How to Stop Ad Popups?

[CHoffman]

Just to add to the annoyance, the latest ads that pop up have no way to kill them other than clicking on "upgrade now" and then killing the resulting browser page.

[Linda Lou]

Updates, product messages, and notifications are disabled in my paid version PSP 2018. Ads within PSP are really annoying.
I have both listed in Task Scheduler:
Corel Update Helper Task Core
Corel Update Helper Task

Should I disable both?

[flagpole]

Yes

[RyAndy442]

Well, those ads are annoying, but isn't this also the way the new PSP versions or updates are communicated? I don't want to risk working with an obsolete software...

[flagpole]

It is yes. You can manually check for updates.

[JoeB]

Well, those ads are annoying, but isn't this also the way the new PSP versions or updates are communicated? I don't want to risk working with an obsolete software...

Newer versions don't necessarily make previous versions obsolete. Quite often the features added to the latest version are features that many users don't need in their workflow. Many are still happily using X2. Also, sometimes the newest version introduces a feature to an existing tool that makes it worse for most users, the changes to how the crop tool in 2018 operates being a good example.

Corel releases a new version approximately once a year. To hear when a new version is released you can either occasionally monitor this forum, check the Corel site once in awhile, and - if you registered the software - you'll likely get an email from Corel when a new version comes out. And, as @flagpole said, you can always manually check for updates. I personally hear about updates in this forum, but if I didn't I'd just check Corel's updates page once in awhile. I never allow automatic updates or automatic installs when checking for updates, preferring to go to the Updates page to first read what the update provides and then manually download and save the update file in a folder prior to installing it.

[redeyes]

The task scheduled method works, kills the annoying pop up for particle shop as well. Check for updates in the program still works.

[Linda Lou]

I had everything disabled as suggested above, however after updating to Windows 10 1803 the ads were back. Windows must've reset the application to its defaults. I had to go back and disable in TM and Preferences again.

IMHO adware popups as well as the adware displayed in the brushes menu, is a fail on Corel's part. I never had ads in older versions. For something that cost me almost $80.00+tax+S&H to contain adware is unacceptable. To identify this as a PUP is 100% correct. Sadly, Corel will pay a price as consumers move to other applications that our friends in graphics groups suggest as alternatives.
A patch to remove the adware might prevent Corel from losing customers.

[iNate]

This shouldn't even be in a paid program. That should just go to the Welcome Screen. Paid Software should not be used as an advertisement platform, which is exactly what COREL does. This is borderline abusive, because turning everything off doesn't fix the problem. The applications still pop up huge Ads when you start or exit them, at random times, advertising things like Multi-Camera, Upgrades, etc.

TL;DR: There is no way to shut them off completely. Even if you shut off the Tasks and Turn Messages off in the program, you still randomly get huge Pop-Up advertisements for things like Multi-Camera, Upgrades, etc. when you run or exit the application.

PaintShop Pro also has advertisements built into the interface for ParticleShop (Brush Menu) and AfterShot Pro (Camera RAW Lab). AfterShot 3 has Pro Upgrade Advertisements built into the interface, wasting screen real-estate. As someone who uses a secondary laptop that is still decently powerful for on-the-go media editing, but has only a 768p screen... That is a lot of wasted pixels. I had WordPerfect Office X7, and it had pop-ups as well. I've since switched to Office 365. I doubt the latest version has rectified this I have yet to use a Corel Application which does not abuse its users in this way.

They function like Advertisement Platforms. Using PSP is like using Facebook, except you actually paid for the privilege.

There are too many great (and often cheaper - if not free) alternatives out there to bother dealing with this any longer.

Corel developers and management must not use their own applications, because there is no way any develop who cares at all about User Interface and User Experience design would be able to use this and see how terribly awful this is. They probably all use Microsoft and Adobe Products.

[flagpole]

Corel developers and management must not use their own applications, because there is no way any develop who cares at all about User Interface and User Experience design would be able to use this and see how terribly awful this is. They probably all use Microsoft and Adobe Products.

If they do you can bet there's a secret kill switch for the frikin pop ups.

[Linda Lou]

I've been getting pop-up ads in my Windows taskbar for the 2019 version at a special price (even when PSP is not open), and as usual when PSP is open, an ad for a Corel product when I scroll through brushes. I must have missed disabling something when I reinstalled 2018. We should not have to do this in our paid product. I had planned on buying 2019 to see what has been improved, but those pop-ups were "the last straw". I have decided that I will not purchase 2019 or 2020 unless I read (in this forum) that ads in the paid version have stopped. I hate to be so cranky, but if I want to buy a product I'll go to Corel's main page and shop. I don't need an ad in my face while I am concentrating on my work.

[LeviFiction]

I am an idiot ignore this post. I was responding to someone else.

[JoeB]

I've been getting pop-up ads in my Windows taskbar for the 2019 version at a special price (even when PSP is not open), and as usual when PSP is open, an ad for a Corel product when I scroll through brushes.

I don't remember at this time the hoops I went through to stop getting popup ads from Corel, but it worked for a long time - until today. When I opened PSP 2018 this morning I got the popup about a special pre-release deal on 2019 (although, unlike you, nothing in my taskbar). I just closed it for now. I'm going to wait to see what the retail release has to offer, hoping that Corel will have at least fixed some of the stuff in the retail release that people who have accessed the pre-release have complained about. One can always hope....

[hartpaul]

I note that some people have complained that because they have paid $80+ for this program it should not have any adds. I started out with Jasc PSP8 back in 2003 / 2004 . On special then it cost $150 while Photoshop was over $600.

Out of curiosity I wondered what the price of PSP should be today with inflation and if they were to offer an add free version.

The cost of that same program would today be $206. Since I got the upgrade to 2019 at $71 I don't mind the occasional popup which can be dismissed with one click rather than paying and extra $106 + (possibly an extra $150 with the improvements over the years - handling raw imgages, HDR, photo merge, skin softening etc). Would you be prepared to pay an extra $150 to get an add free version?

[LeviFiction]

And with various sales that they do throughout the year, people have bought PSP as cheaply as $27 in the past. Along with upgrade pricing after that, they could end up spending only $63 for two whole versions.

That's not a great comparison though. Yes, the software is cheaper now even without comparing it to inflation. But you would have to compare when the price went down and when ads were brought in. The fact that the software is now cheaper may not have anything to do with the ads but with the market. It's entirely possible that the extreme price of PSP used to be one of the problems and by lowering the price they gained more entrants to the software than they otherwise would have. Making up for lost revenue in price by volume. Ads just became a bonus. The biggest ad I remember back with X or XI was adding a Yahoo toolbar as part of the installer.

And the ads don't guarantee them revenue since they are their own built-in ads. They aren't being paid by anyone to produce them and show them to all of their customers. Of course, that makes sense, after all, if we started receiving cologne ads from PSP I'm sure you'd agree that would be a step too far. Though it is reasonable to assume they are gaining enough to warrant continuation in spite of all of the complaints. Possibly even greater than the potentially lost business as others move to equally priced and potentially superior products. But whether or not it's to subsidize PSP itself, or just to gain more money while producing a resource of PSP resources for all users to easily access, would need info direct from Corel.

Now, that being said. The ads don't really bother me. I have always been able to simply turn off ads (other than the brush thing) and not be bothered again using the built-in options. So for me, again other than brushes and the home screen, I do have an "ad-free" version.

PhotoMirage brought back the system tray ads though. Thankfully since it's so obviously built on top of PaintShop Pro code, at least the UI, they still have the option to turn off messages as well.