I'm as green as it gets in knowing how to design/develop a good logo/graphic/design/whatever. I want to begin to stretch my boundaries and maybe begin to flex my meager muscles and learn how to be decent, then good at it. So...what is your favorite program to create/edit your projects? I know Adobe Photoshop is king daddy of them all, but it also has a king daddy price. Paint Shop Pro supposedly has 90% of Photoshop's features with about 20% of the price. And then there's Macromedia's Fireworks which I've been told is actually the best to make graphics but not so good with photos.

Anyway, all of that is gathered in bits and pieces from here and there. What is your opinion on the best one to use, which has the best value, and what would be best for me, as a beginner, to cut my teeth on?

Thanks in advance for the help.

StateDOG

this is going to turn into a "mine is bigger than yours" debate, probably...but i'd say: if you can afford it, get photoshop. if not, whatever suits your price range. also depends on whether you just want to do graphics etc for on-screen (web, cdrom, etc) or for print (in which case photoshop is the best solution)...
if you're an absolute beginner with no budget, you could always give the gimp a whirl http://www.gimp.org/

I have to say Fireworks is best if all you're going to do is create graphics for the Web and some minor photo projects.

It will use some Photoshop plugins, much easier on the learning curve and cost effective. I've been using it for a few years now and have had no problems. I do open up Photoshop occasionaly to do something really creative but not often.

...any GIMP users in here?
I just installed it on Linux, and it looks like a pretty good app, similar to photoshop.

I'm still waiting for Adobe to release a linux version of Photoshop

Hope you have quite a few years then!

Anyway, my fave is Photoshop 7.

Photoshop Elements. Almost all the features of Photoshop for $99.00

Sean