All three products offer a great deal of user support both from the developers and from third-party sites. This support and documentation comes in many forms – integrated help systems (which we looked at in the Ease of Use category), offline manuals, online materials, and tutorials.
Despite having a great deal of online materials and tutorials along with an excellent integrated editing guide, Photoshop Elements 7 lacks an easily accessible offline manual. You can download a PDF version of the online material from the Adobe web site, but I still like having the option of accessing an internal help system.
One thing that I really like about PhotoPlus X2 is that you can access PDF tutorials and help files from the program’s interface without having to go online. Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 also has an offline help system that is easily searchable even if it is not as visually appealing as the one provided by PhotoPlus X2.
When it comes to third-party tutorials, Photoshop Elements and Paint Shop Pro are far ahead of PhotoPlus. This is mostly due to the larger user base of the formerly mentioned applications, but it still makes a big difference. If you’re trying to figure out how to do something in either Elements or Paint Shop Pro, the answer is usually just a Google search away. In fact, Bright Hub even offers a fairly large collection of Paint Shop Pro tutorials.
Rankings for the User Support and Documentation Category:
- Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate
- Photoshop Elements 7
- PhotoPlus X2
Although it’s difficult to say which application is the best, there are some recommendations that can be made for those looking for specific qualities in a photo editor.
If you’re not too concerned with advanced technical editing or plugin compatibility, PhotoPlus X2 is worth a second look. It’s very user-friendly, has a wide arsenal of creative content, and has the best vector support of the three applications examined in this comparison. It may not have the reputation of the other two products we looked at here, but I think that may start to change in the near future.
Each of the last few releases of Photoshop Elements has shown marked improvement, and version 7 can stand on its own two feet despite still being referred to as Photoshop Lite. While I found previous versions of the application somewhat lacking in the feature department, I’m rather impressed with the latest release. However, I still get a bit frustrated at times because of the slow start up and processing times. Also, I do wish some of the more advanced tools weren’t tucked away so deep in the application’s menu system.
On the whole, Paint Shop Pro seems to offer the most in terms of features, stability, and usability. It’s definitely superior as a technical editor, and its creative abilities aren’t too shabby either. Moreover, you can supplement the software with plugins, including many free ones. Many people out there consider Paint Shop Pro to be the best Photoshop CS4 alternative. I may go a step further and say it’s a better investment when you consider all you’re getting for the cost.
If you want to try before you buy, both Photoshop Elements 7 and Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate have 30-day free trials that you can download from their respective web sites.