PaintShop Pro X4

[justNikhere]

justNikhere and chickiepet:

The issue with having to save your edits before moving to Manage mode can be worked around by turning on "Dual Monitor" at the bottom of the View menu. You don't actually have to have two monitors to be able to use this, it just splits PSP into two different windows: one for Manage and another for Adjust & Edit. You can have both open on the same screen and switch between them using ALT+TAB or your Windows task bar just as if they were different programs. You won't be asked to save any more when you move to the Manage window with unsaved changes in the Adjust/Edit windows."

Unfortunately this did not work for me, but thanks for trying to find a solution. This is really disappointing. I'm sorry I spent the money to upgrade. Because of this issue, X3 is much easier to work with. Guess I'll have to try the next version out instead of just assuming the upgrade would be better.

[Jim Gordon]

How do I add PSP4 to the drop down list in the Corel Photo Downloader options list so PSP4 will open when I download photos. It would seem it happens when I downloaded PSP2 &3 but there does not seem to be an option in PSP4. What gives. Thanks Jim Gordon

[Drucifer]

Jumped from X2 to X4

Where's 'fit to image'?

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EDIT
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Never fails. As soon as I post I find it.

So it's TABS or . . . .

[JStanley]

deleted

[sconcor]

Hi All,
I just bought X4 Ultimate and I like most of the features, especially the effects included in the Ultimate package are beautiful. But I miss a few items that I had in X3, the main one relating to my 2 monitors that I work on. The working area for the Editor is on the right monitor, and the pallettes for Layers and Materials are on the left one. Very convenient! Now, when in X3 I opened a file from my harddisk for the first time after opening that PSP session, the window with my files would appear on the right hand monitor, and grabbing it in its top frame, I would drag it to the second monitor on the left. Later in that session, when I opened a new file, the file window would now open on the left monitor, so that I kept a full view on the working area of the Editor. An arrangement, that I liked very much. In X4, this trick cannot be taught to X4 any more . Is there a way to achieve this again? One commentor mentioned the dual monitor function in the View menu, but X4 crashed, when I selected that.

Further, I agree with one commentor on the shabby look with those b/w icons. For a purchase price of 100 euro I would expect a bit more cheerfullness, like a green check mark when you use the Crop tool, even if Corel will say it is distracting. Also, I very much miss the line under the function "paste as new layer" in the Edit menu, which I used as a sort of visual anchor to quickly click the right action. I never was much for using quick buttons as CTRL L or V.

And lastly, can someone please get rid of that little irritating button for Corel Guide next to the minimize button on the top right hand frame

I'll play and work some further with X4 and let you know if anything else comes up.

[allicorn]

Hi sconcor,

One thing I've found when trying to customize parts of PSP's interface (since at least X2) is that changes don't always "stick" if you open any images during that session. Generally, I find it's best to start the program fresh - change the bits of interface you want changed - then quit - then start it again. This definitely seems to apply when customizing toolbar/menu contents. It might help with what you're trying to achieve, not sure, worth a try!

[sconcor]

Thanks Allicorn, I tried your suggestion, but that doesn't work, unfortunately

[allicorn]

Ho hum. There's a whole lot of work still be done on making this pretty new interface actually work for us users, I think, rather than against us.

[sconcor]

Due to the unfriendly user interface of X4, I decided to go back to X3, which is much more practical. I'll have to take my 100 Euro loss.
But now I see that the few files that I made in X4 have a unknown file extension. They contain layers, so I saved them as PSP images. It says in my folder ".pspimage" allright, but nonetheless it cannot be opened in X3, only in X4.
Is there a conversion available for this unwanted problem? Can anybody help me here?
Thanks

[allicorn]

When you're in the "Save As" box in PSPX4 (actually and X3, X2 etc as well) to save a .pspimage file, you can click the "Options" button down in the bottom right corner. It gives you the choice to save the file in a .pspimage format suitable for earlier versions of the program.

[sconcor]

Allicorn, you made my day! I never noticed this options box before, and it works great.
Thanks.

[allicorn]

You're welcome!

[SJS]

Just installed PSP X4, and it starts up as if I never used PSP before: in the ghastly black on black organizer mode. Nothing I want there! So I wonder why I just spent $29.99: this is only a bargain if I get something I want without many hours of pain & struggle!

Surely there is a way to have X4 use my X3 preferences?

Help & suggestion are most appreciated.

[MikeFromMesa]

Just in case it is important to anyone - the X4 version does not carry the Corel Instant Viewer, so if you uninstall X3 and install X4 (in that or the opposite order) you will lose it. There is no way to selectively uninstall X3 so when you remove it, it is all gone.

Not having used the X3 version very much I never tried its HDR functionality, but the HDR in X4 works very well. It may be the same as in X3, but it compares very well to my dedicated HDR software (SNS-HDR) and is much better (IMHO) than CS5. What I particularly like is the manual ghost removal (there is no automatic ghost removal). The output photos are bit noisy and I have to use some Topaz tools to sharpen it and clean it up, but the results are very nice indeed.

I never much liked the X3 interface, but the X4 interface is very appealing.

It does a very nice job when processing my Canon mRAW files (my general software, dxo, will not process them at all) and even displays the mRAW icons without any issue. I may start using mRAW in general (who really needs 18MP for most images) because of how well X4 handles them.

I find myself using it for common tasks more than CS5.

[LeviFiction]

X4 uses a completely different base for its UI and the workspace definitions are not compatible. Considering how terrible PSP is with incompatible or corrupted workspaces I consider it a blessing that X4 requires a new one and doesn't attempt to load the old. Who knows what havoc it would have wreaked.

You also have a different definition of pain & struggle than I do. And the speed, tools, improvements are more than worth $30. I honestly have never considered judging a software by how much work I have to do to get the workspace worked out like I like. Because the workspace setup is a one time thing for the life of that program it's how you use it and what you use that's of the most import. Luckily they are bringing back the color and lighter workspace so that's a joy.