Wishlist for Paint Shop Pro 2019

[Charlie77]

PSP 2018 is broken and a step backwards from PSP X9. The list of open images at the end of the Windows menu has been removed from PSP 2018. The new enhanced rotate features added to the crop tool have made the crop tool awkward to use. These two changes have made PSP 2018 almost useless to me.

My request for PSP 2019 is that:

1. The list of open images at the end of the Windows menu be put back in Edit mode as in PSP X9.

2. That the current crop tool be split into two tools with the new enhanced rotate features in one tool and crop the functionality in a separate tool. I want the fit-to-window to work in the new separate crop tool as it does in PSP X9.

It is my hope that Corel will stop removing features and stop attempting to make PSP look like Photoshop elements. What Corel needs to do in its next issue of PSP is add some truly new features such as panorama stitching, alignment of content within groups of layers, enhance curve tool features, allow Aftershock Pro to directly access PSP as Camera RAW lab currently does, and fixed color management so it works with Epson printers.

[3deoskill]

Also there is something weird with Alpha Channels in Paintshop:

When I create a selection and save this selection into the alpha channel and save the image as *.tif or whatever format which supports alpha and
open this file in Paintshop it shows me the alpha channel transparent and all RGB information are lost.
Regularely you load the selection from the alpha and create a mask from this selection, and only then you can see the transparency.


The support said Paintshop Pro doen´t support alpha channels, so why can I save selections into alpha channel. Anyway ...
if it does not, so that´s one of the most important essential thing in Paintshop to update.....

Anyway a very good software.........

[allicorn]

There's an online store element in the bottom of the brush selector. "Do more with brushes!", it enthusiastically quips, every time I select a brush. You can fold it, but it returns to taking up space and trying to grab my attention each new session. If I visit the brush selector 1000 times, how many of those times would you guess that my primary goal in interacting with that bit of UI is to go shopping? It's probably less than one and maybe slightly more than zero.

So wishlist item 1: make the store in brush/tube/etc selectors stay folded permanently when I fold it. I know it's there. If I want to shop for brushes I'll shop for brushes. I don't need it distracting from the main purpose of that UI for the greater than 99.9% of the time that I don't need to go shopping.

2. Make the Materials Palette have two versions, a Tall version - the current version, where the various bits of that UI are mostly stacked one above the other and it's possible to make it quite narrow without hiding elements - and then also a Wide version - where the elements are laid out more left->right and it's possible to fit it into a smaller vertical area in your workspace if you don't mind it being a bit wider.

3. In total agreement with others above: Please (!) restore the current open document list to the Window menu. This is a near universal feature of multiple-document-interface applications that have a Menu bar. Some users probably never noticed it was there - and that's fine - we all use things in our own ways. Others used it constantly as their main way of switching between multiple open documents. (Alt W, 1-9 is a handy shortcut that'll work in previous versions of PSP and many other programs).

Deary me that was a bit negative. Sorry about that. You know what it's like when you've just upgraded and run headfirst into a few unexpected changes that force you to change years of practice, I'm sure! I'll make another wishlist in a month or two maybe when I've settled in with 2018 and started noticing more new, positive changes that could help.

[Zantara]

* Being able to make your own toolbar visible to Essentials workspace. I love working in the clutterfree environment, but miss my costumised toolbar as that contains the most used functions.

Seems like task for PSP 2018 Service Pack 1.

Didn't happen this time. Neither keeping your chosen workspace colour.
If you switch back from Essentials to Complete, your workspace settings are gone and you have to reload your personal workspace file.

So...on my wishlist for PSP 2019:
* Keeping your personal workspace file active while switching from Complete to Essentials and back.

[JoeB]

* Being able to make your own toolbar visible to Essentials workspace. I love working in the clutterfree environment, but miss my costumised toolbar as that contains the most used functions.

Seems like task for PSP 2018 Service Pack 1.

Didn't happen this time. Neither keeping your chosen workspace colour.
If you switch back from Essentials to Complete, your workspace settings are gone and you have to reload your personal workspace file.

So...on my wishlist for PSP 2019:
* Keeping your personal workspace file active while switching from Complete to Essentials and back.

In the meantime, users can do this themselves. Open PSP using the Complete workspace and save that workspace named something like Complete. Then customize the open PSP workspace so that it looks like the Essentials workspace but include your customized toolbar and save it as a workspace called Essentials Plus. You can always also save a workspace that is customized to look exactly like Essentials without the extra toolbar if you want, saving it as Essentials. As long as you keep the option to operate as Complete PSP will open with the last saved and selected workspace, which is your Essentials Plus if that was your last selection. Any time you want the Complete workspace or the basic Essentials workspace or back to Essentials Plus just load your saved workspace. You can make a PSP workspace as clutter free as you want, even more than the Essentials that comes built in.

That should be a simple way to be able to use the workspace you prefer at any given time without any need to be switching between the built-in Essentials/Complete workspaces. And it will allow you to have all of your workspaces that actually use your preferred workspace color.

