CNET Editors' note: This is a very large (350MB) file and may take several hours to download via slow Internet connection.
CNET Editors' review
PaintShop Pro X4 is the latest release in Corel's popular line of photo management and editing software. This newest version brings with it a more polished interface, GPU optimizations, and a significant boost in terms of professional editing power.
The interface is fairly simple to navigate, with all of the program's functionality falling under three main tabs at the top of the screen: Manage, Adjust, and Edit.
The Manage tab is, of course, the hub for organizing all of your photos. In addition to all of the expected browsing and preview utilities, it includes a nifty Info palette along the right side of the screen, which lists all of the metadata contained in your photo file. With this metadata, you can always see what settings were used to take the picture in the field, which provides a huge learning opportunity for budding photographers and a great reference for experienced ones. We also like that the Organizer palette along the bottom of the screen lets you further organize photos into Trays, making it easier to work with several projects simultaneously. And, of course, there's a rich system for tagging, adding captions to, and rating your photos, which helps when sifting through an unwieldy number of files. Finally, there's built-in sharing on Facebook and Flickr, which is nice, but a bit thin considering how many other sites we would love to share photos on.
The Adjust tab is for speedy editing functions. Think of it as a shortcut panel with all of the most common editing tools like Cropping, Straightening, and Red Eye Removal, as well as basic Brightness, Contrast, and Color adjustments. This is really the bread and butter of the program.
Finally, the Edit tab is where you find the more powerful photo-manipulation tools such as layers, selections, and effects. While it can't get into the nitty-gritty details like an Adobe Photoshop, it does have most of the tools one would need when working with photographic images. And of course, PaintShop Pro can handle raw files from all major camera brands and includes free updates when it adds support for more brands.
Shutterbugs should also appreciate that PaintShop Pro X4 has simplified some of the more complex photo manipulations. For instance, it can now handle HDR processing with ease, and can even Batch Merge so you can process several HDR photos at once. Photo Blend, Selective Focus, and Vignette Effect are also relatively simple yet powerful functions. Also, PaintShop Pro X4 makes it much easier to manipulate fill light and clarity while preserving the rest of the image.
If you're looking to get really granular with your graphics editing, a powerhouse like Adobe Photoshop might be a better choice, albeit a more expensive one. Otherwise, we think Corel PaintShop Pro X4 is a solid end-to-end option for all the simplest photography-related operations and many of the more complicated ones. It's great for managing, adjusting, and editing photos, and even has built-in sharing on Facebook and Flickr. Overall, we give this photo-editing workhorse our stamp of approval.
Publisher's Description
From Corel:
Corel PaintShop Pro X4 gives passionate photographers more to love with hundreds of photo-editing features, a streamlined workspace, new pro-level effects and one-click sharing. Retouch photos faster. Create the perfectly exposed image or achieve a surreal, artistic effect with the HDR module. Remove distractions and combine the best elements from a series of shots with Photo Blend. Plus, have fun with the new Selective Focus feature and mimic expensive tilt-shift lenses to turn a scene into a miniature world. Managing and editing all your photos is easier with redesigned workspaces and dual monitor support. When you're ready to show your best photos, sharing to sites like Facebook and Flickr is just a click away!
What's new in this version:
- New: HDR Batch Merge
- New: HDR presets and custom settings
- New: Photo Blend - combine photos of the same scene to include the best details and remove unwanted elements
- New: Selective Focus - mimic the effect of expensive tilt-shift lenses and turn a scene into a miniature world
- New: Vignette Effect - apply a classic faded border to the edge of a photo to emphasize the focal point of your image
- New: Fill light and clarity - brighten shadowy ar... See all new features
More Popular Image Editing Software downloads
- PhotoScape
163,534 downloads
- IrfanView
107,406 downloads
- Adobe Photoshop Extended
34,007 downloads
- FastStone Image Viewer
30,063 downloads
- PhotoShine
14,613 downloads
-
All versions:
3.6 starsout of 466 votes
-
Current version:
2.5 starsout of 12 votes
-
My rating:
Write review
-
"great product"
Version: Corel PaintShop Pro X4
Pros
Just like any software it takes a while to understand it all, but it's much better than PhotoShop Elements. I've used 2 versions of each, and I keep coming back to Corel.
Cons
there might be a few, but what software is perfect?
Summary
Buy it, use it, and really look at all the options. You'll love it.
-
"Steep learning curve!"
Version: Corel PaintShop Pro X4
Pros
Does a good job of editing
Cons
Very difficult to learn. It may be all in what one is used to using.
Summary
Many more bells and whistles than needed for minor edits, resizing, etc.
-
"Huge programming blunder in X4"
Version: Corel PaintShop Pro X4
Pros
N/A no testing done.
Cons
In one of the most inexplicable programming decisions of the computer age Corel decided to make the X4 interface an unchangeable "Graphite" theme which is grey on black. I cannot see grey on black. I installed X4, uninstalled it 4 hrs later. How can you test a program you can't see?
Summary
Corel must have a death wish else why would they do such a stupid thing as making their workspace invisible. A check of forums showed numerous complaints about this but I found only two people that liked it. Fine! But why make it unchangeable. There is no skin, no nothing. Fie on Corel, a relic of the DOS age.
-
"Not been tested properly prior to release"
Version: Corel PaintShop Pro X4
Pros
not able to use it well enough to assess these - due to bugs
Cons
There are a lot of bugs in this release as others have said. As a software tester by trade myself, I an only assume that this release has only been united tested, as the softs of defects I am emcountering I would not expect to see in production/commercial release software - even if the test phase had been 'quick and dirty' there are defects (such as the inability to paste an item without the edges being cut off) that should have been caught. This feels like softwrae which has not yet been system tested. Why has it been released in this state?
