Corel PaintShop Pro X6 Ultimate is released

Just in case anyone ever visits this forum...
The latest PaintShop Pro version X6 Ultimate is outL

http://tinyurl.com/kknk948

Grenou

I noticed before while finding the extras for PSPX5 after having to reinstalling it due to getting a new computer.

It's stable and faster than X5 I am pleased to say.
The program does no longer automatically scan your computer for images when first installing, this is a blessing and speeds up the proceedings ! :-)

Grenou

In addition to "Ultimate", Corel PaintShop Pro X6 comes in a plain vanilla version for $20 USD less. Here's a chart comparing the two and X5, X4 and X3. Most people won't need the extras.

As Grenou indicated, PSPX6 is stable and faster. This is the first version of PaintShop Pro to support 64-bit. If you're running a 64-bit version of Windows 7 or 8 with plenty of memory, you'll benefit from this version. In addition, it's obvious the software engineers made significant improvements in how the program manages memory, thus eliminating some of the SNAFUs users have encountered in the previous versions the last few years.

Two new tools -- very good ones, too -- are Smart Selection and a Quick Selection Brush, performing functions which have been available in Ps and Ps Elements for quite sometime. Folks who do composites, cutouts and photo objects will appreciate finally having this quick selection function in PSP.

There have been improvements in the raw development module, but not nearly enough. Photographers will want to continue to use a specific raw tool like Lightroom, DxO Optics Pro or Photo Ninja for raw development, using PSPX6 as an external editor for one of those products.

The Corel engineers have advanced what used to be a browser/organizer by light years. Click on the Manage tab to view thumbnails rendered very quickly, even in folders with many images. Select a thumbnail and click on the Adjust tab for a module with quick editing tools. Power users will want to select the Edit tab for more editing options.

PSPX6 supports 16-bit color images. However an image with Adobe RGB colorspace will be converted to sRGB colorspace. I think most of the older PSP tools have been upgraded to support 16-bit color. The Drop Shadow tool does not.

It's refreshing to see the suits at Corel have put additional resources into teaching users about various features of the product. Several short YouTube videos have been produced, explaining how to use these operations.

In my opinion, PaintShop Pro X6 is the best version of PSP since Corel has owned it and certainly worthy of consideration by photographers seeking a replacement for Adobe Photoshop.

PSPX6 for $79.99 ($59.00 Upgrade) USD.
PSPX6 Ultimate for $99.99 ($79.99 Upgrade) USD.

Bob