// Home / Reviews / Software

Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 review

in Software

1 of 3

Gallery

Verdict

A host of welcome improvements and additions, but Corel's PaintShop still lags behind its key rivals

Review Date: 15 Feb 2010

Reviewed By: Tom Arah

Price when reviewed: £67 (£79 inc VAT)

Overall Rating

Features & Design
4 stars out of 6

Value for Money
4 stars out of 6

Ease of Use
4 stars out of 6

First launched in 1992, Paint Shop Pro has a long history harking back to the days when a bitmap generally meant a simple onscreen painting, scan or screenshot. Today, in the age of digital cameras, bitmap handling is almost solely concerned with photos – a change that Corel recognises with another tweak to the program’s name, now PaintShop Photo Pro.

It’s not just a question of rebranding. Corel realises that to make the most of your digital photos you need to get on top of them. That’s why PaintShop Photo Pro X3 now opens by default into its Organizer view. This has been revamped and now offers resizable panels as well as two main display modes: Thumbnail for viewing multiple files simultaneously, and Preview for quickly viewing and tagging your images one at a time.

PaintShop Photo Pro isn’t aimed at the professional photographer, but with the spread of increasingly affordable DSLRs Corel has seriously boosted its support for RAW camera formats. This is most obvious in the new RAW Lab where you can make a range of non-destructive adjustments as you load your files. One of the big advantages of RAW processing is that you can quickly apply the same adjustments to multiple files – a capability that X3 extends to non-RAW formats via the Organizer’s new Capture Editing and Apply Editing commands.

To quickly enhance your images, X3 provides all the most commonly required adjustments and retouching tools immediately to hand in its Express Lab, which is now conveniently accessed as a program tab. New options here include one-step noise removal and sharpening, and the ability to adjust contrast and local tone mapping. Being able to quickly cursor through a folder of images, enhancing as you go, is a huge plus for users and Photo Pro's greatest strength.

The Express Lab provides surprisingly powerful editing tools but if you need more, complete with features such as layer-based compositing and advanced adjustments and special effects, you need to switch to the Full Editor mode. Advances here include the ability to add and edit vector-based text directly on the image, a new vibrancy adjustment that lets you boost just those areas that are currently undersaturated, and the addition of a range of KPT filters.

The most striking new feature comes in the form of two new dialog-based commands. The first, Object Extractor, is effectively a cut-down version of Corel’s longstanding KnockOut product and lets you create complex selections, such as those required to capture hair and fur, by quickly marking up the edge of the object and automatically generating a mask.

1 2

Subscribe to PC Pro magazine. We'll give you 3 issues for £1 plus a free gift - click here

From around the web

Comments

User comments

Errors?

Is it me having a bad day or do some of that article not make sense. On page 2 Adobe Premiere Elements is mentioned which I thought was a video editing app rather than photo? Also on page 1 it mentions bitmap handling being the solely concerned with photos? Is this right then? Maybe JPEG, RAW, TIFF but Bitmap?

By pveater on 16 Feb 2010

Links

The links to the 'latest prices' and 'buy it now' price seem wide of the mark too - I'm being linked to TVs?

By pveater on 16 Feb 2010

Errors in error claims?

What's with the sheer amount of people that seem to try and pick holes in reviews where there are none?

1) Adobe Premiere Elements (if pveater as bothered to click the link) is used for photo editing.

2) A bitmap image, as opposed to a vector image, is a type of image representation; that of single pixels containing a bit of information that make up a larger image. These bitmap images can be saved as TIFF, JPEG, GIF or BMP files, but they are ALL bitmaps, albeit with different methods of compression.

By niaccurshi on 16 Feb 2010

@niaccurshi

Don't be daft, Premiere is a video editing app. The link should say "Photoshop Elements", not "Premiere Elements".

By petar09 on 16 Feb 2010

@niaccurshi

Fair enough my bad on the bitmaps but with regards to Premiere Elements I didnt need to bother to click the link as you put it. I am aware the link was to Photoshop Elements but the text clearly stated Premiere Elements. One is a photo editing app, the other a video editing app. This has now been changed in the article.

FYI I didnt come here to pick holes in the review. I noticed what looked like an error so commented hoping the author might pick it up (and in the case of the Premiere text) correct it if needed.

By pveater on 17 Feb 2010

Thanks both for picking up on the Premiere error (a subediting mistake and now amended) and for the robust defence :)

By TomArah on 18 Feb 2010

Why ?

How does Corel make it to the A list when Adobe Premier Elements has more stars and is cheaper ?

I want to buy one of them and this has me stumped !

By colinmcewan on 25 Feb 2010

PSP v Elements

Simple choice

Elements 8 is a basic version of Photoshop - it does not have some of the better tools that can be found in PSP X3.
There is currently a comparison in one of the photograpic mags this month.
The results are that PSP is the heavyweight winner, but Elements with some plugins is quicker for basic adjustments.

So it comes down to what you have used in the past & theefore favour the most.

Elements 8 is available for £50 (Cameraworld.co.uk) & PSP X3 for £59 (Upgrade from PSP 10+) retail £75

By roberttrebor on 26 Mar 2010

Leave a comment

You need to Login or Register to comment.