I think one way to become a more complete designer is to include your own libraries. This tutorial was created to encourage and help course designers create their own 2D objects in libraries. It was specifically written with PGA 2000 in mind but it can be used for any game that uses a solid color as an invisible background.
My experience in the past was that creating objects from photos can be very hit and miss. I have done a lot of experimenting though and have developed a process that works most of the time now. There are some factors that make an image easier to work with. Whether you are shooting your own images or just searching for them on the internet, keep these factors in mind.
Below are tutorials for both Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro. The method I am using is basically the same in both programs. The two tutorials are customized for the specific program.