Once they peel the $649 US out of your fingers, PS isn't all that bad, just $129 for upgrades, ($149 if you pay high retail). I think 8.0 is supoposed to come out this fall. I'm gonna watch the support forums at Adobe really, really close this time.

Photoshop

If for only one reason ACTIONS, and then keyboard shortcuts. They are essential to me. If I don't make them I download them. Time is money and ACTIONS saves me a whole lot of money. PS with Eye Candy 4000 is nice and about with every other plugin, you can do just about anything. I love it. Of course I haven't had the pleasure of PSP.

Here is a link to a great place for everything PS. Which I'm sure all serious PS's know of

http://share.studio.adobe.com/axBrowseProduct.asp?p=2

Not sure about actions, but Paintshop Pro supports the Photoshop plugins.

paxx: not all of them, some run on PS only. and errrm, plugins are not really cool ... EyeCandy bevels are a horror.

Agree, I really hate all the plugins I've tried, except those that come with Photoshop. The bevels are actually nice, and so are the drop shadows.

Well, I like most of the plugins I have. Of course I haven't used every aspect of them all. But I haven't had a problem with Eye Candy yet.

Now...if only one of them was a dolphin-generating plugin...and a palm-tree filter....ooh what joy...

not talking about problems with EyeCandy, but it´s way overused.

sounds like they are both too expensive for me.

I got my first copy of Photoshop used on Ebay from a student that no longer needed it for about what PSP costs now. I wouldn't advise doing that anymore, though. The last three DVDs I have bought have ended up being bad pirate jobs. I would assume the software isn't much different these days.

Paul, try the GIMP. It's free and really it's as good as Photoshop. It's even superior in some degrees as it has a scripting capabilities for making your own filters and such. There are sites where you can download other people's scripts. It bit like Photoshop's actions, but much more powerfull.
The only problem with the Gimp is its learning curve. A bit steep. But once you get the hang of site, the sky's the limit.
Other limitation: no CMYK. But if you don't do professional print jobs, you don't need it.

A link would be nice: http://www.gimp.org

i use The GIMP and it´s not as good as Photoshop, but definately better than most commercial bitmap editors.
here´s the link to the installer (for MS Windows): http://www2.arnes.si/~sopjsimo/gimp/

Well, for 90% of the people, it's just as good. And the scripts are a cool addition.

I use the Gimp when I'm on my Linux partition, and I still don't quite understand it all. I'm so used to Photoshop, it's hard to switch. Gimp is sooo different.

Jafo, easy!
If one were to create a tube filled with Dolphins (and I'm sure it has been done already) one could spray them all over ad infinitum!
And Palm Trees ... that would be a breeze!
How about generating the Dolphins and Palm Trees in Bryce and converting them to PSP tubes!!!

wombat..if you do that I'm afraid I will have to kill you.
The world is not ready for such horrors...