Price: $80 plus shipping. A $30 upgrade rebate and a $20 competitive rebate are included in the boxed version. (Rebates are not available on orders placed directly with Jasc). A fully functioning version with a 30-day limit can be downloaded free from www.jasc.com, as can the full commercial version (without manuals) for $99. The package also includes Animation Pro, which is not reviewed here.

Tech support:  psp7sup@jasc.com,   (952) 930-9171
               

JASC Paint Shop Pro 7.02 

By Herb Van Brink. LACS  

This product is a professional level, full-function image processing program, with significant ability to handle vector drawings as well. Paint Shop Pro has evolved from a highly intuitive, easy-to-use shareware program that did simple things easily (in contrast to the all-powerful Adobe Photoshop) to an extremely complex, everything-under-one-roof-something-for-everybody complete product. I found the earlier versions quite easy to use; now, even a simple modification requires layers (literally) of complexity. 

Installation ran smoothly, and the application was installed successfully on the first try. Although a “custom installation” was offered, there were very few functional options beyond the selection of sample files and tutorials. The installation suffered from the gratuitous use of a Flash animation, with unnecessary and annoying loud music. I’m glad I was home and wasn’t installing it in a business office. 

The first time you run Paint Shop Pro (PSP) it very nicely asks which file types to associate with the program. This is a feature I wish all programs had. My personal preference for graphic files is that they be associated with a fast viewer-only program (I use ACDSee, but ThumbsPlus, LviewPro, and others work well also). I add often-used editors to the “send to” list when I want to edit a file selected from explorer. otherwise, I simply open the application and open the file from there.  

In order to provide a great deal of flexibility and the ability to perform image modification, creation, and enhancement at as much of a detail level as you want, PSP uses the concept of “layers”.  When you open a “flat” image, such as a BMP or JPG, a layer is created to contain it. If you add text, another layer is created for the new text box. If you paste a piece of another image onto the current one, it goes onto another layer. Each layer can then be operated upon independently. On the other hand, if you wish to select the entire image for some process, you need to merge the layers into one, after which the ability to work with the layers independently is lost.  If you save to any standard “flat” format (jpg, pcx, tif, or whatever) you get a message saying that the image must be merged in order to save. You can also save to PSP’s internal format or to Photoshop format, both of which maintain layering.  

I had occasion to scan a simple image for posting on a website. I first tried to use the “acquire” function to bring the image in directly from my twain-compliant scanner. It recognized the existence of the scanner, and allowed me to select it, but then nothing happened. Rather than go through an extensive troubleshooting exercise, I opted to simply scan in the image independent of PSP.  I scanned it to a .bmp file, which was about 900KB. I then opened it in PSP to convert it to a compressed JPG for posting. The “Save As” facility is exceptional. For JPG, it provides many more options than just the generally available compression index. It also previews how the image will look at your chosen compression level. Its compression algorithm is also excellent - the image didn’t appear to pixilate until it had been compressed to less than 20K bytes.  

My wife uses a program (Pattern Master) that creates sewing patterns and saves its files in DXF (Autocad) format.  I had associated DXF files on her computer with Paint Shop Pro, so when she double-clicks on one of her pattern files, it brings up an earlier version of PSP.  But it only displayed a very low-resolution bitmap preview (rather than the vector image), and was pretty useless. With PSP 7’s vector handling capability, I opened one of the files with this version. And lo and behold there was the full vector image ... but almost completely camouflaged and invisible because the default background is a checkerboard, which makes viewing almost impossible. The learning curve to eliminate this annoying “transparency” background was steeper than I would have liked - which brings us to the HELP facility.   

The help facility is extensive and complete – as a reference. That is, if you have a dialog box open, HELP is very useful in describing all of its attributes, options, and effects. However, from the other direction, i.e., “how do I  ...?”, it is much more obtuse. It tells you, for example, that you can change the transparency background on the “Transparency Options Tab”, without any indication of where that tab can be found.  

I then did something unheard of. I opened the manual! The package comes with an extensive, indexed, 500-page manual, AND a 100 page “Getting Started Guide”. The guide is new with this version. I was able to find the answer to this particular problem almost instantly. A folder of icons created during the installation is named “utilities”, containing two icons labeled “Tube  Conversion” (to convert “tubes” from previous versions) and “Digital Camera Support”. This second button looked promising, so I chose it. It asked you to select your camera manufacturer(s), which I did. It went through an installation procedure and ended.  

From PSP, I then selected “import” / “digital camera” / “configure”.   It did not list my specific camera (a Canon Sureshot S100), and indicated only serial port connections (I have only a USB connection).  I tried looking up USB, Digital Camera, and a few other keywords in the built-in help, all to no avail. However, when I went to their website and searched, I immediately found the answer: DO NOT use the digital camera facilities, but simply select the camera as the Twain source.  This worked admirably; there WERE drivers for the camera already installed, and I was able to import pictures directly from the camera and perform most of the same operations as the software that came with the camera. In retrospect, it should have been obvious to me that to attach my digital camera I should NOT use the digital camera facilities.  

Many recent applications offer user options to set the current complexity for menus and features. This is one program whose users could benefit from such an approach.  

This program augments, but is not a substitute for, applications that create printed or web-based albums or scrapbooks. I recommend it for anyone who is dissatisfied with the minimal image enhancement functions that are generally available, such as one-button photo fixing and red-eye removal. It can also be used as an outlet for your creativity, with a multitude of special effects and painting tools. If you are familiar with graphics processing, including such things as different file formats, image sizing variables, and the different color models (RGB, CMYK, etc.), then the program will be immediately useful. Otherwise, some time will be needed to become familiar with a host of new words and meanings. 

JASC Paint Shop Pro provides most of the features found in photo editing software, as well as a host of additional image manipulation facilities. It can use just about all of the special effects plug-in software available from third parties, such as Kai’s Power Tools and products by Extensis and others. If you need extremely delicate control, wish to do extensive image manipulation, or prepare materials for publication, this product, widely available at $89.00 (MSRP $119) for the boxed version, will do just almost anything that can be done with programs that cost five times as much.