:mattLandia:

Virtually all the images created, edited, or tweaked on this site were done using Macromedia Fireworks. For Photoshop purists out there, that may border on heresy, but I got turned on to Fireworks in 98 and made it my tool of choice. Granted, virtually all of my work (including my photography) is showcased digitaly and Fireworks greatest strengths favor digital vs. print images. The one drawback is the cost to purchase new or upgrade.

I was turned on to a free photo editing tool recently called Paint.NET. I've played with it for about an hour and feel like this is a pretty decent photo editing app. A couple of observations:

- You'll need to install the Microsoft .NET framework first. It doesn't take more than a few minutes to install (using broadband).
- It seems really speedy at processing, resizing images, applying multiple color filters, etc.
- When saving, it prompts the user to optimize the file size, a huge plus to anyone posting photos on the web.
- It's more like PS than Fireworks, so I got stuck on how to do some relatively simple things like adding a drop shadow, but I'm sure it's more my lack of PS experience.
- And it's FREE.

Give it a try.