To learn paintshop pro x4 or not if you use PSE or PS?

[falcon7]

<p>I received a free boxed DVD Paintshop Pro X4, and am staring at the box. Why? Because when I start a new 'learning experience' I tend to get a bit manic about it. I am a PSE 9 user, and I'm wondering whether it's of value to learn the Paintshop program. The fact that it comes with Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0 is a temptation. I figured there must be a catch to this feature, though, and sure enough, on Nik's website there is now Efex Pro 4.0, and you can't download a trial version of 3.0. So, thus far, what I have to go on are a bunch of disparate reviews. So why am I asking you to share your 'review'? I guess it's for a more personal touch. </p>

<p>It doesn't seem that the learning curve is too 'steep,' which is a temptation. From what I can gather, this software might be helpful in saving time (does it do batch processing?) and then there is the free Color Efex feature. But I'm reminded of the opening paragraph of 'The Great Gatsby' which states 'Life is best viewed through one window.' </p>

[paddler4]

<p>Some years and an edition or two ago, when I switched to digital, I did a cursory comparison of Paintshop Pro to Elements and decided that Paintshop was more powerful. However, I can't recall what features they did not share, and it may have changed. Having switched from Paintshop Pro to Photoshop, I think Photoshop is far more powerful.</p>

<p>I would consider relearning things for a considerably more powerful program, but personally, I would not want the frustration if the two programs (Paintshop and Elements) are still fairly similar. So, I would start with a comparison of features for the current version.</p>

<p>Can't help with the value of the one-version-old Nik Color Efex. I have never used any of the Nik Software.</p>

[gdw]

<p>If you have to ask the question, you are not likely to be happy with PSP. Just close the box and go your way. Although it is an extremely good imaging software, I have been using it since version 3 many years ago, I have never found anything that I needed to do that PSP would not do. Also love Nik and their UPoint Technology--but you wouldn't be happy with that either.</p>

[sarah_fox]

<p>I'm a recent convert. I entered PSP with the 5.0 version and upgraded through ver. X. I would occasionally communicate with the Jasc programmers about features in their product, and they even took some of my comments to heart in the design of subsequent versions. So I felt close to that little software company and their product. PSP was a pleasure to use, and I thought their ver. 9 represented a significant leap in the versatility of their user interface.</p>

<p>Then evil Corel stepped in, bought the company, and made the product stupid. Their worst sin was that they would not implement 16 bit editing throughout their product. I finally bit the bullet and hopped ship to PS CS5 Extended. I find this a very capable product. It is able to do many things that PSP-X could not, and PSP-X could do a few things that PS-CS5 cannot. I miss most aspects of the PSP user interface, which was far more intuitive. I feel as though I've taken a few steps back, but I am confident that once I learn this more difficult product, I will have more capabilities at my fingertips.</p>

<p>Would I use the free PSP-X4? I'm frankly not familiar with its features. However, I can tell you that PSP will continue to develop features for neophytes who need to click the magic function to make all the booboos go away, while PS will continue developing more serious tools to support the professional and/or serious amateur. That was not true back in the days of Jasc Software, but that is where Corel has dragged Jasc's excellent product. Because of the required learning curve investment, no software product is truly "free." I'd invest in the product that will get you where you need to go. PSP might get you there. Maybe only PS would get you there. However, choose wisely, and don't be lured by free offers.</p>

[cabbiinc]

<p>PSP X4 has implemented 16 bit features into most of it's tools. A patch in X3 had implemented the use of 16 bit files with plug-ins, but it wasn't exactly a smooth interface.</p>

<p>I have PSE-8 and PSP X3, PSP X, and PSP 9. I'd rate PSP at a step higher than PSE, but not nearly like CS5 (which I have not used but there's plenty of info on it around). Some of the features that PSP can do that PSE can't as far as I know are being able to write/record your own scripts (actions), being able to batch process using a script, being able to open other Corel files like from Painter or Draw, open/use/create vector files (in a limited fashion and X4 I believe reduces the number of file types it uses to clean up the code).</p>

<p>Some things that PSE can do that PSP can't are stitching panoramics, better RAW camera support (which doesn't hinder me in the least), better plug-in support and documentation (nearly any plug-in that will work in PSE will work in PSP, but it's not as seamless as PSE nor are all features supported, most plug-ins that are CS3 or higher will not work but then it won't work in PSE either), there's more documentation for PSE, there's more people who know PSE than PSP and that translates into more knowledge to impart to anyone willing to do a search, content aware fill is better in PSE.</p>

<p>I'm sure there's other features of each I'm missing. PSP is also somewhat buggy, but many people do use it and swear by the results. I will say that having installed and uninstalled PSP X3 (which was an ordeal to say the least) and also X4, uninstalling X4 should you choose to do so is rather painless, and the install is relatively easy as well. PSP will also open and write to a PSD file, so you could actually use both programs at the same time if one is better for one thing and the other is better for other things. Speaking of using different programs at the same time, different versions of PSP can be used at the same time too. If you ever upgrade you don't have to uninstall the previous version nor does it write over it. Upgrade pricing is just a price break.</p>

[jcuknz]

<p>I suggest you keep it in your machine so you can use tools such as Warp Mesh which is unlike anything I have seen in PS CS2. I started with PSP7AE since PS was too expensive and Elements had not come of the market then and when it first did was a pretty basic programme. <br>

I have a $160 Video Editing programme from Corel which doesn't work and they have yet to supply an answer a simple query so they are not my favourites like JASC were. Only communication asked me what my problem was, despite me outlining it in my letter, and offered me 10% off my next purchase ... huh!<br>

The Corel Video studio cannot handle MOV files to my disgust and I don't know if it is Corel or the conversion programme which is the problem. Nobody answered my query here a few months ago.<br>

But since I am used to it I work almost exclusively with PSP X, the last time I upgraded, though I have CS2, Paint Net, Paint and Irfanview.... and that useless video programme :-) amongst other things.<br>

I usually do panos manually using layers in PSP and have CanonStitch for when I'm in a hurry.<br>

I don't see you need to 'learn' to use PSP just the bits that are useful to you and it gives you are lot of things as standard that I gather PS needs plug-ins for, if you like messing with photos. Though in all this opinion it does depend on how big your computer is and if you have the spare space for a programme you rarely use. I like Warp Mesh and the way PSP prepared photos for the web, File/export, if I had to name two tools that are unlike what PS has. Then there is the way PSP enables you to control individual layers by either pixel count or percentage for a third thing :-)</p>

[franklin_white]

<p>I'm a long time PSE user who also has PSP x2 and x3. I stopped using PSP because I could not tolerate how slow PSP ran on my old MS Windows XP computer. I've never had that kind of problem with any version of PSE. I very recently bought a much faster MS Windows 7 machine with 8 GB ram. With the faster machine, I'm tempted to try PSP again. IMO, however, although PSP has far more serious editing features than PSE will ever have, the <em>quality</em> of some of the PSE tools are noticeably better than PSP. For example, even before PSE introduced the content-aware healing brush in version 9, I often noticed that the healing brush and spot healing brush in PSE8 produced edits that were more or less invisible -- even at larger than pixel view magnifications. With PSP x2 and x3 edits didn't blend as well. </p>