0 Comments Art Review: Corel PaintShop Pro

Program - PaintShop Pro (Corel Corporation)
Tested version - v20.2.0.1 2018

Price - 30-day trial, $63.99 to buy
Systems - Windows 7/8.1/10
Official website - https://www.paintshoppro.com/en/

Raster or Vector - Primarily raster; however, some things are done in vector format too.

Ease Of Use - Easy to get started if you have used Adobe Photoshop, otherwise can be a bit daunting. Help opens your browser for online help, but PDF manual is available too. Tutorials are also offered on their site.

With a dedicated fan base for many years, there are many materials available (brushes, swatches (palettes), tubes, etc). The first place to get some is free from Corel, over on DeviantArt, search online, or convert some of the endless Adobe Photoshop brushes and materials for PaintShop Pro (tutorial, and another - they use a program such as ABRViewer, abrViewer.NET, or abrMATE).

Pop-up Ads - Corel decided that daily pop-ups ads related to their software inside PSP itself was a good idea; however, they can easily be turned off permanently. See their step-by-step guide to remove them.

All software is subjective to hardware installed, so with that in mind here is my current workhorse PC (A updated HP Z200 Workstation) specs I used for testing with all updated drivers...

CPU - Intel Core i5 CPU 660 @ 3.33GHz (2 Cores, 4 Threads)
Memory - 12 GB DDR3 total
Graphics - EVGA NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti SC (Superclocked GM107) 1 GB (DDR5 memory)
Space - 2.5 TB hard drive disk space
System - Windows 8.1 Pro

Program Speed - Typically quick but I get lag with zoom, some of the art media brushes, and at various times throughout (typically when I first use a new brush or tool). After using the program a bit the lag disappears though.

Page Options - Maximum size is 66.666" x 66.666" at 600 ppi, and 133.333" x 133.333" at 300 ppi - which like most other programs will cause a freeze trying to load them.

No crop, bleed, or other such settings; although, the Color depth settings include RGB 8 /16 bit, Grey 8 /16 bit (Grayscale), and Index 2 /16 /256 color palette.

File Formats - One of the largest supported file formats I've seen.

• Open - 3FR (Hasselblad RAW), BMP (Windows Bitmap), CAL /CALS (CALS Raster), CGM (Computer Graphics Metafile), CLP (Windows Clipboard), CRW /CR2 (Canon RAW), CUR (Windows Cursor), CUT (Dr. Halo), DCR (Kodak RAW), DIB (Windows DIB), DNG (Adobe Digital Negative), EMF (Windows Enhanced Metafile), EPS (Encapsulated PostScript), ERF (Epson RAW), GIF, HDP /WDP (HDP HD Photo), IFF (Amiga), IMG (GEM Paint), JP2 /J2C /J2K /JPC /JPX (JPEG 2000), JPG /JIF /JPE /JPEG (JPEG), KDC (Kodak Digital Camera File), MAC (MacPaint), MEF (Mamiya), MOS (MOS Leaf), MRW (Minolta RAW), MSP (Microsoft Paint), MPO (Multiple Picture Object), NEF /NRW (Nikon RAW), ORF (Olympus RAW), PBM (Portable Bitmap), PCT /PICT (Macintosh PICT), PCX (Zsoft Paintbrush), PDF (Portable Document File), PEF (Pentax RAW), PGM (Portable Greymap), PIC (PIC Lotus), PNG, PPM (Portable Pixelmap), PSD (Adobe Photoshop), PSP (PaintShop Pro Animation), PSPIMAGE /PSP /PSPBRUSH /PSPFRAME /PSPSHAPE /PSPTUBE /TUB (PaintShop Pro), RAF (Fuji RAW), RAS (Sun Raster), (RAW Camera Data), RAW /. (RAW RAW), RIF /RIFF (Corel Painter), RLE (Windows CompuServe RLE), RW2 (Panasonic RAW), SCT /CT (SciTex Continuous Tone), ARW /SR2 /SRF (Sony RAW), JPS (Stereo JPEG), PNS (Stereo PNG), SVG / SVGZ (Scalable Vector Graphics), TGA (Truevision Targa), TIF /TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), UFO (Ulead File Object), WBMP /WBM (Wireless Bitmap), WEBP (WebP), WMF (Windows Media File), X3F (Sima RAW).
• Save/Export - BMP (Windows Bitmap), CAL /CALS (CALS Raster), CLP (Windows Clipboard), CUT (Dr. Halo), DCX (Zsoft Multipage Paintbrush), DIB (Windows DIB), EMF (Windows Enhanced Metafile), EPS (Encapsulated PostScript), GIF, HDP /WDP (HDP HD Photo), IFF (Amiga), IMG (GEM Paint), JP2 /J2C /J2K /JPC /JPX (JPEG 2000), JPG /JIF /JPE /JPEG (JPEG), MAC (MacPaint), MSP (Microsoft Paint), PBM (Portable Bitmap), PCX (Zsoft Paintbrush), PGM (Portable Greymap), PIC (PC Paint), PNG, PPM (Portable Pixelmap), PSD (Adobe Photoshop), PSP (PaintShop Pro Animation), PSPIMAGE /PSP /PSPBRUSH /PSPFRAME /PSPSHAPE /PSPTUBE /TUB (PaintShop Pro), RAS (Sun Raster), RAW /. (RAW RAW), RIF /RIFF (Corel Painter), RLE (Windows CompuServe RLE), SCT /CT (SciTex Continuous Tone), JPS (Stereo JPEG), PNS (Stereo PNG), TGA (Truevision Targa), TIF /TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), WBMP /WBM (Wireless Bitmap), WEBP (WebP), WMF (Windows Media File).

