Slakker, try GIMP, it's no lame application. I still think PS is the best but there are many other tools that are good. I currently use Photoshop 4 which I bought just after 5 came out at a much reduced price, never had the spare spondoolies to upgrade, I've seen 6 available at quite reasonable price. (BTW I also use painter (version 5.5 a freebie) quite a bit and it accepts most PS plug-ins which is useful)

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Toolset: Blender, GIMP, Indigo Render, LuxRender, TopMod, Knotplot, Ivy Gen, Plant Studio.