Product Reviews

Paint Shop Pro has always been a powerful photo-editing program, but it lacked the tidy interface design and greater ease of use of rivals such as Adobe's Photoshop Elements. The original developers, Jasc Software, always seemed oblivious to this problem, and seemed content to aim Paint Shop Pro at more experienced users who could cope with the technical complexity of the program.

Jasc was taken over by Corel last year, and this is Paint Shop Pro's first big upgrade under its new owners. We're pleased that Corel is clearly hoping to attract more first-time users with this upgrade; Paint Shop Pro X has several interface improvements and quick-fix tools that allow less-experienced users to get started more easily.

Things get off to a tiresome start, though, with an installer program that forces you to install each component separately. In addition to the main editing program, you can also install Corel's Photo Album software to manage your photo collection, a set of video tutorials, a program called BookMaker that lets you create photo albums that can be sent to online printing services and a utility called RawShooter for capturing and manipulating data from digital cameras. RawShooter is particularly annoying, as it forces you to register online - and provide your email address - before you can use it.

Once you're past the initial installation process, however, Paint Shop Pro X proves to be a very attractive upgrade. The most obvious

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improvement is the improved Learning Centre palette, which sits on the left-hand side of the main workspace. Originally introduced in version 9, the Learning Centre has been enhanced to provide more detailed help for performing many common editing tasks, such as cropping and straightening photos, using special effects and adjusting colour balance, brightness and contrast.

When you select a task in the Learning Centre, the relevant tools are selected automatically, so you don't have to look through toolbars or menus to find the tool you need. Step-by-step hints on how to use each tool are also displayed in the Learning Centre to help you along.

Many of the program's new tools provide quick-fix options, allowing you to perform complex tasks quickly and easily. The Smart Photo Fix tool will automatically correct brightness, shadows, highlights and even focus problems all at once, and there are similar options for removing camera noise and grain and sharpening images.

There are also three interesting new makeover tools. The Toothbrush allows you to click on someone's teeth and automatically whiten them, while the Blemish Fixer can be used to paint out wrinkles and other skin blemishes. There's even a new Suntan tool that can apply a bit of colour to pale skin, making it look tanned.

The Photo Album program that is bundled with Paint Shop Pro saves time by automatically downloading photos from a camera or memory card as soon as it's connected to the PC. We also like the ability to create trays of photos that you group together and store at the bottom of the screen for easy access.

Corel has clearly identified Paint Shop Pro's main weaknesses and set out to address them, as this upgrade is much easier to use and more accessible for photo-editing novices. Our only criticism is that, at £99, Paint Shop Pro X is still £30 more expensive than Photoshop Elements. While Corel is taking Paint Shop in the right direction, a hefty price cut is necessary if it's serious about going head to head with Photoshop Elements.