Or consider GIMP which is almost as powerful as Photoshop, and its FREE. I use Xara Xtreme Pro, which is not free and not an image editor like those other programs. For most of us a dedicated mapping app is unnecessary. Image editors and vector applications are most of our preference - I would rather use Photoshop, GIMP and a vector app like Xara Xtreme or Inkscape, long before I used a true mapping app - those are too limiting for me.
You sound like you wanted a dedicated mapping program, so CC3 or Fractal Mapper are your primary choices.
GP