Ok, so I know the mother of all software is PS, however, for those of us that don't have the financial resources at this time to purchase the new CS3 version, does someone know another good preferably free software program that is close to being as wonderful as PS is? Thanks for the input.
pm me off list, i think i can scrounge a free copy of ps elements for you, it came with several of my earlier canon cameras and it's a good way to intro to ps, plus lot's of books available at local libraries
I use Photoshop Elements 5.0 myself ... I used to have a full version of PS, but frankly, I didn't use 90% of it, so I didn't make the leap when CS came out. I've never wanted to edit a picture in some fashion that I couldn't do in Elements. Frankly, it's a great deal for $60 - 70. If you can land a free old copy of PS 4.0, grab it. It'll work fine for most people.
If you own a Mac, I'd check out Pixelmator which was just released a couple of weeks ago. It is very PS-like using levels, layers, masks and other PS-like tools. It's new so it's far from being a complete editor but for only $59 (with a free 30 day trial), might be worth a look. I will be. ;D Many people report it's got more than enough power to start out with. I'm looking at it as a way to learn PS type image editing before spending over $600.
Any comments on the free download of GIMP? I know if you have the newer version of a Mac , you need to do some additional software from your disk. I know they also have a GIMP Tutorial available.