Wish List for PaintShop Pro version X9

[Joelle]

He he, I have tried Smart Carver a few times, didn't like it one bit. Too fussy.
I use another program that does this simply and very well, so haven't really persevered.

Any other tools I might use? I would select, move, erase etc. In other words, the long way around.
Have done this many times and the results just take longer.

Joëlle

[JoeB]

As this thread seems to be veering somewhat off topic in actually discussing the merits of Smart Carver, etc., I have posted a new thread in the Paintshop Pro forum for anyone who wishes to continue the discussion of software for Content Aware Scaling/Seam Carving. It explains what it's about and shows an example of a simple test I did with PSP's Smart Carver and Photoshop's Content Aware Scale tool using the same image and resizing with those tools but otherwise keeping the settings at default for both programs. Anyone interested in the subject can find it here:

http://forum.corel.com/EN/viewtopic.php ... 99#p311899

[AlanT]

I've only spent a short time testing the trial version of X8, so if any of these suggestions have been implemented, please point them out to me.

As mentioned in my post in the wishlist for X8, I still think all tools need to be fully 16-bit compatible. X8 still has the issue with the background eraser not being able to work on a 16-bit image in discontiguous mode. In this situation, it erases EVERYTHING.

Related to this, a proper chromakey tool would be really great. And since this falls into the "flashy new tool" category, it sounds like something you might actually want to do. Take a look at "Green Screen Wizard" for a good example of a tool that works and is fairly intuitive to use.

Of course, being able to use the PS plugin for GSW would also work for me. But then, PSP needs to be more compatible with PS plugins.

On the subject of chromakey, the object remover tool seems like a good try in this direction, but it doesn't work well enough for fine details like hair. Improving the object remover tool would also be a good option for chromakey.

I also believe color management needs to be a high priority. While there are some tools to work with this, they are lacking in many ways. For instance, how is one supposed to create a camera profile using industry-standard color charts to ensure accurate colors?

Did XMP support improve in X8? Didn't test that yet. If not, then having PSP read the XMP files created by Aftershot to apply editing and not just information would be great.

And, of course, as has been mentioned more times than anyone can count, a proper stitching tool is needed. Although there are other options for this, why should we have to switch to another program to edit photos when PSP could do it?

Since the Magic Move tool in X8 only works when in the Replace selection mode (try using it in the Add or Subtract mode), having the software automatically switch to that when clicking the magic move icon would help.

That's all I can think of right now.

1. 16-bit on all tools
2. Chromakey Tool
3. Full PS plugin support
4. Improve Object Remover Tool
5. Professional color management
6. Full XMP support
7. Panoramic stitching
8. Magic Move tool improvements

[Rick_R]

Corel should try to release a Mac version of PSP X9 as well.

If PSP ran on a Mac I would ditch Windows in a jiffy!

No chance though, it would mean that the program would have to be completely re-coded. Can't see that happening ever happening.

Joëlle

Keep in mind that you can always put Parallels on the Mac and then install Windows and they'll interoperate -- you can copy and paste between the two, etc. You don't completely get away from Windows maintenance but if most of what you do is in OS X, the Windows stuff should be minimal. http://www.parallels.com

[Rick_R]

Panorama stitching.

I've responded to that in detail in one of the earlier wishlists (probably for X8, maybe X7).

Bottom line is that Adobe spends large amounts adding features to their professional-level/cost tool Photoshop, then just omits certain things from Photoshop Elements. PSP is a completely separate product aimed at the low-end market. So anything added to PSP involves using development resources just for PSP.

Most people who do intermediate or higher work with PSP also have PE. Plus, there are a number of free programs available that can do photo stitching. So for the people most likely to do photo stitching, the lack of that capability in PSP is just a minor annoyance, not a major shortcoming that would cause them to not buy the program.

[Rick_R]

For crying out loud! People have asked to be able to customize the icons for bound scripts from the Jasc days! It's a "must have" to make scripts identifiable by their icon. This should be a simple fix for Corel and could likely even be added as part of a patch to V8. So please get with it, Corel!

