Corel PaintShop Pro X4 Ultimate
- Photo-editing software with a streamlined, intuitive workspace
- Award-winning Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0 photographic filters
- 21 high-quality images from Fotolia; custom photo book; free Picture Tubes
- HDR module–merge photos with different exposures to create incredible images
- 50+ adjustment filters and 112 special effects to fine-tune your work
Corel PaintShop Pro X4 Ultimate gives you the freedom to create your best images – ever. Along with all the photo-editing power of PaintShop Pro X4, you get award-winning Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0 photographic filters, your choice of 21 high-quality images from Fotolia, a custom photo book from Blurb and free Picture Tubes. Streamlined workspace–easily make powerful adjustments and quick fixes. View larger. Professional tools for photo editing, image composition and graphic design. View larger. Fill Light/Clarity filter: brighten shadowy image areas without changing the rest of the photo.
View larger. Large preview area helps you quickly assess your adjustments. View larger. Manage workspace gives you everything you need to review and organize your photos. View larger. Photo Blend feature: combine the best parts of several photos to create one flawless image.
View larger. Selective Focus lets you transform a scene into a miniatur
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Great software, Great Price!,
If you’re an avid PaintShop Pro user of previous versions, you may want to know before hand that it has completely changed. If you decide to buy the new version, just make sure you have the correct mind set for these new changes…If you’re not a person for change, then you may want to hold off for a bit. Me on the other hand, these new changes were something different for me, but in no time I adjusted to them quite fast. The new changes are noticeable to point out, and you will soon realize how beneficial and great these features are. Here are a few of the changes in the new version…
NEW Nik Color Efex Pro 3.0–includes over 250 effects and styles, along with 30+ emulated film types in 52 easy-to-use filters
NEW Custom photo book–showcase your best work
NEW Images from Fotolia–download your 21 royalty-free, high-resolution photos from this incredible image bank of photos and illustrations
NEW Picture Tubes–get a selection of Picture Tubes from our extensive collection
NEW HDR module–merge photos with different exposures to create incredible images
NEW Photo Blend–combine photos of the same scene to include the best details and remove unwanted elements
NEW Selective Focus–mimic the effect of expensive tilt-shift lenses and turn a scene into a miniature world
NEW Interface–Complete re-design of the interface has been implemented. Built for ease of use
NEW Windows 7 Integration–Now includes taskbar previews of your layered projects.
**You can also go to the Corel site, just so you know a bit more about What’s New!**
The only thing I did not like, is the integration with the Windows 7 taskbar previews while dealing in layers, as far as I know…You cannot turn this off. It is a minor setback, and can be dealt with.
Overall, this is a very positive change from Corel, and I like where the PaintShop series is heading….Which is indeed headed in the right direction so far. This is a professional package, for an affordable price. I definitely choose this over Photoshop any day, just because of the price and features of the product. I definitely recommend this to anyone who likes to edit or create certain image projects who are on a budget, but can still achieve professional results. Get your hands on this, it will definitely be helpful if you need it. Like I said, it is headed in the right direction…From here on out….This product will only get better and better.
*UPDATE 09/14/2011*
I have been tinkering around some more, and would like to point out a couple of menu options that have been changed in this new version.
When doing a mirror effect (Ctrl M) in previous versions, you would go to Image, Mirror to do so. In the new version, they have renamed it to Image, Flip Horizontal. I just wanted to point this out, just in case people got confused.
For those of you who like the old classic look and would like to change it, and not use the Graphite/Darker theme…I am sorry to say, I am almost positive you can not change this anymore. For me on the other hand, I think the Graphite/Darker look is more easy on the eyes and more appealing.
About a third party plugin:
If you use Filters Unlimited Plugin, some images require you to open using a non transparent background when editing. If you run into problems while using this plugin, just make sure to Open with the Transparent box unchecked…You’ll know what I mean if you run into problems. That is of course if you utilize this third party plugin.
