Photo-Paint hands down for general image editing chores. It does everything PS does with a better interface (totally customizable) and more. Brushes are better and it also has an image sprayer (which PS doesn't have at all). It also does CMYK and LAB mode which PSP and Photoimpact dont. (But I love Photoimpact anyway, it's just neat.) And Photo-paint is more efficient than PS. I was writing a bunch of tutes on doing the same thing in both PS and Photo-paint. In every darn case Photo-paint used fewer steps! And no clumsy two-handed shortcut keys because you can define 'em any way you want! Easier selections and masking in Photo-paint too. If you just want to paint, though, Painter is the best. Nothing comes close to its brushes.