I'm a huge fan of Adobe Photoshop. I used Photoshop 7 to design the new techtalk logo. For anyone who's interested, I created the arrow by using the Custom Shape tool. I then imported all available shapes and then located the arrow shape. I skewed it a bit when creating the shape, then applied a gradient, drop shadow and stroke (outline).

I'm a big Photoshop fan too. However, if your starting out, Photoshop's interface can be VERY intimidating. It is very hard to get started - but once you do, you realize that everything is better the way Photoshop is.


My suggestion is to pick up a copy of Adobe Photoshop Elements 2. Elements is a scaled down, beginners, version of Photoshop (not only are the features scaled down, but the price is drasticly scaled down too. Photoshop is about $500, while Elements is about $89). That is how I got started, and with a book or a little instruction from someone, you should be well on your way!

Thanks... I just happen to have a buddy who has Photoshop. I think I will check it out!

Just to chime in...I use PSP 8. I have Photoshop also but PSP8 is much easier to use or maybe i'm just use to it after using it for so many years. I started with PSP and always intended to move to photoshop but everytime I found myself going back PSP. Download a trial here:
http://www.jasc.com/trialreg.asp?pid=K-PSP8-USDIR
P.S: it's also way cheaper

I do a lot of graphics and I've used many different programs before, in my opinion, nothing beats PhotoShop. You can download a copy of the user's guide from their website.

psp8 has a brill background removal tool.

I started out a few years ago with Paint Shop Pro, very easy to learn and a lot of the same features as photoshop. But now that I am a user of Photoshop I can't see myself using anything else, it is worth learning, but get your start with PSP.

Im personally a big fan of Photoshop and Fireworks.

Personaly i use photoshop cs 8.0
but i suggest using ulead Photoimpact over psp though
i think alot of you starting out with grfx will be very happy
with Photoimpact

heres some of my stuff iv done My art