Corel Paint Shop Pro X or XI

[YEKCIM]

You RAW shooters have just about convinced me to switch from JPEG to RAW, and it is apparent that I'm going to need a little more editing horsepower than Picasa currently offers. I've considered Paint Shop Pro X or XI, after having used the trial versions of both to some extent (both now expired).

I'd appreciate any feedback from current or former PSP users, especially concerning differences between X and XI. Most of the reviews I've read suggest that XI is not much of an improvement over X. In particular, I'd like to know how well PSP handles NEF (Nikon RAW) files, straight out of the box, or if any plug-ins are suggested to improve RAW processing.

TIA.

~YEKCIM

 

[Master Mason]

If your looking for a RAW file converter, I highly recommend taking a look at Lightroom, you can get a free trial of that as well.

Can't help you with your questions about PSP though.

 

[MICKEY88]

I highly recommend PSP PRO XI

it is awesome, can't speak for nikon raw but I'm quite pleased with the job it does on Minolta raw


as for differences between x and xi

if i remember correctly xi was the first to include, the tooth whitener/blemish remover and suntan brush.... these features are awesome...

it also had different film filters...

it has a skin softener, which really makes portraits look nice...


definitely worth the cash difference to get XI

 

[ukcatfan]

When I played around with PSP, I never could get results that I liked out of the unsharp mask compared to other programs. The controls on PSP are a little different for that filter, so it could just be user error.

I will throw out a couple more possibilities for you. PS Elements with ACR to process the RAW. I also like Bibble, b/c it seems to offer a bunch of possibilities while still in RAW, but then it is not a regular editor, so you miss out on stuff like selection tools. I installed Picasa, but never used it, so the two together could cover what you need. There are two versions of Bibble, so you might not need to go with the Pro version and could save $$.

Lightroom looked very nice, but I did not like the price tag.

Almost all of these offer trial versions, so it cannot hurt to try them out.

Kevin

 

[Groucho]

I'm guessing that you're ruled out whatever bundled raw converter that came with your D50(s)? I know they have a commercial version but my understanding is that you still get at least the basics bundled?

There's a few out there... I know Raw Shooter Pro had a free download for a while there, my manufacturer's software is based on Silkypix and is reasonably competent (though the interface is a bit muddled), and there's a few other options out there.

I have spent a chunk of time in the past day going through Lightroom training, after going through another round of attempting to keyword photos using other stuff and thinking that there's gotta be a better way. I almost never bother with training, so I guess I'm serious. Something's gotta give, I need to get these photos under control!

Lightroom is a very different product than PSP (or Photoshop), though. If you're talking about doing bulk conversions from RAW to JPG, I'm not sure if a photo editor is going to make things very easy. What I have done up to this point is dump my RAWs into an empty folder, fire up the "Photo Browser", select all the photos that I want to have the same settings (which generally means that have the same white balance), throw those into "Photo Laboratory", set them how I want, then queue them up for processing. Go back to the Browser, grab the next bunch, they automatically are highlighted in Laboratory, queue those. Repeat until all the RAWs are queued for processing, then let it chug away for a while. Voila, a big pile of JPGs in highest quality (some get up to 5.8 megs or so), ready for the next step.

From what I can see of Lightroom so far, it may change that dramatically... like maybe keeping stuff in RAW (or at least, non-JPG formats) for longer.