Paintshop Pro X7 vs Photoshop Elements 13

<p>For those of you who have used Paintshop Pro and PSE which one would you rather use to edit your images. I read that the latest version of Paintshop has almost all the features of PSE, plus it comes with a ton of helpful plug-ins. I tried downloading the latest version of Paintshop Pro and not only did it take a ridiculous amount of time to download, it didn't work.</p>

<p>That right there scared me away, but I'm still willing to maybe give the Disk version a chance. I have been using PSE for years and for non-complicated editing I still think it 's the best software around. The thing I'm not too crazy about PSE is getting from the Organizer to the Editor. Unlike Light Room it's not that clear cut.</p>

<p>Harry - just checking - are you interested in a file catalog manager as well as an editor? </p>

<p>I would like a catalog manager but one with seamless transfer to the editor. </p>

<p>I downloaded both about a week ago, but haven't used them extensively, although I worked with both to edit some shots as I normally do in Photoshop. Both took about 30 minutes to download and worked on first try. I don't intend to use PaintShop Pro, ever. After importing a RAW file, you first have to save it and then import it again. There appear to be some bugs in the program: it doesn't read correctly the year and white balance data as recorded in the metadata at the time of taking the shot with your camera. Corel will get back to me on those bug issues. Updating the preview sometimes takes as much as 10 or 20 seconds and during that time you can't make any changes. Way too bothersome for me. If my Photoshop CS2 ever stops working because it is no longer supported I'll go with either Elements or gimp, if gimp at that time supports 16 bits.</p>

<p>Frans, a couple of questions. First (After importing a RAW file, you first have to save it and then import it again." Why/how are you importing it that causes the problem. When I want to open a RAW file I just open it like any other file. <br>

Second question - Are you using the windows in the pop menus or are you looking at the full rez photo?<br>

I ask these questions as I hate to think that anyone would make a decision on trying it based on your comments without trying the program first.</p>

<p>Currently I'm working with a laptop that's why I didn't want anything that hogged up too much Ram or disk space. So it's either one of the other, but not both. Both programs take about 600MB each. Thanks Frans I think I'll stick with PSE.</p>

<p>I still have a Copy of Picture Window Pro version 5. It takes 85MB on the Hard drive, down loads in about 50 seconds and does almost everything that PSE and PSP do except for layers.<br>

Why ? because the guy who invented Lotus 123 back in the 80's wrote it that's why. It's kind of clunky and the learning curve is steep though that's why I use it sparingly. </p>

<p>Don,<br>

First question: I can import RAW files no problem, but I have to save the imported file first as e.g. a tif before I can reimport it and edit it further.<br>

I don't understand your second question.</p>

<p>Disclaimer: I haven't used Paintshop Pro in years, but I was familiar with versions X2 and X3, which I used side by side with earlier versions of Photoshop Elements. Based upon my admittedly stale experience, I would recommend going with Elements. Although PSP has always had <em>more</em> features than Elements, the program was slow (at least X2 and X3 were slow; things may have improved in the intervening years), the tools didn't work as well as the tools in Elements, and the program, as a whole, was not as easy to use as Elements. I currently use Elements 13 with Lightroom 4 and that combination does everything I need and more. </p>

<p>I can't comment directly about either package but I do use PSP X6 and and have used versions of that software from I think the X2 release. What I have found with all of my PSP versions is that they do a worse job at RAW (Nikon and Canon RAW files both are interpreted equally badly) processing than other software I've used for that purpose. If you are intending to do RAW processing you may be disappointed, unless X7 has significantly changed in this regard from historical releases.</p>

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<p>If you are intending to do RAW processing you may be disappointed, unless X7 has significantly changed in this regard from historical releases.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>According to the web site Christopher, there are new ‘<em>features</em>’ specifically for raw processing in PSP X7:<br>

https://store.paintshoppro.com/1184/purl-KWS_CBPP_PSPpro?&gclid=CjwKEAiAk8qkBRDOqYediILQ5BMSJAB40A5U_aK2bcOD-shzcFXMR3ug2wLcbknYnnxoYoRKeQSg2xoC1CHw_wcB#tab=1<br>

I have no idea if it’s any better than the version you use but you can download a demo and see if it’s any better or the web page is just marketing speak. <br>

IMHO, ACR is hard to beat!</p>