Customer Reviews

JASC Paint Shop Pro Studio

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Amazon and other e-tailers are offering it for free after rebate, which is how I picked up my copy.

After purchasing my first DSLR recently (Canon Rebel XT - LOVE IT!), I started really getting into photography. The camera included a basic editor and organizer (Arcsoft and Zoombrowser) which are good programs, but I wanted something more powerfull for editing, organizing, and creating things like slideshows and albums. Of course, I want Photoshop CS2, but I can not justify the outrageous cost. So for the cost of shipping, I thought I'd try this out...

At the time, I did not realize Studio was not a full version of Paint Shop Pro version 9 or 10 - I have not used either of the full versions, but I understand there are many filters and advanced features missing from Studio that may have been useful to me.

Nevertheless, PSP Studio is still very usable and it offers a complete, though somewhat basic, set of features for the beginner. I was up and running quickly, creating much better pictures instantly without spending a bunch of time in help. I was even able to figure out how to select people out of a pic and merge with others, using layers and adding effects. The results were good and I was pleased.

In addition to the photo editing features, there are some good graphics creation and editing capabilities that look like they could be fun and useful.

I ended up liking Album a lot, though there were some annoyances, like less than optimal, somewhat clumsy navigation. The slideshow feature is nice but feature poor. I really liked the create features. My 3 year old daughter loved the quick-and-dirty photo albums I created after an outing. I liked it so much, I bit on the upgrade offer and ordered version 6 because it included some XTra theme packs that I was considering buying for Album 5.

Album 6 is better than 5, especially with the theme packs, and worth the 30 or so dollars if you are looking for a good, but not great, organizer.

Both the Paint Shop Pro Studio editor and Album programs perform very very well. Load time is a bit slow (not bad) but once you are up and running, its very snappy and efficient.

But less than 2 months into using Studio, I found that I had outgrown it. The photo editing is not as powerfull or full featured as its competitors. Though the basic filters are included (unsharp, add/remove noise, etc) they are quite limited compared to others. One option I was looking for was a levels tool, but apparently it does not exist in Studio.

Finally, there is no RAW support in Studio, and neither Album 5 or 6 allow you to view RAW files at all (though 6 includes a basic RAW editor, I prefer Digital Photo Professional that came with my camera).

One other thing to consider..there is MUCH more free content available online for users of Adobe products than there are for Panit Shop Pro. When looking for info like tutorials and how-to guides, even when targeting Paint Shop Pro, you find countless Photoshop resources, but limited PSP sites - PSP content is there, but much harder to find, especially for this trimmed down Studio version. Even though much of the Adobe content is for the full CS2 version, much of the feature set overlaps with Elements, so it is often usable (at least for the basic features) and there are still more Elements specific resources than PSP.

I downloaded a copy of PhotoShop Elements 4 2 nights ago, and was very impressed. Much better organizer with RAW support, and the editing features and slide show features are much, much better than any of the products I have mentioned, alone and combined. The program is a bit sluggish, but not horribly so, and the interface is nice and intuitive. I'm willing to pay for these new features so I ordered a copy of Elements 4.0/Premier 2.0 bundle.

I would give Studio a 3 if it was over the $30 price point, but for free it deserves a 4.

If you are just looking for something basic for a casual, family photographer that might even get a little ambitious, or you think you will just be doing basic to moderate editing and organizing, this a really great solution for free. But if you expect to develop your skills as a photographer or want to create more fancy slideshows and such, consider Photoshop Elements 4.

I chose to by PSP Studio after downloading and trying JASC PaintShop Photo Album 5, PSP Studio, Adobe PhotoShop Album 2.0, and Adobe PhotoShop Elements 3. I found that the "Album" software just didn't offer enough photo editing capability. And I found that PhotoShop Elements 3 was too complicated for me. I do have a few complaints. Studio doesn't support the image auto-renaming convention (yyyy_mmdd_hhmmss) that I am accustomed to using in the software that came with my digital camera. Moreover, its support for auto-renaming images after they have been moved to your PC is very weak. Fortunately my digital camera software works here too. A bigger problem has to do with printing images. Images printed in "print layout" have fine, regularly spaced lines that ruin the image. It only happens in "print layout" not in "print" and not when I print the same image from other applications. JASC support has not yet been able to resolve the issue.

Studio is an easy to use integrated solution for anyone who wants to photo edit easily and cheaply.

Its Adobe competitors Bloatoshop and Elements both require 512 Mb RAM and XP to run. Studio only needs 256 Mb RAM and runs on Win 98 also so is the only option if you have a pc with these specifications. Of course it also runs on XP with 512Mb as well.

The interface for Studio is much more intuitive than the Adobe products and is much easier to use and learn. There are also many books and websites available to take you as far you want to go with Studio.

The only minor criticism is that Studio is bundled with Photo Album 5 standard rather than Advanced. It would be nice to get the Advanced version in the bundle.

Bottom line: If you are a photo enthusiast who appreciates an easy to use and good value photo editor then Studio is for you.
On the other hand if you like doing things the hard way and enjoy paying through the nose then Adobe will gladly separate you from your money.

purchased psp studio recently and it wasn't able to open my nikon raw files (though the package says it does). I tried calling the tech support and was on hold for more than 30 mins listening to how upgrading to their premium support would be of great value and finally gave up and hung up the phone.
And one more thing, the tech support is not a toll free number and i was on hold for more than 30 mins on a long distance call.

I had no trouble installing this on my computer,and I've noticed how easy this is to use.This is better than the boring,dull Adobe Photoshop-I've been using this to make graphics and banners and to touch up photos.Get this instead of Adobe Photoshop.

I have used older Paint Shop Pro versions for years without issue but this version has serious installation problems in that is constantly tries to reinstall itself. After hunting for security products on my computer that would have modifiend the files to make it think it needs to be installed again I found none. Tech support was useless (the usual reponses, "are you logged on as and administrator", etc.) as they didn't really read my email about the problem and just sent "cut-and-paste" responses to general computer problems. Then the tech support people got rude and told me to "figure out the problem yourself". There is a reason why this software is almost free.

Although we have not become knowledgeable on all the features, we have enjoyed experimenting with this product. We love the picture frame feature and would like to see more frames added.

We also love the cloning tool, as we have many occassions where we need to "rub out" a certain object or person in a particular picture.

Software is ok, but don't believe in the rebates. It has been over 4 months now and 3 calls to their company and they have promised me over and over again that they had an "overwhelming response" and that it will come in 2 weeks. Now, 4 months after sending the rebate in, the status shows as processing on their web site. Poor company, unethical way of treating their customers.

I bought this program to replace the one that I purchased online as a download and then when I had HD problems the original download was corrupted and I could not reinstall it. Apparently the problem had been there for some time because even some backups that I had that were over a year old did not want to work. I did not want to buy the new version because I've got this version down pat for the things that I want to do and I do not care about all of the extras that have been added into newer versions.

this is a great program but not available for macs. it's for ME whatever that is. .but I don't recognize it and certainly not for Mac OSX. Isn't it time someone opened the door for us too. . all my PC friends are playing with the animation program that comes with it while I'm limping aong with Adobe Image Ready and an old photoshop. . . . .shucks. . . ..Claire