Paint Shop Pro - questions before I try/buy

[toonsign]

Good afternoon,

I've been using Paint Shop Pro 7 for some years now and when I bought my new computer, I have found that it does not work with Windows 7. I use PSP exlusively for editing old ads and images and do a lot of cropping, editing, cleaning up and such. I mostly use layers - I have standard PSP images that I create a new layer and ad these new layer to the image. Make 2 layers in other words, using the layer template. I have Coreldraw 8 but that too does not work in Windows 7.

Unfortunately I will have to purchase a new paint program and I have a few questions about PSP before I even download the trial.

1. I've been reading what little there is about the new PSP X3 and it does not mention anything about layers. Does the new PSP do layers?

2. Is is pretty close to the old Paint Shop Pro &/

Thanking you in advance.

Fred
Melbourne FL

[teknisyan]

1. I've been reading what little there is about the new PSP X3 and it does not mention anything about layers. Does the new PSP do layers?

Yes, PaintShop Pro support layers

2. Is is pretty close to the old Paint Shop Pro &/

I'm not sure what version PSP are you referring but it's similar to PSP X1 and PSP X2

I would suggested to download the free trial, so that you can try and use the program and see how the software works. You can download the free trial via www.corel.com/trials

[JStanley]

deleted

[Kathy_9]

If you do have Jasc Animation Shop, it will function on a Windows 7 machine (I have it and use it) but as JStanley indicated, it no longer interfaces with PSP. If you create your animation frames (layers) in PSP, you will have to save your work as a PSP Animation Shop image and then open it in Animation Shop to actually run and save the animation.

[LeviFiction]

Personal opinion here, pspx3 is currently at a reduced price and has never been closer to its actual value however that also means it is close to time for a new version to appear though only those in the company know when. If you can see yourself paying the usually higher price for a newer product, always try before you buy, then I suggest waiting. On the other hand if you are not sure and your trial of X3 goes well then it is at an excellent price right now.

[toonsign]

Thank all of you for your comments. It is appreciated.

When I use the old PSP7, when I saved a jpg image, it converted it (16 million colors) to 256 and looks bad, real bad and worthless. However, if I save it as a png, then it's ok but that's not what I'm after so free trial here I come.

I think I will try the download and see how it goes.

Fred
Melbourne FL

[MatsW]

I think PSPX3 is great. I use both the painting and the photo functions. You can paint in oils, too. One gets a collection of plugins, the KPT collection, which makes interesting things with the images. There are many plugins and scripts to download on the net. I own PSP8, too, but PSPX3 is superior. PSPX3 is very powerful at manipulating photos. One can remove unwanted things in the images, the program erases it and calculates how the background looks behind the object removed. Layers are of course supported. There are several different types of layers. PSPX3 comes with Painter Essentials 4, which is a powerful painting software, that can also turn photos into oil paintings, etc. I don't think it's an expensive software, considering what you get. Painter12 is much more expensive, although it contains less functionality (however, Painter12's painting functions are very realistic and sophisticated).

Mats

[Ken Berry]

And now, of course, PSP X4 has just been released...

[wds937]

pspx3 is currently at a reduced price and has never been closer to its actual value however that also means it is close to time for a new version to appear...it is at an excellent price right now.

Last night, even after X4 appeared on the website, X3 (regular and Ultimate) were still appearing at the reduced prices as a "limited-time offer" until September 30. Tonight, they do not appear on the home page, though this might be temporary, as the display of limited-time offers does move around. Also, now most links on Corel's site to the PSP X3 product page are redirected to PSP X4.