As a trained graphic designer, I would like to stress that Adobe Photoshop is meant to be a professional photo manipulation application. For the general user, Adobe Photoshop Elements, which comes free with many digital cameras and photo/document scanners, is strongly suggested.

I would like to point out that Corel's software has never, and I stress "never", been a mainstream program used by the graphic and design industry. If a individual wishes to use Corel software for individual use, I don't see a problem. However, as many people have argued over many years, the software that is used by the professional industries should be taught to our students. Just because it is free does not mean it is good software. As a user of Adobe's various pieces of software (even before they were owned by Adobe) I cannot stress the harm that will be done to students who are taught using software that does not meet industry standards.