I'm looking for art editing software like Photoshop. Also, something I can make original artwork in as well. Are there any decent free ones out there or free trials? I just want to tinker around with different things. I don't want to spend money on something I may not even stick with. Thanks.

GIMP is free.

Thanks. Now to read over tutorials and other things on how to use it.

Also, Zbrush is a great piece of art software for the more 3d side of things. It has quite a bit of 2d image editing in it as well. Compared to other 3d software like Max or Maya though, its very unorthodox and has a quite steep learning curve.

Plus you'd have to steal a copy unless you wanna pay $300 or so, but its worth a look.

Anyone use GIMP and mind giving tips/showing me how to use it?


Edit: That Zbrush was friggin awesome, but I don't think I'm ready for that yet.

Artrage is easy to use for original artwork. The forums are very friendly with a huge amount of user created tools that you can download. There is a trial version but the full version is only $25 and well worth the price.

http://www.ambientdesign.com/

I make a living off digital art and I highly recommend Zbush, especially if you use a wacom board or any other type of stylus. It requires some learning but whence you pick up the basics the results are endless and highly detailed. Working with it is a lot more natural then other art programs. Most of the work you do in zbrush is referred to as molding clay. Your tools are often rakes, hammers, and a clay tube. Its not so much vector and polygon counting, plus it does some stunning 2d work as well. If your a skilled drawing/painting/inking artist you'll find zbrush lets you bring your natural hand skill into your works far easier then any other art program I've worked with. Zbrush gallery

I love that brush so much

I'm just going to stick with GIMP for now. Zbrush is way more than I'm looking for, nor do I qualify to use it.

Depending on your needs, Paint.NET is actually fantastic.

Well, I'm thinking about getting back into drawing. I probably will be wanting to mess with photos and images from the internet for avatars and such.

http://www.sumopaint.com/

An attempt to be the 'online photoshop'

You should try the Corel Painter 11 demo, it's quite awesome.

SAI and Open Canvas are $50. I love SAI and use it for everything unless it's major editing. Drawing with it is very easy and lines tend to come out crisp in it. But both lack a lot of tools Photoshop and Painter have.

For major editing, I use Photoshop. PS7 to CS3 is awesome. I haven't tried CS4. It's very expensive, however. If you don't want to spend money, get GIMP. (Or do what all the other poor people do, I'm not gonna say what but I'm sure everyone understands)

Corel Painter is pretty good, but it can be very frustrating and confusing at times. It also isn't recommended unless you have pen pressure.

If you want free programs, get GIMP or paint.net