Photoshop or Paintshop?

When I had to get serious about editing photographs I had to decide what photo editing software to use. I finally narrowed it down between Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro. The names are so similar it can be confusing.

What it comes down to, though, is that Photoshop is more expensive and has more bells and whistles. Of course with all of those bells and whistles you (or at least I) would be tempted to edit each picture into a dozen different editions, which would completely mess with my available memory. And because I’m a bit fickle I’d end up deleting half of them and fragmenting my hard drive to billions of little pieces. Kind of like a broken mirror. Ahh.. the perils of too many editing options. So for those of you who are hard core, get Photoshop.

For those of you who are just starting out, however, Paint Shop Pro is perfectly adequate. There are enough bells and whistles to keep you plenty occupied. I spend hours editing a batch of photographs just about every time I open the program. Once I master everything and realize that there are things I want to do that the program won’t allow me to, I might upgrade. But for now, as a beginner and hobbyist, I really enjoy Paint Shop Pro. It allows me to change the texture of an image, change colors within the image, clone items from an image, glam up portraits, and make photographs look like they were taken in the late 1800s. All very cool effects and that’s not even half of what it can do.

I suppose it comes down to personal preference and what you are going to be doing with the software. Which photo editing software did you choose? What were the reasons behind your choice? Are you happy with the product you chose or do you think you’ll end up going back and getting something else eventually?

Photo Credit Kevin Gessner

May 29th, 2009 by birdievogel | Posted in Photo Software | (0)