Photoshop Elements 6
Latest version and good for digital photographers as it is the first version of this popular software to have a RAW file section included as standard.
Many would argue that RAW allows photographers to do sloppy work knowing that they can rescue most shots back at the computer. Coupled with the fact that many compact cameras now produce RAW files anyway, it is worth having even if you do not use it regularly...

Paint Shop Pro XI
I have not used this much since my evaluation copy expired but it did seem much improved since my last look at this software at version 6. Having joined forces with Corel and officially called
Corel Paint Shop Pro PHOTO XI it now is a serious rival to Photoshop and it has some nice ready made effects in there as well!

Xare Webstyle 4
Specialist software for persons creating web buttons mainly but it does other stuff as well like simple image manipulation.
Pretty inexpensive at around £50.00 but not for photographers.
I mafe the buttons at the top of this page with this software.
Look around for free version 2 and 3 as they are worth having in your software collection. I use this a lot and have had licensed versions since 2 upwards.

Adobe Photoshop CS3
The market leader and first choice of graphic designers everywhere!
It does everything and comes in two versions - CS3 & CS3 Extended.
Costs a fortune and is stand-alone or part of the CS3 Master Collection which is somewhere around £1400.00
Mind you - I you were charging your time out at £80/hour you would soon make it back!

Adobe Lightroom
A must have if you are serious about digital photography.
This software glides you through sorting files, indexing, manipulating, printing, creating slideshows and web galleries with such ease it is a pleasure to work on your photos.
Not cheap, as can be expected from Adobe but many professionals are using this now.

Checkout the new Free download of Lightroom from the Adobe Official Site