Paint Shop Pro X

R4L · Mon 20/03/2006 20:31:27

I just got a new Dell computer and there is a 60 day trial of Paint Shop Pro X on it. I want to buy it but I have no knowledge of Paint Shop Pro and don't know how to use it very well. Is it worth buying? I don't want to waste $125.00.

Nikolas · Mon 20/03/2006 20:34:59

I think that the best advice you'll get is this:

Try google for examples of art made with paint shop pro and actually try it for 60 days straight!

It sounds a little sarcastic, but heck this is what demos are for. Use them! Either way 125$ is not that much expensive...

Saberteeth · Mon 20/03/2006 20:36:16

As an owner of PSP10 I think it's a pretty reasonable choice to buy PSP10 or buy PSP9 for less Ã,Â

.

But then again, I don't know how you'll use the program. If it's just pixeling, it's a stupid choice. If it's for photos, it's a good choice.

Khris · Mon 20/03/2006 20:37:53

Hell, only 60 days to get to know a program...?

Seriously, play around with it. Two months of personal experience will tell you more about the prog than a thousand forum posts could do.

R4L · Mon 20/03/2006 20:40:30

Thanks alot fellas! I'll try it out for the 58 days that I have with it. I plan to use it for background art (is that an okay choice?) and if I like it enough, I guess i'll buy the program.

Mr Flibble · Mon 20/03/2006 20:41:51

I'd suggest that you press every button, to see what it does.

Try making sprites, backgrounds, editing photos, everything you can think of, just to see how you feel about the program in different contexts.

R4L · Mon 20/03/2006 20:44:19

I've done that once but the other things like knowing when to use the right amount of hardness or certain brush and opacity gets a little confusing to me. I like the program because it gives me alot of options, know I have to figure out how to use those options.

magintz · Mon 20/03/2006 20:47:52

Best thing to do if you like the program but don't want to fork over that much cash is to try somwhere like ebay for a lesser version, say version 7. It will do pretty much the same job but at a reduced price. I do the same with photoshop, but actually get a free copy when a friend of mine upgrades. A little scroungey of me, but what the hey.

Mr Flibble · Mon 20/03/2006 21:11:17

I would buy Paint Shop Pro X right now, if I hadn't bought version 9 just a few months ago.
I'm not sure that its been upgraded enough from 9 to 10 to warrant a new purchase.

I learnt PSP with a demo version of PSP6, its a good way to get to grips with the program. Reduced amounts of features are less overwhelming.

Kweepa · Mon 20/03/2006 23:06:18

I would not recommend buying PSPX for $125.

Instead, consider buying a Wacom graphics tablet (with Photoshop Elements 3 and Painter Essentials 2 free), for $80.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BBAL0W
Photoshop Elements has 99% of the useful Photoshop features and some improvements (eg new image from clipboard).
The major missing feature I've noticed is editing of alpha channels.

If you're not in the USA, my apologies.

Traveler · Mon 20/03/2006 23:52:54

If you go with Steve's suggestion, chances are, you'll get a discount on Painter after buying the tablet. When I got mine, I bought the full version of Painter for $149, which was not bad. (I'm not sure if these deals are tied to a given Wacom model.)

Ionias · Tue 21/03/2006 00:12:20

I made all my graphics so far with Paint Shop Pro 7. I love the program. Not sure how good PSP10 is. Photoshop is more powerfull ... but then its also about x5 times the price.

magintz · Tue 21/03/2006 00:46:07

yea I attempted to use paint shop pro a while back for doing photo editing and failed msierably so used photoshop instead. Now when I try to make background art in photoshop I have great difficulties and resort to paint. When i attempt to use paint shop pro for graphics like this, again i fail because I've become so accostomed to photoshop.

:/

I lose

cpage · Wed 22/03/2006 01:04:45

I have used alot of versions of psp and i have to say if you can get your hands on 7 its the best (personal preference) followed by 10. and painter is a much better program I use it alot in bgs

biothlebop · Wed 22/03/2006 02:15:46

Photoshop goes for everything except animating. I don't understand how IR works and havent bothered to learn. Seems clumsy to me unless you are doing banners or stuff. Somehow I always found PSP to be much inferior and don't understand why it's still around. It's like it doesn't know if it should be a digital painting or photo program.
Definately get a wacom instead if you ain't got one.

ildu · Wed 22/03/2006 08:17:23

The animation in IR and PS are very basic. You can actually do animations in PS in almost the same way as in IR. Just open the animation window. But the basics should be enough, since animation is just a bunch of frames put together. Although if you'd need tweening, motion paths and so, you should go with Flash.

PSP is regarded as inferior to PS, although with PSPX they've gained a lot of ground. PSP is basically the poor man's PS. It costs a tenth of the pricetag on PS. So if you are a professional and actually need the features in PS over PSP, maybe you should get PS. Otherwise, it's not worth the money, and you should probably get PSP.

Haddas · Wed 22/03/2006 08:21:13

Animation is alright in PS. I do all my animations in photoshop or flash, but I compile them in another (free) program.

Here are two examples (both made from static images)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v86/Haddas/Camera.gif

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v86/Haddas/carbounce.gif