Question about gimp...

While the GIMP does do a good job, it's kind of hard to get a handle on. (well, at least for me.)

Use The GIMP and save up for a legit copy of photoshop?

 

FWIW, Photoshop Elements does all a non-pro would need, and it's well under $100 if you shop around.

GraphicConverter is cheaper (free to try), less "Photoshoppy" but maybe useful to you, and is solid software.

 

The GIMP is a good alternative to Photoshop feature-wise, but in my opinion and the opinion of many others, it has an absolutely awful UI. Photoshop is certainly not my favorite app in terms of UI, but it's miles ahead of The GIMP. I'd recommend GraphicConverter over The GIMP any day. Anyway, The GIMP is free, so no harm in downloading it and trying out. You may not dislike it as much as I do.

 

I second the recommendation for Elements - it has a decent feature set for a non-pro user and is pretty easy to use.

I tried GIMP for a bit, and while I really like the idea of free open source equivalents to mainstream programs, I found it really hard to use. As with some other X11 apps, it feels much more 'Windows" like, which isn't necessarily a problem in itself, but when used in a mixed environment with OSX really jarred for me.

Having said that, I know people who have persevered with GIMP and have got very impressive results using it.

 

Yes indeed GIMP is free but then so is walking and cycling

It depends what you want to do

VERY Basic editing can be done in preview !

As somebody into photography and manipulation you see a nice technique published in a magazine for Photoshop. If you are lucky they will tell you how to do it in Paint Shop Pro or Elements.

ER UM GIMP you will be scanning for a long time.

Plus the massive amount of resources and user knowledge about the Adobe products out there.

GIMP IS NOT A FREE BIT OF SOFTWARE THAT COMPETES WITH PHOTOSHOP and I wish people would stop saying it is.