marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

Does anybody here use it? Like it or no? Is it meant to be similar to Lightroom?

Frapha Loc: Tulsa, Oklahoma

Corel's Paint Shop Pro is intended as a direct competitor to Adobe's Photoshop Elements and Corel's AfterShot Pro is intended as a direct competitor to Adobe's Lightroom. I think they're both very competent products and many folks use them. I'm still a user of Elements and Lightroom, so can't provide any personal observations of how the Corel products work or how "user-friendly" they are. I did use some earlier versions of Paint Shop Pro and was well satisfied with it. There are several Corel users here on UHH and I'm sure they'll chime in with their experiences.

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

I use Paintshop Pro X5 Ultimate every day. I know about that because I've been using it since back at Version 6 before they started using Roman numerals and before Corel owned it. I don't have After Shot Pro.

I also use Lightroom 4 every day. I heard that ASP is like Lightroom but doesn't load stuff into library folders before you can work on it. That is the only thing that irritates me about LR4. Forcing everything into folders and having to Sync to the hard drive when you put something on the drive with any other program is time consuming and unnecessary for what I do. LR4 also takes forever to import a memory card while Windows Explorer is 500% faster. I thought I'd look into ASP if somebody tells me more about their experiences.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

I have used PSP since X-3, now on Ultimate X-5. While I also have PSE-10, I have not used it in quite a while. It was not a conscious decision, which is perhaps quite validating towards PSP-X5 being the better of the two in terms of versatility and ease of use.

Yes, I also have AfterShot (with update), but have not used it to any extent, since I use my Pan ZS-20 as my primary camera -- JPEG only, no RAW. I purchased it because my Sony DSLRs both do dual formats. From what I see of the menu and reading the book that comes with it it will do the job, probably as well as LightRoom.

While the old saying "you get what you pay for" implies you must pay high prices to get quality that is not true if one does a price benefit analysis.

The only negative I see is that you will be driving a Chrysler car while all of your friends are driving Ford Pickup trucks with shotguns in the rear window cause that is what there daddy did! "Paint-shop" and "Kleenex" are generic names for photo editing and tissue for the nose.

Simply stated I recommend PSP X5. Let me not forget my favorite Topaz programs. I have the Suite, but suggest that Noise, Detail, and Adjust are the ones I use most. Discounts are available for watching a webinar or when they upgrade the programs. Corel products are also heavely discounted and price of Adobe products are heavily inflated.

wmvcooper Loc: baltimore, MD

I have After shot Pro it's OK for what I do. I can't compare it against LM4, because I don't have LM4. The one thing that I don't like about ASP is the learning manuel, it's written in Jap-lish and too hard to understand. Corel does not have any thing else to learn the software from.
One thing nice about ASP is the price is a lot cheaper then LR4

Ratwrf

Corel products are very good. I use PSPX5. Corel should still have the free trials on their website; just give it a go. Only thing I might suggest is to get paint shop instead. Has everything after shot does and the "more" so you will not need another program later.

pixbyjnjphotos Loc: Apache Junction,AZ

I agree with Ratwrf. I have used PSP for years and currently use PSP X5 Ultimate with NIK plugins. It does everything I want and more. There are a lot of plugins for X5 Ultimate, many of them free. I tried After Shot Pro but was not impressed. Let it go after the trial period as PSP Ultimate X5 does it all. If you want to see some examples look up some of my posts. Everything I do is done in PSP.

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

I don't want to be rude or anything but everybody is going on and on about Paintshop Pro and not After Shot Pro. I have, and daily use, Paintshop Pro and have been using it since Version 6 before Corel even owned it. So I'm not deciding between one or the other. That's being assumed.

I know how much Corel products cost, I know Corel has good products, I know where the discounts are - I just wanted to hear from somebody who actually uses After Shot Pro regularly and what their impressions of it are.

I'm also not making a decision between ASP and Lightroom, I'm already using Lightroom successfully for most of my daily workflow and it has turned out to be much easier than doing the same series of things in layer-based Paintshop Pro for what I do - even if were for only one reason - the "Sync" feature of LR4 that lets me choose a series of files, make alterations to one, then instruct it with one click to make the same alterations to all. The thing I don't like about Lightroom is the library and folder importing and exporting that some people probably like.

Don't take offense, but pages of talk about Paintshop Pro or comparing it to Photoshop doesn't answer what I asked. I simply like to acquire personal experience reviews on something before I delve into it or buy it. Downloading the trial is logical and I may do that later today, but someone with personal experience knows the downfalls, faults, and bugs of a program that don't reveal themselves in a short trial.

For example (and now I'll talk about Paintshop Pro too), the Paintshop Pro X5 trial period wouldn't reveal that it pops up a box about updating it's "Color Swatch" library that comes up BEHIND the Paintshop Pro introductory splash screen the next time you open the program after creating a new color to paint or fill with. The splash screen won't go away so Paintshop Pro can start up until you click on a button in the swatch box - but the box with buttons is hidden BEHIND the splash screen so you can't read it. The box should pop up ON TOP of the splash screen but is behind instead. Software bug. Luckily the lower edges of the buttons you must choose to click on hang down a little bit - just enough to click one and continue. I still don't know what button I've been clicking on because I can't see its title but this is one of those bugs that is stupid and wouldn't show up in a short trial that a newbie to the software would try.

Have I reported this to Corel? Nah... I learned a long time ago that you will either get no response from tech support or the response will be lame excuses and supposed fixes you can try but the fixes won't work because they are about a previous version and an older operating system. The problem likely will get fixed in X6 or X7 but there won't likely be a fix to X5 so I just live with it.

Anyway... back to After Shot Pro...

Samuraiz Loc: Central Florida

I have Paint Shop Pro X5. It's well worth the money.
The fact that it comes bundled with Nik Color efects makes it a one stop shop for many photo editors who do not want the complexity or price of PhotoShop.

After Shot Pro is a different story

Here are the opinions of most of it's users:

http://forum.corel.com/EN/viewforum.php?f=90

I switched to Lightroom4

hlmichel Loc: New Hope, Minnesota

I use aftershot pro for my everyday shots as well as church events that I shoot.
It works well enough for me--I have no real issues. I downloaded a demo of Lightroom once, it was more powerful, but I just didn't like it for some reason.

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

Is your avatar your church preacher imitation or your Gene Simmons pose? :lol:

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Will the compliments never end! :D

hlmichel Loc: New Hope, Minnesota

Actually, it's from a series of shots that I did on Facebook called "things not to do to your Iphone" That one was "making fun of its short comings", if you know what I mean.

hlmichel Loc: New Hope, Minnesota

I hope not...........

cliodiver

My experience with the Corel Company should stand as a warning to anyone looking to use their product. I had after shot pro and it worked ok. My problems started with downloading their plugin. Through their program they listed perfectly clear plugin as 19.95 and charged me full price of $69. Problem was the plugin would not install and caused my program to crash. I worked with tech support for eight days and finally got to the "last" try of a remote session to repair my problem. The tech choose to ignore our scheduled session and after an hour wait to start I contacted corel. The tech finally contacted me an hour and a half later. By this time time I was fed up. I contacted corel and requested a refund for the plugin. The corel rep said it was a third party app and couldn't help me even though money went to Corel. I am now currently going through the refund process with my card.
Bottom line is if it works then good for you. If you have a problem then be forewarned.....