I installed a tryout version of Photoshop this week and use PSP6 all the time. Now--I'm not 'painter', but think PSP would do all most folks would want for a lot less money. I found PS not quite as intuitive as PSP, but then I didn't spend a lot of time with it before uninstalling it. If I could afford PS without thinking much about it, I would probably buy it because I feel certain that it has lots of things in it not available in PSP, but I think you need to figure out what your needs are first (BTW, almost all filters used in PS will work in PSP). Also, you can dl a demo version of PSP I believe (http://www.jasc.com). I also have Painter Classic--that is sufficient for my needs-as I said--not a 'painter'. Its probably available REAL cheap somewhere --and comes with Wacom graphics tablets. I'd think about my needs really seriously because PS and Painter are pricey (but wonderful) apps. You might easily do quite well with much less pricey apps.