good day to you all thanks for the response - i had already looked at a number of images in the Top20 and couldnt seem to find the names of the software used - obviously i searched the web for free software, it was the groups advice on which software was best - It looks like i will try Apophysis and poss Fractal explorer thanks very much and i hope to contribute to the group and gallery within the next few weeks! thanks lee (Ddd)