Photo management PSP X8 vs. AfterShot Pro 3

[rkeesecker]

I'm asking if anyone has an opinion, based on their experience, on the photo management component of PaintShop Pro X8 vs AfterShot Pro 3. I've tried both of them and honestly cannot figure out the benefits of one over the other. I know that sounds strange, but the only takeaway from trying them both is that they both are a bit convoluted, i.e. not as user-friendly as the PhotoShop Elements I tried years ago, but I understand I am probably comparing apples to oranges since the software capabilities improve so much over a year or two period. My brain explodes when I think about why I should use one or the other of two products from the same company which offer their own unique photo management component. The bottom line is that I don't find one better, or more intuitive, than the other. Has anyone developed a preference ... and what led to that preference?

[rondo]

Aftershot Pro 3 has the option to use a Catalog system like Lightroom, besides the File system that is similar to PSP.

I use Aftershot Pro 3 to edit and process RAW images only, as I find the RAW editor in PSP somewhat lacking in tools and processing. I then output my processed RAW images from Aftershot as .tiff files to PSP, where I do some more tweaking and can use my Topaz plugins too.

[MarkZ]

I process photos much the same as Rondo other than I usually output as jpgs for editing in PSP. I've been using AfterShot since the first version was in beta and vastly prefer its photo management to PSP's. Yes, you need to create catalogs to use the photo management but from what I've read the its catalogs setup is quite different from Adobe's.

I store older files on an external drive that is usually off line. I love the capability to search for images regardless of their location. AS has far greater search capabilities than PSP - date, tag, camera, lens, etc. etc. It is not up to the standards of a professional database management program but in my opinion does a very good job. PSP is pretty basic.

[rkeesecker]

Rondo and Mark, thanks very much. You've indicated ASP has more photo management capabilities than PSP. That's just what I was looking for from those who've tried them both. I suspected that would be the case, but as I said ... my brain kept coming close to exploding so I came to the forums. Many thanks!