# Corel Paint Shop Pro



## Chann (Aug 11, 2012)

I am just curious, is any one else using Corel Paint Shop Pro as their editing software?  I find it to be very powerful and a much cheaper alternate to Photoshop. I am not implying that it is as good as Photoshop, but it has a lot of similar features.  I never see it mentioned here.


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## AaronLLockhart (Aug 11, 2012)

Chann said:


> I am just curious, is any one else using Corel Paint Shop Pro as their editing software?  I find it to be very powerful and a much cheaper alternate to Photoshop. I am not implying that it is as good as Photoshop, but it has a lot of similar features.  I never see it mentioned here.



PSP is great software. I used to have it and use it side by side with photoshop from time to time. The capability gets much more advanced when you get into the deeper tasks in photoshop. However, for pixel editing in photos, PSP is a great alternative to Photoshop.

The reason you don't hear of it much is lack of hype, and photoshop has a large amount of hype. Photoshop has become the industry standard for photo editing and graphics based professions. It's pretty much the same reason you don't hear about people buying Pentax dSLR cameras. It's good equipment, but the majority of the people out there are buying Canon or Nikon. So, the majority will continue to buy Canon and Nikon.

Corel has a great line up of programs in general. I love Corel PSP, Painter 11, & Draw X5.


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## Farmclicker (Aug 12, 2012)

I use Paint Shop Pro and like it, but it basically is because Photoshop is out of my price range right now.

It does what I need it to, and I can merge photos (with some difficulty) but it has really helped me clean up some photos and really make some great ones with the features it has. Myself, I think it has potential that I am unable to unlock simply because I do not know how. But I am still learning.


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## molested_cow (Aug 12, 2012)

Corel was the go-to software for print back in the days with Corel Draw. Then Adobe came with the Illustrator and bundled it with photoshop. Corel bundled Draw with Photopaint. So basically, they are direct competitors.
Nowadays, I think Corel Draw still has quite a significance in the print industry (don't quote me on that, but I do see it used quite often). On the other hand, Photoshop beat Photopaint as the editing software from popularity point of view.

I learned photopaint before I started using photoshop. I think the last version I used was version 9. It was a loooong time ago. Back then, I found it to be better than Photoshop. Now sure about now. Well, if you fine it good enough for you, it's good!


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## SCraig (Aug 12, 2012)

I have it and use it some.  My primary editor is Nikon Capture NX2 but I still use PSP For some editing tasks.  I can afford Photoshop but I'm just not willing to.  $650 up for an editor is just plain ridiculous.  Plus, every couple of years they update it and want $250 more for the upgrade.  No thanks.  I have several editors but not Photoshop.

My biggest gripe with PSP was their RAW converter.  Until the past couple of versions the quality of the import was horrible.  It has been vastly improved in X3 or X4.

Also, don't dismiss Corel Aftershot.  Corel bought Bibble Labs last year and Bibble 5 became Corel Aftershot at a much lower price.  Bibble 5 was around $299 if I remember right and I think Aftershot is around $79.


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## Railphotog (Aug 12, 2012)

I've been using PSP for years, upgrading semi regularly now have version 11.  Does everything I want it to do, never would have been able to afford Photoshop.  Any friends who use Photoshop all have bootlegged copies.


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## Rick58 (Aug 12, 2012)

Yep, I have version 9 and I just got Photo Pro +3 for 50 bucks (yeah I know it's a few verisons behind, but I'm cheap)


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## AaronLLockhart (Aug 12, 2012)

molested_cow said:


> Then Adobe came with the Illustrator and bundled it with photoshop.



I think you're confusing Illustrator with ImageReady, which started being bundled with Photoshop at Version 5.5, and stopped after CS2.

Illustrator never came packaged with photoshop, unless you bought a specified package of creative suite such as Design Premium or Master Collection, of course.


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## skieur (Aug 12, 2012)

I use Paintshop Pro X4 Ultimate with Nik plug-ins for speed and I seldom find a need to use my Photoshop program even more so with more in-camera features on my new one.

skieur


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## Chann (Aug 14, 2012)

Thanks for all the replies. I never see it mentioned and I was curious if many others were using it. 



