No REAL Alternatives??!!
I disagree VERY much with your comment that there isn't any real alt. for Photoshop. Photoshop is in exactly the same situation that MS Office is in. It was the first graphics editing program to go big time on early PCs, and First does get you something. It gets you early name recognition and early market-share in the world of Big Biz. There are several other really nice, full featured software packages out there that perform the vast majority of functions that the VAST majority of users use. Corel acquired Paint Shop Pro from its creator, JASC several years ago and now markets it as Corel Paint Shop Pro PhotoX3. I still use the JASC version, but have heard very good things about Corel's version. The one REALLY BIG advantage of PSPPX3 over Photoshop CS is price. PSPPX3 is currently priced at $89.99. Photoshop CS5 is now pre-order priced from the Adobe web-site at $699!!!!!! For 98% of users (my personal guess), PSP does everything they'll ever need at 13% of the price.
Paris, cause she's SO perfectly beautiful she never needs touching up...
Biting the hand that feeds IT
