Just to add my tuppence worth ...!!!
As others have said you cannot really go past Adobe Photoshop ... Anything from about version 6 onwards will cater for almost all your needs ... DOWNSIDE ---? --- it costs an arm and a leg!!!
While I have not used Elements .... I hear very good reports that for the cost of a couple of hundred dollars here in Australia (not sure about prices elsewhere) you get a very good general purpose image editing application that in its current version has many of the sort after feature found in its full blown cousin (PS CS) ...
One other thing to do ... is also go to the newsagent and look at many PC magazines and photo related ... Those that have the typical CD stuck to the front cover ...
Quite often you will find a full version of a particular s/w application that might be 2 revisions old ... so you might get something like Photoshop 7 for the cost of the mag ($15 to $20???) ... quite a good saving ...
Hope this helps ...
Regards,
Gary Wilkinson
www.restoring-photos-made-easy.com
