Paint.NET: A very easy with a large amount of features, and has a huge plugin base. It can support photoshop files, animated .gif's, etc. using plugins as well. I have photoshop, but I use this instead. [Link]
Graphics Gale: Although Paint.NET supports animated .gif's (and pretty much anything else) I 'd rather use this for animations, it's a little harder to get a hang of, but it's defiantly worth it. [Link]
Tile Studio: Even though it's name is "Tile" Studio, it works for much more than tiles. It works very well for pixel art, and allows you to create maps from your tiles, so you don't have to do it in GE. [Aw, max links allowed is 2, URL: tilestudio.sourceforge.net ]
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Last edited by DarkParadox on Tue Jun 29, 2010 4:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.