This is just a little info for you, who are shopping for a photoeditor, and don't know what to buy. I have ended up with PSP9 as my favorite, but it is just my personal opion. I hope and trust someone else will fill in the gaps in my views, and that someone will contradict them, so that newcomers will have something to choose from.
Photoshop (PS).
PS is sort of the king in this marked. I have never tried it myself. It is simply too expensive for non professionals, and I think you should pay for software, just as you do for camera and lenses. I am convinced PS has all you could ask for.
Photoshop Elements (PSE).
PSE is a stripped down version of PS. The newest version is PSE3, I have PSE2. It is a great program, and cover most functions you need. It is pretty fast. Once in a while you will run into a wall, because they have removed some functions from PS. It does not work for me, since the curves function has been left out, and that one is essential for me.
Paint Shop Pro (PSP).
This is my favorite. It has all of the functions I need, and I think the user interface is the best I have seen. PSP9 has a good digital camera noise remover, which is almost as good as Neatimage. I hope PSP will continue to live after Corel bought it. PSP has more functions than PSE, and is similar priced. Here are the drawbacks, I have found: Does not save EXIF with TIF, overall a bit slow in operations, does not support 16 bits per channel. The last item does not matter to me though.
Corel Photopaint (CPT).
I have CPT9, which I used before I switched to PSP. I like this one a lot. It has all the functions. I think you have to buy the complete Corel Draw package to get CPT, which makes it somewhat expensive, but still cheaper than PS. I switched to PSP for 2 reasons: I think PSP's user interface is a little better, and the print funtion in PSP is a lot better. I am not sure if the latest CPT has fill flash, but it probably does.
Photoimpact.
I only tried an evaluation version a couple of years ago. It has more functions than PSE, but I dumped it because I preferred PSP. It is priced similar to PSE and PSP. It is a good program. If I remember correctly I dumped it because some of the functions in the area of alpha channels and color separation, were better in PSP and CPT back when I tried it.
I am using ACDSEE7 as an album program, so I downloaded their powerpack and tried Photo Editor 3 (PE3).
PE3 only cover some very basic functions. It could cover most of what I do, but when I try to do something a bit advanced to a picture, PE3 misses the functionality. It has far fewer functions than any of the other programs here. On the good side, PE3 is easy to operate and learn and it is fast. The biggest problem of all, is that it can not save EXIF. I don't really understand why, since it is sold bundled with ACDSEE7, which is strong in the EXIF area.
Photoshop (PS).
PS is sort of the king in this marked. I have never tried it myself. It is simply too expensive for non professionals, and I think you should pay for software, just as you do for camera and lenses. I am convinced PS has all you could ask for.
Photoshop Elements (PSE).
PSE is a stripped down version of PS. The newest version is PSE3, I have PSE2. It is a great program, and cover most functions you need. It is pretty fast. Once in a while you will run into a wall, because they have removed some functions from PS. It does not work for me, since the curves function has been left out, and that one is essential for me.
Paint Shop Pro (PSP).
This is my favorite. It has all of the functions I need, and I think the user interface is the best I have seen. PSP9 has a good digital camera noise remover, which is almost as good as Neatimage. I hope PSP will continue to live after Corel bought it. PSP has more functions than PSE, and is similar priced. Here are the drawbacks, I have found: Does not save EXIF with TIF, overall a bit slow in operations, does not support 16 bits per channel. The last item does not matter to me though.
Corel Photopaint (CPT).
I have CPT9, which I used before I switched to PSP. I like this one a lot. It has all the functions. I think you have to buy the complete Corel Draw package to get CPT, which makes it somewhat expensive, but still cheaper than PS. I switched to PSP for 2 reasons: I think PSP's user interface is a little better, and the print funtion in PSP is a lot better. I am not sure if the latest CPT has fill flash, but it probably does.
Photoimpact.
I only tried an evaluation version a couple of years ago. It has more functions than PSE, but I dumped it because I preferred PSP. It is priced similar to PSE and PSP. It is a good program. If I remember correctly I dumped it because some of the functions in the area of alpha channels and color separation, were better in PSP and CPT back when I tried it.
I am using ACDSEE7 as an album program, so I downloaded their powerpack and tried Photo Editor 3 (PE3).
PE3 only cover some very basic functions. It could cover most of what I do, but when I try to do something a bit advanced to a picture, PE3 misses the functionality. It has far fewer functions than any of the other programs here. On the good side, PE3 is easy to operate and learn and it is fast. The biggest problem of all, is that it can not save EXIF. I don't really understand why, since it is sold bundled with ACDSEE7, which is strong in the EXIF area.
