I'm starting to hear a lot about layers! I'm just getting started in this work, and I've been trying to settle on some graphic software to get started with. I've spent a lot of time looking at different programs such as GIMP (which really doesn't have a whole lot of information to look at), Adobe Photoshop CS4 (which appears to be very difficult to use), and I've been looking at CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4, which looks like it might be the best for me. But I keep hearing about layers! I'm not sure if I'll have that capability with CorelDRAW, and I can't seem to find that kind of information in its description. So I'm assuming that I won't have it with that program. Can anyone advise me please? If I do go with CorelDRAW and I don't have the ability to layer, is there a way to gain that ability in both ease of use and monetarily?

Most companies (Adobe, Corel) allow you a free 30 day trial dowlnoad on their software. Their websites usually state the features. Photoshop is a wonderful program and we've had a love affair for years, but I do 3D digital art, etc. You can also buy older version of various software from places like Amazon.com. While not the 'newest', they are less expensive and still a fine job. I've used Photoshop 7.0 for years and have yet to upgrade CS4

Ulead PhotoImpact 12 (Most recent version is Corel) is very powerful, very easy to use (for me, anyway) and inexpensive. It allows you to work with layers, in the form of "objects" and has great masking tools. It's not perfect, and does occasionally have some minor issues, but I use it for almost everything.

Thank you both for your input! This is very complicated when evaluating some many products.

http://gimp-savvy.com/BOOK/index.html talks you through a lot of the GIMP. It is free, so its a good one to start playing with.

Look for CorelDRAW X3 (one version old) for less than $100 - you can do virtually EVERYTHING that ANY other program can do. Layers, cut-outs, multi-pages, etc etc etc - and you will get over 1,000 Open Type fonts to use along with the vector drawing program, photo editing program, tracing program, bar-code generator, PDFs, page layout, more more more - and is far far easier to learn than Photoshop (both have LOTS of books and free online tutorials available).

And Corel PhotoPaint can use the Photoshop 'actions' (macros) too. No other suite allows the add-ons that CorelDRAW does (embroidery digitizing, vinyl sign cutting, laser engraving, font creation, more more more).

And even if you buy the very latest version, at full price, you will pay less for the entire suite than you will pay for either Photoshop OR Illustrator (which offer basically no fonts to work with either).

If you are going to work for a graphics design firm, or work in professional photo-editing for some magazine ... get Photoshop - otherwise it is a HUGE waste of money - and time to learn.
.