Paint Shop Pro X3?

[chaos1986]

Hi there, sorry if this is in the wrong section or there is already another thread, id did a search and I could find none.

I have been a faithful Paint Shop Pro customer since the days of Windows 3.1. I have seen it's growth and how it has evolved, i am very happy so see it has come this far.

But i have heard rumours around that PSP X2 is the last version and that it is changing to CorelDraw and/or Photo Paint. can someone shine some light on what is happening.

I really really hope this is not true as it would really put a spanner in things.

I use Paint Shop Pro for game textures and graphics(I'm a games designer) and it is so much better and nicer than Photoshop for this kind of work.

Current PSP Problems

Currently in PSP X2 transparency is handled differently than in most other graphics packages, so copying and pasting or dragging a transparent image (ie a PNG) directly over to PSP loses it's transparency.
Also TGA doesn't appear to support transparency in PSP.

Some basic filters are missing that are required by both graphic artists, games designers and photo editors. Mainly i am talking about the "Cloud Render" but there are a few others.

and finally All this extra bloat that installs with PSP, such as photo organiser and photo downloader.

What i love about PSP
Mainly is it's ease of use and how you can get some awesome looking results in minutes (as a posed to Photoshop where the same effect can take hours of tweaking)

The fact that it supports Photoshop file formats and appears to import them correctly WITH transparency

Although a bit shaky it does support plug-ins (ie NVidia's normal map filters and import/export file formats)

Features I would love to see get added
3D Accelerated graphics, this will improve performance vastly on most modern hardware, this option should be able to be turned on/off

Native support for the .dds file format and the appropriate dialogue box on save (such as mipmaps and stuff).

the ability to load/save icons and cursor graphic files

Some extra filters such as cloud render and perlin noise

Extra support for transparency and support for transparency copy/paste to/from other applications.

Support for Photoshop brushes.

[sjj1805]

We are all eagerly waiting to see what Corel does next, not just with Paint Shop Pro but also the other programs it bought out.

Photoimpact
VideoStudio
MovieFactory

Corel have already effectively dumped many great programs
MediaStudio Pro
DVD Workshop 2
Cool 3D Production Studio
Gif Animator
and several others.

[chaos1986]

We are all eagerly waiting to see what Corel does next, not just with Paint Shop Pro but also the other programs it bought out.

Photoimpact
VideoStudio
MovieFactory

Corel have already effectively dumped many great programs
MediaStudio Pro
DVD Workshop 2
Cool 3D Production Studio
Gif Animator
and several others.

If they remove psp i will remove them lol. they cannot just "stop" software thats practicly made a generation

[pdxrjt]

Well, if they dropped PSP, I would probably use it until it was VERY long in the tooth, and then switch to another program....that happens to have a lot of books, magazines etc. written about it. But I hope that doesn't happen.

[Virtual DarKness]

If they drop psp I hope that they will sell it to another company (possibly a small one, not like ms) or that they will release it under a open source license.

Both solution would be way better than to see it die. But I think Paint Shop Pro could be a lot more competitive than it is.. it really has great potential and compared to the others mentioned above, is the one that has more reasons to exists today.. especially as a photoshop alternative cause in europe photoshop costs more than 1000 euro, not "just" 5-600$ like in the usa.

bye,
Giovanni.

[allicorn]

What other competitor is there to Photoshop? Nothing really. Nothing that is as well placed to be precisely that - a competitor for Photoshop. The increasingly wide price difference gives PSP a specific market niche and within that niche it doesn't have any serious competitors (or am I forgetting someone?).

I don't see any reason why PSP can't continue to be successful within it's subsection of the image processing software shelf indefinitely, so long as it continues to receive the odd patch and a few new features every other year or so.

That said, I'm sure we'd all love to see Corel put some real coding and marketing firepower behind the old girl and take on Adobe.

