shop because there is nobody to stop it.

It is important to protect people from the consequences of bad advice. In many countries they may be audited and if they are found to have software with no rights they can prove, they face major penalties.

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Legend

youre just trying to justify stealing it. Did you read that license agreement?

HEGGA

Participant

Do you really think I have to “Justify stealing it“ to myself? No I do not, I couldn’t care less... They have allowed the download and they provided serial number on official Adobe website... I did not used crack to allow it to work, I did not used illegal license number either, so even if you are right and I am using it against license agreement I really don’t care and I am not going to lose any sleep over it

And if you are really correct and anybody that use this is breaking licensing agreement, then how come you don’t have every other CS product available for download with serial number next to it? This does not happen by mistake ..

You see, there is this thing called common sense, and it tells us that companies that do not want their products to be used for free, would not provide serial number before you pay for the product...

gener7

Community Expert

The agreement you have to check off before proceeding:

What you do in private is your own business, but don't walk in on a Adobe sponsored public forum and say what you believe trumps their legal agreements and copyrights. If you own a YouTube channel and upload what you just said with the CS2 links, you'll be back here screaming about getting a "copyright strike."

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barbaraw65884217

Participating Frequently

Excellent guide, I always liked this effect, but I did not know how to do it in Photoshop.

The Dark Avenger

Inspiring

Free installers are a scam.

Not just because of the false advertising that Adobe released CS2 with a free license. It's not just CS2. There are free full version installers for CS6, CC 2017 and CC 2018 as well but all will fail at one point or another, the CCs will still require a cloud subscription and might even contain viruses or other malware.
This is also the case with Microsoft Office or it's individual software. This has become more common over the decade and is intentional to discourage stealing.

That's right, if a product is only legally available by free trial or purchase, obtaining it via freeware is stealing and the distributors can end up doing jail time. Google 'kickass torrents'.
For users, as far as I know, it's more a matter of conscious.

There are full alternatives that are legally free albeit less intuitive and precise such as Gimp and Krita.

The CC subscription I've been using for the past few years has recently expired and it's so flippin' expensive that my stepdad won't renew it. Understandable.

I've now downloaded both Gimp and Krita and have started to feel Gimp out but am frustrated with the lack of layer focus.

HEGGA

Participant

I know this is an old thread but if you follow the redmondpie tutorial you will see that they are actually sending you to create account on Adobe site.

Once you log in with your account you will have to find download page. It is quite tricky to find it but if you enter CS2 in search and selct first link you will get there.

You will have to accept licensing agreement that CS2 is not supported anymore but once you do that you will be presented with number of CS2 products with LICENSE NUMBERS next to it, including CS2 Suite.

Licensing servers are down so you cannot register your copy, however, if you think this is illegal to use, then why would Adobe provide serial numbers in the first place?

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thattoe

Participant

It looks like the support is gone. I actually purchased CS2 back when it was current, and when I tried to install it to a new computer, I contacted Adobe support, and they directed me to an Adobe website, and it had CS2 with product keys on the page. I recently looked for the page, to move the CS2 install, and it seems that they have taken the page down. It was legit. Adobe stopped supporting CS2, and thus, offered it free to those that asked for it, but it was hard to find and navigate to. Basically, Adobe pointed people there, for only those that asked.

Here's the page (Only those that have previously purchased CS2 should download it):

Download Adobe Acrobat 7 and Adobe Creative Suite 2 products

My favorite, free alternative is Gimp, but it takes some serious rethinking on how to use the program. It isn't quite as intuitive as photoshop.

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Anonymous

https://forums.adobe.com/people/God+I+hate+Adon%27tbe wrote
I've seen several websites advertising Photoshop CS2 for free, is this true?...
Download Adobe Photoshop CS2 For Free Legally While You Still Can [Tutorial] | Redmond Pie
Download adobe photoshop cs2 full version free
http://softlay.net/photo-image/image-editor/adobe-photoshop-cs2-free-download.html
There are far more sites like this if you search.

Well, i doubt these outsourced sites. Always go for official Abobe portal with proper licensing. But i guess CS2 support isn't there anymore.?

D Fosse

Community Expert

But i guess CS2 support isn't there anymore.?

That would be a fairly good guess given that this software was released in 2005

The whole question is rapidly becoming moot anyway. Good luck getting CS2 to work at all on modern systems.

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Legend

Yes you can’t Register. No, it’s not free. To download it and use it, if a person didn’t have a license is, as far as I‘m concerned, STEALING. If a person is ok with stealing when they think they can get away with it, that’s on their conscience not mine. But to try to trick other people into stealing it, by lying about it being free, is really low.

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Legend

I really hate the irresponsible attitude of these sites, who really just want to boost their ratings or stick it to Adobe, and who are (in the first generation at least) fully aware of the limitations they don't share. It's like telling someone they can get free goods in [name of store here] by sticking them in their pockets and walking out. They are setting people up for serious legal repercussions, without a care in the world.

I'm not sure we can say Adobe "don't care". Big companies set up piracy encorcement departments, whose job it is to care, and who probably haven't been issued with a statute of limitations. But that doesn't really matter; software auditing is an independent activity; in some countries at least, auditing organisations have the right to visit and inspect every company, and may even reward tip-offs. These things could get companies fined, and staff sacked.

And yes, I hate the junkware too.

God_I_hate_Adon_tbeAuthor

Known Participant

Yes - I'm afraid I genuinely dislike Adobe as a company. Photoshop is truly a great product, but it has been taken away by the suits and turned into a cash cow, purely and simply. There's no reason on this planet, with all the money they've made from the software over the years, that they can't take a similar approach to the like sof Microsoft and lower the price for home users. It's simply out and out greed.

This question, though, isn't the correct forum for my moans. (Let's face it, Adobe will never listen to us).

D Fosse

Community Expert

take a similar approach to the like sof Microsoft and lower the price for home users.

Actually they have. The current subscription price for PS+Lr is significantly lower than the old perpetual license pricing. Just do the math, and be sure to factor in upgrade pricing along the way.

I can't imagine anyone not being able to afford $10 a month. It's about the same as Netflix, and people pay several times more each month for their cellphones. without flinching.

Greed? Maybe. I have no doubts that the Adobe CEO pays himself more each day than I make in an entire year. But that's a different discussion.

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Test Screen NameCorrect answer

Legend

These sites are liars. They don't care that if you follow their instruction you will have unlicensed software. They don't care that if you're a business and you get audited, you face large penalties.

The deal is, this is a REPLACEMENT CS2 for people who ORIGINALLY PAID FOR CS or CS2. The replacement is needed because the original no longer installs properly. That's all. If anyone else uses it, it's no better than any pirate software off the web.

God_I_hate_Adon_tbeAuthor

Known Participant

Wow! Strong response, nearly as strong as my response to some of the junkwear that gets installed with Adobe products.

After reading the first site a bit more closely, it appears that you are correct; the site is quite misleading and edges around the subject of licensing and whether it's truly free or not.

Thanks for the reply.

D Fosse

Community Expert

Wow! Strong response

We're just a bit tired of pointing this out...

Although, honestly, I don't think anyone at Adobe cares all that much. This is ancient software, seriously outdated, which will probably not even install or run properly on most current systems.

But from a legal standpoint it's perfectly clear. You must have a valid CS/CS2 license to use it. It was put up because the original activation servers had to be shut down for technical reasons, so if these licensed users needed to reinstall, it would not activate.

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