Totally fed up with Paintshop Pro XI

I just cannot believe a big company like Corel would release software with so many bugs, the new Paintshop pro XI is a resource hogger and is very slow to load and for me the biggest gripe i have is that it is always crashing.

Ive been in the middle of some work and the programme has brought up the usual error that comes with it "This programme needs to close now" etc and ive not had chance to save my work, the programme has some good improvements from previous versions but i am totally fed up with it crashing and then having to wait forever for it to load up again.

Ive checked for patches and their is none for XI, seems strange that to me as surely they must know about this crashing issue.

PSPPXI is a joke, that's the only explanation for such a bad version.
I also find it quite funny that the recommended system requirements are higher than what's needed to run Photoshop CS2. Considering what PSC2 does and what PSPPXI refuses to do - or are error messages much heavier now? -, all one can do is laugh.

Anyway, I'm sorry to hear about your problems. I hope that you can get your money back - even if you didn't pay, Corel should refund you for the lost work and time.

Coningham, i couldn`t agree more.

What suprises me most is hows this version has been released with so many bugs, it makes you wonder if they do any testing prior to a release because this crash bug would have been a known issue during any tests carried out as happens frequently and is not just a one off.

I have been impressed with previous PSP releases especially the jasc ones, this XI version is a total and utter joke in my oppinion considering its supposed to be one of the market leaders in its field.

I think i will have to go back to the previous version or use photoshop CS as i can`t rely on this programme not to crash right in the middle of some work, it also uses far to many resources like you say in comparison with photoshop CS.

Its a very frustrating release because it could have been very good indeed but its NOT and i wouldn`t recommend it to anyone.

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Originally Posted by manicman20

it makes you wonder if they do any testing prior to a release

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That's the difference between Corel and Jasc.

The reason why Jasc's releases were so great is because of the extensive beta testing. One would hear about beta sign-ups months before the release. I never found any obvious bugs in older versions, which wasn't the case with PSP X, for example.

Corel doesn't work with public beta testing and I'm not really sure how the real testing goes on over there, if any. People complained about bugs on PSP X and we got to the ridiculous point where a patch was released to fix a previous patch - yeah, a patch for a patch! A couple of days after the release of XI several bugs had been caught already (at least Corel provides the newsgroups which are a great source for knowing what's really going on) and there are no news about fixes.

Fortunately PSP X has been stable for me (now), although I always do my heavier work in Photoshop just to be on the real safe side.

I was a huge fan of PSP, but now that clowns are offering upgrades I think X will be my last version.

Come on, people, what did you expect?

When Corel bought PSP, there was nowhere to go but down! Did anyone seriously expect Corel to IMPROVE it?

Sort of like they improved Word Imperfect?

Please!:(
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Will

I wish I'd known about these issues before buying it. Should have saved a bit more and bought photoshop.

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Originally Posted by Britman

I wish I'd known about these issues before buying it. Should have saved a bit more and bought photoshop.

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At least there's a patch available now.
http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satelli...=1166109097712

My husband recently bought me a new paintshop pro XI. This is the first paintshop I had and I must say I really love it. :) And when I started to check online for review I never heard anything good about this product. And then I started to think how come it function well in my pc? Even go online, open another image editor( ulead) and browse to my picture folder. I asked my husband about it and he said maybe it has something to do with RAM .I have a 512 mb Ram and 80 gb hdd.

Well Ram does have a big part to play in Image editing But your 512 MB whould be classed as small to most Users. If you have all the Patches from corel You will be ok by now Thats 11.11 and 11.2.

Or so im told as I did not think that X1 had enoght new features to make upgrade. Roll on X11

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Originally Posted by Trev

Well Ram does have a big part to play in Image editing But your 512 MB whould be classed as small to most Users. If you have all the Patches from corel You will be ok by now Thats 11.11 and 11.2.

Or so im told as I did not think that X1 had enoght new features to make upgrade. Roll on X11

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512 mb small? Im using the recommended system configuration.

http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satelli.../1157730491482

In these days of memory hungry software 512mb is the bare minimum when it comes to running graphic programs.

When the advent of Windows Vista on the horizon, it is recommended that 2gigabyte be used when running the new operating system with other software.

I use PSP XI on three machines. I've only had one problem with it, disassociate ALL file formats with the organizer and don't use it. Other than that, I use it daily and really like it. It is very memory intensive though.

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Originally Posted by Crypto

I disassociate ALL file formats with the organizer and don't use it.

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Ive had real problems in the past with organisers/context menus from one program causing or at least being implicated in crashes or problems in other programs - so, wherever possible I dont install them, let alone use them

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Originally Posted by handrawn

Ive had real problems in the past with organisers/context menus from one program causing or at least being implicated in crashes or problems in other programs - so, wherever possible I dont install them, let alone use them

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I'm not sure If I follow you or not, but PSP comes with a built in organizer. You can't choose to install or not to install, unfortunately. The only control you have is to select or deselect certain file formats under preferences. I deselect ALL.
If you don't, PSPXI will use 100% of your CPU until it searches (for pictures) every file, on every drive, networked and directly connected. If you're like me and have thousands of images (in many formats), it can take 15 minutes or more for this thing to search and index.
I think they were supposed to fix it in the latest patch, but I have no desire to use any organizer either. I was interested in it at first, because it allowed you to view RAW images as thumbnails. I shoot all RAW images and windows explorer does not support the viewing of RAW images.

