Paintshop Pro - Wishlist for version X7

[1066]

Definately a good panorama maker, serif is ok but arcsoft is better. Allowing us to change more defaults/skins! I have issues with workspace colours, font sizes, slider sizes, docking options and so-on, please don't be like bigbrother MS!

[dcadint]

Suggestions:

1. Please add a context sensitive menu to the paintbrush and fill/paint bucket tools menu for the gradient and texture pallet options. It would be nice to have a menu for gradients called Drag To with check boxes "set angle" and "set repeat" and for patterns Drag To with check boxes "set angle" and "set scale". It would make it so much easier if I could drag the angle on what I'm trying to color in and either set the repeat or scale by the length the tool is dragged across the selection. Also one could then get an effect with the paint brush of a different angle using the gradient for each brush stroke and the length set by the length of the brush stroke. Right now the way to achieve this is to edit the pallet for each brush stroke. Granted you would have to start sampling the angle as the mouse or pen is dragged along and update the angle as the brush stroke goes, or you could decrease the sampling and then when the mouse button is released or the pen is lifted calculate the angle based upon the start of the stroke and the end and refill in the stroke based on that angle. Either way would be an improvement over going back and forth with the gradient/pattern pallet dialogue.
2. Also need to add the ability to convert selections to a path/vector. This function is available in Photoshop and makes transforming/tracing images go much faster.
3. The menu for layers has a pallet to quickly access and manage layers it would be nice to have similar functionality for images, objects and selections menu options as tabs in the layers pallet. It would be nice to move some of these controls into tabs or a filter option on the layers pallet. this would make using these functions easier and decrease the steps to utilize them.
a. an images or colors tab filtered down to just the raster layers with a composite one as well. These should then have controls to expand down to cymk or rgb layers. It would be nice to edit these separate channels right in the same workspace instead of having the image menu split them out into separate work spaces. These cymk/rgb layers could then be copied to perform other tasks such as using the one with the highest contrast to create masks/ selections.
b. The objects tab in the layers pallet would filter down to just listing the vector layers with controls to expand down to each path comprising the vector. the tab would have a context menu including the convert to path option which should create a new path from either a selected shape, text or convert a selection to a path. Also need duplicate paths option and new path option. Its tedious to have to duplicate the whole vector and then drag the copy of the path to the vector I'm working on and then delete the duplicated vector with the paths I didn't need duplicated.
c. Having a selections tab in the pallet with the ability to quickly see and save selections to the alpha channel would make using and managing the selections easier. Also the refine edge tool in photoshop is kind of nice would love to see something like that in PSP, lets call it "fine edge adjustment tool" or FEAT for short (it pulls the back ground up through fine edges like hair curls to get a fine tuned selection while leaving some fine strands in place).

These features would greatly improve functionality and workflow.

Finally I'd love to see a few of the open source plugins used by gimp (I haven't worked with all the PSP plugins so forgive me if I list one that exists in some form already) added on such as:
- Liquid re-scale - which maintains proportionality while stretching an image.
- Refocus - FIR Wiener filtering generally produces better results than the standard unsharp masking method
- Wavelet Denoise - reduce noise in each channel of an image separately without affecting the image details
- Resynthisizer - create textures that are tileable from pictures or erase an object in a photo by duplicating textures in the background

[Cassel]

Although one can customize the workspace in many ways, there is yet, no way to add a specific plugin access as a one click process. Since most tools can be moved and placed somewhere else on a menu, or a palette, it would be convenient to have some plugins that we use often as obviously available instead of having to go through Effects > Plugin > name of plugin every time.
Just a tiny addition.

[Rodriguez]

One thing I wish PaintShop Pro did better is reducing color depth. I don't use it to reduce to 256 colors or to save as paletted formats like GIF. Instead, I get better results with freeware programs. I am guessing the algorithms you use for this have been in place for many years, while some other software utilizes newer and better algorithms.

[strasburgrams15]

In PsP x7, I would love to see a more "in depth" RAW editing lab. In my opinion, the current RAW editing lab is very "dull" compared to other RAW editing enabled programs (EX Photoshop)

[Zacabeb]

1. Legacy option in the Curves tool, using the same algorithm as in Jasc-era Paint Shop Pro versions; to allow for compatibility and a way to deal with the overshoot in the current algorithm.
2. The option to switch cataloging of folders in the Manage workspace from opt-out to opt-in mode.
3. The option of opening files from the Manage workspace by double-clicking, instead of previewing.
4. Automatic redirection to the selected folder in the Manage workspace when selecting Browse from the Open File dialog.

[OldRadioGuy]

Plug-in support has been ignored for to long. Plug-ins are being created all the time, and with more and more of them not working in PSP it's a real shame.

+1

[Crofter]

I have a problem with my sight that means I cannot use the Graphite Workspace Theme so I went back to X2. Give me the old colours back!

[Ken Berry]

In X6, if you go to View > Workspace Colours, you will at least be able to change the workspace to a light grey instead of the dark graphite 'colour'...

[Crofter]

Thanks for the tip Ken. It helps a bit but I need to increase colour contrast in the Workspace.

[pkphoto]

We woulb be happy to not have a new version X7 with the same Raw Converter as the olders versions...

Yes may be we ask a lot, but this is the major problem.....

[Gold Acres]

I would like improvements in the way PSP handles Selections.
My problem is that any selection with a curve or diagonal area incorporated jagged edges. Example. You can draw an ellipse with the Preset Shapes tool then Select All, Float. The original ellipse shape was nice and smooth all the way around the edges. But once it becomes a selection, jagged edges are incorporated that just defy correction.

In the creation of tutorials for The Beginner's Workshop for PaintShop Pro we encountered this problem many times. Sadly we were not always able to correct them. We could use Modify Selection>Smooth for some of them, and Feather for others. But try as we might we could not get rid of them all.

I don't understand how something that was smooth becomes jagged when it becomes a selection.

[Gold Acres]

In X6, if you go to View > Workspace Colours, you will at least be able to change the workspace to a light grey instead of the dark graphite 'colour'...

Would it be so hard to give us contrast between the tools, palettes and toolbars, and the workspace?

[GraphicsDON]

• Better PDF Import/export support, especially PDF 1.7 and above (Acrobat 8+).
• Mentioned before, support for Photoshop Actions, C#/VB/.Net Plug-in support.
• Open-Source Plug-in support.

[Radim]

Today I tested import of some bigger .ABR (Photoshop Brushes). Totally about 450 of them.
And there is a size limit at 999px! But some brushes are designed for bigger (native) resulution, up to 2500px in my case. So there is limit. Please, make it bigger.

Btw. Photoshop san set size of brush up to 5000px.

And better support of drawing with brushes - I do not see where I draw and how it will be looks like in PaintShop Pro X6 SP2. (In Photoshop it is solved nicely.)