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PaintshopPro Photo X2 (ver. 12.01)

Product Name: PaintshopPro Photo X2 (ver. 12.01)
Company Name: Corel Corporation
Mailing Address: for North America
Corel Corporation
1600 Carling Avenue
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada K1Z 8R7
Phone support: Canada Customer Services (CS): 1-800-772-6735
Canada Technical Support (TS:) 1-877-662-6735
Support Website: www.corel.com/support.
Price: Upgrade: $54.99US, Full: $89.99US

System Requirements:

* Microsoft® Windows VistaTM or Windows® XP, with latest service packs installed
* 512 MB RAM (768 MB recommended)
* 768 MB RAM required if using Windows Vista
* 1 GHz processor (2 GHz recommended)
* 500 MB hard disk space
* 24-bit color display, 1024x768 resolution
* Microsoft DirectX® 9.0c or higher (included in Windows Vista and XP)

Additional Requirements for selected features
* Microsoft® Outlook®, Outlook Express, WordPerfect® MAILTM or other MAPI-compliant email software (to email from the product)
* Apple® QuickTime® 7 or higher (to play .mov movie files)

Reviewed By: PIerre Houle
Webpage: www.corel.com

Pros: A full featured Photo editing program that is simple to use and won't break the bank.
Cons: Does not support all RAW file types.

Corel PaintSopPro Photo X2 will appeal to the casual digital photographer who requires a few quick fixes as well as more advanced enthusiasts who demand more editing power.
I obtained a copy for review through the Sarnia Computer User Group. The boxed version which I received was accompanied by a 140 page user guide, which was a pleasant surprise. Most current software comes with manuals on CD only. I prefer a paper guide which I can sit down and read away from the computer. I noticed that the system requirements are not excessive, so most modern computers should handle this program with ease.

Installation was straightforward with no problems. I then proceeded to start the program (X2). The opening screen was the normal editor with a set of tool icons down the left side, Materials, History and Layers pallets on the right, and a browsing bar called a Photo Organizer across the bottom.

Along the very top there is the standard Windows menu bar typically seen in other photo editors in particular, Adobe Photoshop Elements, CS and Lightroom. If you are familiar with the Adobe products, X2 will be easy to transfer to. A novice might find the vast array of menus and tools daunting, but all modern photo editing programs are this complicated and need some study and practice to use effectively.

I attempted to open a digital photo and was dismayed to find that my camera's RAW format isn't supported. ( I have a Nikon D2X) Upon checking the website I found that my camera was indeed one which is not supported. However, I did find that my other camera (a Nikon D70s) is supported, so I could finally open a picture file.

I opened a photo file in the main window and tested many of the features of X2. I am quite impressed with several of this program's features:
The Enhance Photo menu items are very intuitive and with a few mouse clicks quickly corrects simple flaws such as exposure, noise and colour shifts. The effects are immediately noticeable in the Before and After windows.
The Express Lab is another gem which uses sliders to adjust the photo in addition to commonly used tools such as Straighten, Crop, Red Eye, Rotate, Makeover and Clone. The Makeover tab brings up a new window which has one click enhancement tools called Blemish Fixer, Toothbrush, Eye Drop, Suntan and Thinify. These seem rather gimmicky, especially Thinify, but they do work. This tool can be used for batch processing of images which can be a real time saver.
Other improvements listed in the manual were tested, in particular HDR Photo Merge which combines bracketed images to form a combined photo is an excellent feature. The Auto-Preserve Original command brings X2 in line with other non-destructive editors and is another gem. There are many other tools too numerous to mention and I find myself easily using most of them as they are similar to other programs' tools in their menu structure and use.

Conclusion:
I would give Corel PaintShopPro Photo X2 an 8 out of 10 for it's extensive editing tool array, ease of use and affordability.

The only drawback is it's lack of support for certain camera RAW formats which I am sure will be corrected in the near future.
Pierre Houle
SCUG Member

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