I have used Paint Shop Pro for more years than I care to remember. It was initially a shareware program that did things others could not. Now umpteen versions later a new package called Studio.
Buy Now...
On the face of it bringing out a new product into a market that already has several that do the same things may be a foolish exercise. However there is a lot to be said on being the last to market, you can learn by the others mistakes.
Basically this is a photo manipulation package. According to the box it can make digital photos that your camera cant. You can certainly give it photos that even the novice can tell are wrong and certainly see an improvement from the One Step Photo Fix button. This is especially good when the background is underexposed. I certainly improved several images in this way. No technical know how just one button press.
There are six aims of Paint Shop Pro Studio and should you require any of them it certainly does what it says. The six categorys are:-
· Enhance
· Restore
· Create
· Craft
· Organize
· Share
Installation is straightforward insert the CD and follow the prompts. To do a full installation that includes some extra borders etc will take around 500MB of hard disc space. There is also a basic version of Paint Shop Pro Photo Album stated to be worth £20 included on the CD.
For a novice user there is lots of help and this is not in wordy sentences but in illustrated form so if you do not know the technical terms for what you are trying to achieve then it should not matter as the illustrations show you, once you done something a few times you will probably be able to do it without assistance.
In fact it includes a learning centre that allows you to do what you want and pick up the correct words why you improve your knowledge.
Most people will have heard of Red Eye and maybe Crop and Clone but Fill Flash, Backlighting and Perspective Correction are probably new to the novice. No need to worry with Paint Shop Pro Studio, use them, improve your images and best of all pick up the knowledge. Continue on mastering Soft Focus and then move into retouching and use words like Dodge, Burn, Smudge and Soften. Restore old family pictures by removing scratches, correcting fade and colourising and then reprinting.
Everything I have described and more can be achieved in Paint Shop Pro Studio. Once you can do all this why not go on to make new photos look old and having done all that turn your images into greetings cards. Place text anywhere you wish, add frames and borders and much more.
www.dabs.com have it for £72.99, not that cheap but you will learn as well as improving your images.
!!
