I use Irfanview more than anything, especially to size wallpaper. I found the instructions lacking for some things like cropping. I still have Roxio and will continue with it for "fixing" photos until it is no longer supported. Then I will go with Irfanview for everything. I don't do a lot of pictures anymore, there is no one who shows an interest in them besides me. I don't even take a camera with me on trips anymore.

The problem on graphic loaded threads is avatars, over-sized pictures, fancy signatures, cartoons, etc. can cause difficulty, delay, and pure frustration for DUN members, low end "high-speed" members and those with unreliable/varying speeds. Not all members have reliable middle to high end dsl or cable. So for as long as I can remember members as a courtesy whenever possible have reduced pictures and refrained from loading up posts with graphics. When a member cancels viewing a thread because the thread takes too long to load or doesn't load all members lose. DA

I never installed Elements, gave it to my granddaughter so she could get a copy of PS CS2 for $299. I think it's probably ok, just not as fully functional as CS2. If that version of PSP works on your system (some people had trouble with it, can't remember what that was about), it should do pretty much what you need until you know which direction you want to go. I think for people who are serious about post processing photographs, Photoshop has better filters, features and nice plugins. I love my plugin Velvia Vision which I had to purchase for somewhere around $25. Since I shoot RAW now and follow more discussions about that, most people in that circle are using CS2, DPP, RSE, some Picasa2 (free, but don't know if it handles RAW files), don't know what else, think the Nikonians have some proprietary software, also some use Bibble. I tried DPP and RSE but prefer CS2. You end up there doing final adjustments anyway if you have it, why not start there (I'm talking for people like me)? If you can get a copy of Elements that is upgradeable, I'd go that route and get PS CS2 for $299. The offer is supposed to be good until November. Otherwise, stick with PSP. It served me well until I felt I outgrew it.

Thank you for your response. I used Picture It for easily selecting images from pictures (like plants) and adding them to other pictures, for a very realistic effect, perhaps for a landscape plan. I haven't seen anything that works as well for that as well as for a few other nice features. Would irfanview do a good job of that, do you think? I'll look it up. Thank you.