Any computer program that can alter or create bitmapped digital image files. Also known as an image manipulation program or image editing program. Four of the most popular image editing programs are Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Elements,  Paint Shop Pro, and PhotoImpact.

Photoshop's wide variety of tools and the ability to work with 48 bit images, handle calibrated color spaces, ICC profiles and CMYK color workflow make it the best choice for professional photographer and graphic artists. Photoshop is also suitable for amateur photographers who want to produce fine art quality photographic prints or photographers who need advanced image editing capability.

Adobe Photoshop Elements 2 has most of the tools of Photoshop but will not open 48 bit images and has limited color management workflow tools.

Paint Shop Pro will open most 48 bit images but coverts them to 24 bit upon opening. Paint Shop Pro has color management workflow tools.

PhotoImpact has a huge variety of tools, options and extra features. PhotoImpact will allow color and tonal adjustments on 48 bit images. It also has basic color management workflow tools.

There are also image viewing and cataloging programs. These programs allow you to quickly find and view the images you have stored on your hard drives or CDROM's without waiting for a complex image adjustment program to open on your PC. Two of the best of these are ACDSee and ThumbsPlus