Welcome to the guild! They didn't have Photoshop in my high school years. Hi tech back then was green LED calculators and IBM selectric typewriters. I learned to type on a manual typewriter. If you typed too fast, the keys would stick together.

Yeah yeah, up hill both ways and all that. Anyway, I think you'll find that whatever tool you like will work for you here, and that with the guidance and advice of the experts, you'll become as good a cartographer as you are willing to become.