(Anyone notice the frustration seeping through??)

Oh, c'mon! What's the problem with having dozens of the same icon in nice different shades ?!?

I totally agree!

[Rick_R]

Compatability between PSP and Photoshop adjustment layers.

If you have both PSP and PE or Photoshop, try this:

1) Take an image in either PSP or PE, add an adjustment layer, and save it in .PSD format.
2) Load the image in the other program. Add more adjustment layers and again save in .PSD format.
3) Repeat steps 1 and 2 several times.

Result: PSP and PE recognize the existence of each others' adjustment layers. But they don't implement them.
Using a hue/saturation adjustment layer as an example, PSP will show that an h/s layer created in PE does exist and PSP will identify it as an h/s adjustment layer. But it won't have any effect on the image. The same in reverse -- if the h/s layer is created in PSP, PE will recognize it but when the image is viewed in PE it will have no effect.

So what that really means is that although in theory the file is in .PSD format, in reality it isn't -- because the standard program that creates .PSD files doesn't handle PSP's implementation of adjustment layers even though in theory PSP saved the file in valid .PSD format.

(I haven't tried this specifically in X8 yet, but the incompatability does exist in previous versions and I doubt it's been fixed.)

[photodrawken]

So what that really means is that although in theory the file is in .PSD format, in reality it isn't -- because the standard program that creates .PSD files doesn't handle PSP's implementation of adjustment layers even though in theory PSP saved the file in valid .PSD format.

For those who have annoyances/complaints/wishes regarding PSD files, be aware that there is a huge amount of undocumented stuff in the PSD format. That's not just my opinion, but is something that has been remarked upon time and again by the PhotoLine developers.

The bottom line is this: an application can ignore the undocumented data when reading a PSD file created by Photoshop and still get something that's more or less usable, but when writing a PSD file those undocumented criteria will cause beaucoup problems.

Just something to keep in mind....

[AlanT]

Panorama stitching.

I've responded to that in detail in one of the earlier wishlists (probably for X8, maybe X7).

Bottom line is that Adobe spends large amounts adding features to their professional-level/cost tool Photoshop, then just omits certain things from Photoshop Elements. PSP is a completely separate product aimed at the low-end market. So anything added to PSP involves using development resources just for PSP.

Most people who do intermediate or higher work with PSP also have PE. Plus, there are a number of free programs available that can do photo stitching. So for the people most likely to do photo stitching, the lack of that capability in PSP is just a minor annoyance, not a major shortcoming that would cause them to not buy the program.

There is a stitching feature in Corel Photo-Paint that is miles ahead of anything in PSP. It doesn't automatically stitch the images together, but it does tell you when they line up. Corel has already developed a working feature, they just need to move it into PSP.

By your logic, there isn't any reason to have a fill tool because every other image editing program has it.

[JoeB]

Panorama stitching.

I've responded to that in detail in one of the earlier wishlists (probably for X8, maybe X7).

Bottom line is that Adobe spends large amounts adding features to their professional-level/cost tool Photoshop, then just omits certain things from Photoshop Elements. PSP is a completely separate product aimed at the low-end market. So anything added to PSP involves using development resources just for PSP.

Most people who do intermediate or higher work with PSP also have PE. Plus, there are a number of free programs available that can do photo stitching. So for the people most likely to do photo stitching, the lack of that capability in PSP is just a minor annoyance, not a major shortcoming that would cause them to not buy the program.

There is a stitching feature in Corel Photo-Paint that is miles ahead of anything in PSP. It doesn't automatically stitch the images together, but it does tell you when they line up. Corel has already developed a working feature, they just need to move it into PSP.

By your logic, there isn't any reason to have a fill tool because every other image editing program has it.

@AlanT, I don't quite agree with you about that being the logical conclusion from the previous post. A fill tool is a strictly editing tool, just like a selection tool, etc. Photo or panorama photo stitching is not in the same class - not a tool for editing individual images but a way of taking multiple different images and making a seamless image with them that can be viewed as a wide, single image or even in a 360 degree view. In that respect it is not a photo editing program but instead has some very basic or rudimentary similarity to a video editing program, which actually takes individual images and stitches them together in a manner that appears seamless.