Summary
Please system, integration, end to end/uat/usability/performance/compatability test this software, rather than trying to save a few $ on testing, and costing your company many times that on the negative PR releasing untested software gets you
PS: Having a paid poster place what is very obviously a 'paid' review and not a geniune or unbiased one, is not going to fix the negative feedback above it - would suggest you spend that $ on taking this back into test. its a pity i have used this software before and like it - but this version is simply not useable due to the bugs. And I dont have the time or interest to follow through the support process and wait for a fix, I get paid to do that at work, when i get home I expect my software to, for the most part, work....
Updated on Oct 28, 2011 -
"Terrible program! Don't buy it!"
Version: Corel PaintShop Pro X4
Pros
None that I can see. I had PSP X3 and it was hell to uninstall.
Cons
Can't even install and run it. Crashes at splash screen. No help from Corel tech.
Summary
Do not buy! You've been warned!
-
"The best for the money but X3 users can probably wait"
Version: Corel PaintShop Pro X4
Pros
None better for the price. For new users or before X2 should get this. Easy to use for common tasks, and GUI intuitive enough. Works well with my Raw files. Colot management adequate. Improved 16 bit.
Cons
A bit buggy. Monitor calibration does not work, for instance. Very slow for large files, and for detailed 8X10 or larger will occasionally crash, but not as bad as previous. Lots of not very useful stuff.
Summary
Not as good as the best reviews and not as bad as the worst. Still the best for the money of its type, and it makes sense for a new user who is not certain how deeply they will get into photo and graphical editing. Improved 16 bit performance, poor lage file performance.
-
"Manage/Adjust/Edit paradigm very poorly implemented"
Version: Corel PaintShop Pro X4
Pros
Essentially the same tool set available since PSP X2 plus a few bells and whistles for beginners. Nothing really new except for the second (in a row) gratuitous UI re-design.
Cons
Folder control should be parented by thumbstrip). No synchronization between active file in Edit and active file in Adjust. Apparently no document tabs in Adjust. (!) Distinction between "Adjust" mode and "Edit" mode is specious and unnecessary.
Summary
Most veterans of PSP will not like this redesign. It just gets in the way. What happened to the modeless editor concept?
Come on Corel guys. You nearly had it in PSP XII... all it needed for perfection was a preview panel in the manager tab. Instead you messed up X3 with multipli-unnecessary, disconnected windows. Now with PSP X4 you make things even worse with a gratuitous "LightRoom envisioned by a 3-year old" redesign that is even more limiting and an atrocious approach to a tabbed documents UI. Look at Zoner (Zoner.com) or (free) XnView (XnView.com) for how to do an image manager + editor interface correctly.
At this rate Corel will never get any more of my money. Sticking with PSP XII, which I still like very much. -
"Will not be upgrading from X3 yet"
Version: Corel PaintShop Pro X4
Pros
X3 is a good product X4 has been limited
Cons
1. You can not go into cascade mode easily.
2. I used to be able to scroll in and out and the system would adjust the position on the screen automatically.
Now I Have to take my eyes off my work to look for and use the horz and vert sliders.Summary
X4 is Totally unproductive compared to X3 for the reason above.
I am hoping it is a bug and not a design change. -
"Buggy release, still unusable - switching back to X3"
Version: Corel PaintShop Pro X4
Pros
Almost as good as PSP X3
Feels nicer than PSP X4Cons
Very buggy, keyboard shortcut support got worse
Killed my PSP X2 installationSummary
I honestly am puzzled by all the good reviews I've been seeing so far. PSP X4 feels like a big step backwards to me. I've been trying out PSP X4 for an hour today and I'm failing to even accomplish the basics without jump through lots of hoops. This new version still has so many bugs that did not exist in the X3 version.
Also, everyone is saying that this new version is faster. I'd say I feel the opposite...
Issues in detail:
Adjust Mode:
Ctrl-F4 doesn't close the current file/window in Adjust Mode
Where's the filename?? I never know which file I'm currently working on...
So I quickly switched back over to the Edit Mode:
Ctrl-O opens the "Save As" Dialog...
Most Dialogs: When entering a value by hand, e.g. "20" I end up getting 2.0
X4 now shows a pixelated image while rendering a preview - this makes it impossible for me to see the before/after effect
Preview computation: ESC key has no effect.
Hitting Okay without waiting for the preview to finish is equivalent to hitting the Cancel button!
Problems In RAW mode (Nikon D7000), sharpening and noise reduction, whenever I change the sharpening value it appears that the noise reduction is being ignored in the preview. I gave up and used the JPG version of my image...
I'd love to try out the new features but I'm afraid that I just don't have the patience to work my way through to them.
There's so many problems right now that I'll wait at least until Q2-2012 before giving X4 another try... Till then X3 will do just fine :-)
Version 14.0.0.332 -
"very similar to X3 which is a pretty great product"
Version: Corel PaintShop Pro X4
Pros
still very similar to PSP X3 so it makes it easy to use and switch from X3 to X4 without a lot of problems. nice tool palette arrangement for each screen (edit, manage, express).
Cons
monotone color scheme - very drab and boring, making it difficult sometimes to locate the menu item you need.
Summary
I don't see much difference between PSP X3 and PSP X4 other than the price....
Add Your Review
Submit your reply
E-mail this review
Report offensive content
See more CNET content tagged:
Previous Versions:
