PSPx6 Bugs and Fixes

[LindaSue]

I just noticed that X6 has a few new options for the Crop Tool that aren't available in X4. While checking to see what they are, I randomly decided to check the box for "Specify print size" and found that checking that box causes PSP to crash every time, or at least three times in a row with two different images. These are the errors that I get each time:

Unhandled Exception error.jpg (10.21 KiB) Viewed 7416 times

[LindaSue]

I figured out what causes the Crop tool errors and crash. If the Units box is left blank, which is the default setting, PSP will crash if you try to check "Specify Print Size" or "Snap crop rectangle to:".

In PSPX4, this isn't a problem because the Units default to "Pixels". In X6, there is no Pixels option under Units.

[Khuri]

PSP X6 Version 16.1.0.48 x64
PSPX6 Hotfix for "Zoom in/out" with un-Tabbed Document issue properly installed.
Using "tabbed images" settings (as seen on example pictures).

Ruler Issues:
The hotfix fixed problems while zooming not completly for me. If i have an image where Height > Width and i zoom, the ruler gets totally messed up.
Please see the following picture, a compilation of 4 screenshots showing different zooming stages.
pspx6_issue1.jpg (it's too big for upload here on forums)

As you can see the X-ruler jumps weird while zooming in. The Y-ruler displays correctly the whole time.
On the fourth image the program can display the whole image on my screen, and the Y-ruler is correctly. In this zoom stage the image also updates properly the whole time, selecting text for example shows the selection properly on the text.


Screen not updating correctly while moving Selections:
While creating the image for this issue report i noticed another bug.
pspx6_issue2.jpg (it's too big for upload here on forums)

I copied another image into the first one as selection and while moving that selection (and being zoomed in) the screen also only partially updated, showing "old content" left of the red line. While i moved the selection around, only the right part updated properly while the left side of the image showed the state of the image before moving.
I can stop moving the selection and the image doesn't update still.
Moving the screen (using the pan tool) does not update the screen either!
I have to zoom in or out once to get the updated image.

The same happens if i make a text using the text-tool, then convert the vector into a selection and move that selection.
On the example image linked above, the lower image shows this issue.
I entered "TEST TEXT", turned the vector into a normal layer, then selected the whole content and moved it (floating selection).
The word "TEST" on the left is the original state of the image. Below it you see the whole selection. There is a "magic line" where anything left of it does not update (right at the E of TEST). You can see the outline of the selection there, but not the content. Anything right of it updates correctly.


Both described issues can be repeated while working at a zoom level that is high enough to NOT SHOW the whole image on screen.

[bowserb]

Display/Monitor Profiles. I apologize if this has been mentioned. When I start PSPx6 with the latest "fixes", my primary monitor changes color balance, turning blue. I checked the Windows 8.1 color management, and the profiles I created with Color Munki are still there and are still default, yet the monitor stays blue. I've turned off the color management in PSP. Once the monitor goes blue, all I can do is restart the computer.

I've had every version of PSP since it was a shareware program back in the 1990's. This version has been a major disappointment. The windows don't resize to the zoomed images. Now the monitor color is messed up.

[Brubaker-45]

After a lot of correspondence re my problems with x6 I have reverted to x5 and going through the refund process. The european advanced support have been able to find the same faults in the same circumstances and reported them 'upwards' - what is a real surprise is the lack of this being reported here.
My main tools are paint and clone and use of these within selections. I am mainly restoring old and damaged photographs by scanning the originals and then processing. The work involves repeated use of the same tools gradually building up the 'repair' or replacement. Now using any of these in x6 I get the 'artifacts' problem but in my case its like this. After a number (varies) of brush strokes, either the removed/replaced/painted over area 'jumps' back on screen or any number of strokes appears to be having no effect. Any form of re-fresh e.g using + or - buttons shows the screen as it should with the item removed/replaced or whatever. After a while this becomes interminable and adds hours to my workload. I did screen shots successfully for the support team but they can't come up with a fix (yet). So I've gone back to the 32 bit x5 which after the service packs is OK and I can't say that I've noticed any difference in speed (PSP is notorious for this in all versions by Corel - not a problem when Jasc had it) between x5 and the 64 bit x6.

[LeviFiction]

That bug is not restricted to selections and painting. PSP on several occassions will randomly seem to forget soemthing is there, or not redraw areas as they are supposed to. It seemed to pop up around the introduction of SP1 for me. I had not noticed it before that. And it has been reported on the forums several times.

[Brubaker-45]

So why has nothing been done about it? SP1 made no difference at all as I could see. It's the same on both 32 and 64 versions of x6 but not x5. Apart from the 'artifacts' post here above I can't see any other specific mention. I have used PSP since Jasc's V7 (still reckon that was the easiest for using layers - lost by V9) as I never could get on with Photo Shop - (good job I didn't buy it) but if someone comes up with a better alternative I'll move from Corel. I bought their 'Aftershot Pro' and dumped that as it doesn't work with DNG files (converted from NEF, ORF and RAF in my case) unless from a specific camera - useless compared to Lightroom and it looks like x6 is going the same way.

[Khuri]

After a lot of correspondence re my problems with x6 I have reverted to x5 and going through the refund process. The european advanced support have been able to find the same faults in the same circumstances and reported them 'upwards' - what is a real surprise is the lack of this being reported here.

See my recent report here.

It describes your problem and is very easy to repeat. As i see it, it happened with SP1 when they made it possible to pan the image out of the borders when zoomed in (before the image got stuck on the edges, now you can scroll over the edges into "the void").

[SJS]

Problem with Epson & other? printers, ongoing since PSPX4 or earlier:

Image sizes in the print window (& when printed!) do not reflect an applied change to the printer paper size until I re-open and apply the printer properties settings a second time.

In PSP I want to print to my Epson Stylus Photo R2880 wide format printer. From the PSP print menu, I select the printer Properties to see the Epson driver options & settings. I choose Super B 13x19 (for example) & close the Properties menu.

The PSP print menu does not reflect the new paper size. When I click on Properties again, the new paper setting is retained correctly so I close this. PSP then updates to use the new paper size. I always have to re-open the printer properties when changing the papers size. , which is extremely annoying!

There is another, harder to repeat problem with PSP and the Epson print driver: some combination of settings switches the print setting from color to greyscale. I am not intentionally choosing greyscale in either the Epson software menu OR in the PSP print menu. I expect to printing in color, but with delicately tinted drawings, I do not notice that my preview is monochrome. It is ugly to waste a 13x19 sheet of fine art paper, worse to waste custom treated fabric trimmed & mounted on a carrier sheet!

This has been reported by multiple users with older versions of PSP with Epson and Canon printers, but never acknowledged or changed.

[Tup3x]

There's an issue with JPG chroma subsampling setting. This has been broken at least since X4, it works as intended in PSP9 (LOL).

Selecting no chroma subsampling reults in image that uses chroma subsampling:

^^That will give jpg with 4:2:0 subsampling.


^^This setting will result in jpg that doesn't have chroma subsampling.

Save as jpg settings has this same issue too.

This problem is still there in SP1. Could you please fix this? This has been broken for so long time....

[SJS]

If the previously posted bug/comment re: chroma subsampling is real, it is ugly: all save jpgs have unintended settings which affect the quality of the file? Yuck!

Tup3x wrote:There's an issue with JPG chroma subsampling setting. This has been broken at least since X4, it works as intended in PSP9 (LOL).

Selecting no chroma subsampling reults in image that uses chroma subsampling:

[anthea]

I just tried to upgrade to X6, and I have another issue with the JPEG format: If I edit an existing picture, and press "save", it is saved with the standard compression factor of 20. And yes, I used the save as option to set another resolution, like it worked in every previous version (I'm on PSP since V5). So being forced to use the save-as option for every picture complicates the workflow greatly (not only one additional dialog, but 2 (overwrite confirm)) and I lose autosave of the previous picture.
Is there any option to force X6 to use a user-defined compression factor on normal save?

[MarkZ]

. . . Is there any option to force X6 to use a user-defined compression factor on normal save?

As far as I know, and I have just tested this, after you have changed the compression of a jpg to what you want, that value is retained for subsequent saves. However, having said that, when I did the first "save as" just now the compression was set to 20 (as you state) whereas I'm quite sure I had used a smaller value a while ago. I closed and reopened a number of times, saved in different formats and the value I had used at the beginning was retained.

[Tadjio]

Is there any option to force X6 to use a user-defined compression factor on normal save?

My understanding is that PSP uses the last-used compression factor as used in SaveAs for all subsequent Saves.
The program starts with a factor of 20 so you should use SaveAs to reduce it to, say, 2, which is what I use.
Then any Save you do of any image after that will use that factor.

However, there was a known bug in X5 that seemed to reset this factor back to the factory default of 20. Corel were aware of it and I'm not certain it has been fixed. It seemed to be caused by using SaveCopyAs (which has its own compression factor too:) or by changing image type.

[anthea]

So I tried now to contact the customer support for this problem. The official answer is:

If you prefer saving a high quality photo, you have to do it via SAVE AS. Save has a default compression setting which cannot be altered.

In my opinion this renders the program completely useless. I had hoped to finally replace my PSP X2, which gets some stability issues in x64 environments, and is, at least in my opinion, the last version that was useable till now (even though I still miss some features from PSP8). But if Corel goes this way with PSP, this was my last try here.