PSPx6 Bugs and Fixes

[LindaSue]

It's very weird that Corel forced us to use the default compression level 20 for Save edited picture.

Ermmm....

I don't know what you all are doing differently but I changed mine to a compression of "1" and it stays there for Save and for Save As in X6.

[fred8615]

I don't know what you all are doing differently but I changed mine to a compression of "1" and it stays there for Save and for Save As in X6.

I've never had an issue with it either.

[LeviFiction]

What I do know is that Corel's own people stated that Save uses a standard compression, and if you wanted to use a lower compression for higher quality images you have to use Save As. So Corel intended it to work the way we are experiencing.

As for doing something "different" this could sound very crazy. But the fact that it's working the way you're used to could be a bug. We've seen bugs effect a small subset of systems before. I won't say it is, but no matter how many times I try I get the same result, Save always results in a different final size than SaveAs does.

Anyone want to offer up a test image and the exact settings used so we can all test on common ground?

[LindaSue]

What I do know is that Corel's own people stated that Save uses a standard compression, and if you wanted to use a lower compression for higher quality images you have to use Save As. So Corel intended it to work the way we are experiencing.

Are you saying that even when the compression is set to "1", what we actually get is "20"? I thought that others were saying that they would change the level and then the next time they looked under Options, it will have reverted to "20" instead of whatever they'd changed it to.

[LeviFiction]

I'm saying that if you use Save As, then you get a compression value of 1. If you use the save command, it defaults to a much higher compression level.

It's my understanding and experience that Save will always use a different compression level than Save As does. Save As will always use the value you set, but Save results in a different file size.

When we first brought this up I ran a test where I took an image and I used Save As with a compression level of 1. I then took a copy of the original file and, with out editing anything, just his Save. Save resulted in a much smaller file size than Save As.

Original File size - 759kb
Save As - Compression level 1 - 542kb
Save - 139kb

Save As does maintain its Compression level but Save seems to be saving it with a much higher compression in spite of the fact that I changed the options under Save As.

Joelle made mention of the Save As setting randomly resetting to 20. Beyond that I've never heard anyone say the Save As resets itself. But the big problem that has been talked about is that Save uses a standard compression value (we assume around 20) and the only way to get a lower compression is to always use Save As.

[MarkZ]

I did some testing and compared to the results that Tadjio had. We found that for the same compression as Save (using file size as the indicator), I used (as far as I can remember) about 15 for Save As while Tadjio used about 5. Keep in mind we used photos produced by different makes of camera, different starting sizes and different content of the image; I think all factors affect the final result.

When I set the compression to 1 (or whatever value) in Save As, that value is retained. My (vague) impression is that when I check the compression value before saving, once in a while it has reverted to 20, but that may be because I reset something in the program. I'll try to keep track. But the compression of Save is independent of what is set in Save As and is a constant. I found it interesting that repeated saves of an image, using Save, does not change the size (or quality) of the final file - I had been under the impression that the compression would be increased with each save.

[Tadjio]

I agree with Mark's summary. The only significant difference between our tests is that he found that Save uses a compression equivalent to about 15 whereas for me it was about 5.

I too reported a problem where SaveAs reverted to 20, using X5 or early X6 (I can't check on ZenDesk;) but it hasn't occurred recently.

I am sure that in earlier versions of PSP, setting the SaveAs Compression Factor was then used automatically for Save but this no longer happens.
I suspect that when this used to happen the resultant compression factor was retained in the Registry for later versions of PSP. This would explain why we seem to have different compressions for Save.

[Tadjio]

Before going to bed, I decided to search the Registry for "Compression".
I found 2 instances of interest under Software \ Corel \ PaintShop Pro \ X6 (and values as I would expect) :-
1) CmdFile \ JPEG Optimizer \ Compression is 6
2) Encoding \ JPG \ CompressionFactor is 2

I couldn't see any reference to Save Compression Factor.
Perhaps someone else might have found it by the time I get up

[freekey]

I don't know what you all are doing differently but I changed mine to a compression of "1" and it stays there for Save and for Save As in X6.

Thanks for your response.

Did you actually mean, 1st you have to Save As first. Later you edit the picture, then you press Save, it retains the compression level that we have set using Save As?

I never tried that.

Anyway, all I know, after I used Save As and set my compression level to 5. Then, I closed PaintShop.

Edit another image, press Save, then it will use the default compression level 20

[freekey]

So, is it true that we can set the Save compression factor using registry?

