[Sticky] -- What Do You Like/Not Like About PSP 2021

[patara]

I don't know if they got it to work or not, or even who they were, it's just a vague memory at this point. But if it worked, aside from being slightly slow to start up the first time, it would work very similarly to the NIK scripts. It would send a temporary copy of the layer/image to another version of PSP,

I do similar to this with a modified version of the Nik script. e.g. in PSP 2020 64 bit I run the script to open PSPX and send the image layer. I apply the filters to the image and then the result is returned to PSP 2020.

[JoeB]

I don't know if they got it to work or not, or even who they were, it's just a vague memory at this point. But if it worked, aside from being slightly slow to start up the first time, it would work very similarly to the NIK scripts. It would send a temporary copy of the layer/image to another version of PSP,

I do similar to this with a modified version of the Nik script. e.g. in PSP 2020 64 bit I run the script to open PSPX and send the image layer. I apply the filters to the image and then the result is returned to PSP 2020.

Don't know if you got that idea by my suggestion in the posts where I posted the Nik script but nice to see that you are using it that way. As I said in my post at the time I posted the script (point #5 of my second post in that Nik script topic) that's one of the purposes for which I have used the script - i.e., I like the speed of 64bit but still sometimes want to use one or more of my 32 bit scripts.

[patara]

Don't know if you got that idea by my suggestion in the posts where I posted the Nik script but nice to see that you are using it that way. As I said in my post at the time I posted the script (point #5 of my second post in that Nik script topic) that's one of the purposes for which I have used the script - i.e., I like the speed of 64bit but still sometimes want to use one or more of my 32 bit scripts.

No, Joe. I started doing it a few years ago. I was using on other apps from 2016 e.g. DxO apps, On1, PhotoDonut, Rebelle, Franzis apps etc., and thought if it worked with them, why not PSPX. So made the change in script for PSPX in 2018 once I moved to PSP 64 bit as my default version.

[jrmach]

Under noise removal Corel has decided to replace jpeg artifact removal with AI artifact removal in 2021. What the heck? There is no control with the AI artifact removal which makes it totally inferior! At least with the Jpeg artifact removal you could control the strength and crispness. Bad Bad Bad descision

Could you post an example 'old tool' vs 'AI tool' showing the AI bad result?

Here is the example you have requested. I hope it clearly shows what I describe.

[Jean-Luc]

HI, jrmach
Thank you for the examples.

I suppose PSP 2021 AI doesn't recognize visible JPG artifacts in your image and cannot apply.

Attached is an example that shows big JPG artifacts.

I tested the 2021 AI JPG removal tool. The result is very good as you see (click on the image below to see in full size).
I cannot obtain such a good result with the PSP 2020 JPG Artifact removal tool.
But I regret like you that the old tool is completely removed. It should have been accessible in the unused commands. I suggest you send a complaint to Corel to that effect.

[jrmach]

HI, jrmach
Thank you for the examples.

I suppose PSP 2021 AI doesn't recognize visible JPG artifacts in your image and cannot apply.

Attached is an example that shows big JPG artifacts.

2021 Artifact Removal_fullhd_EN.jpg

I tested the 2021 AI JPG removal tool. The result is very good as you see.
I cannot obtain such a good result with the PSP 2020 JPG Artifact removal tool.
But I regret like you that the old tool is completely removed. It should have been accessible in the unused commands. I suggest you send a complaint to Corel to that effect.

2021 AI JPG Artifact removal.jpg

Already done prior to posting hear. Sadly however it will most likely be dismissed as they seem to go on a How many complaints basis. I put in my concern prior to posting here, and I still have not even received a reply.

[Footloose1949]

I'm a diehard user of PSP since it originally appeared as shareware. However, I do mainly photographic image editing and have been disgusted/appalled at the glacial/slug-like speed of the Resize function, without and with the AI enhancement that 2021 offers in comparison to all previous versions of PSP.

The 2018 version is probably 8-10 times faster, whilst the 2021 version is working so hard processing a 3900x5200 pixel 8-bit image, that for the first time EVER, I have heard the fan kick in to keep my desktop PC's processor and 64 mb of RAM memory cool!

The only other yet to be addressed moan I have about PSP, is the ridiculously small size of the the input adjustment setting sections on functions. They also need to be spaced further apart. Is it REALLY soooo difficult to reconfigure these, or maybe Corel just can't be bothered?

