Ok I recently got Photoshop CS5 Extended for 10 bucks from some guy who sells stolen electronics and software (he doesn't steal them from the internet, but literally steals the copies from shops).

Ok that wasn't relevant.

Anyway as it turns out (should have seen it coming) Photoshop CS5 is a very complex tool. Too complex in fact. About 90% of the stuff in it I'm sure I DON'T need. At the moment I only need it for drawing tilesets (duh) and some other textures for games (like Vinyls for NFS Underground 2).

It's very difficult to find what I need in CS5, so here's my question:

Which version of Photoshop is the most basic and easy to use (user interface wise)?

PS: I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate 32b. Yes Jazz 2 works on it fine.

I'm not a Photoshop user, but you could try Gimp. It's a freeware photo editing program.

If you're having difficulty with Photoshop's interface you're not likely to do better with GIMP's. I suggest you look for online tutorials instead of trying different versions. One of the first Google results.

Also, your explanation of how you obtained it makes me wonder: what country are you in? (provided you're comfortable with divulging that, of course)

I believe Photoshop Essentials is a simpler, less bloated version if your heart is set on Photoshop. I personally like GIMP, mainly due to its freeness

If I were to make a tileset (I have an idea, but not the talent ) I would use a simpler tool, like Paint Shop Pro 9 or even Paint.NET, if you are on pixelart. (The latter doesn't support .pcx but it's great for this method) GIMP is not very comfortable for this, however. Neither is Photoshop, or so I heard.

Paint.NET is reasonably feature-rich and has a nice interface. And it's free.

Once you learn some Photoshop, you'll realise you can't go back. It takes some time, but endure and it will be worth it. Start with some simpler stuff, like JDC logos (I started with those myself), then read some tutorials.

It also helps to have a friend who's also using it and learning much faster than you are

Paint.NET FTW. You can't go wrong with it. http://www.GetPaint.NET/

Mate just google some tuts, that's how I learned everything. You should also go on youtube and do some awesome vid searching there. Some sexy paintshop vids all around yo.

I also have GIMP and umm... IDK I find it misses some basic drawing tools. Using only the pen is painful especially in 1024 x 768.

I'll try Paint Shop Pro 9 and PaintNet. Thanks everybody.