The Sprague Lab

Photoshop CS3 is the world’s best photo and graphics editing program. This is the full version of the software, but if you’ve got Elements already, there’s an upgrade that is cheaper. And if you’ve got an older full version (5.5, 6, 7, or CS), the upgrade is even cheaper. If you’re dead serious about digi (and if you followed this link you probably are), this is the piece of software to get.

Scott Kelby’s book for digital photographers is filled with tips and tricks to really punch up your photos. If you have CS23 and a ground-level understanding of it, this is a good book to ramp up your photo editing skills.

If you’re having trouble getting good prints from your home printer, you might need to calibrate your monitor. While you can spring for an expensive model to get round-trip profiling between your monitor, scanner, and printer, if you’re looking for a cost-conscious way to improve your monitor colors, you might try Huey. This little colorimeter measures the output of your monitor and adjusts it to help bring what you see on your monitor closer to what you get from your printer.

This awesome pen tablet helps you edit photos, add doodles and handwriting, even design your own papers and elements.

A great introduction to the basics of graphic design.