best image manipulation library?

what do you guys think is the best image manipulation library?

NetPBM? Image Magick? GD I? GD II?

i read that GDI is pretty horrid (esp the one included with PHP) ....

also, where can i find NEWBIE tutorials on how to get started on using php with the image manipulation libraries (prefer the one you think is the best) ..

i found some googling, but seem to expect you to know the commands or whatever, which i know none of ....

(basically, im looking to upload a picture file, then create a seperate thumbnail image and save it to a directory (while saving the original image in another directory) .....

but what do you think the best is? read that image magick is better, (at least better than GDI, but GDII is to be better than image magick)...not sure where NetPBM might rank, even though i read that NetPBM is better than GDI ...

thanks

http://www.sitepoint.com/article/php-gd-libraries/
http://www.phpfreaks.com/tutorials/111/0.php

ok...which image library you think is better? im going to guess that you think that the GD2 library is better ?

of course, G2

ok, im getting confused on something...

whats the difference between GD and GD2?

doing some searches, and it seems that people refer to GD2 as even GD 1.8.x or whatever?

as far as i know, the latest version of GD2 is version 2.0.33, correct?