Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 from Corel - Powerful Photo Editing

Millions of computer owners in the past, including myself, used the popular shareware program Paint Shop Pro. Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 is the major upgrade to this photo editing software, which is no longer shareware. So why should you buy it?

With the explosion of digital camera sales, photographers want software that's better than the basic photo editing program bundled with their camera. But they don't want to spend big bucks for it. Corel, whose products include Corel WordPerfect Office, WinZip, iGrafx and multiple Ulead products, decided to go after this niche market.

Corel sent me a review copy of Paint Shop Pro Photo X2, since I haven't used Paint Shop Pro in a long time. Those who remember the old program will hardly recognize this latest version, as it has a new look-and-feel and a treasure trove of advanced features. New offerings in Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 include Express Lab. This is for those who want to improve their photos quickly, and move on.

Express Lab mode lets you view/edit a folder of photos, without opening each one. Until you've learned all that Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 can do, Express Lab is the place to start. It offers the basic edits, including straighten, crop, Smart Photo Fix, makeover (cosmetic fixes), clone brush (to remove flaws and unwanted objects), and red-eye repair.

Have you ever wanted to add a visible watermark to photos? A typical watermark is the photographer's copyright notice. This discourages illegal uses of photos, such as those on a Website or sent out as samples. You can also insert a logo or other image as a watermark.

Digital photography has a problem many of us have encountered: "noise" in our photos, which technically are called artifacts. Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 provides automatic noise removal with a click. Or you can refine how the noise-removal process works. Another problem is the purple glow you can get with digital photos. The One Step Purple Fringe Fix takes care of those in a jiffy.