I'm looking for a simple graphical layout program. It will be used to create real estate ads in newspapers etc.. you know with the little pictures of all the houses houses with a blurb, the company's logo on top, etc. So images will be scanned or uploaded via digi camera. Would be good if the program could import, resize, then add text boxes, etc, etc.

Free is best, but it doesn't have to be Easier to use the better as its for people with low computer literacy.

suggestions? thanks.

I've used MS Publisher to make flyer's, booklets and cards. it takes a little while to learn all the tricks but its a good program. Photoshop (or the free gimp version) would work but has a large learning curve. A easy solution would be use what you have. I'm sure you have MS word or power point. Both will allow you to paste images and text boxes (use the drawing toolbox:: View -> toolbars -> drawing)

Well its not for me. The computer its going on has nothing. not even a single MS office program. I could put on open office, but I don't think this would be the easiest way. I will look into MS publisher.. thanks

The top programs for that are Adobe Indesign (or Illustrator), Quark Xpress, or the old school MS Publisher.

Some people might feel Publisher is more familiar if they've used MS Office, but I would suggest Indesign for someone that's new to it all. These all have their hefty price tags, or you might find them in the usual places. But then again, there is big money in real estate so maybe price isn't an issue.

Look into OpenOffice it has a multitue of tools
Wordprocessing
Spreadsheet
Presentation
Drawing (a cross between a flowcharting tool and a page layout tool)
Database