BEST SOFTWARE, NEED HELP PLZ Options

[brii07]

HII PPL IM NEW
AND I JUST STARTING OUT WITH MII
DESGIN,EDITING MII PICTURES ..
BUT I WOULD LOVE TO BRANCH OUT
AND MAKE GRAPICS AND STUFF
BUT I DONT KW WHAT SOFTWARE IS THE BEST TO DO THIS
I JUST HAVE PHOTOSHOP AND DREAMWEAVER..
THANKY..

[fixtatik]

GIMP is perfect for non-professionals. but, if you already have photoshop, don't bother getting GIMP. i downloaded GIMP to see what all the fuss was about, and there are many things different, but nothing different than what the average user would need.

what photoshop (cs4) has that GIMP doesn't:
- out-of-box RAW image support
- better sharpening control
- better (and simpler) white balance control
- better coloring options (full spectrum for hue, saturation & luminance)
- fringe correction (both red/cyan & blue/yellow)
- better red eye removal (you can adjust the size of pupils & how much you want darkened)
- spot, dust and scratch removal
- better brush control (sizing, spacing, more types, smoothing, wet edges, sporadic dabs, etc.)
- more accurate selection & resizing tools
- pen tool
- snap-to guides

i'm sure there are quite a few more, but that's what i got at a glance. like i said before, though, just because photoshop or paint shop pro or any others may be richer in features doesn't mean they're better programs than GIMP. what's best for you depends on what you need it for.