Photoshop is the 'industry standard' photo editor and pretty much all-around graphics editor. It has a price tag to match that claim.

Paint Shop Pro (I think it's version 10 now) is a decent application that will get you about 80-90% of the functionality of Photoshop, at about a tenth of the price (after PSP discounts).

In the same price range as PSP, and you're looking at around $100 USD but there are almost always discounts of about 20%, would be Photoshop Elements. It has about 90-95% of the functionality of Photoshop, but is more in the range of what a home consumer would be likely to spend.

I started using PSP for image editing about 8 years ago, but quickly switched to Photoshop. I personally find the interface easier in PS than in PSP, but that's a matter of user preference.

PSP offers a 90 day, fully functional trial at Corel Corporation - Home of CorelDRAW, WordPerfect, Paint Shop Pro, Photo Album and Painter. Photoshop Elements has a trial as well, though I don't know how long it lasts. You can find Elements at Adobe.

Maybe I should look into Gimp. I really am trying to cut down on piracy in my life.

Originally Posted by capitalist_junkie

Maybe I should look into Gimp. I really am trying to cut down on piracy in my life.

That sounds like me. Yes, Gimp sounds like a good, free alternative, specially with the mod Liz pointed. Paintshop Pro's 90-day trial sounds decent enough time for me to try it. No one seems to be interested in MS Digital Image.

i use either Photopaint (COrel) or Photoshop.. or i use both.. depending on what i'm trying to do