Adobe Photoshop

Photoshop is an essential skill for a print or Web production artist. As the name indicates, it is at its best when working with photographs, and has limitations when it comes to the creation of original graphics. To combat widespread software piracy, Adobe also sells a reduced version of Photoshop called Photoshop Elements. This is considerably cheaper than the full version and is adequate for Web graphics, but does not contain many of the prepress features needed for professional-quality print work. A key feature of Photoshop is its "filters" menu, which allows easy manipulation of a photograph to look like a watercolor painting, a windswept landscape, a stained-glass window, and so forth. Beyond the filters packaged with the program, a number of third-party "plugins" are available to help you achieve a specific look.