Plug-in Support - Yes, Adobe Photoshop compatible plug-ins.

Customizable Shortcuts/Menus/Icons - Yes keyboard shortcuts, all menu items, add /remove /rearrange menu groups (such as File, Edit, View, etc.), add new shortcut icon groups, hide or remove menu icon buttons, move /hide /show docked windows, and more.

It is truly a unique experience the amount of things that can be done, and can be individually reset to defaults too if needed. Access it by menu View -> Customize. In the toolbar area (3rd image) show/hide tools customization is quickly done by clicking the large plus bottom icon - the Quick Customize.

The Customize window's tab Commands is where you can customize to your hearts content. Don't like something simply drag it off the screen and into the Customize window to remove it. To change or rename something right-click the item such as a menu group.  Likely the best way to setup frequent tools, besides memorizing all the shortcut keys.

Layer Options - 21 layer Blending options, Opacity adjustment (use arrow keys for single percentage change), Collapse all layers, Expand all layers, Show /Hide quick search, Edit selection, Show /Hide layer effects, Link /Unlink, Lock /Unlock, 7 Layer styles, Visibility, Rename layer, New layer (Raster /Vector /Art media /Layer group /Mask /Adjustment), 13 Adjustment layer options, Mask, Layer group, Delete, and General preferences.

Double clicking a layer brings up the Layer Properties window and advanced options that are common to Photoshop users.

Color Selection - The colors are held in the Materials "palette" (Corel term for a docked window). The three basic color options are the Swatches (aka color Palette normally) with easy to use options to load /make new ones, a color Map, and color sliders with numerical input.

Where the color selection shines is in the Material Properties window, double-click the active color to open. The options range from a Color wheel, Sliders, Swatches (palettes), Gradients, Patterns, Textures - including a built in 6 Color harmony guide based from the selected color. The Color harmonies included are Mono, Complementary, Triad, Tetrad, Analogic, and Accented.

Brush Options - Various brush types are in the Tools toolbar, (in the first image above) the standard brush is highlighted near the top edge, and many of the traditional types are in a tool group near the bottom.

With a brush selected (in the 2nd image the Paint brush (B) is selected) the brush options appear near the top menu area. The options are Presets (defaults /create /import), Brush tips (defaults /create /import), Shape (Round or Square), Last used (brush options), Size, Hardness, Step, Density, Thickness, Rotation, Opacity, 22 Blend modes, New Stroke, Continuous, Wet look paint, and Smart edge.

In the menu Palettes, you can enable Brush variance (F11) to further customize brushes (3rd image).

Common Necessities - Other tools that are primarily tools, and is surprising lacking in some software making it necessary to include them briefly.

Paint Fill - Includes Presets, 8 Match modes, Tolerance amount, Use all layers, 22 Blend modes, and Opacity.
Eraser - The standard eraser (X) has Presets, Brush tips, Shape (Round or Square), Size, Hardness, Step, Density, Thickness, Rotation, Opacity, and Smart edge.
Image Zoom - Onscreen buttons, shortcut controls, menu controls, Zoom to 100% (1:1), Fit image to window, etc. It includes zoom in/out on the mouse scroll wheel. Zoom range 1% to 5000%
View Rotate - No.
Selection Tools - The standard shapes are combined in one Selection tool (S), and various custom ones with a Selection list option of 15 types. The remaining tools include Freehand selection, Magic wand, Smart selection brush, and Auto selection - all with various options.

Text/Font Options - A great typography tool hidden away. While PSP does not have a option to show all the font characters (glyphs), it does allow the use of ALT key codes when entering text.

The text option view offers Presets (see below), Action (for entered text - Apply changes /Text cutter /Cutter preview /Cancel changes), Font (preview), Size, Units (Points /Pixels), Font styles (Bold, Italic, Underline, Strikeout), Text options (Superscript /Subscript), Font color, Alignment (Left /Center /Right /Force justify /Justify), Direction (Horizontal and down /Vertical and left /Vertical and right), Anti-alias (Off /Sharp /Smooth), Create as (Vector /Selection /Floating), Remember text, and I have mine customized to display Leading, Kerning, and Tracking - with the final option being More options (shown in the first image above).

