Rangefinder - November 2012

FIRST EXPOSURE

Corel PaintShop Pro X5

By Stan Sholik

While Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop/Bridge remain the imag- ing softwares of choice for most profession- al photographers, photo enthusiasts on the Windows platform have many options that likely fit their needs and budgets better than those programs. One in particular that offers enthusiasts many of the features of Lightroom and Photoshop/ Bridge—and adds several that these lack—is Corel PaintShop Pro. The latest version, PaintShop Pro X5, adds even more functionality to further separate it from its competition, which includes Adobe Photoshop Elements 10 and Serif PhotoPlus X5.

PaintShop Pro X5 (PSPX5) combines image browsing and image editing using either the Computer tab for browsing or the Collections tab for adding images to the PSPX5 database for editing. These are found in the Navigation palette of the Manage workspace. Adding image folders to the database is quick and easy, and thumbnails appear almost instantly. PSPX5 is very fast in performing all of the operations I used, faster in many ways than the competition despite still being a 32-bit application. PSPX5 also imports video files and allows playback, but provides no other support for video.

But I found it strange that you could not import photos from a camera card. You can import directly from your camera or a scanner, but not from a compact flash or SD card. You must use Windows or the camera manufacturer’s software to import your photos to your hard drive, and then import them into the PSPX5 collection. It is unusual, but certainly workable, once you are familiar with the workflow.

PSPX5 retains the attractive and functional Graphite workspace
that Corel introduced in version X2 and the tabbed navigation
between the Manage, Adjust and Edit workspaces introduced
in version X4. The interface in each tabbed workspace seems
almost infinitely customizable. Palettes can be docked or floating,
and you can set them to be hidden or to auto-hide and reopen
on mouse-over. Each palette header has three tools to control
this function, and there are
menu options and keyboard
shortcuts too.
But the addition of new
and enhanced features in
all three workspaces makes
PSPX5 worth the upgrade for
previous users and worthy of
consideration by non-users.

The new Map mode feature in the Manage workspace is integrated with Google maps to locate your photos based on location information. For photos containing GPS information, the process is automatic.

For photos lacking GPS data, reverse geocoding is possible. Simply navigate to the location in the Map mode and drag your photos onto the map. If you use a GPS device that produces a tracklog, you can also import the KML file and the photos will be positioned along it. Corel actually does its pricier competition one better by including altitude and direction data in the GPS readout when it is available. However, I would like to be able to view the map much larger than PSPX5 allows.

Once the GPS data is added to your photos, PSPX5 adds that location to the Places tag in the Collections tab of the Manage workspace Navigation palette. This allows you to quickly see all of the photos taken in a specific location, or quickly find the vacation photos you took. If you are concerned about privacy when posting photos online, you can easily delete the location information.