The GIMP

For years I've been looking for good digital imaging/photo editing software that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. At work I've used Adobe Photoshop, the de facto standard for professionals, but I can't quite seem to justify the hefty $649 price tag. I've also used Adobe Photoshop Elements ($99), Corel Paint Shop Pro (back when it was Jasc - $79), and Ulead Photoimpact (a long time ago - $89). Of these, Elements was the best, and cost the most.As a final resort, I decided to try the GIMP. Ordinarily, I love Free/Open Source Software. I use Mozilla Firefox, Apache, PHP, and to a lesser extent Knoppix, but I just couldn't see how anyone could create a top shelf image editor for free. I tip my cap to the GIMP though, the program is excellent.