Corel Paint Shop Pro 9 review:4 stars (Good photo editing and graphics software) - I have used Paint Shop Pro 7 Anniversary Edition and Paint Shop Pro 8 on Windows ME, and Paint Shop Pro 8 and 9 on Windows XP. I also have Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 and Corel Painter Essentials on my computer.

I must say that of the above programmes PSP Version 9 is the one that really gets used. I love the vector capabilities which are particularly useful for drawing lace diagrams, and I also like the digital camera noise feature and One Step Photo Fix. However One Step Photo Fix is not always the best answer for fixing photos and it's well worth exploring the other tools if your picture doesn't quite come out as you want it to - and sometimes it's necessary to run One Step Photo Fix two or three times.

I'm also not too happy with the length of time it takes for my Plugins folder to load in PSP9. When I launch PSP8, the Plugins are there listed immediately, but in PSP9 just as in PSP7 they take several minutes to load into the computer RAM. I also find on my current computer which has Windows XP Service Pack 2 with 1 GB RAM that PSP9 does freeze and crash from time to time but PSP has always done that on any computer I have owned so I find it is essential to save your graphics regularly as you work - as is recommended in nearly every online graphics tutorial.

Many problems with crashing and freezing can however be resolved by ensuring that you have a good graphics card and at least 512 MB, preferably 1 GB or more of RAM. I found a lot of my problems with PSP7 on my old Windows ME computer disappeared when I increased the amount of RAM although ME's system resource issues are such that problems do remain with using any graphics programme on the Windows ME operating system. I don't have these issues on my Windows XP computer.

It's very disappointing that Corel have chosen not to provide good support for PSP users, but many people thought that that would happen when Corel purchased PSP from Jasc. However there are many online resources and PSP graphics schools and it should be possible to find answers for most problems.

That said I enjoy playing with the new Art Media tools and working with photographs, and I really don't use the other graphics packages I have on my computer system at all - PSP was the first graphics programme that I learned thoroughly and I'm so comfortable with using it that I wouldn't really want to move to anything else. I do think it's an excellent computer graphics programme and will fulfil the needs of most users more than adequately.2 stars (NOT AN IMPROVEMENT!) - I'm a professional graphic designer, and I've been using PSP (and Adobe Photoshop) since the early versions, and I am very disappointed in this version. I bought the upgrade from 7 to 9, mainly because I was interested in the scripting ability and the new paint brush functions.

This new version is more complex than it needs to be, extremely awkward to work with, and it has been heavily "Corelized" (in case you don't know, recently Paint Shop Pro was purchased by the Corel Corporation). One of the most frustrating things about this version are the docking toolbars and palettes--enough to drive one mad as they are difficult to position and they take up too much space if they're docked and are constantly in the way if they're floating. The browse display screen now takes up the whole work area and you have to move the floating tool palettes around if you want to scroll the thumbnail folder up and down.

I also dislike the changes that they made to the text functions--again, more awkward to use, and now you have two palettes to have to bother with, and I'm still trying to figure out the changes they made with the alpha channel functions. I used to be able to delete them with the click of a button. I can't now!

Despite these and many other shortcomings, I can't deny that the new version has a lot of cool features, such as the one button auto photo enhancement and scripting ability. I wanted this scripting function that could automatically do some of the repetitive things I do to images. This feature saves me a lot of time. So I guess, PSP 9 is not all bad. But they could have added these new features seamlessly to the old layout. Instead they had to go and change just about everything.

I just wish that Corel would have left Paint Shop Pro's integrity intact. I used to use Corel's Photopaint extensively--and it seems to me like they've tried to make Paint Shop Pro 9 similar to that program, which was also hard to use and not very intuitive.

I believe that Corel overlooked the fact that one of the great things about Paint Shop Pro has always been its simplicity. I've always appreciated the fact that it takes me fewer key strokes/clicks to accomplish the same thing in PSP that I could do in one of the other graphic programs, which is why Paint Shop Pro has always been my primary design tool.

So, I'm sorry to report that I'm giving this version two thumbs down. And believe me, I'm going to keep PSP 7 on my computer.

5 stars (Long time user of both Adobe and Paintshop) - I have been using this software for a very long time. I used to use multiple versions. I will say that for a time it started to look too much like Adobe but I think that the past few versions have moved away from that and I am very glad. Adobe has some precision problems that annoy me very much. With this program you have much more control as well as creative help. I have loved this software from the first version but even more today. I have experience with Adobe and over all I would chose this program for the following reasons....

1. It is much cheaper than most of the major brands.
2. It is made with the artist, student, Random kid, and graphic designer in mind.
3. At every job I have ever had I was able to find use for it.
4. Versatility of the software itself, it can be used for many different venues

The only down side that I know of is that it does not come with the animation shop anymore.

I have gone, as far to take classes for Adobe and still I cannot see any reason to spend so much more for it over this software.
Corel Paint Shop Pro 9 Features:
Computer software (programs)
Graphics
CAD (Computer Assisted Drafting)
Architect
Architectural
Architecture
Multimedia
Illustration (Illustrated)
Edit (Editing)
Graphics (Graphic)
Professional Design
desktop publishing
desk top publishing
Hobby Hobbies
Image Capture Capturing
CD
Powerful Selective Undo functionality allows users to easily undo any individual editing step in a document’s history.
Digital Camera Noise Removal Filter scans photos and removes image noise while intelligently preserving image textures.
Create masterpieces using realistic Art Media tools include Oil Brush, Chalk, Pastel, Crayon, Colored Pencil, and Marker.
Text Options in the print layout make it easier than ever to add captions and titles to photo layouts.
Fill Flash Filter corrects the underexposure of shadows and Backlighting Filter compensates for overexposed areas.

Corel Paint Shop Pro 9 is the CD-ROM version. The full version can be purchased by clicking on the "CLICK HERE TO ORDER" button below for around  84.99USD.