I'm glad to hear that. Please teach me how.

I'm not so into using Save As because at times I would accidentally click other filename in the Dialog Box. So, I would possibly overwritten another picture!!

That's why I insist to use the Save command with my desired compression level.

Thank you.

[kohan21n]

I noticed when you import an EPS file into 64bit, it will not add the transparency background if available. It also makes the logo/picture have very jagged edges. In 32bit it works perfectly fine. I have read some others having the same problem. Also when you try to open a big resolution EPS file, no error message shows but neither does the image?

Seems as if 'Enable transparency' and 'Enable Anti Aliasing' are checked, but not working.

Kind of weird, hopefully there is a fix to this since I open EPS files daily and just upgraded

[Trilliana]

What I do know is that Corel's own people stated that Save uses a standard compression, and if you wanted to use a lower compression for higher quality images you have to use Save As. So Corel intended it to work the way we are experiencing.

After doing some testing I can confirm that. This is what I've done:
I took a JPG made earlier with compression 4 and no subsampling. I didn't change anything in the picture but saved couple of times with Save, Save As, then took a look at the image properties as shown in XnView and IrfanView. This is what I found:

1. I saved with Save As, compression 1, apparently no subsampling. Result: Quality 99, subsampling 2x2,1x1,1x1, file size about 1 MB.
2. Saved same picture with Save. Result: Quality 80, subsampling 2x2,1x1,1x1, file size about 170 KB.
3. Saved again with Save As, compression was 1 as set under (1.) so no change needed here, apparent subsampling 4x4,2x2,2x2. Result: Quality 99, no subsampling, file size about 1,26 MB.
4. Saved again with Save. Result: Quality 80, subsampling 2x2,1x1,1x1, file size about 170 KB.

Which means, Save works with a constant standard compression of 20 and a standard subsampling of 2x2,1x1,1x1. One good solution would be to have a setting for this in the general settings. XnView has settings valid for both Save commands, IrfanView has a checkbox to show the JPG settings for both commands, and preserves the settings.

As for working with X6 I guess maybe one could create a batch job to save with the desired settings without having to do much mouse clicks.

PS: The problem with the messed up subsampling list is an older one, there is somewhere a thread referring to it.

[freekey]

After doing some testing I can confirm that. This is what I've done:
I took a JPG made earlier with compression 4 and no subsampling. I didn't change anything in the picture but saved couple of times with Save, Save As, then took a look at the image properties as shown in XnView and IrfanView. This is what I found:

1. I saved with Save As, compression 1, apparently no subsampling. Result: Quality 99, subsampling 2x2,1x1,1x1, file size about 1 MB.
2. Saved same picture with Save. Result: Quality 80, subsampling 2x2,1x1,1x1, file size about 170 KB.
3. Saved again with Save As, compression was 1 as set under (1.) so no change needed here, apparent subsampling 4x4,2x2,2x2. Result: Quality 99, no subsampling, file size about 1,26 MB.
4. Saved again with Save. Result: Quality 80, subsampling 2x2,1x1,1x1, file size about 170 KB.

Which means, Save works with a constant standard compression of 20 and a standard subsampling of 2x2,1x1,1x1. One good solution would be to have a setting for this in the general settings. XnView has settings valid for both Save commands, IrfanView has a checkbox to show the JPG settings for both commands, and preserves the settings.

As for working with X6 I guess maybe one could create a batch job to save with the desired settings without having to do much mouse clicks.

PS: The problem with the messed up subsampling list is an older one, there is somewhere a thread referring to it.

Thanks so much for your lengthy explanation to confirm about the difficulties that I'm experiencing right now.

So I guess I just have to live with this bug and make sure that I did not accidentally overwrite the wrong file , especially the most precious one.

Btw, one more thing about PaintShop that I dont like all these while is it kept on recording "Layer Set Visibility" history for the Undo command. How can I disable this?

As well as I want to disable the histroy of moving object if it is done pixel by pixel using the arrow key. Is it possible?

Thank you so much.

[LeviFiction]

No, but if you use the History Palette you can quickly undo multiple commands with a single click instead of constantly hitting Undo.

The history palette lets you see your entire Undo history. Just click on the visibility icon next to the last command you want to undo, and it'll quickly undo everything up to that point.

[SJS]

Confusing behavior happens using Illumination Effects --> Lights when in the lights settings window.

When I change the zoom factor for the mini-preview where you select & move the lights around, suddenly the active light switches to Light #5, regardless of which one is currently active.