I'm interested in some photo editing software, but I'm not sure which program to get.

Here's what I want:

*must be relatively easy to pick up

*can not cost over $120, $150 at the most

*allow me to enter chopping competitions and create sigs

*and be reliable (i.e. does not crash frequently or close by itself)

I'm looking at the Adobe Photo Shop Elements 4.0, since it's reasonably priced ($79.98 at Target), but Corel Photo something-or-another Version X looked like a good bet, too.

Any suggestions?

1. Go to www.bearshare.com or www.limewire.com

2. Download their free software.

3. Search for Photoshop 7.0 Full Version

4. Download. It'll be a large file.

5. If you don't have Winzip, search for and download Winzip. Any version.

6. Unzip Photoshop 7.0 file and download from there.

Or you can use "BitTorrent" which from my experience, is much more reliable and safer than using Limewire or Bearshare or Kazaa. I can average 100Kbs on my DSL connection because everybody HAS to share (so do you).

If you know a bit about computers, BitTorrent might be a good decision, but you do need to know how to configure ports, a router if you have one, etc.

A good program decision is called Azereus. If you are interested in it, just post and I can help set you up and give you some "tracker" web sites and search sites.

I'm not going to download anything yet, since my dial-up would crap out on my. I'll wait until we get hooked up to DSL sometime soon.

Captain: I don't really know a lot about computers, but I could figure it out with some directions. And if you wouldn't mind, some info on Azereus would be nice, just to consider all my options.

Thanks guys, I thought I'd have to spend big $$$ on this.

Well, there's a link to their site below. I'm not sure how much help it'll be for you, but just coming from me, I have used two BitTorrent programs, and this is the best.

Azureus

There are other BitTorrent "Clients. "

Another good one is Bit Tornado ... It's interface is relatively simple to use, but I found that it wasn't as good as Azureus at tinkering with ports, and bandwidth issues.

Then there's BitLord which is also pretty easy to use.

There are always new programs coming out that offer something better than the rest, but I stick with the more mainstream programs just because they are generally reliable.

Now Azureus does have one issue... it is Java based. This means you will have to install Java from Sun Technologies onto your computer. It's not spyware, it's not adware, its an actual program that underpins many others...

It just adds to the complexity of the program, and since you don't know that much about computers, it can be a pain if anything goes wrong.

I didn't have any problems with it, and I'm sure you won't either. But if you want true ease of use, try BitLord.

if you understand networking use Shareaza and in setup use power mode then go to file connections and connect to the other two and tinker with your settings with my DSL i have gotten up to 1.45 mbs

The GIMP Is free and has most of the functionality of Photoshop.