Web Image Editing on a Budget: Paint Shop Pro 7 and PhotoImpact 6
Richard Baguley
GRAPHICS SOFTWAREWhile there's little doubt that Photoshop 6 will remain the king of the graphics hill, especially for professionals, other programs for users who don't need so much power offer excellent image-editing features at a lower price. New versions of Jasc's Paint Shop Pro and Ulead's PhotoImpact provide tools for such everyday image-editing jobs as touching up a photograph that didn't turn out the way you wanted.
I tested a preproduction version of Paint Shop Pro 7 and a shipping version of PhotoImpact 6. Both programs contain many new features, including a multitude of new tools for Web graphics. Each has a feature that allows a user to view images as they will look in different file formats and with various levels of JPEG compression. Both offer the ability to slice images (to create a menu from one image) and let you automatically generate the HTML code to rebuild the image. And both also have several new features for enhancing digital photos, such as a red-eye removal tool, an automatic color balancing tool, and a scratch filter.
Of the two, Paint Shop Pro 7 offers more-comprehensive Web features. At the same time, these powerful features can be confusing: Paint Shop Pro's red-eye removal tool, for instance, takes time to master. PhotoImpact does include a wizard for creating buttons, banners, and JavaScript rollover graphics automatically from a selection of built-in styles--useful for creating or refreshing a Web site.
Paint Shop Pro 7 also edges ahead of PhotoImpact 6 on the strength of its ability to communicate with digital cameras: It can import photos directly from more than 140 models. Both of the programs, however, support the popular TWAIN protocol for importing images from digital cameras and scanners. Paint Shop Pro includes Animation Shop for creating animations, while PhotoImpact comes with PhotoImpact Album, for creating and browsing image catalogs.
Overall, Paint Shop Pro 7 is the more powerful of the two packages, with a better selection of image-editing tools, including quite a few found in higher-end programs. Beginners, however, may favor PhotoImpact 6's easier-to-work-with, wizard-based approach.
| Buying Information |
Paint Shop Pro 7 A program with powerful image-processing capabilities. Sometimes difficult to use. Less costly than Photoshop 6. List price: $109 Jasc Software 800/622-2793 http://www.jasc.com |
| Buying Information |
PhotoImpact 6 Simple, easy-to-use approach. Fewer features than Paint Shop Pro. A solid graphics program. List Price: $100 Ulead Systems 800/858-5323 http://www.ulead.com |