![]() (Photoshop’s effects dialog boxes suffer from this same size restriction, but its adjustment dialogs offer a larger preview.) While the program lets you choose to apply the settings to the full-size original image for more accurate proofing, there is no way to move the dialog box out of the way so that you can see the full image. Worse yet, the tiny preview window is too small to be useful. Paint Shop Pro’s adjustments and effects vie with the best in power and range, but the preview window is smaller than some users will like. Simply opening one of these dialog boxes can cause a lengthy delay - as long as 15 seconds in my experience - while the unwanted settings are applied to a preview of the current image. ![]() Version 7 adds a Reset button to these dialog boxes - a big improvement - but unfortunately the values don’t reset by default. All sliders would have to be manually reset to zero to start adjusting the current image from its original state. In earlier versions, dialog boxes had one annoying trait: Each time they were invoked they would retain the last settings used. The results of Paint Shop Pro’s adjustments and effects are every bit as useful as those of other applications, even if the interface is a bit clumsy. And as with earlier versions, it also offers Picture Tubes, similar to Corel Painter‘s Image Hose, which allow bitmapped objects to be stamped or sprayed onto an image. In addition to nearly 100 of its own effects, Paint Shop Pro 7 supports Photoshop plug-ins. Paint Shop Pro needs no apologies for its stable of image adjustment and effects tools, which rivals that of Photoshop. Paint Shop Pro 7 simply doesn’t offer that kind of timesaving automation. But the idea of “automatic,” at least as I have encountered it in other applications, is that the software will make some intelligent choices for you, saving you the time and guesswork of experimentation. Having such choices is not necessarily bad. (It does, however, have a handy checkbox to indicate the presence of skin tones, which it takes into account.) The Auto-enhance Saturation button offers nine combinations. Similarly, the Auto-enhance Contrast button presents choices for Bias, Strength, and Appearance, with 18 possible combinations. It requires you to set the illuminant temperature and strength, and to decide on colorcast removal before proceeding. The “automatic” image-adjustment features Jasc Software added to this release require more user input than one might hope.Ĭlicking the Auto Color Balance button, for instance, brings up a dialog box that hardly differs from the program’s other image-adjustment palettes. In fact, I found myself wondering why they are called “automatic” at all. Unfortunately, the program’s automatic tools are disappointing. While Image Expert’s single tool does an admirable job a majority of the time, Paint Shop Pro’s promise of separate auto-correct buttons for balance, contrast, and saturation was appealing. I have found just such an auto-correction tool in Image Expert 2000 to be a great timesaver. Support for Java rollovers, as well as improvements to Paint Shop Pro’s bundled companion app - Animation Shop 3 - will be of interest to Web designers.Īs a digital photographer, I was excited to learn that Paint Shop Pro 7 adds new tools that can automatically balance color, adjust contrast, and enhance saturation. A whole toolbar of buttons for retouching and repairing photos and video is aimed at digital photographers, while support for editable vector graphics targets high-end graphic artists. ![]() New features in Paint Shop Pro 7 will appeal to disparate types of users. In light of such developments, the program’s thumbnail viewer has become incidental it’s now Paint Shop Pro’s editing tools by which the program must be judged. Jasc has responded to the increasing competition by beefing up Paint Shop Pro’s high-end editing capabilities to appeal to more-experienced users, despite the package’s $109 price. Consequently, they lack the kind of image-enhancement tools that business and artistic users require. Most such products, however, are entry-level applications aimed at consumers new to digital imaging. Since the advent of digital photography, image thumbnail browsers have become legion, erasing Paint Shop Pro’s erstwhile distinction in that regard. Though not the distinguishing feature it once was, Paint Shop Pro’s thumbnail browser is still a pleasure to use.
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