I’ve been a print and web designer fir sixteen years now. Here’s what I use. Photoshop image editing, compositing and creation as well as web site mock-ups Illustrator aside from the obvious vector art creation and editing, I specifically use it to create .png or .gif web graphics with transparent areas Dreamweaver web site creation and editing. I also use it (in conjunction with Safari) to create HTML eMails InDesign for multi-page document design Note: I’m not a fan of Flash content, so I rarely use Flash. I’ve even used Apple’s Keynote for some basic Flash content ALSO: Inexpensive Apple Software iPhoto for image organization Aperture photo editing beyond Photoshop Garage Band podcast creation Fir the Adobe stuff, go to journeyed.com for drastically discounted student versions of the CS4 Suite. Works exactly the same as the full versions, just with a disclaimer at the beginning. someday, when you’re making real money at design, go out and buy the full versions