Yes Gimp is free and open-source. It has a lot of features, but it has a horrible interface.

I would recommend Paint shop pro, because it is very popular, and has almost as much functionality as the adobe photoshop software. It has layers, transparencies, deformation tools, masks, a variety of select tools, supports alpha channels, and the user interface is as simple as microsoft paint to use. A lot more people have it because there are free/trial versions floating around the web everywhere, and they don't expire in terms of functionality. If you choose to buy it it is under/around $100, as opposed to adobe software which can be ridiculously expensive. Everthing I have done, I have used Paint shop Pro to do.

And with the selection tools, yes you could cut out shapes based on color. Someone could always open a poll, asking what is the preferred paint program used by the majority of users on this site...

Of course most tutorials written for adobe software can be fairly easily translated for paint shop pro because they are very similar in function. The only real differences I have noticed between the two are how you access certain tools, and what they are called.

Thankyou for all your replies but I am not going to be buying any programs to write this tutorial. So I think I will just use terms others can understand and translate to their own software. Hope thats o.k. Thanks

Well, as I said, Paint shop pro is free with a nag screen, but now that I think about it, you would probably be best sticking with what you are familiar with rather than learning a new interface. Each of us can translate your general terms into our own software choice, as you said. Good idea.

I have finished the tutorial and it is here

http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=77490

Hope you all like. Cheers

Thank you. I will be downloading this shortly.