(quoting Brendan, responding to Peter...)
You might also consider that the 4th of July is one of those (now) rare
"free after rebate" days for CompUSA. They have offered Roxio PhotoSuite
this way--you front around $60 and get it back as rebates. It's gimmicky
but in the way you want. I'm a Paint Shot Pro fan but the cheapest with
rebates you'll find is about $50. Elements 3 is better than 2, but both
are rather dumbed down, quick fix version of their daddy Photoshop and do
excellent, if limited, work on photos. I prefer to have more control,
hence PSP.
Photoshop Elements does a high-quality job and is designed to be
easy-to-use, but it's stripped down too far for the normal price. Try
to get it bundled with an unrelated purchase. V3 is superior to 2 in a
number of ways (still not worth the cost) and is bundled and integrated
with PS Album, a very useful and easy-to-use database for your images.
I saw PSP9 in a Fry's ad this week for $30 after rebates. Even at its
full >$100 price, I think it's about the closest you can get to $600
Photoshop. And I like the interface better.
V9 is a bit rough
around the edges but will still get the job done and then some. It's
not a particularly quick & streamlined program, but everything the
original poster asked for is just one or two menu levels away (and the
entire menu system can be rearranged to the user's taste). Like
Photoshop, it offers recordable and programmable scripting in addition
to batch functions, so the user can record a common sequence of
adjustments and play them back on a large collection of images all at
once. So it'll do all the original poster asked for as well as any
advanced editing he might require. Fully-functional trial download
should be available at their website. (There's also a cheap,
stripped-down "Paint Shop Pro Studio" that I haven't tried.)
Ulead's PhotoImpact is the other full-featured $100-list-price editor.
It does things rather differently and has its own strengths and
weaknesses. I don't like some of their interface decisions (V8.5/XL)
but can't say whether you would find it easier or harder to use than
PSP. Crashed more often than the others on my computer. Once again,
free test download is available; once again, patient shopping will find
it at $50 or less.
($100 graphics software often has a competitive rebate around $30
available on top of in-store deals. If you have your PictureIt CD or
manual cover, check whether you'd qualify.)
I've been trying out the demo version of Picture Window Pro. It's
small and quick-to-load yet handles extremely large images pretty well.
It has full support for high-bit-depth images and color management
(among the big-name affordable editors, only the latest version of PS
Elements comes close to matching that). It can do all of the essential
image adjustments and has decent paint and masking tools for additional
control. It follows its own interface conventions...a bit confusing at
first, but consistent and not too hard to get used to. I couldn't find
a batch feature. It doesn't have the overall power of Paint Shop Pro
or its competitors, but it might better suit your needs. Free 30-day
trial. I think it's around $30 to register.
false_dmitrii
I doubt MS Photo Editor