I know many of us here like to play with PhotoShop, but it can be a bit pricey. I ran across something interesting on Techtv.com that can let others play along for free. I have no idea how well this program will work, but it may be worth a look: http://www.techtv.com/callforhelp/freefile/story/0,24330,3622707,00.html

I would recommend a program called GIMP (Gnu Image Manipulation Program). Its a totally free open-source photoshop like program. It started on linux and has been ported to windows. It is a little bit harder to get into, but is by far the best of the totally-free paint programs.
http://www.gimp.org/

Just bumping this a bit, because they just announced that version 2.0 of GIMP is available. It's free, and while probably not quite in Photoshop's league, it's got more power than 90% of us would ever use.

And I would bet that 90% of the people running Photoshop never paid for a legitimate copy of it; why not use a program that is intended to be free, instead?

-Keith

And I would bet that 90% of the people running Photoshop never paid for a legitimate copy of it; why not use a program that is intended to be free, instead?
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Whether or not anyone paid for Photoshop shouldn't
even be an issue here-- it's an awesome program
definitely worth the investment in more ways than
any other program.

-C!