Paint Shop Pro 8

Hiya,
First, this is not a thread about PSP vs. PS. I have never used PhotoShop other then LE and Elements basically because of cost. I am sure it rocks (for over $500 it better) and this site is testiment to its "productivity power", though I'd also like to believe a gifted artist could crank out beauty with nothing more than a few colored berries and a nice smooth cave wall (and some decent lighting) Just not sure how to convert cave art to an uploadable file format. I know , I know... "Easy, snap a still with my Canon digital camera, and edit in my PhotoShop".
Well, i really cant afford either one.
My kids have bad habits... eating, wearing clothes, school projects
The point of this thread (and it will be a long one) is to help anyone like myself, who is considering the Upgrade. Is it worth it? is it really an upgrade or just adding a few more buttons and filters. Or even a first time user. The $100 was a big step for me.
That being said, i am stuck with Paint Shop Pro, and it seems that ver 8 makes that not such a bad thing. I just downloaded the Final release of PSP8 (85 megs ). Its like learning a whole new app for me. Its been 2 years this time around since JASC released a major version (used to do it every year) because they started from scratch and re-built the program from top to bottom. I spent the first 1/2 hour just customizing the buttons and menus. MOre than ver7, Everything (read: "Everything") can be moved drag and drop explorer style. You can even add and name your own menus and toolbars. Theyve added Automation scripting,record, play,etc (man will that be handy) and looking over the layers, it appears they are more "flexible". I think they even finally "fixed" the drop shadow feature where a shadow now can become its own layer. That was a frustrating limitation in the past. Without talking about every single feature, i just wanted to add one more thing. It installs and runs fine side-by-side with version 7. It was meant to. If I get too bogged down in the ver8 learning curve, I can still open 7.4 and work in familiar "turf". Plus you may want to keep it on long enough to transfer any custom shapes, textures, filters to the new app.
PSP comes pretty loaded, especially for the price. I'm sure PhotoShop has most, if not all and then some of the features. But the new PSP adds a little more power than past versions. Hope I didnt bore anyone to death, but i was excited about my new "toy" and figured anyone who is in the "maybe I will" stage, would like to hear.
Besides, one thing I know for sure that you can do with PaintShop but not PhotoShop, is download a 30-day trial . Should be full featured, just stops working after 30 days.
Ciao
3,152 views 9 replies
Reply #1 Top
Ingui, I'll keep this short. I have used PSP 6 and 7 and after using the 8.0 beta and going 'gaga- over it I pre-ordered 8.0 and really it's just PSP only better once you get your feet wet you'll see. The only suggestion I would give you if you do purchase 8.0 is to order it 'physically' from Jasc. It's an extra ten smackers but you'll get the physical CD along with a very LARGE user guide with many tips and tricks right at your fingertips.
Reply #2 Top
what I was wondering is when a canvas painting app will allow custom 'hotboxes' (a custom menu that pops up with a button and mouse click) like in many 3d animation proggies such as maya or lightwave. yeah, I guess there's not near as many things you need to keep track of in a 2d editor, but I still think it would be handy

paintshop 8 has this by chance?
Reply #3 Top
Shmoop, hiya I didnt wanna wait for the box I just got the box when I bought 7.4 in Feb, and my upgrade was free so I downloaded as soon as i was able like a greedy miser. I should be able to the grab the extra "goodies" tomorrow when its released to the public. But yes, I am out one "manual"
And Im glad to here its not so different to use, i was starting to worry. Thanx .

Cya Shmoop
Reply #4 Top
mooshoo, the context menus are customizable too, if thats what you meant?

cya
Reply #5 Top
Ingui, I'm also looking forward to getting my PSP8 box delivered (hopefully tomorrow) and customizing it. Like you, I'll probably keep version 7.4 as well, for the same reasons. Glad to hear that you like it. Thanks for the info.
Reply #6 Top
Mine arrived today (Wednesday Oz time).... another 'pre-release' order and a bonus for beta-testers .... a better than usual upgrade IMHO.
Cost was A$119.00 for the upgrade (about US$65.00) and I'm happy to pay it, it will be a bit of a learning curve so my 7.4 proggie will stay for some time.
Certainly the few bugs in Beta7 seem to have been sorted.
Just what I need, another excuse to avoid working productively and learn another graphic program!

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Reply #7 Top
I have used Paint shop pro since the release 5 came out and i really love this program, though i still thinks it is pretty expensive to buy, not so expensive as adobe photoshop but still expensive, almost $100 for a program is pretty much.
Reply #8 Top
I got my PSP8 box today! Nyah nyah
Reply #9 Top
I can hardly wait to order my copy............. but unfortunately, I must wait........... but I don't want to wait............

/me is beside himself