I’ve often heard Corel PaintShop Pro referred to as a “poor man’s” PhotoShop but I don’t buy that. While it is considerably cheaper, I think you do it a disservice when you refer to it that way. Most of the same features are present in both packages. However, the interface to those features in Paintshop is different and in my opinion simpler. This doesn't mean that it is less powerful. It is a full-featured program that allows you to import your pictures from your camera, PC, or scanner and manipulate them. It gives you tools for adjusting your images so that they look their best. You can adjust contrast and exposure as well as touch them up by removing blemishes and repair damage. You can add text to your images along with numerous special effects. Want to make your picture look like it's an old photo? You can do that. Want to print or share it with others? You can do that too.
Since I was reviewing this package and a few other imaging packages I needed a standard way of testing the software. What I came up with was a list of problems that normal users may find in their images. With that in mind I set out to take some pictures that had problems. After uploading the problem images to the computer, I proceeded to try and fix the images. I’ll be using this same process with the same images for all of the reviews.
The image problems I settled on are:
1. Red eye: Since for most cameras the flash is close to the same plane as the lens this problem shows up in a lot in photos. Do you know how hard it can be to capture red eye when you want to?
2. Green eye: Same type of issue as red eye but this time with dogs and cats.
3. Crooked horizon: Most people can’t seem to hold their camera straight and you often get pictures with a noticeable slant to the horizon.
4. Over exposure and under exposure: Not much explanation needed here.
5. Blemishes: When you took a picture of your thirteen year old daughter and then noticed a pimple or blemish. I'll discuss how easy it is to touchup portraits.
These image flaws will be the basis for all of the imaging software reviews that I do. I’ll attempt to fix these flaws and then report on my success. When it will help I’ll also include images of the software in action.
One last thing, the review will not be a tutorial. I’m not going to give you step-by-step instructions on how to fix these problems. Instead I’ll just tell you if I was able to fix them and how hard or time consuming the process was. I’ve limited myself to spending no more than 15 to 20 minutes solving a problem. I’m sure, given enough time, all of the imaging packages could solve these image problems. However, I’m too lazy to spend that much time and I don’t think most users will spend any more time than that either.
