New text and shape-cutting tools that let you clip background images and create text shapes and patterns.You get a revamped user interface and new tools such as the aforementioned Magic Fill for removing unwanted objects, similar to the very popular Content-Aware Fill in Photoshop, and improved brush speed performance. Kind of got side-tracked, didn’t I? The new version is X7, which was released in October 2014. Okay, so getting back to my Paintshop Pro review. The nice thing is that from within Lightroom, you can open a copy of your image and edit it in Paintshop then move it back into Lightroom. Paintshop Pro has a new content-aware fill tool called Magic Fill that does a really good job with this. Many photographers find they can do most of their editing in Lightroom, but for really tough things like removing a large unwanted object like that person who ran into your otherwise perfectly composed shot, it’s easier, and results are usually better, to do it in pixel-based software. Your original image is never touched and you can undo every edit you ever made at any time.īoth types of software have their strengths.

On the other hand, Lightroom is catalog based any adjustments you make to an image are written to a text file in the Lightroom catalog, which is a database ( see this video for more about the catalog). You can also use it to create complex designs, image composites, graphics, and more. Editing is destructive, meaning edits you make actually change the pixels. That’s because Paintshop Pro is pixel-based software that allows you to edit down to the pixel level and you use layers. The important thing to know is that they don’t cancel each other out. Paintshop Pro (and Photoshop and PS Elements) are quite different “animals” from Lightroom. Pixel-based vs Catalog-based Software…huh? Readers of my newsletter will know that Lightroom is my photo software of choice, but over the years I’ve also used and liked Corel’s Paint Shop Pro because of its Photoshop-like tools, shorter (much shorter!) learning curve, and lower price tag (just $79.99). In fact, over the past year, I’ve been rather lax in posting on my blog, period! It’s because I’ve been working on a big new project that’s consumed much of my time: creating a family portrait photography course plus a series of free videos with Lightroom tutorials. I realized it had been quite some time since I posted a software review.

Paintshop pro x7