Bill D -

I have used a (commercial) program called PaintShopPro some years ago, and while it was "okay" then I went to one of the "bigger guys." I suspect the one you're talking about may be a spinoff of the old "for sale" thing into freeware, or perhaps is something entirely new and different.

The PSP I recall was a "paint" program intended for "creating your own paintings" but not too useful for fixing up photos. That was before file types were as well standardized as now, and it also gave me a lot of problems with "proprietary file types" other than its own. The "now" PSP of course needs to be looked at as something different, but there still is a significant separation between "create" programs and "photo" programs. Many programs have some features on both sides of the line, but it's worth looking for something on the side you need.

By coincidence, one of my "tech gossip" newsmails last night linked in a PCMagazine review of "freeware" that might be of interest. – or not – at Free Software: Good, For Nothing By Michael J. Steinhart, PC Magazine 09.28.05. [Please NOTE the comma in the title.] You may already be familiar with most of what they discuss, but you might get a chuckle out of what the "big guys" who have all the high priced programs think about some of the freeware. (They actually were pretty impressed.)

One of the items reviewed is called PhotoPlus 6, claimed to be "close to Photoshop Elements," and free:

"Software company Serif has a novel approach for attracting new customers to its latest applications: Give away the old versions. At www.serif.com you can buy 2005's PhotoPlus 10 for $80, and atwww.freeserifsoftware.com you can download 1999's PhotoPlus 6 for free. So, while PhotoPlus 6 clearly isn't the latest and greatest, it is hands-down the best free basic image editor around.
Read the PhotoPlus 6 full review here. (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1864651,00.asp)."

Kat - Although it's "another program to learn" it might fill the gap until you can find your Photoshop Install Disks, if your other program isn't sufficient. Download is about 18 MB.

I haven't tried it, but the source, PC Magazine, is generally credible. The "full review" does note a couple of idosyncrasies in PP6, so a quick look is suggested if you want to try it out. I do intend to suggest it to my poverty stricken child who found out he didn't have any imaging software a couple of days ago, but he's "on the road" and won't be back to try it out for at least a week.

John