[lynnesm]

Add the ability to create Custom Collections (not just the automatic Smart Collections) that are there now.

[jcrous]

I would like to see the option to use Photoshop actions.

[MarkZ]

Add the ability to create Custom Collections (not just the automatic Smart Collections) that are there now.

In Smart Collections the menu item "Add Smart Collection", in theory, gives you the capability to create a custom collection. But it doesn't work. I'll report it as a bug and maybe they'll fix it a few years from now.

[JoeB]

I would like to see the option to use Photoshop actions.

That won't be happening, for at least a couple of reasons. First, actions use various tools and effects that are properties of Photoshop and that aren't the same as in PSP, even if they might sometimes have the same function or effect as they do in Photoshop. Also, Actions are basically JavaScript and PSP isn't coded to handle JS files. PSP uses Python scripting to produce automation of image manipulation processes.

Actions aren't as flexible as scripts in PSP in that they run from start to finish without allowing user interaction as they run. PSP scripts do allow such user interaction so that some steps can be fine tuned for the specific image. So you're better off to simply record stuff you want to automate using PSP's scripting functions.

[mushigirl78]

I would def agree that the open documents list needs to return (I probably said that wrong lol).

I would love to see the brushes drop down list & the brush variance merged so that you have it all in one place....like below the brushes. I'd also like to see a preview of the brushes using the settings that are entered into the brush variance.

[allicorn]

I'd like to see a program-wide pass done on keyboard navigation because, generation of PSP by generation, it's been getting worse and worse. Some examples:

Open the File->New dialog. The "Width" and "Height" fields have marked keyboard shortcuts W and H. In previous versions these worked. In PSP2018 these no longer work until you use the mouse to move focus into the right-hand side of the pane.

Open Adjust->Hue & Saturation->Hue/Saturation/Lightness. Press Return to confirm the dialog. Nothing happens even though the OK button has a focus reticule.

Open Effects->Edge->High Pass. Press Esc to simply close the dialog. Nothing happens despite the dialog clearly being in focus. This is basic Windows behaviour, it shouldn't be something that gets broken and stays there for several major releases in a row (but it has).

What makes these so bad is that in other parts of the program, the same type of action works as it should. It's inconsistent. It shows not a deliberate plan to remove keyboard navigation from the program (which would be awful in itself!) but a sloppy disregard for UI consistency. The less consistent your UI's behaviour, the less likely that user expectation will be met on any given action.

[hartpaul]

I'd like to see a program-wide pass done on keyboard navigation because, generation of PSP by generation, it's been getting worse and worse. Some examples:

What makes these so bad is that in other parts of the program, the same type of action works as it should. It's inconsistent. It shows not a deliberate plan to remove keyboard navigation from the program (which would be awful in itself!) but a sloppy disregard for UI consistency. The less consistent your UI's behaviour, the less likely that user expectation will be met on any given action.

I support allicorn's post. I mentioned this in the 4th post at the start of this thread and gave some other examples. Some of them have been broken since the early X versions. I have to continue to use PSP X2 because that was when most of the default Enter = OK or Accept key presses still worked. In earlier versions you could use the Tab key to consistently move through the dialog choices. Try using the tab key for File > New now and see where it gets you . Occasionally press the Enter key and see what was supposed to be highlighted.

[roberts-end]

I'm not sure if this is a wish list item for PSP or a new tool.
Picassa used to have a utility to make a collage that could cope with several hundred pictures. It used to be great to make a large poster print of the years best shots. Unfortunately it has been withdrawn.

I have looked at the shatter templates (based on layers) and also the print with layout but these dont really fit the bill. The layer based approach is good for a few pictures but not manageable for several hundred.

I guess I could write a program to generate a print template, but this would still lack the auto arrange capabilities Picassa had and Im not sure if Print Template can generate a JPG. I really need something that will deal with about a hundred pictures and arrange them in some form of mosaic where I can then rearrange via drag and drop. Output would need to be to JPG rather than printer so that I can send it to Photobox or similar.

[jukka]

Some how fix a color balance of photos automatically by selecting a dot that should be white-or gray and psp would adjust the photo so that this would go to grey.
Usually when taking photos one photo might be too yellow(warm) and other too blue (cold) and to match these 2 errors to same result is so so difficult.

[LeviFiction]

Jukka, we have that. Several tools can be used for this purpose and have special dropper selections for black white and grey points for each color/white balance correction.

Adjust -> White Balance you just click on the grey area and it'll attempt to auto-correct the colors.

Adjust -> Smart Photo Fix you can click on the white and black points.

Adjust -> Brightness and Contrast -> Curves, just click on the grey point dropper, then select a grey point in the original preview. It'll map the grey levels and adjust for them.

Adjust -> Brightness and Contrast -> Levels, just click on the grey point dropper, then select a grey area in the original preview. It'll adjust the levels to make that area grey.

Are these insufficient for what you're looking for?