To those of you who are endorsing Photoshop: Did you guys actually buy this software? Or are you using some academic version? I ask because $650 seems like a ridiculously high price tag to me. Especially when GIMP has mostly the same features (though admittedly is not so nice to use).

Because no-one has mentioned it yet - Art Rage. Not free but very cheap "real media" raster editor (so not really suitable for small scale pixel work). Although if you've got lots of money to burn then one of Oluseyi's suggestions are likely to be more advanced.

Quote: Original post by Trapper Zoid

Quote: Inkscape has one major drawback: it becomes incredibly slow once you start using blur effects.

That can be a real pain, I agree. I tend to stick to solid colours with Inkscape, but if I use blurs I stick them on their own layer so I can toggle their display on and off.

Maybe my computer is showing its age, but Inkscape goes pretty slowly if I have nearly-full-screen radial gradients. Not a very common situation, but it's annoying if you're zooming in close to edit something with a radial blur.

Quote: Original post by Simian Man
To those of you who are endorsing Photoshop: Did you guys actually buy this software? Or are you using some academic version? I ask because $650 seems like a ridiculously high price tag to me. Especially when GIMP has mostly the same features (though admittedly is not so nice to use).

If you're just starting out and doing pure "painting" in Photoshop, you can actually use Photoshop Elements - which costs a far more reasonable $99. If you don't need Photoshop's advanced effects and find Sketchbook Pro adequate, it only costs $195.

As for me, I need a whole bunch of Adobe software - Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, InDesign (the grad program I'm trying to get into actually requires evidence of facility with this one), After Effects - so I'm saving up to purchase Creative Suite 3 Production Premium. It costs $1700, but that's cheaper than any three of the Adobe products I mentioned.

Quote: Original post by OrangyTang
Because no-one has mentioned it yet - Art Rage. Not free but very cheap "real media" raster editor (so not really suitable for small scale pixel work). Although if you've got lots of money to burn then one of Oluseyi's suggestions are likely to be more advanced.

ArtRage 2 is great, and it only costs $20 - or, at least it did when I bought it. (I can't find my license file, though, and I don't think they'll let me download the Mac version after buying the Windows one... unlike ActiveState, who license the software, not specific platform builds. Boo!) However, ArtRage 2 is far from a Photoshop replacement.

Quote: Original post by Ezbez
Maybe my computer is showing its age, but Inkscape goes pretty slowly if I have nearly-full-screen radial gradients. Not a very common situation, but it's annoying if you're zooming in close to edit something with a radial blur.

I seem to remember similar issues on my older computer. I tend to work with regions of solid colour so it's never been a deal breaker for me. I think it's getting better with newer revisions of Inkscape, but since I'm also improving in hardware it's hard to know. Plus I tend to gravitate towards techniques which work well in Inkscape so it's a bit of an adaptive process on my part - my choice of technique has been driven by the limitations of the software, not the other way around.

Quote: Original post by Oluseyi
As for me, I need a whole bunch of Adobe software - Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, InDesign (the grad program I'm trying to get into actually requires evidence of facility with this one), After Effects - so I'm saving up to purchase Creative Suite 3 Production Premium. It costs $1700, but that's cheaper than any three of the Adobe products I mentioned.

Could you apply for the education discount? I got the CS3 Web Premium pack last year for a lot less than US$1700, figuring it was worth buying now while I could get it for half price.

Quote: Original post by Trapper Zoid
Could you apply for the education discount?

I'd have to wait until I was in school to do that - fall 2009. Considering I need InDesign skill to get into the school...

Yeah, I wish I'd gotten it when I was in school, and just been upgrading. You live, you learn.

Quote: Original post by Oluseyi

Quote: Original post by Trapper Zoid
Could you apply for the education discount?

I'd have to wait until I was in school to do that - fall 2009. Considering I need InDesign skill to get into the school...

Yeah, I wish I'd gotten it when I was in school, and just been upgrading. You live, you learn.

It's a real Catch 22, isn't it?

It'd probably be cheaper to enrol in some small course somewhere, buy the education version, then withdraw immediately [smile]. I think the price difference is roughly what I paid to get my Diploma of Education.

Here's a free 2d paint program, which simulates natural media pretty well, from the samples I've seen.

http://www.thebest3d.com/dogwaffle/free/

-ddn

I used to use Photoshop when I was at school and it was a damn good piece of software. It surely got better in the latest versions but now I use Gimp and I find it good enough. Paint shop Pro seemed good too when I last tried a demo (several years ago) and I always found Photopaint very near to Photoshop in terms of features (actually, last time I used it it had more tools for hand painting than PS).

So I would say that if you have no concerns about price, just buy PS.
If you have limited budget, Photopaint or Paint Shop Pro will be valid tools.
If you don't need very advanced features you may go with Gimp: it has filters, channels, color profiles and levels and much more. Soon it will support HDR images as well. I've used it for years now and have no complaints (as most other OSS, a better GUI would be cool though). Of course, for professional users I would suggest other packages, but for anyone else it is good (lets say it: I prefer GIMP to a cracked copy of PS)...

GIMP on Win32 did not support Wacom tablets' pressure sensitivity last time I tried it. Without it the GIMP is not a serious contender for a 2D art package.