Ps+&+Ai+At+Home

After getting their hands on Photoshop and Illustrator in the Graphics Lab at school, many students/parents approach me about purchasing the software for their home computers. The problem is most of us don't have room in the budget for the pricey Adobe products... which are well worth it, but not as a fading fad or hobby of the month. So for the younger high school student or someone who isn't quite sure if its their professional pursuit, I'm including a list of resources/links that may offer you some other options with freeware or open sourceware.

http://www.inkscape.org/index.php?lang=en
 * Inkscape** (Vector based like Illustrator)

http://www.gimp.org/
 * Gimp** (similar to Photoshop)

I have not personally tried all of these but have read some good recommendations on them.