I am looking for a good piece of image editing software. I know the GIMP is free, but I am wondering what you guys recommend. Adobe Photoshop seems to be the gold standard. However, its really expensive. How about Photoshop Elements as an alternative? This is a challenge posting by CNChallenger.

Try Irfanview.

I use Paint Shop Pro. You can get older versions for a very low price. For example version 6 for $21-$26: http://www.google.com/products/cata...

photoshop elements works real good too. I also use Picasa 3 which is free from google, has lots of good features, you may want to try it. I use Picasa and Photoshop 7 for my wedding shoots and they work great. Some HELP in posting on Computing.net plus free progs and instructions Cheers

My wife prefers Paint.net mainly because it enables her to retouch digital photos with colors palette, special effects, and up to 3200% enlargments. It's free. i_Xp/VistaUser

Xp/VistaUser, I'm just wondering if having download all the extra pluggins if it is a good prog for beginning editors, like user-friendly? Sounds like a good prog to me, but I wasn't sure about the pluggins Thanks Some HELP in posting on Computing.net plus free progs and instructions Cheers

Paint.net has no plugins. Everything including floating window for the colors palette is from the menu bar. IMO it is very easy to master. My wife knows very little about computer but after an hour or so of playing with the program she became an expert in retouching photo blemishes. Give it a try - you will like it. i_Xp/VistaUser