Paint Shop Pro 9 Review

Ease of Use, Rated 2
The weakest part of this program—it’s hard to use.  For example, when you first install, a dialog box opens with a list of 50+ file formats and asks you to check which file types should be associated with Paint Shop Pro.  This task—even the wording of it—is not for the faint of heart.  The wording is technical and intimidating.

And once you get into the program, there is no handholding.  There are tutorials and documentation to help you, but these take time up front.  Don’t expect to jump right to edit a photo.  Since there are so many options and features, finding the right controls is challenging.  Many tools are hidden with toggle arrows so you won’t ever see them all at once.

Importing, Rated 4.5
Paint Shop Pro has basic import capabilities where you can import from a digital camera or scanner.  There is also a built-in screenshot capture feature. 

Output, Rated 5
Paint Shop Pro has some professional output features, including image slicing for html.  It also has a JPG, GIF, and PNG optimizer for web graphics.  You can even save your files in 50 different formats.  I can’t imagine why you would need to, but at least the program doesn’t limit your options if you know what you are doing.

Another advantage of Paint Shop Pro 9 is that it comes with a separate application called Animation Shop, software for creating fun animated gifs.

Editing, Rated 5
Paint Shop Pro’s greatest strength is in its editing features.  This program offers most of the features you can find in professional editing software but for a much lower price. 

Paint Shop Pro has one feature that home users will like.  Enhance Photo automatically “fixes” your image’s color, lighting and focus.  If you don’t like what the computer does for you, you’ll need to manually adjust these settings.

One unique feature of Paint Shop Pro is the deform tool.  You can apply a mesh warp to an image to “push” and “pull” certain points along an invisible mesh to create weird effects like stretching out someone’s face.  It also has a perspective correction, lens distortion correction and auto straightening function.

Paint Shop Pro also includes some fun drawing tools; you can spray objects like coins or water drops onto your image.

The Batch capabilities in Paint Shop Pro are a little more extensive than those in other programs.  Batches are basically pre-recorded actions (rotate, change color, resize, etc.) that can be repeated on your next image edit to save time.  

There are two different kinds of batches in Paint Shop Pro.  Some tools have preset options that you can choose from a dropdown menu.  For instance, if you have the crop tool selected, there will be a range of size in the preset dropdown, 4x6, 3x5, etc.  Select one, and Paint Shop Pro will save you time by filling in your preset options.  You can even create and save your own presets. 

The other type of batch process is what Paint Shop Pro calls a script.  With a script you can record multiple actions you make to one image and then save the recorded steps.  Then you can apply the same script to other images and the program will “play” the script, repeating the actions.  There are no built-in scripts, however, except for file renaming.

The text tool is hard to use and quite basic.  Instead of being able to just type on an image and see in real time how it looks, the program opens up a text entry box instead.  You must type your text in the box and then click apply.  You can see text on the image as you’re editing, but you have to move the text entry box out of the way constantly.  There are no text effects included, but you can control the leading (space between lines), the kerning (space between letters) and alignment. You can even write text vertically. Each text paragraph is made in a new layer so that you can go back and edit the text.

The selection tools include a simple shape tool, a lasso tool and a magic wand.  The magic wand will select a section of an image with the same range of colors.  This is useful when you have a simple background that you want to cut out.

Sharing, Rated 4
Photo sharing capabilities with Jasc Paint Shop Pro are very limited.  The only option you have is to upload your images to Shutterfly if you have an account.  There are also print package templates to help you automatically print specific photo sizes.

Support, Rated 5
Jasc Paint Shop Pro 9 has a vast library of support options.  Built into the product are tutorials, a Quick Guides Learning Center and Help Topics.  Online there is a searchable knowledge base an online technical support contact form and a user community center.  You can also get phone support (long distance) if all else fails.

Summary
If you want a program that you can grow into and don’t mind a steep learning curve, this may be the product for you.  Especially if you are an advanced user. Paint Shop Pro 9 also has web output capabilities for those who design their own web pages or frequently optimize web graphics.

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