Folks, I started with PSP and the latest version I have is #8.  I use Photoshop CS2 for most of my work but find PSP to be quicker and easier in some procedures, such as the "export to .jpg" which gives exact file sizes at the users discretion.

Corel has owenership of PSP now, not JASC. That concerned me from the start! The ads for the new version XI call it Paint Shop Pro Photo XI.   The ads also make me think this program is full of auto corrections, things like that which I would not use.  The ads make me think  they are aiming at consumer level appeal. I wonder if the program has been compromised.

Does the program have all the graphics capability of earlier versions?

Sorry, I am a software junkie but do not want to get a program aimed at mostly easy auto correct options.  Any input will be appreciated.          

PS> I really don't need another graphic software.  It is in me to find out.        TomDart.

Tom, I've used PSP 7 for years and just got XI the other day. As near as I can tell it does pretty much the same thing as 7 and  can use the same plug-ins etc... but also adds a few auto corrections and some form of RAW handling which I haven't tried yet.  It also seems, to me, to be a bit slower. I was able to get it at quite a discount from Best Buy (29.99) or I probably wouldn't have gotten it as I don't really see that it does a whole lot more than I'm able to do with 7.

@Tom...Photoshop has the "save for web" feature....gives you full control of specific compressed jpg file sizes....at your discretion....

Gradient, funny as much as I have used the "save for web" in Photoshop, I missed seeing the "quality" slider..which indeed does allow precise compression and file size.  Thanks for pointing this out.   Boy, do I feel a bit compressed now.  : )     Tom.

LOL with Tom -- I am sure there are things that I miss in Photoshop as well. For a long time I never used that feature, but now I don't know what I'd do without it. For transparent GIFs, I still use ImageReady.

Yes I got it yesterday, my work bought me both Adobe Photoshop CS2 and Corel Paint Shop Pro XI for what I have seen it's much easier to use the Adobe.  Very quick fixes touch ups etc.

I work for a civil engineering company, part of my job is to clean up photo's taken be engineers who do not know one end of a camera from the other.

I recently installed XI as an upgrade from from ver. 9. I've never used 7 or 8 so I can't compare it to those two versions.

I used PSP for basic editing as I found it to be a little easier and faster than PS or CS2.

The only reason I have XI is Corel gave me a boxed version upgrade. Ver. 9 had some flaws. Converting CR2 RAW files to JPEG with embedded data or EXIF data never worked properly. I opened a tech support claim with Corel in June 2005 and they just resolved it last week.

I've only tried and couple of images in XI and it was okay. It does have a lot of auto-fixes or what they call "Smart Fix" and "One-Step" fixes, but it also allows for more control in manually editing. Better cropping tools. The levels and curves are better. I was mainly interested in what it could do with basic editing more so than the toning options it now has, so I compared it to PS, CS2 and couple other editors. I was pleased with the results. Once you get your preferences set, to me, it was easy and user friendly. There's some sort of photo album organizer that I don't use and a media card reader management tool called Spitfire that I'll never use. Let's not forget you can now import/export between other Corel programs .. like Painter, etc.

What I find interesting is in less than two years four different versions of PSP has been released. XII, according to Corel, is scheduled to be released in the 1st quarter of 2007.

I think if you downloaded the trial version and compared it to what you have you'd like it. For the current price it's not bad, especially when you compare it to Adobe's prices.

Another editor that I bought and really like is ACDSeePro. :)

Quote - Folks, I started with PSP and the latest version I have is #8.  I use Photoshop CS2 for most of my work but find PSP to be quicker and easier in some procedures, such as the "export to .jpg" which gives exact file sizes at the users discretion.

Corel has owenership of PSP now, not JASC. That concerned me from the start! The ads for the new version XI call it Paint Shop Pro Photo XI.   The ads also make me think this program is full of auto corrections, things like that which I would not use.  The ads make me think  they are aiming at consumer level appeal. I wonder if the program has been compromised.

Does the program have all the graphics capability of earlier versions?

Sorry, I am a software junkie but do not want to get a program aimed at mostly easy auto correct options.  Any input will be appreciated.          

PS> I really don't need another graphic software.  It is in me to find out.        TomDart.

Well Tom I  think it is a great programme for the Money no idea about  the latest version of PSP  I still use version 8  but save for the web  with CS2 certainly gives me all the power I need to get the right control and the human eye is still the best judge of quality.  PSP  is less memory hungry that Photoshop CS2 and less processor dependant but if you tweak photoshop you can make it fly along. Having forked out all that money for CS2 seems to me to be pointless... I am still discovering new things it can do since version 4!!  It may be a bit of a monster but  I am sure you can do what ever you like with it...  You can save a lot of time in photoshop by the use of the batch processing and actions  

Attached Link: Fastone.org

In some cases I've used this freeware (attached link) and had great results.

Quote - Well Tom I  think it is a great programme for the Money no idea about  the latest version of PSP  I still use version 8  but save for the web  with CS2 certainly gives me all the power I need to get the right control and the human eye is still the best judge of quality.  PSP  is less memory hungry that Photoshop CS2 and less processor dependant but if you tweak photoshop you can make it fly along. Having forked out all that money for CS2 seems to me to be pointless... I am still discovering new things it can do since version 4!!  It may be a bit of a monster but  I am sure you can do what ever you like with it...  You can save a lot of time in photoshop by the use of the batch processing and actions  

I kept PSP8 on my pc when I got Photoshop because I was familiar with it. Now, I am much more familiar with CS but still mostly use it for photo work and do not take advantage of all the graphics capabilities.  The same with PSP...some "doll makers" ran me through a quick course on PSP to do all sorts of neat stuff and the software did well.  But, I simply do not need those capabilities.

Habits are habits and some operations I do on PSP from habit and speed.  Others, more and more I am doing in PS while learning the truly "monster" capabilities of the program.    

With a decent price for an "upgrade" to PSP XI, I simply wondered it it was worth it for photo graphics work or as my impression from ads was, "quick fix for consumers" in a program still above the typical "cut off the heads compo" point and shoot everyday family shooter.   If it does all version 8 does, and little more except for auto fixes, it would not be worth it for me.  If it has been "consumer downed" in content,  less than version 8, it would be a waste to purchase.  Apparently all the other stuff is still there from what is said so far. But any real pluses in extras?
I wonder how well the raw works?

Still, for much work and for some, for all photo editing, you can't beat the price even if full price and not at "upgrade levels".  You comments have helped me in thinking about this from my software junkie side of life!                Tom.   

Any other comments from users will be appreciated.

Tom I am going to upgrade my PSP8. to this, because for graphics it is way faster.  I do my certain postworks in pSP but always transfer over to Photoshop for the saving. Something about PSP is I cznnot configure it to the sharpest details when saving files. You can't go wrong really.