Thank goodness I've still got Corel's 2018 version loaded on my PC ...

[Ray Deacon]

I too have been using Paintshop Pro since its early days and have just upgraded to 2021 Ultimate from 2019 Ultimate. I use it solely for image processing.

The image resize option is abysmal. When try to increase the size of an image, for example, from 6x4" @ 400 DPI to 7x4.667" keeping the same resolution, the process takes anything between 30 and 60 seconds to complete. If I take the same image and reduce its size to, say, 12x8" @ 72 DPI, the process is instantaneous.

This never happened on any previous PSP version I have used. Why change something that worked perfectly to something that doesn't?

[LeviFiction]

Using the AI resample method is what takes so long. Change it any of the other methods like Bi-Cubic and it too will be almost instantaneous. But AI just takes longer than everything else especially when you want the results to look good. The point of the AI option is to try and preserve details when upscaling the image.

[Ray Deacon]

I have recently replaced Paintshop Pro 2019 with PSP 2021 Ultimate and have experienced a strange, intermittent problem.

A photographic image is opened via the Edit function. Every so often, and there seems to be no logical pattern, when clicking on a main menu function (Adjust, Image, File, etc) the PSP window disappears (just as if I'd minimised it). Using the Alt=Tab keys and hopping through the other app thumbnails, the PSP thumbnail is visible but when I stop on it, by releasing the Alt+Tab keys, PSP does not redisplay. All of the other open apps can be maximised but are locked out - they cannot be used.

So I opened Task Manager intending to select End Task on PSP. As soon as the Task Manager window opened, the PSP window reappeared and I could carry on editing the image. The remaining open apps then became active again.

Any thoughts as to what may be causing this would be appreciated but I have a feeling that there is a coding problem. Never had this on previous versions.

[Footloose1949]

When using the 'Resize' function, I am finding that PSP 2021 is apallingly slow in comparison to the 2019 version. I select an image, then using the 'Save As' function to make two identical copies named 'Test-1' and 'Test-2' in the TIFF format, (LZW compressed) then double-check that the image and file sizes are indeed identical.
I am resizing (Bicubic) the original 24 Mb 16-bit 3450 x 4600 pixel image to 3800 x 5200 pixels.

The 2019 version takes 1.786 seconds to resize Test-1.
The 2021 version takes 7 mins, 56.724 seconds, or is over 420 times slower! This is NOT using Corel's much-vaunted AI processing.

What baffles me, is if I use the more process-intensive 'Perspective Correction' function, these images take about the same time in the 2019 and 2021 versions.

[pblanton]

I hate it that I cannot use the startup page without it going full-screen. I don't use a touch screen, and I have a 55" 4k display. Full-screen is ridiculous. I window the app, then close it, but when I re-start it, it goes full-screen. That's terribly presumptuous of Corel.

The only way to disable to is to set the default screen as the Edit screen, which makes the startup screen useless. I understanding adding new features to an app, but breaking existing functionality because you have a touchscreen and just assume everyone else does too, is MADDENING!!! PAY ATTENTION TO MY SCREEN SIZE AND PLACEMENT AND RESTART THE SAME WAY!!!!

[Techpotato]

Hands down #1 issue is the lack of HEIC / HEIF support.

I have purchased 21 versions of PSP since 1995, and the #1 issue that has bothered me for decades has been the lack of support for vector layers in PSD files, but the final straw is the absolute refusal to even acknowledge the existence of HEIF / HEIC format which nearly all of my photos for the last 2 years are in .

There isn't even a plugin or tool to support it. As much of a fan of PSP I am and have been over 25 years, I will need to find another solution.

Gimp, Photoshop Elements, Paint.net, Windows Photos, Windows Paint, ACDSee, oh yes and Photo$$$$$hop to name a few, all support HEIF but no, not Paint Shop Pro 2021.

I was absolutely gobsmacked when I went to upgrade to Paintshop Pro Ultimate JUST because I am so frustrated with needing to convert my photos to garbage in order to edit them, only to find that 2021 STILL does not support HEIF.

[Quietly]

Resizing takes a long time as in time to go and make a cup of tea in PSP 2021 so long in fact I aborted. Fortunately I did not uninstall PSP 2020 so I opened and resized the same image, the resize was instant.

Anyone else experiencing the same thing in 2021?

[amylquefez]

Hello,

I don't like the fact that it is incompatible with plugins.