Adobe Photoshop’s domination of image editing software has spanned the better part of two decades, with only a handful of programs ever moving beyond also-ran status to become competitive alternatives to the ubiquitous program. The last few years, however, have witnessed a wellspring of new and improved software programs that aim to give Photoshop a run for its money, while keeping the consumer’s wallet intact. Arguably at the vanguard of these programs is Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo, winner of the “TopTenREVIEWS Silver Award.”
With improvements in interface design, image/graphic design features, import and file compatibility as well as expansive HD and HDR features, Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo and other special features, users of all needs and backgrounds have a program that spans the spectrum of image editing—from simple touch-ups and enhancements to complex layering and level adjustments—while maintaining an impressive degree of user-friendliness and program intuition.
Before we come to the long-form critique, the following strengths and weaknesses stood out while in use:
Standout Features
- Depth-of-Field (DOF) Control
- Selective Color Replacement Tool
- Photoshop Plug-in Compatibility
- HDR Features
Weighing Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo’s tools and features against its price tag will produce a lop-sided equation. Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo’s stands out head and shoulders above most image editing software programs for its impressive value, offering users a large quantity of high-end tools and features at a low cost, and doing so without skimping on their overall quality.
Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo is designed for both quick, one-touch image optimization and intensive, manual correction and modification. The program offers an Express Studio for the former, which has a palette populated with tools to remove red-eye and blemishes, “thinify” objects, whiten teeth and perform a variety of other touch-up tasks. In addition to the touch-up features, the Express Studio also offers standard tools to rotate, move, correct levels and perform other tasks for facilitated image optimization.
As for more complicated (i.e. advanced) tools and features, Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo again brings its A-game. Users can breathe new life into photos and images otherwise under/overexposed with the High Dynamic Range (HDR) tool, which intuitively merges highlights and shadows between two images for an optimal effect.
From there, users can create a sense of depth (something digital photos tend to lack) in their photos using the DOF tool, which affects a sense of “focus” familiar in analog cameras. Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo also offers lens correction and perspective correction, enabling photos skewered by unfavorable angles or curves to be displayed as intended with near-automatic precision.
In addition to the aforementioned editing tools and features, the program also offers a variety of filters and effects that range from standard fare like B/W and antique to more enhanced filters that render color photos and images into B/W with near-flawless grayscale fidelity and photo aging filters that mature photos with incredible accuracy and efficiency.
Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo has one of the most robust image design palettes available in image editing software programs. Offering user-friendly image extraction and object removal and intuitive color selection tools along with familiar layering and paint-style design tools make for surprisingly simple and precise image creation and graphic design. Also, Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo contains a watermark feature, highly valuable for copyright purposes.
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