Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2

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Permalink Reply by Rory Mole on November 19, 2008 at 7:21am

Hi there to you all,

I must say the following about both Paintshop Pro and Photoshop.

There is no question about it, Paintshop Pro is a very close second in the image editing race against Photoshop. The problem with the race is that Photoshop is and has been King for many years because so many people in the photographic, image and design industry are using it. There are so many books written about it and so many online tutorials as well. Photoshop is probably the best there is. But, Paintshop Pro has also evolved into a really great photographic editor and image design application. Paintshop Pro was bought out by Corel purely because it was that good. Normally what happens is that the big guns buy out all the smaller companies that are developing software because they want to dominated the mark.

With all of that said, I have read on the internet, that since the buy out of Paintshop Pro by Corel, they have automated a lot of the functions that were in the older versions. I think that Paintshop Pro 8 or 9 was the last of the older generation when it was still owned by JASC and has a lot of the original manual functionality and not as much automated stuff. The reason why so many programs have automated features is because of the impact that digital photography has had in the world. Professional photography in the old days was a real art and it separated the men from the boys, but nowadays, digital photography has begun to change things. Every Tom, Dick and Harry is able to take some reasonable photos of whatever they like and through software, have been able to come up with some rather nice pictures. Thus, the digital age has changed things as far as the demand for automated functionality is concerned in many image editing applications. The newer Corel owned Paintshop Pro Photo 10, 11 and now 12 has a lot of automated functionality built in nowadays.

My opinion is this....

If you are looking for a quick editing experience for your photos, then you are not really going to take your photography to a professional level where you will be selling picuters or working for a fashion mag. You will probably want to put your pics up on the internet for the family and friends to admire. The software that you will probably need to get would not cost you much. Paintshop Pro Photo 12 will be ideal for this purpose as will Adobe Photoshop Elements 5,6 or 7. They are really geared up to do things quickly. I also know that if a person will dig deeper into the software, you can find ways to work around the automated functionality as well. There are ways to do this in all 4 of the applications mentioned above.

On the other hand, if you are going to take your images to a professional level and you are going to be making money out of them, then Photoshop is definitely the way to go. The only problem would be the price. But if you are a professional, then charging others for your work would justify spending lots of money on the best software available.

Hope that this is ok for everyone....

Blessings to you all,

Regards,

Rory

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Permalink Reply by Brian Yeo on November 20, 2008 at 1:57am

Excellent piece Rory.
Like I said before the main reason I have PSP X2 is due to the cost. I also dont envisage myself ever selling photos for a living as I am still only learning! I am one of those "quick" editors you have mentioned. But I am getting better with practice. Honest!!!
I may be tempted soon by Elements 7 soon though as Christmas is getting closer and a few family members are asking what I would like.

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