Is there a program as good as Photoshop CS3 but cheaper?

I dont have hundreds of dollars to spend on Photoshop and i have to think there is something out there that is at least comparable, and hopefully better than Photoshop CS3Is there a program as good as Photoshop CS3 but cheaper?
For the purposes most people seem to use Photoshop, the latest versions are a waste of money. Professionals like the latest and greatest versions, partly because we can afford them, and, more importantly, because the upgrades attempt to make productivity improvements, such as speeding up and combining functions.





Except for the superlative typograpy tools in later versions, there is very little the latest versions of Photoshop do that can't be done with earlier versions. Photoshop 3, for example, was the first version to introduce ';layers,'; and made the greatest advance in image editing technology. Even that only made certain projects, such as collages, easier to assemble.





So, to your question, you can find earlier versions of Photoshop, online and legal, for much cheaper than the latest one. If you get one only a few upgrades old, you will still have one POWERFUL design tool, as good as the professionals used a year or two ago. Or, you can locate an application called Photoshop Elements for about $100. I compare it's functionality to Photoshop 3 or 4, which was state of the art about 10 years ago. Still a powerful tool.Is there a program as good as Photoshop CS3 but cheaper?
I really like Corel's Paint Shop Pro. It's about a hundred bucks and it's just as good in my opinion.
Gimp. It's free. http://gimp.org/





Maybe not as good as but it comes pretty close considering the price.
Why don't you try one of the free ones to see if you


have the desire it takes to learn about photo editing?





gimp


paint.net





Painshop Pro is comaparable to Photoshop but costs much less.