I have PS 5.5 and 6 and use 5.5 almost exclusively for postwork. And I have Painter 5 and Painter 3D (never really use them much). But... PSP 7 with all the extras in the 10th anniversary edition is $79 at the store with a $30 rebate. Kinda hard to overlook that price. So... since I haven't done much with 2D other than color corrections and some blemish fixes, etc, what do you folks think? Should I just concentrate on learning what I have or is PSP something that will let me be more creative with the renders? Some of the best postwork I've seen was done with PSP and I'm wondering if its the program or the artist? Oh, I know its the artist, just wondering if the program is more oriented towards 2d postwork than PS. I guess what I'm asking is if I should just concentrate on 2d techniques with what I have or go ahead and get yet another app.

Stick with what you have and learn what you can do with it. I use Photoshop and also use PSP occasionally, I don't think PSP has any advantages over PS (except price!) in fact I think Photoshop is a much better app (lots of people will disagree though) A combination of PS and Painter will provide everything you could possibly want. If you want a new 2d app consider upgrading to Painter 7 or 8. Painter is a superb and underated application in my opinion :o) Baz

Be aware that PSP 8 is available for ordering now as well.

I find there are one or two things in PSP that are not in photoshop 5.5, so although I do most postwork in PS 5.5 I do also sometimes use PSP, and even on occasion I will use Corel photopaint. I got PSP7 with a good deal, but on retrospection would probably not bother now, but then hindsights always 20-20!

got psp7 and photoshop5.5 - if i am working on a flash or illustrator vector - i use photoshop. for all other works, i find that working with psp (which also lets you use plugins from adobe) layers is best. I also use it with the uvmapperpro and couldnt be happier.

I use Photoshop exclusively and tho I have PSP (the price WAS hard to pass up and I was curious), I never use it. Probably because I've been using Photoshop for 10 years and I'm just so used to it. I do think Photoshop is definitely the more powerful program and if you can learn all it can do, stick with it. But I also think that if you can't afford Photoshop than PSP is an excellent alternative. It too is definitely powerful for the price :o). Just being able to do layers is worth any price IMHO...LOL. Laurie

Although I use both, I've got to give a big YES for PSP. Upgrade to 7 or look at your upgrade options from 5.5 to the new version (8). The interface is much better than PS and the toolset is excellent. If you were planning on working in a pro graphics environment, I'd say you'd have to get and learn PS, it's kind of the 'lingua franca' but otherwise, go with PSP. Version 8 has added scripting, improved the vector tools and the masks/layers features and I'm very happy with it. Other than 'Layer Styles', I haven't found anything that I truly prefer in PS over PSP. -Nancy.

PSP doesn't have LAB mode and that's a serious shortcoming if you do postwork. But it has those neat little tube thingies. I don't have it though. I'm so in love with Photo-paint and use it for almost everything and it has image lists and LAB mode. I also use PS7 and Painter. As if that was the question ;)

Although Photoshop has the more professional toolset, PSP can do *almost everything PS can, and it is much, much easier to learn and use, IMHO... so my advice is if you already know PS and are fluent and comfortable with it, you might want to stay there; but if you are mostly at somewhat of a beginner's level and have the $80 that is free to spend, I definitely recommend PSP

I was using PSP 5, having been introduced to it at work. I've upgraded to 7- we upgraded at work because it handles vector graphics. I upgraded at home because it does expand on PSP5's capabilities (I don't know 6) and has lots more web-related tools and filters. Personally I think it's excellent value for money, but I was already used to the interface and I don't have Photoshop available for comparison. You may also be able to find it at reduced rate now 8 is out.

I know the upgrade price to psp8 is going to be a low $40.00. One thing I love about Jasc, is they don't upgrade every year. They just have free patches to fix things. I think 7 has been out something like 4years. They have great customer service, I love the program. But to be honest I use it with Photoshop7.( which the more I learn the better I like it). I have painter7 and never use it, and the first deep paint(not the 3-d one and I do not use that either.

I think each of these products have their high and low points. PSP 8 which I beta tested, has scripting available in it (similiar to PS actions), which is a nice added feature. I don't like how the text is put on as well as in 7. I use it in combination with Photoshop 7 and a great little program called Read Draw Pro. Depends on what I am doing with it.

I use PSP 7 exclusively, for postwork and anything graphic related. I rarely use PS. I've been using PSP for six years and love its ease of use, the vectors, and most of all, the layers. Worth every penny!

Right now if you order Psp 8 from Amazon you can get for $50 after rebates. I love psp, 8's painting capablities greatly improve over 7, plus the mesh tool(some one alread has a tutorial for have a fabric swatch meshed over a poser figure for postwork clothes.) I am kind of dissapointed that they went back to pre 7 text, but all the tools are stil there just out of the text entering window. I just found the layout room in 8...much better for printing.

I'm an avid PSP user. I hated 7 and refused to buy it. I stuck with six. After looking at the beta I upgraded to 8 ($49 I believe was from jasic) I really like it. You can also buy it in a download so you don't have to wait to get it or pay duty and shipping if you live elsewhere like I do.

Attached Link: http://www.jasc.com

I loved PSP 5, hated 6, loved PSP 7, waiting to decide on PSP 8. It's been a powerful, dependable, reasonably priced tool for me. I don't know how it compares to Photoshop, because I couldn't afford that, but it opened up a world of possibilities for me and I've always found it a pleasure to work with.

I prefer Photoshop to PSP, although I have both. In my opinion, Photoshop is the more versatile and powerful program. Many of things things I use daily do not exist in PSP, or do only with 3rd party plugins. From what I have seen of the interface, PSP is marketed to the more hobby market. The main reason I have it is for the tube tool, as I find it infinately easier to use than PhotoPaints imagelist. However, since Photoshop 6 has the 'clone stamp' tool, I can get the same effect as I did from the tube tool. So now I just use PSP to convert *.tub files to psd.

I've never used anything but PsP. I tried the lite version of photoshop once....didn't care for it. I guess it's a matter of what you get use to :) The new PsP 8 (just released) is a big improvement over PsP 7 and earlier versions. Prior to PsP 8, my favorite PsP was version 5 :) I think Lyrra's assessment about the PsP market is correct. For me PsP is easier to understand and it meets my needs. You certainly can't beat the price!

I couldn't live without PSP7. Got so used to it that I can't quite bring myself to upgrade. I do have PS Elements 1 as well .. it's brilliant for text and layer styles, and is dirt cheap (I got mine in a software bundle with a cheapie scanner).