I'm going to go a little O/T here with a recommendation.

Xara can do a lot of bitmap editing, but it has no brush tool. ArtWeaver comes in a free and a commercial version, and even the freeware comes with effects and Painter-like "Nozzles" and natural media brushes. The results you get can go in and out of Xara quite well, and ArtWeaver is essentially Photoshop version 5 or so. The program can stand on its own and it's a little like what Xara is to vector graphics, ArtWeaver is to bitmaps, that is, the two programs can complement one another in skilled hands.

I've not used Zoner Studio, although I have their 3D blue lens/red lens program and it's very good at what it does.

@ Bob=if you read between my lines, you read correctly. There are a lot of times when nothing will do as a graphic except vectors.

My Best,

Gary