PI abandoned?

[JimMayor]

Is Corel abandoning PI? Gosh, that would be a shame.

If they are, what does Corel have which is "closest" to PI. I like it.

[wds937]

It appears that X3 is the end of the line for PhotoImpact. What's "closest" depends upon which person is doing the comparing--probably PaintShop Photo Pro. They do many, though not all, of the same things, but the user interfaces are significantly different. Both products were acquired by Corel, at different times and from different sources.

[teknisyan]

You may also want to try PhotoPaint, which is part of the Corel Draw Suite. You can download the trial of both the Corel Draw X5 and PaintShop Photo Pro X3 via http://www.corel.com/trials.

[trueblue]

Is Corel abandoning PI? Gosh, that would be a shame.

If they are, what does Corel have which is "closest" to PI. I like it.

I suppose you could say it has been abandoned in a sense. The software is no longer viable, particularly since Corel have PaintShop Pro which in my estimation is a very good program. It's more a matter of what you have been used to and stepping out of your comfort zone to learn something new. I was a little like this, but I stuck to it and now much prefer PSP to PI. For me, PSP does so much more.

[Ken Berry]

...except for those of us who liked to use PI to make templates for Video Studio menus. PI is the only program which has the necessary proprietary format to make those templates, and despite repeated pressure, Corel have so far failed to indicate if they are going to transfer that format to PSP.

[trueblue]

Ken, are you saying that you can only make templates in PI? Why can't the same thing be made in PSP? Anything I can make in PI I can equally make in PSP with a few modifications.

[Ken Berry]

...Except the templates for Video Studio which use the UFO format, and that is exclusive to PI. We have been pressing Corel for the past year or so to undertake to at least transfer that format to PSP, but no reaction so far...

[trueblue]

Hi Ken

Can you please explain this a little more to me.

Are the templates you are referring to the ones in the Libraries. You create a template/Dvd Menu and then save as a .ufo, how does it get used in Video Studio. I only have PI 12 and VideoStudio12 on my PC. For some unknown reason, PIX3 will not install. I'm pretty naive about this feature as I've only used VideoStudio12 for personal video capture and editing. I've not used the menus either. This is another avenue that I need to explore.

[therapy97]

I am also trying to research what would be the closest and best alternative to PhotoImpact X3. I am fairly budget conscious and am constantly scrapbooking digitally via PhotoImpact. I am, many time, getting frustrated because I am receiving a "global memory" error and think it might have to do with the program (and maybe Vista, even though I am always updated with their service pack, etc.). Please direct me to all options if you can. The ease and cost of PIX3 was truely awesome and it is really disappointing that Corel couldn't keep this in the market as good competition for other programs.

[trueblue]

I don't think you can go wrong in purchasing PSPX3 right now as it's on special offer. When PSPX4 comes out you can upgrade which will be at a cheaper cost, so it's a win, win situation.

Anything you can do in PI can be done PSPX3, even though some here will disagree. There's always a work-around. PSP isn't as easy to use as PI, but it is still and excellent program. I have PI and PSP and find myself using PSP more and more. It's a matter of perseverence!

[therapy97]

Maureen, do you know if you can use the program on 2 computers (I have a Mac Laptop and a PC desktop) without having to pay for 2 versions? I doubt it, but I thought it best to ask.

[Ron P.]

You're allowed to install the program on more than one computer. You can only have it running on 1 computer at a time.

[Ron P.]

Hi Ken

Can you please explain this a little more to me.

Are the templates you are referring to the ones in the Libraries. You create a template/Dvd Menu and then save as a .ufo, how does it get used in Video Studio. I only have PI 12 and VideoStudio12 on my PC. For some unknown reason, PIX3 will not install. I'm pretty naive about this feature as I've only used VideoStudio12 for personal video capture and editing. I've not used the menus either. This is another avenue that I need to explore.

VS and DVD MF use the proprietary UFO format for the DVD menus. If you look for example on a Vista machine under the folder C:\Program Files\Corel\Corel VideoStudio 12 or VideoStudio Pro X4\Content\Menu Template\16x9\Customize, you will find several UFO files. You will also see at least one *.ini file. There's also more to just saving the file as a UFO file. PI has been using DVD Menu Maker. This is basically a wizard that walks through several steps to ensure your menu has all the requirements. In PI 12, use the Video & DVD workspace to access the DVD Menu Maker, which is found under the Effects menu.

I'm a little pressed for time right now, but I can try to elaborate further later on this evening (hopefully). One current problem with using PI, even PI X3, is that it does not recognize the current VS versions. This is important, as PI also creates the required *.ini file needed for VS to use them. PI X3 will allow you to create DVD menus for VS 10, VS 11, DVD MF 5 and DVD MF6. If you want to create one for any later versions you must manually alter the "ini" file, and also place the UFO and INI files in the correct folders.

[trueblue]

Hi Ron

Okay, I see the .UFO in the content file of VS12. So really, it's up to Corel to have VideStudio read and accept PspImage files, rather than .UFO.
X4 is their latest version, but will probably attend to this for X5.... hopefully.

[JJBrannon]

As someone who has used PhotoImpact for close to ~14 years [v4 or 5, lite] from the bundle on one's first Microtek scanner, the ease-of-use/learning-curve compared to Photoshop is not in the same league.

It's clear that Corel wanted Ulead's Videostudio and orphaned the rest of the product line because of duplication [even though I found PI superior to Paintshop], rather than incorporate the features. As others have noted, Ulead constantly strove to improve the application while Corel allowed Paintshop to languish with minimal upgrades.

I'm prone to vote with both my dollars and my feet. I don't reward companies for stiffing their customers. Nuance/Scansoft never received another dollar from me -- a one-time Caere beta-tester -- after ruining the functionality of OmniPage Pro. Burnt once...

Maybe Corel's bean-counters will figure it out before they go the route of Borders.

Take this as my vote for Corel to support PI for Win7. I certainly will be looking around for another Video app than put money in the coffers of a company who destroys products.

JJB