Is this paint program any good? Because I only have paint which is pretty pathetic compared to other programs....

Yes, its thousand times better than MSPAINT. The other option for graphics is Photoshop CS

opa i sense a little hostility in that reply , but yeah anything that microsofts makes is lame psp and aps are better.

Another good and also free graphics editor is the Gimp. I haven't used it before, but I have heard that it has all of the functionality of Photoshop, but not the big price tag.

You can't do anything with MSPaint.

Please name something you can possibly do with MS Paint except draw lines and circles? -.-

What about Corel Draw?



When I capture a screenshot, I paste it in MSpaint. I don't paste it in paintshop pro, photoshop, etc. because it took along time to load. See you can paste screen shot with MSpaint

Ok, but what can you do on Paintshop Pro? How come it's so much better?

Quite simply, Paintshop Pro, Adobe Photoshop and GIMP are all graphics programs, MSPaint is not.

All these three have a very important feature essential for any graphics program, the ability to work in layers. If you don't understand what this means, read any graphics tutorial on these forums and you will start to understand. Using layers allows you to make changes to different components of a graphic rather than the whole image, once you start experimenting with graphics you will come to realise just how important this is.

As for the various programs, how they rate and what they cost, here is my opinion for what it's worth.

GIMP
Cost = free
Rates fairly well, a good choice for a person beginning in graphic design. With this program you can learn the fundamentals. A lot of filters and brushes used with this program are compatible with Photoshop and Paintshop which you will probably progress to later on. Brushes and filters allow you to do some amazing things, the best way to find out what you can do is to experiment.

Paintshop Pro
Cost = Reasonable for what it can do
Rates similar to GIMP, perhaps a little higher. I personally used to use this program for all my graphic work because I like it's ease of use. This could be just because I had used it for a long time and had become familiar with it. Once again, brushes and filters used with this program are generally compatible with Photoshop and GIMP.

Photoshop
Cost = Expensive
Rates very high for it's power to create and manipulate stunning graphics. This program is used by professional graphic designers and is generally considered to be the 'Industry Standard' program. Yes it is expensive, but it has the power to do almost anything you can think of in the world of graphic design. If you're serious about designing graphics, this is the program you should use. (This coming from a former avid Paintshop user)

Do not waste your time with MSPaint, if you want to view a screenshot, you can do that in MS Word. If you want to create graphics, use a graphics program, not a toy.

Paint Shop Pro is pretty good. There's a trial version, after which you can purchase it after a certain time period (30 days, I believe). Still, it has the functions you would need without paying the hefty price tag for Photoshop.