Don't know if this would be any kind of an upgrade, but it's free
Can't say I've used it much myself.

http://www.gimp.org/


--
RobertJM

"josh" <jillywoods@abcjillywoods.karoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:HcadnRRPtsvzrV3anZ2dnUVZ8vOdnZ2d@eclipse.net. uk...
> Hi
>
> I have been happy with ancient paint shop pro 7 for long enough, but a
> fright recently when the program wouldn't load and I couldn't find the
> disk either prompted me to think about upgrading. However, when I started
> searching on the net, I found that programs seemed seriously geared
> towards photography and overlooked other types of graphics. I do edit
> photos, but I am more likely to be doing creative work such as a
> cartoonist might do, by starting with a blank window or a drawing from the
> scanner.
>
> I need all the effects and drawing-type tools such as flood-fill
> (including graduated colours), colour replacer, sharpen, greyscale, gamma
> correction, invert selection, resize, save as gif or jpg and so on. No
> doubt there are more effect-type tools now available which I would find
> useful.
>
> One disappointment in PSP was poor text manipulation: I once needed to
> write text round a cylindrical shape but it just did not seem possible.
>
> One frustration I am finding while searching for alternative programs on
> the net is a seeming unwillingness by manufacturers to display an example
> of a working page, so that I could see the environment and the tools I
> would be working with.
>
> I look forward to readers' suggestions for a package which I would find
> exciting and rewarding to use.
>
> Josh
>
>