Updated 2009-09-30 I got an email from Amazon.ca today saying that they had screwed up on the price, and that they had cancelled my order. Fail.

Updated 2009-09-29 Sorry, this deal appears to have ended… Try checking back later to see if they revive it.

There’s a great deal on right now at Amazon.ca for pre-orders of Adobe Photoshop & Premiere Elements 8. The MSRP is $149.99 (USD) for the bundle, but if you order right now you can get them for $52.99 (CAD), and Adobe has a $30 (USD) mail-in rebate that will also apply. That brings the total price down to approximately $20 (CAD) depending on the exchange rate. Wow!

Alternatively you can pick up Photoshop Elements 8 on its own for only $24.99 (CAD) and use a $20 (USD) mail-in rebate to get Photoshop Elements for less than $5.00. Another wow!

Either way, Photoshop Elements is basically free and Premiere Elements is very cheap. Compare this to $738 for the full version of Photoshop CS4 and you’ll know that you’re getting a deal. Sure CS4 has a few more features than Elements, but if you’re using Adobe Lightroom or Apple Aperture as your main photo processing tool and you only need to do the occasional local edit that Lightroom can’t do, Photoshop Elements presents a pretty ideal alternative to CS4. Most photographers really have no need for the full set of features of CS4.

From Adobe:

Adobe Photoshop Elements 8
Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 8 combines power and simplicity so you can make your photos look extraordinary, share your life stories in unique print creations and web experiences, and easily manage your photos and video clips. New options enable you to create perfectly lit shots, recompose photos to any size without distorting key subjects, and quickly find your highest-quality shots or shots of specific people.

Adobe Premiere Elements 8
Adobe® Premiere® Elements 8 makes it easier than ever to create incredible movies, enhance your stories with professional style, share virtually anywhere, and easily manage your video clips and photos. Now you can easily manage all your clips and photos from a powerful, convenient new Organizer; add fun graphics and effects that automatically follow the motion in your scenes; and much more.