Which free/cheap graphics programs are people using these days for painting skins? I didn't like using GIMP, but maybe someone has a way of working with it that's better?
I think there is a program called Paint Shop that may be suitable, providing it's capable of doing layers and can save DDS files. I may be wrong on this so don't hold me to it. I didn't like Gimp either.
Most templates that you get are made with Photoshop and thus organize the layers in groups and subgroups. Paint.net does not support groups! You can paint in paint.net, e.g delete all group layer after import which appear as paint layer, but its not so nice. At the end you should get used to gimp and all it's poor usabillity. However gimp does not support everything from PS, when numberplate colors are scripted in PS, you get a white plate in gimp.
Gimp works fine. But as Photoshop it has a learning curve. It supports dds, dont remember if needs it as a plugin in the latest version. I have attached a "Gimp freebie template" of my Porsche GT3R Wright skin. Included region map layers, then you can see how I work in layers. When exporting to dds you have to flatten visible layers and the export, then undo so you can keep working in layers.