PaintShop Pro X6 can be downloaded for 69.99€ or $99.95 from the official Corel website.
However, if you are looking for a less expensive option, or if you are new to the photo manipulation world, this software may be just what you’re looking for.
Corel built the software with a 64 bits architecture that makes the X6 version faster than the previous ones but, opening heavy images, still requires too much time.Īll things considered, PaintShop Pro X6 is not as accomplished as Photoshop. Instead of messy menus and buttons, you will find only three main tabs through which you can access to all the tools.Ī negative aspect of the program is the slowness. Now the program conveys a clearer look and a more modern feel. The user interface of PaintShop Pro X6 has been completely redesigned, so you won’t face the disorder of the previous versions. The software also provides some “Instant Effects” – which consist in ready-made artistic filters – as well as more complex functionalities to create high quality photos. PaintShop Pro X6 has some useful features which give you the possibility to improve the quality of your photos in short time: actually, you can crop pictures, work on shadows and balance colors or lights with just few clicks. It is a program which helps you to edit your photos rather than to create new graphic projects.
The point is that PhotoPlus SE was primary thought as a photography editor, so you don’t have the possibility to act on several important graphic parameters such as text leading or word formatting.ĭespite PhotoPlus SE doesn’t have all the features of Photoshop, considering that this software can be downloaded free of charge, I think it is a great alternative to Photoshop.Īnother popular alternative to Photoshop is represented by PaintShop Pro X6 by Corel. Indeed, logos, banners or pieces of user interfaces can all be realized with this program even if you won’t get results comparable with Photoshop ones. In case you are more interested in web design rather that photo manipulation, you should know that PhotoPlus SE is chosen by some designers to create graphic elements.
For example, you can’t use the Dodge and Burn tools, which are quite fundamental in photo editing. Since this is a free version of the program, some functions are disabled. Thanks to some special tools you can fix common problems, such as the detested red eyes, or you can add effects to your pictures transforming them into artworks. PhotoPlus SE supports different image formats, thus you are granted to import and work on a wide variety of images. Also, it has a user interface that reminds the one of Photoshop, in this way you won’t have any problems of adaptation if you need to go from one editor to the other. It is characterized by a great intuitiveness that makes the program very easy to use.
Photo Plus Starter Edition is a free design tool created by Serif. So, let’s have a look at three of the best candidates. Happily, there are some effective and cheap (if not free) Windows alternatives to Photoshop that may well satisfy your needs. Moreover, Photoshop is a significant outlay for most of us: if you are just approaching the design world, committing so much of your budget to a single application may not be wise. Many people who use this software for simple purposes, don’t really need all the features that are provided.
However, Photoshop is certainly not your only option. There’s no arguing that Adobe Photoshop isn’t still the industry-standard graphics editor for windows, whether it be to create new images from scratch or to edit existing photos.