bit-tech Shopping: Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2

• 2D Graphics/Digital Imaging
• Print/Desktop Publishing

• Microsoft Windows Vista
• Microsoft Windows XP

Rating: 10

Time with product: 3 Months

Strengths: HDR Photo Merge is awesome, makeover tools are easy to useand Selective Color Replacement is amazing. Compatible with many Photoshop plug-ins and filters.

Weaknesses: None found so far.

Summary: I love the different effects--especially the frames. There are also several tools that allow you to improve the quality of your images. It took me a little time to get used to the software because I have been a Photoshop CS3 user for over a year; but the techniques are very similar. PSP X2 is an affordable, full-featured image editor that is very easy to use overall. Also costs MUCH less than PS CS2 or 3.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 3 Days

Strengths: A very complete product, loads fast

Weaknesses: None that I have seen yet. I am still old fashioned and like a preprinted manual, or even a quick start version.

Summary: From my initial look at the program it appears to be full featured and probably will do a lot more than I will ever use. However, it is an excellent program and will enable me to enhance and work with my photos. I especially like the ability to "clean" up the background. I have used other products and have been partially satisfied with them.

Rating: 8

Time with product: 1

Strengths: Easy layering tools. I do a 7 layer file with no problem.

Weaknesses: Slow load time. Do not use the program as your default image viewer.

Summary: I've had very little problems with this photo editing software. I've just starting to paint my own car skins for PC racing games. I own games such as Rfactor and ARCA Sim Racing. I've been able to use this program to create the skins with little trouble and it was very easy. I prefer this program over the open source program GIMP as well. It seems to work well for a beginner or moderate photo editor.

Rating: 8

Time with product:

Strengths: Low price (I paid $45), easy to use

Weaknesses: Doesn't have the features an experienced photographer needs.

Summary: I'm attaching a screen shot of Corel's Paint Shop Pro X2. It's a perfect companion to a casual photographer taking pictures of a vacation. It allows basic editing such a noise removal, brightness/constrast, cropping, sharpening, blurring, and more. It also has a one click photo enhancement button for those who want their photos touched up without a learning curve.

Rating: 8

Time with product: 1 Month

Strengths: Stable and full featured

Weaknesses: Memory intensive

Summary: I was very unhappy with the performance of PaintShop Pro XI so I decided to take advantage of a very attractive 2-day promotion to get this version. I'm very happy I did: although I don't see a lot of new features, this version doesn't freeze up on me all the time so I'm using more of those fancy features.