I bought my first Xara (pronounced Zara) Graphic Designer back about 1997 and have loved it ever since.
I have used Adobe Photoshop but I found it had quite a long learning curve and was expensive.
Xara, to me, seemed much more intuitive.
This is the interface.
Here are some of the highlights of Xara
Revolutionary Photo Handling
Fast, non-destructive photo handling
Integrated Photo Tool
Advanced Photo Manipulation
Creative Effects
Photo Panoramas
Intelligent Scaling
Bitmap Tracer
All The Creative Tools You Need
Drawing Tools
Advanced Text Handling
3D Extrude
Blends
Transparency & Feathering
Animated Flash Export
Shadows, Bevels & Contours
Productivity & Usability Benefits
Speed
Direct Action Tools
Easy Drag & Drop
Solid Object Editing
Infinite Undo / Redo
Zoom to 25,000%
Top Quality Screen Display
Compatibility With Industry Standards
Import & Export
PSD Support
PDF Support
Xara also has great text handling capabilities!
It can import and export a huge range of file formats!
Photo & Graphic Designer has full support for importing and exporting Adobe Photoshop® PSD files including layer support.
Photo & Graphic Designer offers industry leading export of super-clean, very compact PDF files (including support for graduated color fills and flat / graduated transparency). Combined with the PDF import feature, this provides another way to interchange files.
Below are some samples of what can be done using Xara.
If you would like more information go Here
Oh, by the way, did I mention the price?
£49.99