The Last Straw

[PianoAl]

I've been tired of the advertising messages that come up occasionally when I exit PSP.

I've been tired of the frequent crashes that cause me to lose my work.

I've been tired of frequently having to choose "Scale" when about to modify the size of a layer.

Today, without even opening PSP, an "Upgrade Helper" came up on the screen to advertise something while I was working on something else.

That's unacceptable. I'm moving to Photoshop (after 10+ years with PSP).

[JoeB]

I've been tired of the advertising messages that come up occasionally when I exit PSP.

I've been tired of the frequent crashes that cause me to lose my work.

I've been tired of frequently having to choose "Scale" when about to modify the size of a layer.

Today, without even opening PSP, an "Upgrade Helper" came up on the screen to advertise something while I was working on something else.

That's unacceptable. I'm moving to Photoshop (after 10+ years with PSP).

Most of us don't have the crash problem or the Scale issue, but if you do (particularly the crash problem) even with the latest patches then I can understand why the program won't work for you.

As for popups/ads, they can be disabled. Information on how is within the thread at this link:

http://forum.corel.com/EN/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=60072

[brucet]

Before you cross to the dark side I would suggest you have a close look at Photoline. Way less dollars. Features that PS and PSP doesn't have. And, best of all for me, Photoline lets you use PSP as an external editor. So you can use all the power of Photoline yet still nick over to PSP for your favourite tools/features.

regards

[photodrawken]

For the life of me, I can't understand why anyone would want to pay a perpetual monthly rental fee to use Photoshop.

Your first year of use will cost you, what? $120? And every succeeding year will cost the same (if you're lucky). So, for two years of use you'll pay $240.

And if you stop paying, you don't have squat -- no functioning program, no way to recover the work you've done. Nothing.

Consider the costs of other image editors. For example, a new purchase of PhotoLine will cost you about $65. Period. And you can use it forever. Each subsequent version upgrade will cost you about $35. Period. So, for two years of using the latest versions you'll pay about $100.

[AfterShot]

There are plenty of free alternatives to Photoshop, like some of these, for example. I agree that jumping to Photoshop is kind of a big leap. Might as well check out some of the other options first. If you can save yourself a hole bunch of money in the end, it's worth it. And as was already mentioned....there are ways to disable advertisements, so going with an open source option doesn't necessarily mean you will experience the problems that you listed.

[DougP]

I had a lot of the problems mentioned here with X7. Luckily for me I had a stable working X6 to fall back on. Never bought X8. Did spend the trial time using it when it first came out. Maybe it got better but I just stayed with X6.

I have bought the new X9 as a early upgrade release. As a upgrade purchase and with a discount on being a current customer it wasn't much to part with. Well, So far I've been impressed with it. No crashes as vet. Have had no real issues that can't be blamed on a outside issue.
Believe me I know first hand how it feels when you loose hours of work when your program fails to save it or freezes and crashes. I do use Ultimate, not just pro. I would know the difference, I've always just used Ultimate now for years.
I'd be inclined to suggest you use the PSP X9 Ultimate for the trial period and see how you go.

Please keep in mind that your PC can affect how any program works, or doesn't. I keep mine clean and delete web catch, temp files often. I are up to Win 10 now and it seams to clean itself to a point now but XP needed a lot of attention in this. But for me I found X7 and X8 both were prone to crashes and other issues.

I have used Photoshop. Personally, I can't see the attraction. It's expensive to buy and always was. Now you can't buy it. You rent it. And the biggest thing, It takes a few years at university to learn how to use it correctly. At home self tort, you'll never get the full use of what your paying for.

[pdxrjt]

Why? Photoshop on CC also comes with LR and Adobe RAW (and numerous other programs.) Together they form probably the most powerful photo editing tools in the world. In addition, LR is (by far) the most popular editing software in the world (any number of surveys show that.) No matter what other photo editing/cataloging software you use, chances are likely (99.99999 percent?) that the above combination will do anything any other editor can do and chances are even higher it will do things other software cannot (whether you want to do them is another matter.) If you want that capacity to do just about anything imaginable to a photo, the monthly cost is worth it (for lots of people, but not everyone.) I personally like the workflow of a slightly different combination of programs other than LR/PS/RAW, but that is because I am familiar with the programs I use, it is definitely not a cost issue or a performance issue with me. Are there things not to like about Adobe, absolutely...... just as there are things not to like about PSP and Photoline or any other program. Although I use my little combination of programs for about 99% of my individual photo editing, I will use something like PSP or PS for text, creating collages and a few other tasks. The Adobe "renting" model is being used by more programs and companies..... some big, some small, but I suspect it will be here to stay. Ask yourself, do I buy DVDs of the movies I want to watch or "rent" them on Netflix/Amazon Prime/Hulu etc?