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|My Quick Look at PSP X4,
By Lynn Page Webmaster/Newsletter Editor Crystal River Users Group (CRUG)
I have had the opportunity to spend a little time looking at Corel PaintShop Pro X4 and am pleased with the changes to an already excellent product. I will be doing a full review for my user group (CRUG) but want to provide a few initial observations.
The Getting Started/Welcome screen that opens in front of the workspace will be a benefit to new users and I found it worth the little time it took to look through the explanations. PSP X4 has moved to a more traditional tabbed interface most of us have come to love. The easily spotted tabs in the middle of the title bar make it simple to move between the Manage, Adjust and Edit tasks whether you have the application full screen or not.
The Manage tab contains the Organizer in the bottom pane and a Navigation pane on the left. In the past I generally did not use the Organizer very often but did note some nice features on the Manage tab. The auto hide feature for the Navigation pane provides room for a much nicer preview of a selected photo. Dedicated photographers will appreciate the additional information about the photo displayed in the right pane. The Organizer task bar now includes a Share icon to easily share a photo through email or on FaceBook or Flickr. There is also an icon to Auto Group photos taken within a period of time up to a minute. What I liked the best is that PSP remembers where I was in the Organizer and goes to that location when I return.
The Adjust tab is a beefed up version of the Express Lab. With the addition of controls for color balance, brightness/contrast, fill light/clarity, local tone mapping, and digital noise removal it can now truly handle many if not most routine photo fixes. Selecting photos for adjustment is simple as the Organizer is readily available in the bottom pane. I may now find myself starting on the Adjust tab instead of going directly to the full editor.
The full features of PSP X4 are available on the Edit tab. The Organizer is again available in the bottom pane and a single click of its Show/Hide Navigation Pane icon opens it to the left of the image in the workspace. So I no longer have the need to keep Windows Explorer open to get to my photos. I have focused my time in looking at some of PSP X4’s new editing features while quickly reviewing some of my favorites. To look at the new HDR exposure merge I took a series of photos from our stairway landing towards the morning sun behind a wall of windows. My camera does not have an automatic setting for this so I just manually selected an aperture and altered the shutter speed. After selecting the set of photos that looked the best creating a single merged shot was simple. In Edit select the photos to merge form the Organizer panel then in the File drop down menu select HDR and then Exposure Merge. PSP starts the process. In the merge step you can choose settings and do custom editing. I just clicked Process to move on to the next step. Here you can choose from preset settings or make your own adjustments to temperature, contrast, highlights and midtones before clicking process. After completing the merge I adjusted the perspective of my photo before trying out the new Fill Light/Clarity adjustment. It is great for saving photos that may seem too dark. Use the sliders to bring light into the dark areas while maintaining detail. It is a wonderful tool. Next I used the new Vignette photo effect to create a faded white edge and finally added a photo frame. This resulted in a photo ready for display from a series of unusable shots.
Another new and notable feature in PSP X4 is Photo Blend. It is a simple way of getting the best parts of a series of photos. Just paint in the potions to keep on each photo and paint out the areas not wanted. I tried it out and was able to get the whole family looking good. Photo Blend is straight forward enough for anyone to try. No need to worry about understanding layers and filters.
These new features make PSP X4 a definite upgrade candidate or a perfect choice for someone looking for a photo editing application. As with any upgrade there is a learning curve and I did have a couple of little stumbles. My major one was that it took me a while to realize the workspace is tabbed. After duplicating an image I could not find it so by the time I realized my mistake I had 3 copies. It also took me a minute to try the esc key to cancel and back out of Smart Photo Fix.
I have also been using PSP X4’s extensive artistic capabilities. It is easy for a user like me to just focus on editing digital photos to get the best possible image. By doing that we miss out on the wonderful array of artistic effects available through PaintShop Pro. The artistic features make PSP X4 a great tool for scrap-bookers and beginning digital artists as well as photo editors.
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