Alli

[scoutchuck]

I also do graphic art and render 3D for gaming and display. Many people have been using a free program called Paint.net. I use it almost exclusively to create DDS files from JPG files (flat), but it will open and save Photoshop files (with a plugin). Except for the fact that PSP will not open or save DDS files (typically uploaded to server and retreived by users - MS), I try to tell associates that PSP is relative easy to use and economical (as compared to Photoshop).

I have used PSP since version 5, and have owned all the versions since then. I cringe to think I would have to go to Adobe and shell out the big bucks. I too will be a hold out if the product is discontinued.

[jparnold]

I too would stick with PSP X2 until it no longer did what I wanted it to and that would be a long time as I only have basic requirements for a 'paint' program.
It wouldn't surprise me if Corel dropped it though. Have you noticed how many magazines are available (at the newsagent) and books available on Photoshop? I wished that even one magazine was available for PSP although I do have a book (Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 for photographers which has taught me a lot).

[SnedekerDesignz]

Hope they come out with more versions, and don't discontinue it. Making it opensource would rock, but it wouldn't be to popular since GIMP rules that area.

[chaos1986]

Just to keep this topic fresh i'm bumping it

The day Corel took it over I knew it was bad news, i have used Corel products back in the day and was never that impressed. Thankfully Corel have left most of PSP alone and added some good features.

PSP could easily compete with Photoshop, all the features are there, plugins are there (yes you can use Photoshop plugins with PSP with a bit of know how)

It's all there just buried deep, there is absolutely no marketing for it infact it is one of the worst marketed products I have ever seen.

So message to Corel: FIX IT!! and don't just drop this product like you have so many others. it has SOOO much potential.

I remember back in 2000 and before PSP was huge, infact it existed before Photoshop.

[allicorn]

Marketing is what it comes down to, yep.

If Corel could just pull off some of the same great whizz-bang marketing they did when they bought WordPerfect from Novell and led it back to dominance over the office productivity market... oh wait

Alli

[chaos1986]

Marketing is what it comes down to, yep.

If Corel could just pull off some of the same great whizz-bang marketing they did when they bought WordPerfect from Novell and led it back to dominance over the office productivity market... oh wait

Alli

All of the products Corel has taken over they have run into the ground, i remember word perfect from waaay back when, i remember people always used to reccomend Ulead video studio to me for video editing, oh no more tho not since Corel has run them all into the ground

They need to sort themselves out or they will go bust

[michelespaintshop]

Hi Everyone,

When it comes to X2 or X3 of Paint Shop Pro being the last version, I'm very curious as to where this information came from? Has there been any official word from anyone over at Corel? Is this just a rumor?

It would be a sad day to see Paint Shop Pro end. So many people use this program because its affordable, and easy to use. I for one never truly had any real problems with the program over the years. I've used version 5 to 12 (skipped 11). Sure things can improve, but to give up on it would be sad. Sure we could continue on to use the last version produced, but without any future updates it would become boring and dull.

When I ask people if they use Paint Shop Pro, they say "You mean the photo editing program?"

I've learned most people look at this program as just some software to edit a photograph. Maybe that is a marketing issue? I answer e-mail questions quite often, and I find a large amount of my visitors (which are Newbies) do not even realize that PSP allows you to work in layers!


Well, I just wanted to add my two cents on this, and I am hopeful to get some feedback on whether this is just a rumor or indeed a fact.

[Ron P.]

This is nothing more than rumor and speculation. If you read the OP's post it clearly states:

..But i have heard rumours...

there is no fact to this. From past experience as a beta tester for Ulead, those that would have factual information are forbidden by way of NDA, (non-disclosure agreement) to release any information on current works.

[sjj1805]

........
When I ask people if they use Paint Shop Pro, they say "You mean the photo editing program?" .......

I have heard people say the same thing about Adobe Photoshop so I would take those remarks with a pinch of salt. I have not heard any such rumours either, it is simply a case of wait and see.