Corel PaintShop Pro X3

Corel just released the newest version of PaintShop (link to my Examiner article).

I got a chance to have it shown to me by some of the folks at Corel, and I have a copy in my possession that I am trying out to review. Looks to be very good so far (although my computer, not so much, it's time to upgrade this dinosaur [2yr old] laptop...), lots of high-powered tools that are basically easy to use.

This won't replace your full-blown Photoshop, but it rivals Elements pretty well. One nice thing I see so far is that all organizing and editing happens in the same window, unlike working through Bridge.

That snuck under the radar!

I much prefer X2 to PS Elements or even CS3 (X2 has the best sharpening algorithm I've ever used, the "Focus" tool, and - let's face it - most people just use CS3 because it's easy to get hold of a cracked version), so I'm very interested to see what X3 is about.

Thanks for the heads-up, Ben,

Geez. I just ordered the upgrade to X2 a week ago. Well, it's just $40.

How is X3 different from X2? Maybe I should return the X2 unopened when it arrives...

-js

I'm interested to see what this upgrade adds. I've been a long time user of both PS Elements and PSP (IMO, Elements does some things better than PSP, and vice versa), but PSPx2 doesn't have RAW support for my T1i so I use DPP or PSE7 for RAW conversion. If Corel decides to get serious with the RAW support this could be great.

number six wrote in post #9476982
Geez. I just ordered the upgrade to X2 a week ago. Well, it's just $40.

How is X3 different from X2? Maybe I should return the X2 unopened when it arrives...

-js

I don't have any direct experience with X2, but most of the upgrades seem to be focused at making it quicker and easier to use (i.e. much of the program has been updated to use the full processing capacity of the newest computer processors on the market).

Player9 wrote in post #9477231
I'm interested to see what this upgrade adds. I've been a long time user of both PS Elements and PSP (IMO, Elements does some things better than PSP, and vice versa), but PSPx2 doesn't have RAW support for my T1i so I use DPP or PSE7 for RAW conversion. If Corel decides to get serious with the RAW support this could be great.

They seem pretty serious. From the press release:

Camera RAW Lab: Supporting more than 350 RAW formats, the new RAW Lab makes it easy to adjust a variety of settings, such as white balance, exposure, brightness and saturation before processing. Adjustments made to any RAW image can be copied and applied to other RAW images in the Organizer.

Hey Number six, I believe if you bought x2 within the past 90 days than x3 is only a 19.99 upgrade.

By the way this is my first post...I've been a lurker, but I couldn't help but post to help out a fellow POTN member.

I, too, have used x2 for awhile now and just upgraded to x3. I really like it so far. There are some pretty powerful tools available.

I've always loved PSP, but I wish they would make it available for the Mac. PSP is the best for the price. X3 looks like it would be a nice one to use.

Well, I've already concluded that you wouldn't buy X3 for the RAW conversion features...

An upgrade to X3 is $59.99, not $19.99, Trulie.

Or 59 *+%ing quid in the UK.

JS, here's a list of what's new: http://www.corel.com …184951547051#ta​bview=tab1

My post was for those that have bought x2 within the past 90 days...then it only costs 19.99 for the upgrade. I spent 59.99 on my copy, which was worth it. Raw editing works fine for me in x3.

Where does it say that on the Corel site, Trulie?

trulie98 wrote in post #9478527
Hey Number six, I believe if you bought x2 within the past 90 days than x3 is only a 19.99 upgrade.

That's not so bad. Hmmm. I just applied for an RMA so I can return X2 when it arrives, but that would cost me return shipping. If I keep it and upgrade for $19.99 that's the same as the upgrade price of $60.

Thanks for the info.

Oh, and welcome to POTN!


-js

Keith, I took part in the webinar yesterday. When they were talking about pricing at the end, they made it clear that if you recently purchased x2 within the past 90 days that you could upgrade to x3 for 19.99. I would contact their customer support and check if I had just purchased x2.

I've had an email from Corel advertising the new release.

Looks promising, especially the multi core support. That'll speed things up (since I just got a quad core i7, it will indeed do nicely).

RAW support I'm very sceptic about. It turned from bad to horrible in X2 ultimate. Then again, seems like there are manual controls available now, so the non-optional automatic 'enhancing' may be a thing of the past. I'm willing to give it a shot, but it had better apply my camera settings properly like DPP does, or I'm sticking with a 2-program workflow.

I expect some free delivery deal or something like that soon enough. Perhaps I should wait for that. Perhaps I'll jump on it right before some such deal, as is my usual.

Get now or wait for sales... choices, choices.
Maybe I should try first if my copy of X2U will run in Win7 (don't really see why not, but you never know). If not, the choice will be so much easier to make :P

I'm running windows 7 duel core and it is a bit faster than x2 and it does work with windows 7. I actually bought the download upgrade to try it right away. You can download the trial and then purchase the download upgrade (they say all you will need to do is enter the serial number instead of reinstalling the program at purchase).

The raw editing works for my T1i raw photos...I only tested a couple so far. It does have adjustable slider bars for several settings now. I was hesitant about the RAW edits too, but so far so good!

The new smart carver and image extractor features are pretty cool.