I`ve been working with a GREAT design program called Paint Shop Pro since 1999.
My currently version is PSP 7.04 but I know Corel Paint Sop Pro XI version is out.
Here is a link to developer Corel

There is so much impressing nice and cool "stuff" you can make in this
program, and ofcourse you have to learn how to work in PSP.
So I will put some links that has tutorials for Paint Shop Pro,
which is basically a step-by-step recipe :o)

Here are some pages with lots of links and tuts - Enjoy! *Smile*

If you would like to see some homepages I`ve designed here`s links to
them below.