If anyone had asked me what I would like to see in the new release of Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate, I would have mentioned something about a better way to remove backgrounds. Well, guess what?
Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate, the latest version of the popular photo editing software, has been on the streets for a couple of weeks now so it’s about time we take a look at it to see how it performs. Among the new features in the Ultimate edition are raw camera support, a fresh background remover plug-in, and a large collection of new creative content for those who like to dress up their photos.
In addition, the Ultimate package comes bundled with a ton of bonus items including, but not limited to, Corel Painter Photo Essentials 4 which allows you to turn photos into paintings, a media recovery software package that can recover lost files from memory cards, and a 2GB USB flash drive.
While the new release still works fine on Windows XP, it’s also officially certified for Windows Vista. The system requirements for Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate are as follows:
- Windows XP or Windows Vista
- 512 MB RAM (768 MB RAM if using Vista)
- 1 GHz processor (2 GHz recommended)
- 1.5 GB hard disk space
- 24-bit color display, 1024 x 768 resolution
- DirectX 9.0c or higher
Just as with previous versions of the software, the user interface of the Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate package is extremely intuitive and somehow manages to put a ton of tools right at your fingertips without cluttering up the application’s work area too badly.
Of course, each of these tools can easily be hidden with a single keystroke or mouse-click if you do want a larger photo editing workspace. (For more information on how to use these tools and other tips and tricks, check out Bright Hub's set of Paint Shop Pro tutorials.)
I’ll admit that I love all the fun graphical extras, so I was very happy to see the new frames and picture tubes. With over 150 new toys to choose from, I was in digital scrapbooking heaven. The new options give you tons of ways to dress up your photos for all sorts of projects.
The Ultimate package even includes a copy of Corel MediaOne Plus so you can take these fixed-up photos and plop them right into pre-designed scrapbook pages without worrying about how to design your own. However, if you do want to create your own custom designs, you can use the software to do that, too.