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A lot of it is down to preferences, i.e you will like one or the other. Obviously Paintshop is a lot lower in cost than Photoshop, but then there is Elements, but it has less features.
My personal experience was PSP lacked in the colour management stakes, so if you have a calibrated printer profile it could not be used. But that may no longer be true.
also I prefer the layout and adjustment windows in photoshop. But that is all about preferences.
A photographer can probably achieve most of what they would want to do in either program.
Photoshop CS or Elements are more popular, there's more resources for Photoshop (library books, magazines, training videos, college courses, online fora and tutorials)
Learn Photoshop and you're learning a cross platform industry standard package which will stand you in good stead for the future.
Quote: I would love to learn photoshop at some point, a college near me does do a night course in it actually, the cost of photoshop is pretty hefty though, would it be worth getting paintshop to start with and do a course in photoshop while saving for it?
Personally I'd consider getting Photoshop Elements first. Whilst PSP can do most things; Photoshop is the de facto industry standard. The skills you learn in Elements (which is enough for most amateurs) can then be transferred straight to the full blown version of Photoshop later.
why not download both (I think Elements still allows a trial period?) and see which feels most natural to you.
I have all three and used to prefer PSP/10 but the latest version (X2) I find over poncified and very slow - so would probably think about PSE/6 if I was starting out
Emma, no it's not just for the duration of the course. Once you buy it, that's it, it's yours for life.
Photoshop is pretty daunting at first. Don't download the Photoshop trial until you start your course. Then install it, (everything works no restrictions).
Definitely do the course The techiques you'll learn will be useful no matter what editing software you end up using.
There's a free open source alternative to Photoshop called GIMP. That's also worth investigation.
Hi Emma
I sympathise as I remember being new to all this and how daunting it felt. I would agree with the member who said to try Elements first, that is what I started on and I think if I'd have gone straight for a bigger version I would have bitten off more than I could chew.
I brought some of the book tutorials for PS but personally I have learnt everything from just playing around and experimenting, often finding better and easier short cuts along the way to the long winded book explinations.
I tried both Photoshop and Paintshop pro when I was starting out and definatly found PS to be my thing. never use PSP now dispite still having it on the PC.
The last thing...be patient with yourself. Whatever you go for you cant learn it overnight,frustrating though it is. One step at a time 
Check my PF if you want to see what PS is capable of doing 
I once used PSP and found it good for a free program as it was then. The new version seems to be a mess to me.
There are a few things you can't do in PS elements and loads that you can. My opinion is that it is much better than PSP and cheaper.
I would be surprised if you out grow elements quickly and when you do you can move to PS CS3 or what ever it will be without any problems.
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