What do you like in X8?

[Cassel]

Let's have a look at what added features and improvements are appreciated by the users (instead of just the complaints).
We know that someone will share complaints to 20 people but will share praise to much fewer, which is why we always seem to hear about complaints and not the praises. It is time to look at it from another angle.

So what do you REALLY like that was added, or what do you REALLY like that was not touched?

[Cassel]

I LOVE the Text wrapping feature.

I think it is something that was needed for YEARS, and now, it will bring so many more options in using the text tool. This is my favorite new feature.

[Joelle]

The program seems faster, it loads faster and processes faster
Adding the text wrapping is a nice touch.
Now that I have discovered that the Magic Fill works miles better when the selection is expanded, I can recommend this to others. Just using the
Smart Selection Brush and then Magic Fill - didn't work. Expand the selection and it works. Even better, use the Smart Selection Brush with Smart Edge un-ticked, the user has more control over the size of the selection. Easier than just selecting
I hope that's in the Help files, haven't spotted it yet.
I like the Merge Down in the Layers palette, and the Merge Visible to New Layer.

I like X8 (couldn't load X7, so can't comment on that one at all).
I thought X6 was excellent, and always said so, but haven't used it since installing X8

Joëlle

[trueblue]

Text wrapping I like too. There's so many possibilities with it.

The Magic Move and Magic Fill Tools, Gradients with Vectors, Automatic new layer with tubes.

[JoeB]

...Automatic new layer with tubes.

I haven't found that using a picture tube creates an automatic layer. Is there a setting somewhere I've missed?

[Kathy_9]

There is a box you need to tick.

click for larger view

[JoeB]

Thanks Kathy! I'm going to have to learn to read more for comprehension rather than speed! That said, this is definitely one of my favorite features. I have always hated having to create a new layer for every time I applied an object with a tube so that I could adjust the position of the objects laid down or delete selected ones separately.

[Kathy_9]

Don't feel bad; I find myself doing the same thing at times. Also, I agree this is a very nice feature.

[rvk82]

Performance improvements are always welcome. I also like the updated Athentech Imaging plugin.

[pdxrjt]

I like the Perfect Effects..... have used it in another program and found it helpful at times. For me the NIK plug ins now work without a script and supposedly other plug ins now work as well (although it is a bit mixed on mine at the moment...still an improvement.) I like the fact you can disable the pop-up window at the start and the program in general seems to start faster (a bit) and perform better. Also, is it just me or is there a return to the "old" materials palette...which I like. In general, I rarely use text, but do when I am making a photo book for one of my trips. Have a trip coming in Oct and will be making a new book in Nov.....so I am really anxious to try out the new text features.

[AlanT]

So far, the new merge options are the best thing I see for my workflow. I also like that the max brush size has been increased.

I like that they are starting to bring Aftershot and PSP closer together. It will be really great when Aftershot replaces the Adjust tab and the RAW converter in PSP.

Text wrapping may be a good thing, but when I need to work with text, I need to switch to CorelDraw to get the features to do it right. Text in PSP feel like trying to shovel sand with a pair of tweezers.

[JoeB]

Now that I have found out that the Create as New Layer with Picture Tubes was available with X7, so far the only things I have found that I like better in X8 are that it loads faster AND it loads all of my plugins almost immediately upon opening, while X7 took up to 2 minutes sometimes to load the plugins after the workspace was available for work. The new Layer Merge options look as if they could also be useful. The Layer Search option would have been a lot more useful to me some time ago when I did a lot of photo restoration work for clients and that resulted in many layers being invoked in the process. Nowadays I do much more basic photo editing with not a great many layers so it doesn't really rank high on my list of "must haves".

While the Magic Move seemed like it would be a bit of a time saver, working with it tells me that it needs more work to be effective as a one-click/move/auto-fill tool. On images with some level of complexity I find I get better results with regular selection tools, copy & paste & move as new layer, and cleanup with Magic Fill and clone tools.

[JudyM]

I really like the speed of X8!
The general feel of the program is better than X7

Text wrapping will be a great extra when the resizing glitch is fixed.

I haven't found "merge visible to a new layer"? Is this "copy merged" then pasted on a new layer?

Judy

[Kathy_9]

I haven't found "merge visible to a new layer"? Is this "copy merged" then pasted on a new layer?

Judy

Layers -> Merge -> Merge Visible to New Layer. You can also do this via right-click on a layer in the layers palette.

And, yes it's the same result as Copy Merged, etc.

[ausair]

You can finally create a 16bit grayscale image and save it to TIF. It never worked for me in X6 or X7.

Love the faster saves. That is my main reason for purchasing the upgrade.