JASC Paint Shop Pro

You just gotta love software that plays David to Adobe Photoshop's Goliath, and Jasc Software's Paint Shop Pro does just that. In fact, for about $500 less, you get a program that's almost as good as Photoshop. For example, Paint Shop Pro's vector drawing tools are so tightly integrated into the program--making them much easier to learn and use--that they beat Photoshop's hands down. This program is feature-packed and robust enough for professional-caliber image editing yet easy enough for artists of all skill levels.

Automatic Picture Repair
Image editing is a formidable challenge for most amateur designers, primarily because you need to learn tons of tools and processes to use image-editing software. Fortunately, Paint Shop Pro holds your hand most of the way. Although it doesn't come with wizards, Paint Shop's help is beautifully organized and teaches you the ropes without much jargon. Besides, Paint Shop's interface is so straightforward, you probably won't need help with most common tasks. Version 7.0 has even added menu commands that automatically remove red-eye and fix blemishes caused by dust and scratches. (For an image-editing tutorial, read "Perfect Pictures in a Flash.")

Two-in-One Graphics Package
And if you need more advanced tools, Paint Shop Pro has them, too. It supports both bitmap (raster) images and vector objects--the best of the illustration and photo-editing worlds. Many image editors now include vector tools, which create objects with crisp edges (such as text outlines). But unlike the rest of the packages, Paint Shop Pro integrates its vector tools seamlessly and elegantly so that it's easy to switch back and forth between vector and bitmap tools.

Effortless Effects
Paint Shop Pro's new Effects preview browser makes it easy to add special effects to your images, too. Fiddle with Paint Shop's 80 or so filters, such as Spiky Halo or Buttonize, to look at the effects without making a commitment. And Paint Shop ships with almost every imaginable color-correction tool, including a sophisticated channel mixer, which enhances the red, green, or blue channels in an image by adding percentages of the other two channels.

Limited Web Graphics
To help Web artists create animated GIFs, Paint Shop Pro includes Animation Shop 3.0, a midrange Web graphics creator. Paint Shop Pro itself, however, supports a variety of tools that optimize compressed graphics files for the Web, including JPEG, GIF, and PNG. And, of course, Paint Shop includes all the buzzword Web features, including slicing (cutting an image into easily transmittable pieces), rollovers, and image maps. Unfortunately, these features are hard to locate. You have to use the File/ Export Image Mapper or Image Slicer to get to these functions, and the rollover function is buried inside the Image Mapper dialog box.

Printing Problems
Alas, Paint Shop Pro fails in one critical area: print proofing. It doesn't include a standard CMYK preview. And although representatives from Jasc assured us that they exist, we were unable to find any way to use standardized integrated color management (ICM) profiles. These files, which ship with most input and output devices, help maintain consistent color among devices--for example, the scanner, monitor, and printer--and are crucial for professional print output. Without these profiles, you'll have to resort to trial and error to assure uniform colors from one device to another. One further complaint: Paint Shop Pro still isn't available for Mac. Since many graphics professionals use Macs, this is a major drawback.

The ICM glitch aside, however, Paint Shop Pro is a good choice for both novice and intermediate image editors. Graphics professionals will probably want to stick with Photoshop, but for pros on a budget who need a fast, friendly, powerful image editor, Paint Shop Pro is the way to go.

Years ago, before I got my first digital camera, Jasc Software's Paint Shop Pro was my favorite Windows image-editing application for non- and pre- production work. (Adobe Photoshop was -- and is -- the de-facto standard for production work, and I use it accordingly). Paint Shop Pro was the first image-editing application I had encountered that had a built-in thumbnail browser. That meant I didn't have to use the cumbersome combination of Fetch (now Extensis Portfolio) to sort and find my images, and Photoshop to edit them. And Paint Shop Pro was -- and still is -- faster and less memory-intensive than Photoshop.

Since the advent of digital photography, image thumbnail browsers have become legion, erasing Paint Shop Pro's erstwhile distinction in that regard. Most such products, however, are entry-level applications aimed at consumers new to digital imaging. Consequently, they lack the kind of image- enhancement tools that business and artistic users require. Jasc has responded to the increasing competition by beefing up Paint Shop Pro's high-end editing capabilities to appeal to more-experienced users, despite the package's $109 price. In light of such developments, the program's thumbnail viewer has become incidental; it's now Paint Shop Pro's editing tools by which the program must be judged.

JASC, makers of the cheap yet powerful image-editing and drawing tool Paint Shop Pro, has released version 7. Packed with new time and effort-saving features, Paint Shop Pro 7 will appeal to business and home users and those digital artists who need a powerful image editing and painting tool on the cheap. And cheap it is. At well under the £100 barrier, you are getting a lot of features and functions for your money, so there's no excuse for printing dodgy scans or creating clunky Web graphics.

In one package you get Web tools, image optimisation with options previewing in up to three Web browsers, vector tools with support for gradients and textures, type effects and of course painting, image editing and photo retouching.

The latter category features some new automated tools that will make image enhancement much easier for those that are new to the field of desktop image editing, while also being powerful for the seasoned image tweaker. The new Red Eye Reduction tool has an interactive dialog which enables you to do exactly what it says. Rather than desaturating and darkening the illuminated retina this filter simply paints in a new one, including a matching iris (the colour of which you choose from a comprehensive list). Animal eyes are also catered for, and the filter also adds the glint of the flash gun in the right location on the new eye.

The CD contains a large number of Web page templates, so you can create custom Web pages quickly and easily. There are also wizards for image optimisation and tools for image slicing, mapping and rollover creation.

As a bonus, when you buy Paint Shop Pro you get Animation Shop 3 for free. This handy app is great for creating animations, such has text and graphics for video or Web page animations. It's easy to use and features a number of special effect filters such has Motion blur, Stained glass, and Camera Shake that are all animatable.

The program is steadily maturing into a comprehensive image-editing tool, though there are some limitations. The program does slow down when large images or multi-layered files are in use, particularly when using the adjustment layers with live feedback, though even the thumbnail previews seem to take a long time to update as well. Nevertheless, there's really little to complain about considering the price, and as such Paint Shop Pro 7 represents cracking value for money.

Paint Shop Pro Developer