I need some help with programs

Alright, I've always been into making wallpapers, sigs, and other stuff, but I've always just worked with whatever I had. Recently, I've been wanting to make better quality works and I'm wondering if there's any free programs I should be looking at or if someone knows somewhere I can download Photoshop for free. I know, its borderline blasphemy that I don't have Photoshop, and you can crucify me if you want (on an interesting tangent, I've actually been crucified before, if you'd like to hear the story ask me). So, yeah, that's about it, hook ups would be appreciated to the max.

I don't use photoshop, and when someone asks for a free alternative in DA, I suggest the GIMP. The interface takes getting used to (I personally hate it), but it does do what most commercial programs can do. That, plus it has a lot of support (tutorials, brushes, etc) from the DA community, far more than other free photomanipulation programs. There's also "GIMP shop", a modified version of GIMP to look like photoshop (in case you're already used to photoshop or plan to get photoshop in the future).

http://www.gimp.org/

There _are_ major differences, such as GIMP being incapable of CMKY (only relevant if you're making commercial prints), or differences in their magic lasso (annoying, but unless you've already had a lot of experience with PS it shouldn't be that big a problem), but generally GIMP is very well considered a solid alternative to PS.

There also paint.net, pixia, and dogwaffle (haven't used them before, so can't comment)

http://www.getpaint.net/index.html
http://park18.wakwak.com/~pixia/index.html
http://www.thebest3d.com/dogwaffle/free/

If you're looking for a paint progam (a program that emulates traditional media, as opposed to a pure raster graphics editor), I recommend Artweaver, which does the job and is (realtively) easy to use (can't figure out how to use layers yet, though)

http://artweaver.en.softonic.com/

For vectors, there's inkscape (buggy, very buggy, but gets the job done when it does work):

http://www.inkscape.org/


Of course, feel free to ignore all of the above if you choose to get PS (bought or otherwise) anyway. The above are just free alternatives.

I have CS3 Photoshop PM me if you want links.

Obviously, you're going to want to get the latest version of Photoshop if at all possible. Of course, GIMP is pretty good in its own right considering it's free. It takes a bit longer to get used to it than PS, but as long as you're not a person who needs the highest levels of speed, efficiency, and professionalism, it should suit your needs. GIMP is currently capable of handling CMKY.

Dude just stick to PS.

Photoshop is for sure the best and most practical.

I'd recommend learning to use bit torrent to get the latest PS as well as tutorials. I doubt this site allows linking to that sort of thing, but a quick google search should open up a pathway to allow you to work on it.