Product Reviews

There are already plenty of low-cost image editors on the market, so do we really need another one? After all, when you buy a scanner, a printer or a digital camera you'll get Ulead's Photo Express, MGI PhotoSuite or Adobe PhotoDeluxe bundled with it. Any one of these is great for tidying up your photos, organising them and even incorporating them into little projects.

Thing is, they're all a bit beginner-oriented for more experienced users, while the likes of Photoshop and Photo-Paint are too expensive and high-end.

The middle ground between the two is taken up by JASC's Paint Shop Pro, Adobe's Photoshop LE, itself a cut-down version of Adobe's flagship product, and now Photo-Paint Digital Camera Edition.

The 'Digital Camera' part comes from the program's direct support for around 120 different digital cameras. That might sound a lot, but don't be too surprised if many of the latest models aren't on the list.

This isn't the only extra you get. Typically for Corel, the package includes a whole raft of lesser utilities. You get the Canto Cumulus LE 'media management' program (like Media Center Plus, reviewed next issue), the Bitstream Font Navigator for sorting out all your TrueType fonts (the package offers you the option of installing 800 of them!). You also get screen capture software, texture generation and a range of add-on

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special effects and image enhancement tools.

It's a big bundle, then, but what's the core program like? The full Photo-Paint package is good enough to give Photoshop a run for its money, and this edition is at least as powerful as Photoshop LE.

Instead of using layers to produce montages and composite images, Photo-Paint works with 'Objects'. These are managed via one of a series of docking toolbars, which either stick to the right-hand side of the screen or float like a palette. It's a clever enough system, though Photoshop LE's customisable and 'sticky' palettes take up less screen space and feel more logical. Both programs are miles ahead of Paint Shop Pro 6, whose collapsible tool options and layers palettes are fiddly to use and far too big.

Photo-Paint's range of effects is extremely impressive, both in terms of arty filters and basic image-editing tools. Its Scrapbook docker lets you browse the bundled clip art photos. It also lets you browse your own folders, making it easy to find, load and combine the images you want. It's better integrated than Paint Shop Pro's Browser, and knocks Photoshop LE into a cocked hat - the Adobe product has no browsing option at all. You also get 'natural media' painting tools, plus very good tools for selection and masking to transform your snaps into creative masterpieces. You can even incorporate your finished images into slideshows that can be e-mailed to friends.

Photo-Paint does more than Photoshop LE and, apart from the drawing tools you get in Paint Shop Pro, it beats its JASC rival too. But Photo-Paint isn't as 'clean' and direct as Photoshop LE, which is still the best mid-range image-editor there is for 95% of the things you'll want to do. The others may match its tools, but not its interface.

Corel Photo-Paint 9 Digital Camera Edition has a real 'wow' factor, thanks to plenty of gadgets, but cheaper rivals - in particular Photoshop LE - are just as good.