If it turns out that you like the Gimp, and I think you will… one of the most powerful plugins, that adds just a ton of functionality is called G’mic… ostensibly “gimmick”.
Here’s an article explaining what it is, does, and how to get and use it.
I personally use this for creating montage/collage images for my photos, so that I can post multiple images in one, where otherwise it’s not easy to share more than one image at a time. You can see at least one example in my other thread here about the Jerkweed show last weekend.
