Looking for new image editor... suggest one?

[Drac of the Sharp Smiles]

For a long time, I've been using Microsoft's Image Composer for editing my cel images, among other things. Problem is, it's been neither updated nor supported in many years and doesn't run well on my laptop (which runs Vista). Does anyone here have a program they really like? First, I want it to be able to open and save things in pretty much any format, including opening something from one format and saving it in another, but examples of specific things I'm looking to be able to do are:

-- Import images from existing files **or directly from a scanner**.
-- Edit multiple images, individually and with options to join them together, in one instance of the program via a "layers" approach.
-- Be able to save things as a single flat image, or save a "work in progress" in the multiple layers.
-- *Precision* cut out irregularly-shaped sections of images for separate editing.
-- Finely rotate images by as little as a 1% rotation or less, if I want.
-- Resize images, preferably by a choice of measurements, including pixels.
-- Apply paint options, specifically including "rubber stamping" and "smearing", with ability to paint with an airbrush-style brush.
-- Apply a variety of effects to an image, specifically including sharpening and outlining.

I've had people suggest Photoshop to me in the past and I suppose I could figure out how to use it if there really is nothing else, but my experiences with Photoshop have been that the program is as far from intuitive and user-friendly as you can get. Not to mention it's stupidly expensive, but the expense is far less of a showstopper than the fact that you practically need a college class to learn how to do a damn thing with it. .....Unless it's gotten better over the years? The last version of Photoshop I actually touched was version 3.0 (I think). I've heard of the "Photoshop Elements" thing they have now, but it doesn't sound like what I want.

Looking forward to the suggestions. ^_^

Many Sharp Smiles,
--Drac

[D123]

I use Adobe Photoshop 7.0 and it does most (if not everything) of the things you’ve listed here.
I’m by no means an expert on using it but over time and some tutorials I googled on the net I’ve been able to fix up the scans of my cels and make some nice little graphics too, So I would totally recommend using it
I will agree you do need like a class on how to fully use it but with what you listed and the more basic things I’ve found it not that hard. I was lucky and got mine for only $30.00 on amazon so I’m not sure how much there going for I know the newer editions are crazy expensive though

[zerospace]

If the cost of Photoshop bothers you, but you're willing to try a somewhat counter-intuitive program that can do a lot, you can always try GIMP. It's a lot like Photoshop, but free.

http://www.gimp.org

Otherwise, I'm in the Photoshop camp ... though I have a newer (CS4) version.