New Relese: Paint Shop Pro X2

[John McCormack]

Corel has released its new version of PSP - PSP X2. It has some new features, including automated HDR production, visible watermarks, new cropping tool, etc. You can view a slide show of some of these new features, but I found some of the slide shows were not synchronized with the descriptions for the module. Hopefully, they will fix that.

http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Product/1184951547051

 

[lutz]

the option to process multiple images quickly looks nice ( some kind o manual batch optimization). I have not tried it , though.

 

[Rriley]

thanks
--
Riley

real men get zippo haircuts

 

[Duwane Huffaker]

If this version does not support 16 bit cloning I will stick with using PSP X and PWP 4.0.
--
thezero

 

[John McCormack]

Excuse my ignorance but what is 16 bit cloning?

If this version does not support 16 bit cloning I will stick with
using PSP X and PWP 4.0.
--
thezero

 

[CharlieDIY]

the option to process multiple images quickly looks nice ( some kind
o manual batch optimization). I have not tried it , though.

My major interest was PEF for the K10D. It does that. By Monday, I shoukd know how well. If it's decent, I'll buy it.

Maybe even if it isn't quite decent. I hate using two programs for working up photos.

--
Charlie Self
http://www.charlieselfonline.com

 

[Duwane Huffaker]

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/bit-depth.shtml

The above link leads to a page that explains color depth (8 bit or 16 bit, etc.) much better than I can.

While a JPEG image file is 8 bits, a TIFF file can be 8 or 16 or more bits. I usually work with 16 bit TIFF files. Paint Shop Pro, through version 11, did not support the clone tool with 16 bit image files. You had to decrease the depth from 16 bit to 8 bit to use PSP's clone tool. That is unacceptable for my workflow.

In other words, through version 11, PSP did not fully support working with 16 bit image files. Some PSP tools worked well with 16 bit files while others did not. The clone tools did not.
--
thezero

 

[Jack B. Johnson]

If this version does not support 16 bit cloning I will stick with
using PSP X and PWP 4.0.
--
thezero

Stick with what you got, it does not support 16 bit cloning..............

 

[jeffkrol]

Corel Photopaint 11 (and I think earlier versions as well) does 16bit cloning. There are other things not possible in 16bit though....but more than enough for me.
--
360 minutes from the prime meridian. (-5375min, 3.55sec) 1093' above sea level.

'The exposure meter is calibrated to some clearly defined standards and the user needs to adjust his working method and his subject matter to these values. It does not help to suppose all kinds of assumptions that do not exist.'
Erwin Puts

 

[Duwane Huffaker]

With PSP X if you attempt to clone a 16 bit image the program tells you the image must be reduced to 8 bit. When PSP XI was released I asked, on one of these forums, if it supported 16 bit cloning. Someone who acquired PSP XI responded with a negative answer.
--
thezero

 

[Duwane Huffaker]

--
thezero

 

[dmeisner]

I am with the product team and agree cloning is not supported on 16-bit images yet, and will pass on your request to have this added in the future.

In X2, HDR Photo Merge works in 32-bits/channel and includes local tone mapping (called Clarify in the dialog) which acts like automatic dodging and burning to effectively show the full contrast range on lower dynamic range media like prints and on-screen. I encourage you to try it.

 

[Tannin]

Too late.

PSP XI was so bad that they have no chance of getting another dollar out of my wallet.

Mega-bloated
Mega, mega-slow
Too cutesy, gets in your road to much.
Destroys EXIF information in TIFFs, then the company lies about it.
Bug-ridden too. Not as bad as some Corel products, but bad enough.

I have no idea why I thought a Corel product would be worth spending money on. I mean, I knew their reputation, just bought it anyway. Dumb.

I;m not even going to bother looking at XII.

Corel, you can stick your version 12 where the sun don't shine, because I've been bitten once and now I'm twice shy.

 

[Izu]

Too late.

PSP XI was so bad that they have no chance of getting another dollar
out of my wallet.

Maybe you didn't catch the free trial... poor you...
--
Andrea

 

[cosilver]

I've read so many bad things about PSP after Corel bought it.

I have and occasionally still use PSP 7, which I think is great.

I mostly use Capture NX and PS Elements 5.

I use PSP7 when Elements makes accomplishing something very difficult, and PSP7 can do easily. PSP7 isn't as feature rich as Elements, but is much more comprehensive and user friendly.

If PSP X2 comes close to the quality of the old PSP 7, with features comparable to Elements, I may take a look. But I do like the Photo Album in Elements.

--
Albert-O

http://www.berto.zenfolio.com

 

[cosilver]

I'm downloading the X2 trial and and am going to play with it for the 30 days (if I like it for that long ;-)

--
Albert-O

http://www.berto.zenfolio.com

 

[CharlieDIY]

I am with the product team and agree cloning is not supported on
16-bit images yet, and will pass on your request to have this added
in the future.

In X2, HDR Photo Merge works in 32-bits/channel and includes local
tone mapping (called Clarify in the dialog) which acts like automatic
dodging and burning to effectively show the full contrast range on
lower dynamic range media like prints and on-screen. I encourage you
to try it.

It's often a neat little command. Now, see if you can get them to have the thumbnail displays do two things: stay turned on instead of having to be turned on every time you close a photo and get ready to open another; recognize the various raw files (Pentax's raw files, PEF, work nicely as thumbnails at the bottom of the list screen, but don't display in the list thumbnails. I don't know about other raw file types).
--
Charlie Self
http://www.charlieselfonline.com

 

[John McCormack]

YES! This drives me crazy, too.

Now, see if you can get them to
have the thumbnail displays do two things: stay turned on instead of
having to be turned on every time you close a photo and get ready to
open another......

 

[cosilver]

You know what would be really nice in Organizer view, is a "Back" button to go back to your previous view easily.

Here's my first gripe with X2: I have about 2600 pictures (that's not a lot), and when I have the Organizer open and navigating through it, the whole program sometimes sort of freezes up, it eventually unfreezes, but it takes a while sometimes.

The PSE 5 photo album seems to handle my pics with no problems. I am very impressed with the editing power, quality of results, and ease of X2 though. I do think it outperforms PSE 5 in that regard.

I wish it had a photo album worthy of the rest of the progam, so I wouldn't have to have a separate program for that.

--
Albert-O

http://www.berto.zenfolio.com

 

[Barry Fitzgerald]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paint_Shop_Pro

Version XI installs a third party program named PSIservice.exe written by Protexis which runs in the background and collects licensing information. This program communicates with a remote host and is described in some posts as spyware. The Corel EULA does not reveal that installation of Version XI will result in the installation and continued background execution of this non-Corel program. Uninstalling XI will not uninstall PSIservice.exe.

X2 also installs it...

Enjoy!

--



Clint is on holiday! Soon to return! ;-)