The 2nd image shows the Show/Hide Options window available by clicking the Customize button in the More Options button/window.

* A warning on Leading and Tracking, while it can be entered numerically to any amount, using the arrow keys or arrow buttons it adjusts up/down entire lines or characters. So if you use the options be prepare for a lot of trial and error typing out the numbers.

Besides the text/font options being great the Presets is awesome here and can really help. While Presets are also setup for Brushes and such the same way, I waited to cover Presets here as it has a special purpose with text.

For example you have a font that you use that always requires the same amount of leading /tracking, or some other setting, you can save it for quick lettering later. First though setup the Text options completely as you want them - as the Preset window will not allow you to edit the options (they must be done first). Click the Preset to show the window, and click the Save preset icon.

A Save preset window opens, and click Options> > > to show everything (see image above). From there you can turn off options by clicking the individual Save icon (floppy), or click again to turn back on. Sadly there is no way to turn off all the options quickly, so if your preset will use only a few options you will be in for a lot of clicking. You can help speed it up though and click the Save icon on each group that is not needed (it will disable all the grouped items).

Once the options are included/excluded as needed Name the preset (and other things if you want) and save your preset by clicking Ok. With various Presets created for example - dialog, sound effects, author page, and more you just have to select the preset to quickly enter your text (without having to edit the settings each time). Very nice.

Drawing Aids - This is one area PSP falls flat a bit on compared to the rest of it's showing, especially for a program named PaintShop - as it seems aimed more at photo editing like many raster programs. In Corel's defense though, they do offer software specifically for artists like their Painter Essentials, Painter, and CorelDRAW programs.

What is offered though is a Page ruler, Guides, Grid, and Magnifier (CTRL + ALT + M). Tools Preset shape tool, Rectangle tool, Ellipse tool, and Symmetric shape tool - which are all done in vector and editable later too (it creates a vector layer if needed).

The one stand-out is their Picture Tubes (or often simply called Tubes). Similar to a brush using a image as the head/shape, and simply clicking once to show the image - Tubes takes it further as multiple images can be placed in a single Tube and with various options.

One good use of it would be if your comic or cartoon used the same elements regularly, for example a coffee mug. You could take several of your finished coffee mugs and make a Tube with them, and instead of drawing it each time just use the Picture Tube Tool to put it into your cartoon. To learn how to make Tubes see Corel's online tutorial or video.

Extras - The Mixer palette is rather unique and a handy item that at first glance appears to be a scratchpad found in other programs; although, it is not that at all. It is in fact a painter's palette that never dries out, can be saved, and is missing a thumb hole. 😊

Select a color (as normal in the Materials palette) and then use the Mixer tube (brush) to lay in some thick color. Repeat for other colors wanted as well. Then using the Palette knife mix and smear the colors around.

From this point you can use the eyedropper to select the colors and create a custom Swatch (color palette), use directly in your artwork (eyedropping each color as needed), or save the Mixer page for later use.

The other great extra is Script. Similar to Adobe Photoshop's Action, it records all mouse and keyboard movements which can be saved and played back later. Unlike others I've tested in other programs, the one in PSP records placing guides, so you can easily setup template scripts that will create new images and place guides for cropping, bleed, etc - and many more tasks (try it out).

To get started take a look at the tutorial, another tutorial, or a video guide.

Pros -

• No monthly subscription costs
• One of the largest supported file formats list in a art program.
• Customize shortcuts, menus, tools, palettes (docked windows), and much more - I've never seen anything as customizable.
• Built in 6 Color harmony guide tool (Mono, Complementary, Triad, Tetrad, Analogic, and Accented)
• Docked tools/windows - I really dislike floating tools, and hate multiple windows.
• Nearly no program lag with mouse or tablet, once tools are loaded and used for the first time.
• Very stable, with no errors or crashes in sight.
• Text is created as vector, has many options including kerning, tracking, leading - and all options can be saved as a preset for quick lettering.
• Some great tools are the color Mixer, and recordable Script actions (like Adobe Photoshop's Action).
• Brushes are preset for many traditional mediums, but don't expect the gamut found in their Corel Painter programs.
• Useful outside of art, with plenty of tools and options for image and photo editing.

Cons -

• Shows Corel ads in the program by default, but can be turned off.
• No view rotation tool, or as Corel labels it in their other programs (such as Painter Essentials), Rotate Page tool.
• Many features and more options hidden in windows making the learning curve a bit steep, or simply feeling overwhelmed.
• Hours of setting-up tool adjustments can leave you with a time crunch on a job/assignment (it is best to spend the time to setup your custom Workspace/brushes/Script actions/etc beforehand to eliminate most of that).
• No CMYK support

Recommended Use - Can be used for drawing, but best for text/lettering/dialog, scaling/cropping/etc art to upload online, or opening image formats to save to another format. Great for an all around image editor with color levels and much more too.