Pixelmator - Sink or Swim

I do like to dabble in editing and creating pictures on my computer, ala Photoshop.  However, as someone who had a PC that was too old to handle Photoshop requirements, and I didn't have a degree in Photoshop either nor money to buy it, I learned my picture editing "skills" on Microsoft's Photodraw.  It worked for me, and I enjoyed it.  It was basic, but it did the job.  Then I switched to a Mac and was looking for something like it.  I read great things about Pixelmator and got that installed, but on first couple of uses I found it awkward and didn't really like it although looking at stuff made with it made me want to learn more. Then today, a friend who calls me "savvy" with computers asked me if I could come up with something quickly for a fundraising draw she was involved in and they needed a ticket made that would be printed and sold.  I do love a challenge, but now that I have my PC hooked to my tube TV at 800 X 600 resolution, it wasn't really in the cards to work on that.  So it was Pixelmator or bust. I found some pics on the internet that I could use to work into the ticket along with the text needed, and just dived in.  And I guess that truly is the best way to learn.  Surprisingly, I found it easier to work with and the project came together very quickly and even I was impressed with the outcome.  More importantly, so was she.  I believe Pixelmator has an interface more like Photoshop than the very basic Photodraw I was used to, which caused my confusion.  However, I figured out what I needed and even got some nice text effects as well worked in. All in all, I'm impressed with Pixelmator and will continue to learn it.  It's a more than affordable solution for Mac users not wanting to shell out Photoshop money (and really, who can?) and I know there are even more powerful features under the hood of this thing. Next thing is to get my Graffiti tablet hooked up so I can edit and draw with a pen stylus instead of a mouse.  Yep, gotta get on that...