			
				AaronLLockhart said:
			
		

> It's good equipment, but the majority of the people out there are buying Canon or Nikon. So, the majority will continue to buy Canon and Nikon.



I understand your analogy but a pentax is priced very similarly to Canon and Nikon where PSP X4 is much cheaper than Photoshop.  I just upgraded from X2 to X4 for $35 and a new box would only have been $49. Much less than photoshop. It is a powerful editor and with the cost savings I do not see why more people do not use it. 




			
				Farmclicker said:
			
		

> I use Paint Shop Pro and like it, but it basically is because Photoshop is out of my price range right now.
> 
> It does what I need it to, and I can merge photos (with some difficulty) but it has really helped me clean up some photos and really make some great ones with the features it has. Myself, I think it has potential that I am unable to unlock simply because I do not know how. But I am still learning.



Farmclicker, search Youtube for PSP tutorials.  There are many and you can learn a lot from them.


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## FatherTyme (Aug 15, 2012)

I as well use PSP x4 but my problem is I am having a problem resizing photo's , I need to resize to 8x10 at 300ppi but cant figure out how to do it.....................


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## skiboarder72 (Aug 16, 2012)

I also use PSP x4 for the very very rare times I need to go into editing that deep. For 98% of my editing I use LR4, so it just doesn't make sense to burn $700 on a program I use every few weeks for a few minutes.


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## AaronLLockhart (Aug 16, 2012)

FatherTyme said:


> I as well use PSP x4 but my problem is I am having a problem resizing photo's , I need to resize to 8x10 at 300ppi but cant figure out how to do it.....................



Most cameras will not shoot in an aspect ratio that is scalable to an 8x10. So, you're going to have to crop it to an aspect ratio that will scale to 8x10, most likely. Your camera should automatically shoot at 300ppi.


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## sapper6fd (Aug 16, 2012)

Lol. I haven't used PSP in years. Almost forgot about it. I first used it when it was developed by a company named Jasc - well before Corel took it over. Moved on to PS after a year or two of PSP. It was great software back then, and I'm sure it is now.


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## KmH (Aug 16, 2012)

AaronLLockhart said:


> Most cameras will not shoot in an aspect ratio that is scalable to an 8x10. So, you're going to have to crop it to an aspect ratio that will scale to 8x10, most likely. Your camera should automatically shoot at 300ppi.


Cameras don't shoot at any PPI. PPI is assigned by the cameras image processor software downstream of the A/D converter.
Canon, for some reason, assigns a default of 72 ppi to image files.

However, PPI is meaningless until an image will be printed. Then the PPI assigned and the pixel dimensions of the photo determine the print's size.

An 800 x 1000 pixels photo assigned 100 PPI will be an 8x10.

A 1600 x 2000 pixel photo assigned 200 ppi will also be an 8x10

At 300 PPI a photo has to have pixel dimensions of 2400 x 3000 pixels to print as an 8x10.

Doing some basic algebra, we find:


Pixels divided by PPI = Inches
Inches divided by Pixels = PPI
Inches _times_ PPI = Pixels


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## AaronLLockhart (Aug 16, 2012)

KmH said:


> PPI is meaningless until an image will be printed.



Only to an extent. PPI only comes into consideration when processing and editing to print. DPI is print value, which stands for Dots Per Inch. 2 to 3 dots can fit inside a single pixel.

The reason I'm bringing this up, is the print clarity of your photos can be affected by not understanding. Many people confuse PPI for DPI, and vice verse. In most cases, under the average consumer, it doesn't matter. the quality at 300ppi regardless of printer resolution will turn out decent.

However, if you shoot an image, process it at 300PPI, the printer you are printing on must print at 600-900DPI to produce the same quality image that you processed. In other words, if your printer has a 1200dpi resolution (very common amongst the graphic design realm) it is important that you create your work to at least 600ppi.

Like I said, this all becomes super meticulous, and it's not that important over all. However, Editing your image at 300ppi on a photo printer that prints at 1200dpi, is going to show a quality loss after print. 

So, just some information for those who want it


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## FatherTyme (Aug 16, 2012)

Thanks everyone for the info @kmh that is the info I was looking for thank youand @ Aaron thank you as well as that is also some helpful info.


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