Software recommendations, anyone?

[Chris G]

I've never worked with art/photo software before, but for whatever crazy reason, I've decided to take a stab at designing my own artwork.

I'm trying the Paint Shop Pro evaluation that came with Saint's book, however, before I plunk down my money on a full package, I thought I'd ask you experts out there if you have any strong opinions for or against any particular programs.  I know there are many out there and am not sure if any one is better than another for our particular hobby.  Whatever I buy needs to have a good tutorial!

Thanks!

[Chris G]

By the way - yes, I checked out the Artwork FAQ, but the software threads are a bit aged...

[GoPodular.com]

*Any* program you choose will have just under 8 gazzilion tutorials online, so don't worry about that.  Plus most of the programs do the same stuff anyhow, so it's just a matter of finding that particular "tool" and you can do it in other programs as well.

I use PaintShop Pro, Photoshop, and Illustrator.  I usually design in PSP, add a touch of Illustrator and then compile all the different layers in Photoshop.  Photoshop seems to handle large files like saideart & 4-player cpo's better than PSP does.

The first thing you'll want to learn is the value of working in different layers.  For our cpo's, I'll have anywhere from 5-15 layers.  It make stuff easy to edit, select/mask and delete.  If you get into 5+ layers on a marquee size project, Photoshop will probably be better, but it has a little steeper learning curve.  Illustrator is probably the hardest for a beginner to use.