In years past photographers manipulated images by dodging, burning, tilting the easel to correct perspective, retouching prints and negatives, and so forth. Ansel Adams was a master of such techniques; today he'd be a master of Photoshop. You needn't master imaging software, but if you're going to stay in business you can't ignore it, either. As fulltime stock photographer and PhotoStockNotes subscriber Kent Foster put it to me, "Image editing software is as important to your overall digital process as film is to your camera-period!"
But which image editing software? All can adjust exposure, modify contrast and color, remove dust, scratches, or a wayward blemish or twig, correct perspective, and enhance sharpness. But they differ in how they implement these capabilities, in other features, and in ease of use.

Photoshop (www.adobe.com, $609; Windows and Mac) is the best-known image editing program and, with an estimated four million users, the most popular. The majority of pros who work digitally, "Photoshop" their images-yes, it's become a verb-before displaying them on the Web or submitting them to clients. Photoshop has more power and flexibility than any of its competitors, but also a higher price tag and steeper learning curve.

But Photoshop is not the only digital tune-up tool in town. The best-known alternatives include Corel PhotoPaint (part of CorelDraw Graphics Suite; www.corel.com, $529; Windows and Mac), Paint Shop Pro (www.jasc.com, $109; Windows), PhotoImpact (www.ulead.com, $89.95; Windows), and Photoshop's younger sibling, Photoshop Elements (www.adobe.com, $99; Windows and Mac). While none match Photoshop's comprehensiveness, you might not need all that Photoshop offers, or be willing to devote the time it takes to become proficient in Photoshop. In that case, of the four, I'd lean toward Photoshop Elements. At one-sixth Photoshop's price, it provides eighty percent of Photoshop's power and is easier to learn and use. And if you later decide to move up to Photoshop, you won't have to learn a new interface.

While these four are the best-known Photoshop alternatives, two others also deserve consideration. Picture Window (www.dl-c.com, $49.95; Pro version $89.95; Windows), combines low cost, ease of use, and surprising power. And ThumbsPlus (www.cerious.com, $79.95; Windows), usually considered simply an image organizing and cataloging program, also does color correction, contrast enhancement, sharpening, etc., and, like most of the other programs, can create contact sheets and Web pages. If you later move to up Photoshop, you might well find yourself keeping ThumbsPlus for its image browser -- which, unlike Photoshop's, lets you view multiple folders simultaneously -- and its batch processing capabilities (which also exceed those of Photoshop), as well as its cataloging and search capabilities.

What is not an alternative is dodging stock photography's digital destiny. Buy a digital camera or film scanner (sorry, an inexpensive flatbed scanner with a so-called film adapter won't cut it), or have your lab deliver your images on a CD. Buy and learn to use an image editing program. And join photography's digital future.