Photoshop vs. Corel paint Shop pro

[Doc4659]

As a newbie in the post processing world I wanted to get input into the advantages or disadvantages of photoshop vs Corel.
Any and all input is welcome.
Also where is the best place to purchase Ebay?
What about Photoshop CS4 vs CS5?
Thanks to everyone in advance for their input.

Dave

[hue-e]

imo, I wouldn't even consider anything Corel. adobe all the way.

PS 4 or 5? those are really old versions, go check out CS5 on adobe's website. that will be the most recent Photoshop.

re: ebay... I'm not sure I'd purchase any software from there.

[rockpics]

The advantage of Photoshop, as I see it, is most photographers use it so it is easier to communicate about post-processing with other photographers. Photoshop Elements has the majority of the features that photogrphers use and is much cheaper than the full Photoshop (the latest version of which is CS5). Personally, I wouldn't buy Photoshop off of ebay. You might end up not having a legitimate license to the software which would create headaches down the road.

[revjvegas]

+1, 2, 3, and 4
Don't buy software off ebay.

I also second going with adobe products. they seem to be the market leader when it comes to PP.

[hue-e]

depends on what you want to do, but elements is definitely limiting in comparison to the full version of photoshop.

[RKEnnis]

Paint Shop Pro is great if you want to convert between formats, and maybe do some light cropping or resizing. For anything more I'd recommend Photoshop.

It's more expensive, but the skills you learn will be useful for a long time.

Depending on your situation, you might consider the education version. They have pretty attractive pricing for k-12 and college students.

[TheFantasticG]

If you got CS5, you'd find quickly that most of the stuff you use on a regular basis could have been had in Elements for a fraction of the cost of CS5.

[MT Stringer]

Originally Posted by TheFantasticG

If you got CS5, you'd find quickly that most of the stuff you use on a regular basis could have been had in Elements for a fraction of the cost of CS5.

Exactly. For basic stuff, Elements works just fine for me. I have also used Paint Shop Pro for years. Nowadays, I use Lightroom 3 for most post processing.

In case you haven't noticed, there is a big price difference once you start thinking about Photoshop.

[texkam]

Photoshop CS5 is the gold standard. Before going with Elements, PSP or anything other than PS CS5 I would give GIMP - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia a try. It's free and may be perfect for your needs. No to Ebay!

Might find this info useful too.
Comparison of raster graphics editors - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
6 Exceptional Web-based Image Editors

[WarrenG]

Well I will go against the grain, as I use Paint Shop Pro for all my heavy processing, but also Lightroom for the quick stuff. PSP will, and can do almost everything that Photoshop can (including working with / on .psd files) however, photoshop truly is the standard, and you can get all kinds of actions and brushes for photoshop, that are not compatible with PSP. PSP is compatible with all of the photoshop plug-ins however, and I use quite a few. The other standout is that photoshop is more refined in what it does... sort of like a buick compared to a mercedes.

I went with PSP because I was versed with CorelDraw and Photo Paint (though I found it really did not help me any). If money is no object, go with photoshop, if your pinching pennies, PSP gives amazing bang for your buck, and you can use it to do whatever you need, and make the switch at a later date.

If I were to do it all over again I would go Photoshop, but only because it is the industry standard, and everything is designed around it.

Hope this helps,

W

[brad]

Originally Posted by WarrenG

Well I will go against the grain, as I use Paint Shop Pro for all my heavy processing, but also Lightroom for the quick stuff. PSP will, and can do almost everything that Photoshop can (including working with / on .psd files) however, photoshop truly is the standard, and you can get all kinds of actions and brushes for photoshop, that are not compatible with PSP. PSP is compatible with all of the photoshop plug-ins however, and I use quite a few. The other standout is that photoshop is more refined in what it does... sort of like a buick compared to a mercedes.

I went with PSP because I was versed with CorelDraw and Photo Paint (though I found it really did not help me any). If money is no object, go with photoshop, if your pinching pennies, PSP gives amazing bang for your buck, and you can use it to do whatever you need, and make the switch at a later date.

If I were to do it all over again I would go Photoshop, but only because it is the industry standard, and everything is designed around it.

Hope this helps,

W

I have never touched full Photoshop, only played with Elements, and was disappointed with an early version of Lightroom and never went back to it.

I have used Paint Shop Pro from the beginning and never have missed Photoshop. You can do most everything in PSP you can do in PS. The big problem is that they are called different things... but there are a couple of web sites out there that will give you the translations - sorta like a post processing Rosetta Stone - so you can still "speak" Photoshop. I am constantly picking up things from Photoshop demos -- I see something cool and think "Can I do that?" And I've always found that I can.

Now.. that said.. the things I cannot do with PSP that can be done with PS.. or at least, not figured out how to do:

1. There is no direct translator of PS Actions to PSP Scripts .. but I've yet to find an action that I wanted that I couldn't figure out how to do for myself in a script. I don't really want something that looks like what everyone else is doing, anyway.

2. The only Plug-In I've ever found that is not compatible is those from OnOne (I have a set of those for sale if anyone wants them.. I can't use them). I'm not convinced they wouldn't work, but their installer will not allow it... so I can't find out. I don't know if they interface with PS in a non-standard way or what... I pine for those plug-ins, but not so much I want to invest in Photoshop just for them.

3. I have not yet figured out how to make PS templates work in PSP. I suspect there is a way, but I haven't read enough to figure out how. Instead, I've taken the templates apart and used the components... which I did in PSP, btw.. Again, I don't really want something that looks like what everyone else is doing, anyway.

Bottom line.. I don't regret the decision to stick with PSP except maybe 1% of the time... and then I look at the price of Photoshop and I'm cured again.

[Buddha]

I use PSP and have for 3-4 years now. The learning curve with PSP is short and the price is certainly right.
If I can get it right 'in my camera', I really don't need much in the way of processing software. I sometimes don't get it right though, or I work from scanned negatives, new and old, so more processing power is very useful anyway. I use it for what amounts to the software versions of burning and dodging, cropping and changing tonal quality. For those purposes, it works fine and I can use it almost intuitively.
If I leave it alone for a month or two, the learning curve kicks in when I come back and I'm up and running in no time.
OTOH, I'm left out of some PS threads in various forums, but they always seem to be about how to get a new action or plug-in to work. That's not for me. I hate calling the help desk, no matter what form it comes in.
Unless my needs change, I can't see how PS can offer any advantage to me, but I am happy to see that there are choices out there.
'Bottom line.. I question the decision to stick with PSP maybe 1% of the time... and then I look at the price of Photoshop and I'm cured again.'

[David Whatley]

Another PSP user here, but then I am a more traditional shooter, and try to do it right the first time. Also, FastStone Image Viewer, Screen Capture, Photo Resizer ... has a great little program for renaming, resizing and viewing files, and its shareware.