@crl - will have to stop being lazy and have a go with Scribus but fear it may not do the regular photo edit dodges.
Yes PhotoPlus is old and cheap in money terms - you could always haggle with Serif (Affinity) and get a good deal or upgrade. Never did discover anything it would not do. Hassle Serif-Affinity from time to time to produce Linux version but no joy yet - their products are so easy to use since Win95 days and was always happy to pay £19.99!
Totally agree about
yet sadly here in UK we give away all our good stuff to the US for free. Take back control - joke 