heeey... another canvas user

andy, are you asking about programs because you are planning to buy something new, or just out of interest?
i think you get the idea that photoshop is definitely the preferred option, as it has heaps of depth and pretty much does most things that you want... I haven't personally used painter but i guess it's fairly cool as well

however, as you note, there are some of us that use other progs and i think that as long as your app has the standard image tools and layer capabilities, you can make some fairly cool stuff, but perhaps not the really complex effects

i find that for me, the most limiting factor is my imagination, not the program i use

Stuart