[LeviFiction]

Really quickly @DougP, there is no difference in the program between Ultimate and Pro. Ultimate is an "ultimate package" not an "Ultimate software." The difference being that with an Ultimate Package you get more third-party apps and creative content (brushes, backgrounds, etc) but the tools and quality of the main program itself "PaintShop Pro" is no different between the Ultimate Package and the regular Pro package. So it really doesn't matter which one you get.

[JoeB]

Really quickly @DougP, there is no difference in the program between Ultimate and Pro. Ultimate is an "ultimate package" not an "Ultimate software." The difference being that with an Ultimate Package you get more third-party apps and creative content (brushes, backgrounds, etc) but the tools and quality of the main program itself "PaintShop Pro" is no different between the Ultimate Package and the regular Pro package. So it really doesn't matter which one you get.

This is true. However, it demonstrates another marketing ploy by Corel. When they had a page for the early release it specifically touted that you could now do live video/audio screen captures with X9, but failed to point out that to do so required X9 Ultimate because the tool wasn't built in to PSP but another, separate app just like AfterShot is. And, from my experience, all of these add on apps are not the full, pro versions but less capable than the full versions. I wonder if that applies to Live Screen Capture also (which I suspect is a clone - or partial clone - of the same tool in Video Studio).

NOTE: While the comparison PDF shows Live Screen Capture as an Ultimate add on with a description that it lets you capture video and audio, the X9 page does not say anything any more about capturing video and audio. It only says you can "Capture, edit and annotate screenshots..." and "...lets you quickly grab an image from your screen." And it calls it Smart Screen Capture, not Live Screen Capture as named in the PDF description for X9 Ultimate.

[LeviFiction]

SmartScreen Capture and Live Screen Capture are two differnet things.

Smart Screen Capture is a mode in the Screen Capture function built into PSP. Live Screen Capture is the software add-on. So if the website only says "Capture, edit and annotate screenshots..." and "...lets you quickly grab an image from your screen." then those are not dependent on the X9 Ultimate and have nothing to do with capturing video/audio.

Looking through the website it seems to me that the separation is pretty clear. But then again I'm not looking at it like a casual browser would.

[JoeB]

SmartScreen Capture and Live Screen Capture are two differnet things.
Looking through the website it seems to me that the separation is pretty clear. But then again I'm not looking at it like a casual browser would.

Exactly. And I assume, then, that the early release version (and the page that Corel had up for that) was for the Ultimate version only, because it didn't mention Smart Screen Capture but only Live Screen Capture as a "new" feature.

EDIT: I just checked that early offer page again and yes, it only offers Ultimate.

[photodrawken]

Ask yourself, do I buy DVDs of the movies I want to watch or "rent" them on Netflix/Amazon Prime/Hulu etc?

A phony comparison.

How many hundreds of times do you watch a specific movie? You'll use your image editor of choice a hundred times a month....

The cost of renting Photoshop still doesn't make sense.

[brucet]

pdxrjt you have to understand there is a huge difference between 'best' and most 'popular'. Just because Adobe is the most 'popular' doesn't mean it's the 'best'. There are tens of thousands of Adobe users out there who have purchased Adobe products because they believe they are the best based on the fact that 'everyone' uses them. (Including large corporations). Simply not true. Sheep will follow along without thinking!!! The simple truth is that the vast majority of software out there is capable of good results. How 'good' those results are will depend on the knowledge of the user of the software rather than the software it self.

I could spend a lot of time pointing out features that some editors have that Adobe products don't have. But that's a pointless exercise. Ask yourself if a good motor mechanic only uses one make of tools. If your answer is no then doesn't it also imply that not one piece of software offers all the answers?

regards

[Cassel]

Ask yourself, do I buy DVDs of the movies I want to watch or "rent" them on Netflix/Amazon Prime/Hulu etc?

You should ask "Do i buy a computer or do i rent one?" (assuming you can't keep your data after you stop paying)

[hartpaul]

I remember a member at a photoclub some time back. They had been using Photoshop for a couple of years because it was the best and most used and supported at the clubs functions.
They said that they would have to start to learn to use layers.
I thought that was similar to a pensioner buying a Formula 1 sports car and then only using it to drive a mile to the shopping centre and back. Never using the full potential of the car. Just so many amateurs will not use the full potential of Photoshop, and many of the users of PSP will probably never get to use layers and masks or any of the other complexities of this cheaper program. These are probably the majority of users that Corel is aiming at.