good tool for image editing

i believe macromedia dreamweaver is the best for building static web pages.but
which is the best tool for image editing job for creating websites?.i mean editing small images and giving labels to it ect..
anybody have good experience with a good tool?.

the best tool for creating static pages is still (and probably will always be) a simple text editor (with maybe syntax highlighting so you see your mistakes easier).
For graphics I like Painshop Pro but as you seem to like heavyweight applications I think you'll be more at home with the mother of all graphics applications, Photoshop.

I'll give a 2nd vote for Paintshop Pro. It's under $100 and has a lot of great features for the money.

I use "The GIMP" which has many photoshop-like features, with a clunkier interface. It's a great program.
Recently, though, I bought a Wacom Graphire II tablet, which costs like $99, and it comes bundled with a slightly cut-down version of the real Photoshop, for free. Now that's a nice piece of software!