I've used Photoshop, CorelDraw and the Gimp. I've retained Photoshop as a part of my photography efforts, specifically for pixel-level editing similar to what you're contemplating for decals. All three of them do as advertised, and I'll also add Photoshop Elements - which is a lot less money than full Photoshop. (Elements is around the same price as Corel Draw.) I personally have found the Gimp to be a bit like wrestling with a greased pig, but I don't normally lose arguments with computers and this was no exception - it just took longer to master. (And note that I tried this after I knew Photoshop, so I already had the basic ideas.)
The price of the Gimp is of course attractive.
Since you specified that you've no previous experience with this stuff, I'll add that there is an absolute avalanche of material explaining how to use Photoshop, and that mostly carries over to Elements as they are pretty similar. Both Corel Draw and Gimp are also common, but neither of them has anywhere NEAR the skill base. You can go to any bookstore and find 30-50 books on Photoshop or Elements, and maybe 5 on Corel - and you'll be lucky to find two on Gimp.
_________________ ... Brian
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