Paint Shop Pro is an awesome program. I used it exclusively for 5 or 6 years for all my web design stuff -- as well as a few of my very first dvd covers. I loved it and for the price (~$99 US) you can't beat it.

About a year ago, I took on Adobe Photoshop and I haven't looked back. The main reason is because there is a lot more you can do with it. It also seems a lot easier (to me anyway) to get the results I'm looking for. It's about 6 times the price, but if you have the means, definitely check it out.