Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo XI

The XI after the name tells you that Paint Shop Pro Photo is no newcomer to the game of image editing, and if you're wondering what new features could possibly be added to the 11th version of a program, Corel has come up with some very pleasant surprises.

Before we run through these, a quick introduction to the main features of the program is in order.

Once a digital photo has been loaded into the program you can manipulate it in countless ways, either by working on parts of the picture with special tools, such as those that remove red-eye and erase unwanted objects from the foreground, or by applying global changes to the entire picture for enhancements such as boosting washed-out colours and eliminating lens distortion.

The most significant enhancement to Paint Shop Pro Photo XI is the incorporation of a picture organiser within the program itself.

On installation it scans the hard disk for pictures and displays them as small thumbnail images at the bottom of the screen.

Video files can also be viewed, and still images grabbed from them. A sliding zoom control permits you to alter the size of the thumbnails at will, and they can also be tagged with your own labels such as Friends, Holidays and Family for easy grouping.

There are searching and sorting tools to help you find your pictures, and a slideshow feature that can incorporate a musical backing track of your choosing.

Adding text to a picture and editing it afterwards has to be done in a separate text box. It would be so much easier to perform these tasks in situ.

Slideshows can be emailed to your friends, but they'll need a program called Snapfire to view them, which can be downloaded free of charge from the Corel website.

The Plus version of Snapfire is included with Paint Shop Pro. It has the ability to convert slideshows into standard video files that can be viewed without Snapfire, but unfortunately the Plus features are disabled after 30 days unless you pay for an upgrade.

New features that work well are a depth-of-field creator, which enables you to blur the background while keeping foreground features sharp; the so-called Time Machine, which makes your photos look as if they were shot using various historical techniques from 1839 to the present; and a Film and Filter option that simulates the effects of using different combinations of conventional film together with lens filters.

A new, automated skin smoother removes wrinkles and facial blemishes from portraits, while three separate makeover tools can be used to remove spots, whiten teeth or apply an instant tan.

There's an automated colour changer too, so if you never liked that picture of yourself in the orange shorts you can change them just by choosing a new colour and clicking.

It a shame Corel didn't think to include a weight reduction tool too.

Also Consider
Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0
Lots of fun and marginally easier to use, but not as versatile

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