I really like the Adobe Suite. It is (or is becoming) the industry standard in design. You will probably want, at least, Illustrator (vector) and Photoshop (raster).
In my opinion, several Adobe programs have become the industry standard computer graphics tools, quite some time ago, and the fact remains today. Illustrator and Photoshop being the two that term would apply most to.
Do youself a favor now vinylink... quit calling it Adobe. That's a sure sign of not being familiar about what you are speaking of, which is never good with customers. Adobe
makes software, and several different types of software at that, so if you are talking about Illustrator, call it illustrator.
keep dreamin'
Corel does as good or better. Look at them both. If you're using flexi, Corel is a little closer to that then Ill. and you may pick it up a bit faster.
Corel very well may be "as good or better", but that has nothing to do with being the industry standard computer graphics program. Dclet is the one dreaming here. In a professional environment, you will be supplied with Illustrator files 50 to 1 times more than Corel files, and that is going to be true in any graphics field, and has been at any time in the last 15 years or more.
If you have the choice now, you may see some advantages in aligning yourself more with the standard file formats people will be supplying you, and expecting from you. If you already knew Corel, I would say stick with that because it is highly competitive as far as getting the job done.