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CNET editors' rating:
stars
Excellent
Detailed editors' rating - Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 14 reviews
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Product summary
The good: Powerful new editing tools; redesigned interface; built-in tutorials; improved graphics engine; highly competitive price.
The bad: Can?t type text directly onto an image.
The bottom line: With its advanced tools and streamlined interface, budget-priced Paint Shop Pro 8.0 can nearly go head-to-head with Photoshop 7.0.
Specifications: License qty: 1 user ; License type: Complete package ; Operating system: Microsoft Windows XP , Microsoft Windows 2000 , Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 SP6a , Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition , Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition ; ; See full specs
CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 07/14/2003
- Released on: 04/28/2003
 Built-in tutorials provide step-by-step instructions for seven advanced photo projects. |
Not sure where to start? Jasc built 30 tutorials into the interface. The lesson topics range from basic tasks (such as creating a new image) to full-blown projects (such as converting a photo into a greeting card). Menu-accessible product tours provide animated introductions to the tools, the palettes, and more.Photoshop 7.0 introduced two features that wowed the graphics community: the Enhanced Liquify tool increased the precision with which you can distort an image, and the Healing Brush brought the ability to remove scratches and blemishes while maintaining original shading and texture. Paint Shop Pro 8.0 brings its own set of useful advanced tools, most of them clearly aimed at photo enthusiasts. Perspective Correction repositions off-center objects. For example, if you photograph a building from an odd angle, you can pull it into place by clicking its four corners and manipulating virtual handles. The Warp Brush lets you creatively distort portions of an image. You can stretch, shrink, push, and twist to generate unexpected shapes. Both Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro can remove pixels based on their color. The Background Eraser, as it's called in the Jasc app, is ideal for retaining fine details, such as in hair and fur, that you want to isolate from the background.
 One Step Photo Fix can automatically adjust a picture's color balance, saturation, contrast, sharpness, and more. |
Photoshop handles some features more elegantly. For instance, you can add and edit text directly within an image in Photoshop; Paint Shop Pro makes you type it in a separate window. On the other hand, Paint Shop Pro has the edge with the EXIF (Exchangeable Image File) data that many cameras store with each photo. One advantage is that you can select the types of EXIF data the program will display.Paint Shop Pro 7.0 slowed to a crawl when you added a few layers to an image. Fortunately, version 8.0's graphics engine is greatly improved. Using a 1.8GHz Pentium 4 system with 768MB of RAM, we were able to apply eight layers without significantly decreasing rendering speed.
Most tasks take a second or two to complete. One of the program's more processor-intensive functions, One Step Photo Fix, intelligently adjusts color balance, saturation, contrast, sharpness, and other key settings through a chain of automated effects. Despite the complexity, our test system finished the work on a 2,048x1,536-pixel shot in just 13 seconds.In addition to the built-in tutorials and product tours, Jasc offers toll-free tech support Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT. The company's Web site has even more tutorials, as well as a searchable knowledge base. With this level of support, you could learn a wide range of image-editing techniques.
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