Crypto

Understood regarding psp and its organizer's usage of resource

I was agreeing and generally reflecting on the problems I'd had with context menus in inkscape and open office, which are optional, and preview mechanisms and built in browsers such as in painter and ps elements, when they all start to get in each others way.
They shouldn't but sometimes they do.
Running old versions of some programs together with the latest of others dosn't help here I guess.
:)

There is a power toy for windows to allow the viewing of RAW thumbs in explore windows but its only for canon and nikon none of the good ones like .MRW :¬)
Trev

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Trev

There is a power toy for windows to allow the viewing of RAW thumbs in explore windows but its only for canon and nikon none of the good ones like .MRW :¬)
Trev

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I use this, but they haven't made an update so it will support the Canon 30D RAW files. With Vista, I have a feeling this may never get an update. I hope they do somethign with it, it's very helpful to view thumbs in folders.

I've never had a problem with it crashing or loading.

I think the background eraser is not that good.

And It doesn't except 3rd party plug in that well either.

Other than that I'm ok with it.

80hd
512ram
ati128meg
1.4 amd cpu

Mike

I must disagree. the background eraser is still very good even though its now quiet old and other applications have cough up.
http://www.campratty.com/4tooltours/kz/bge1.html
That porters post of the original pdf by Kris Z who created it.
Its quiet long but well worth a read. To Think Knockout was once more to buy then the entire PSP application.
All plugins that used the original Adobe SDK work in psp The newer sdk requires a licence from adobe, Who dont want other applications to catch up, no fear of that now corel has taken psp over

Thats an interesting article Trev - thanks for that

I got 4 letters for ya...C R A P !

The pics they always seem to be using are the 'perfect' one to use. I find this with all the programs. Of course there is no magic tool or solution to cutting out a difficult background. A number of steps and a variety of tools in your arsenal.

As for PSP XI I tried there sample for color change from a magazine which also is on their website ----> here
And it does not work as well as they say.
It seems to me that they use the kind of pictures I would actually use. I know they don't take pictures of my family.
I use a Canon A80 and Canon S3 IS for digital and sometimes my friends Nikon D200. I stopped using film since I got the above and no reliable film scanner.

I will look over the pdf you've included and see if my mind changes, but I doubt it.
Maybe you could post a picture of something that you cut out that was difficult to do in PSP XI or whatever version you have. I've only used version I and XI.

Thanks Mike

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Originally Posted by foreualways

Of course there is no magic tool or solution to cutting out a difficult background. A number of steps and a variety of tools in your arsenal.

A

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Yes very true.
Psp background eraser wouldn't necessarily be my tool of choice either for complex cutouts - xara shape editor springs to mind as an alternative.
Willing to give it a go if you post a picture up.
:)

Corel Knockout 2

AutoMask

Cinematte

Mask Pro

Fluid Mask

MatchLight

Microsoft Research Group

All Around & Over All Tutorials on masking -----> Here

some old favorites there, sure

like I said - anyone got a photo they thinks a bit too much post it up and I'll have a go with background eraser and maybe xara [for fun!:rolleyes: ]

[within reason]

Although this goes against what I was trying to say in post #21

I am looking for a difficult one to cut out. I just want to put up my own pics.

But anyone who has one go ahead and upload. I would like to see the before and after. And hear how it went and was done.

I will get one to you soon!

Mike

Here's one for you.
Remove the background where only two men and the wagon is left.

This includes removing the background from the wheels. Nothing but men and wagon left. :)

Ready, set, go!

ah

:D

sbi

ok
This is truly dreadful but I said I'd give it a go
My excuse is its too small at 96dpi - yes I'm a wimp I know, and I need lots of practice, and I've run out of time... etc... etc... etc
I am impressed with the psp background eraser though - better than I remember
:D

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Originally Posted by handrawn

ok
This is truly dreadful but I said I'd give it a go
My excuse is its too small at 96dpi - yes I'm a wimp I know, and I need lots of practice, and I've run out of time... etc... etc... etc
I am impressed with the psp background eraser though - better than I remember
:D

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Ya, it's not a bad tool.

The original photograph was much larger, but didn't want to post a huge file here. So in that regard, you would had better success with a photo five times larger in dimension.

Include a link from a photo sharing site, like Flicker, Imageshack, Photobucket etc.
That way 'handrawn' can still get it at the larger size and give it ago.

Sorry just a thought...

Mike

Here give this one a try and see if it as easy as they claim.

Any one...invitations are open!

Mike

Yo
I'm used to 300 dpi - my excuse and I'm sticking to it :o

now that was a whole bunch easier than the s of a b that james pasted up

as easy as they claim? need a steady hand and a bit of practice maybe - would use a tablet not a mouse

points to note:
the starting point is critical - bit of trial and error here
dont touch the dragonfly once youve started and try to do it all in one go
some clean up of missed pixels to be expected

of course an cut out of this kind is a lot more straight forward than that @*! waggon
:D

PS I use psp9 - does this make a difference?

I personally would use the selection tool. Use the selection tool, in the freehand mode for the dragonfly, then invert, delete the background

Again it's a question of personal preference and practice I'm sure.

I tried the selection tool [magic wand] but found that much more fiddly to get the whole dragonfly and nothing but, than whizzing round with the background eraser.

I tried selecting both inverting and non inverting.

Ok I have done an example
http://www.trevorbowden.co.uk/bge.htm

Trees and hair are the hardest. heir especially but remember that 1 pixel is the smallest you can go and hair my be very thin so stray wispy hair can finish with analysed blocks on it Bit like nits:¬)

I don't think dragging the mouse around continues helps as in clonening keep clicking one dab at a time

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Originally Posted by Trev

I don't think dragging the mouse around continues helps as in clonening keep clicking one dab at a time

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fair enough I'm only commenting on the dragonfly example, which is probably as easy as it gets

like your example
:)