PSP X7 Misinterpreting color of pixels

[sarahrah77]

I am trying both PSP x7 and Lightroom 5.6 on a free trial basis ... trying to decide which to purchase. I had high hopes for PSP but, I am very disappointed and I am wondering if this issue I am having is fixable? I am attaching two screen shots of the *SAME EXACT UNEDITED* RAW photo. One I've zoomed in using Lightroom and the other I've zoomed in using PSP. The image is of a gray dog... however, PSP is misinterpreting the colors in my photos. This is happening to all of my photos within PSP no matter the color composition. Why is PSP interpreting this gray dog as multicolored? PSP did accurately identify my camera and lens. (The PSP image is zoomed in just a smidge more, but I assure you that the Lightroom image never gets this colorful no matter how far I zoom in or out).

[LeviFiction]

Can't answer that but I would like to offer a thought.

Photoshop and Lightroom have the exact same RAW engine, there are one or two extras in Lightroom. So why do people buy Lightroom over Photoshop? Because it's a different workflow. It's a different way of managing and editing photos than Photoshop. In fact Photoshop and Lightroom are often used together. Lightroom for what it does well, Photoshop for what it does well.

By comparison, PaintShop Pro is like Photoshop it's a full image editor. AfterShot Pro is like Lightroom, it's a different workflow and made for RAW image editing. Unlike Photoshop and Lightroom PSP and Aftershot Pro do not use the same RAW engine.

So if you're comparing Lightroom to PaintShop Pro I might suggest comparing Lightroom to AfterShot Pro. Or using Lightroom and PSP in conjunction.

I never get a straight answer, there are people here who hate PSP's RAW editing options, and others who like it. In light of this I use the Lightroom Photoshop analogy. Use one for RAW editing, and the other for advanced editing.

[sarahrah77]

Thank you, Levi. I do already understand they are different but my concern is that my photos will not be a clean looking in PSP. The reason why I wanted to purchase PSP was because I grew up with it and it costs A TON less than CS does. However, I don't want all of these added colored pixels in my image no matter what program I use to do what.

[MarkZ]

Sahrahrah77:

In my opinion it is impossible to judge the quality of an editing program by the way it displays raw images in a preview. I don't know the ins and outs of interpreting and rendering software but when I've looked at the preview of a raw image in three different programs each is different and none show what the converted, say jpg, will look like. I don't like PSP for raw processing (as LeviFiction said some of us like it, others don't) and I've settled on ASP for working with raw images and follow-up with PSP if I need or want something additional. The attached file is a great magnification, likely 300% or more, of weathered boards; closes I could come for something grey. The upper right portion is the raw file as viewed in PSP Manage mode and the lower left is from the same image but processed by ASP to a jpg, no editing, straight conversion. There is a substantial difference. Not sure what it proves other than how a raw file is previewed is not an indication of the final result.

From your image I wonder if Lightroom does some noise reduction early in the process. I think such colours are common when there is noise.

[photodrawken]

Why is PSP interpreting this gray dog as multicolored?

It looks like you're seeing the chromatic aberration (CA) in the original image when you view it in PSP.

Two things to check:

1. In Lightroom, find out if it's automatically applying a CA correction.
2. In PSP, use its CA correction tool and see if the results match what you're getting in LR.

P.S., If you want an outstanding RAW image processing program, you really ought to take a look at RawTherapee. It just happens to be free, too.

[rondo]

Lightroom is running some noise reduction on your image by default. The clumps of color seem to me to be color noise. PSP's RAW editor's Reduce Noise is set to 0 when you open an image, so you have to adjust it manually. It still may not remove enough noise, so then either click Edit or Apply and use PSP's Digital Noise Reduction tool under the Adjust column. I only use PSP's RAW editor for quick development on some images (it is fast and convenient), and then further pixel level editing all in the same program. For RAW and Jpeg, I also often use Topaz Denoise for it's extensive controls and excellent noise reduction, and it works especially well on images with a lot of color noise as yours with it's Clean Color feature.

[sarahrah77]

Thank you very much everyone! I'll check these suggestions out on PSP today.