Just like we wouldn't expect PSP to include video editing I don't think we should expect it to include photo stitching. Even Photo Paint doesn't have a proper stitching option. Anyone interested in actual photo stitching to create panoramas shouldn't even bother purchasing any image editing program that has that feature just to get that feature. Microsoft ICE is free and is considered by many to be better than the panorama option in Photoshop. In other words, given the complicated algorithms necessary to do a good job of creating panoramas, it make sense to get a program dedicated to that purpose and not expect it to be included in a program that is dedicated to editing individual images. JMHO, of course.

[LeviFiction]

Full stitching, no I wouldn't expect that in PSP. But many of the functions involved in determining how to stitch and to manipulate the images are actually quite basic. Barrel, and Fisheye distortions and corrections are some of the hallmarks of panorama stitching and are included as basic filters. And the developers of PSP also have rudimentary alignment and feature matching algorithms as demonstrated in their Photo Blend program that comes with PSP. Yes photo blend is its own separate program.

It would probably never rival Photoshop and definitely not Microsoft ICE, but the basic features necessary to make a reasonable facsimile are already there.

Which brings us back to the wishlist.

Layer Alignment functions. The ability to bring in multiple images, and have them rotated, scaled, and aligned to each other. This can be used for basic photo stacking, or removing unwanted features. Essentially bring a number of the features of Photo Blend into the full Edit mode that we can work with it in ways we want.

[JoeB]

Unless I'm missing something, Batch Process only works with images in folders. I often open multiple images - usually jpg - and crop, edit, add layers, etc., and then want to Save As or Save Copy as .pspimage in a different folder from the original so that I can go back and do more edits another time.

I would like to see a feature that will all selecting ALL (or some) images as a group in the workspace (just like you can in Manage) and then run a Batch Process against those selected images. It's a pain and time consuming to have to save each one individually.

[dcadint]

As I have been using Paintshop Pro I have found some features missing that are available in other image editing software. In many cases I have had to switch to Gimp or Photoshop to get done what I need done because Paintshop is missing these critical features. Below is a list of features
1. I see X8 updated the gradient tool to allow for the angle to be adjusted and the changes viewed in real time however there shouldn't even be an angle setting in the gradient dialogue. I shouldn't need a swatch for every angle of gradient I desire. In Gimp and Photoshop you don't set the angle or repeat pattern. The starting point and angle is set by the brush tool by the brush stroke. In Photoshop the bucket tool has a drop down gradient option and in Gimp there is a separate gradient tool but in both cases the starting point and angle of the gradient is set by dragging and releasing the mouse across a selection and the repeat is set by the length of the drag. It becomes very tedious in Paintshop to go back and forth between the image and gradient dialogue to get a new angle set.
2. In Gimp and Photoshop I can use the selection tools to outline an object and then convert the selection to a path. Works great for converting objects in an image or parts of an image to vector art. Not having this ability in Paintshop is a big disadvantage.
3. In Gimp and Photoshop there is a tab for the color channels in the layers dialogue that shows the RGB or CYMK channels and in Gimp it also displays the masks below the channels. In Paintshop one has to choose the image->split channels menu and it will split the image into separate images by color channel that can then be edited and then re-merge the images which can be tedious. In Gimp and Photoshop its easy to switch to the channels tab and pick a particular channel and then use it to create a selection and then a mask. The workflow is faster and more intuitive then having separate images. I would love to see a Color Channels tab in the Layers dialogue.

[leahcimi]

I do use Smart Carver occasionally and would love to be able to draw a proper straight line say by holding Ctrl while moving the mouse rather than rely on wobbly freehand.

[JoeB]

I do use Smart Carver occasionally and would love to be able to draw a proper straight line say by holding Ctrl while moving the mouse rather than rely on wobbly freehand.

I'll second that request!