dieseldave Loc: Davenport,IA

I have used Corel for years but not for a lot of photo editing , mainly web graphics. Now I have the choice between Corel 7 x or Lightroom subscribe. What's the real difference?

Armadillo Loc: Ventura, CA

dieseldave,

I have been using PSP since 1996 with Windows 95, we sorta grew-up together. I was developing web sites and using PSP for graphics and photos inside web pages. PSP was modifying photo images and creating 2 dimensional graphics.

Both PSP and Adobe products will perform much the same in creativity and modifications. The major differences may come in personal productivity, you may experience a long and steep learning curve moving to Lightroom.

One of the differences between Adobe and PSP is coming in third party plugins, those added enhancements that have made life much easier for serious graphics developers. The .8bf plugins have been available for both PSP and Adobe products, now that computers are moving toward the 64bit configuration the plugins will not work in that environment. With Adobe moving to the "Cloud" they have the opportunity to force users to purchase new plugins that will only perform from the cloud. PSP has released its current version for both the 64bit and 32bit configuration, this allows all their current plugins and third party plugins to continue to function.

If you can download and install a trial version of Lightroom, try it out with your usual workflow, then use what is most comfortable.

Michael G

dieseldave Loc: Davenport,IA

Thx - I am not unhappy with PsP but I might try the trial of LR.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Fact check, you have been using Corel Draw Suite, not Paint Shop Pro, yes/no?

If yes, LR is not the same type of program, LR is photo RAW conversion, organization and editing. Corel's AfterShot Pro 2 is their program that does what LR does.

For about 10 years I used the suite to make things for use in the classroom and edited my photos in Photo Paint, then I switched to Paint Shop Pro since I was retired and no longer needed to do posters and maps for class, just edit my photos.

dieseldave Loc: Davenport,IA

Yes, I use photo paint. I also found a freeware option called Image Processing Lab which ain't bad except th at after two days it quit working :}

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Paint Shop Pro X6 is less than $80.00 for the Ultimate Version and so is AfterShot Pro 2, so for $160 you have both, in both 32 and 64 bit versions, if you order the disks for 9.95 each you are into it for 180 and have the disks forever. If you still us Corel Draw Suite than Paint Shop plus AfterShot or Light Room will be all you need. You can buy lightroom for about 140. The rental you mentioned is for Photo Shop and LightRoom and you pay the $10 month for ever or they change the price, you do get all the upgrades automatically. But stop paying the $10 and about a month later the program stops working. My personal preference is to buy disks and use my version until it won't do what I want or need, then upgrade or buy something else.

mldavis2

The standard warning here regarding LR applies: LR is an "overlay" editor and organizer, not a pixel editor. It is OK for quick and dirty edits on whole images, but has little or no ability to work at the pixel level. It depends on what kind of editing you do. PSP will do both, LR will not. If you decide you need to work at the pixel level (i.e. editing out trash, signs, people, etc. from a landscape), you'll have to get away from LR.

The question then is do you want to buy and use a boxed version of PSP, or do you want to subscribe to CC and pay Adobe every month for life. There is a learning curve any time you move from one program to another, even LR to CC.

Jim Bob

Corel Paintshop Pro x6 or Ultimate are outstanding PP programs. They do, or perhaps did, include the Athentech Perfectly Clear plug in for free and I just received an email which indicates I can purchase Toapz Adjust, Clarity and Detail plug ins for under 70 bucks. Much more economical than Photoshop and Lightroom.

pecohen Loc: Central Maine

I use PSP as well and have been using it about as long as you have. I'm accustomed to it and I'd have to find something serious that it doesn't do to make me change to another platform.

I do wonder about the new 64-bit version, however. I seem to recall reading that internally it is using 64-bit floating operations, but with a few operations it appears to be rounding to 8-bit integer. I saw this when using a histogram adjustment, for example, adjusting a 16-bit TIFF file with at least 12 bits of precision.

Have you noticed anything like this?

viscountdriver Loc: East Kent UK

There is nothing that I know of that you can do in PP that you cannot do in Paintshop Pro but at a lower price.

mldavis2

Reputable companies will maintain comparable features. There are a few things in PSP that are better than CC and I'm sure vs. If one program comes out with a new feature, others will follow very quickly. It's good to see others using these programs either as long time faithful, or defectors from subscription based editors.

Jim Bob

To be sure, Photoshop and Lightroom do offer certain features not available in Paintshop. However, at almost 10 times the price and perhaps a monthly subscription fee (for Photoshop):
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Delectronics&field-keywords=adobe+photoshop+cs6&sprefix=photosho%2Csoftware%2C144&rh=n%3A172282%2Ck%3Aadobe+photoshop+cs6

Unless you are professional and in need of those added features, you're wasting your money. I realize, some folks on this site like to push PSP and are condescending towards those who use less expensive pp programs. They should be ignored.

mldavis2

I see two factors to be considered. What kind and depth of editing do you do, and how much can or will you pay?

Simple whole-image editing (brightness, contrast, saturation, color balance, etc.) are all easily done in any editor, free or expensive.

More involved pixel editing such as removal of unwanted objects in an image, merging of layers, work in HDR, panoramas, etc. will require more advanced editors and features. The basics are all the same with any editor, and there are always many ways to accomplish the same effect. If you are going to do any pixel-based editing, you'll need a pixel editor such as CC, PSP, Gimp, etc., not LR.

Mickey88 Loc: Central Florida

I've been using paint shop pro since it was made by JAsc, awesome program. I've also been using lightroom, but recently decided to try aftershot, it is also a great program. I discovered something by accident when I went to purchase aftershot this is the info you get if you click on upgrade rather than full version. " To purchase the upgrade version of this product, you must own a previous licensed version of: Bibble Pro or Lite 5, Corel® AfterShot Pro®, Corel® Paint Shop Pro® Photo X2 or higher, Adobe® Lightroom® or Apple® Aperture®." I was able to save money and buy the upgrade... so I recommend buying paint shop pro.. then the upgrade for aftershot if you are considering both.

Collie lover Loc: St. Louis, MO

Go with PaintShop Pro. It's an excellent product reasonably priced. And you don't have to pay a monthly fee.