[emporor008]

Which of these progs do you perfer I would chose Photoshop.

[ScottGem]

Photoshop is the choice of professional's. Paint Shop Pro is generally considered the poor man's Photoshop. If you can afford Photoshop go for it. Otherwise PSP is an excellent alternative.

[emporor008]

I use photoshop myself and iv'e tried psp but I think photoshop is the best so far.

[jenepher]

Photoshop can do much more

[RickJ]

Another option: PhotoshopElements: Many of the great features of Photoshop but only $89.

[NeedKarma]

I'm a big PaintShop Pro user. I don't usually create graphics from scratch, I modify existing graphics. I find PSP to be a leaner program and more intuitive for me. (I use Version 7.01 for the record)

[dj-bri-t]

I used to use PSP, and when I first started with Photoshop I didn't really like it that much. You soon find, though, that Photoshop is a much more powerful program and isn't that hard to use with a bit of practice.

And I personally would splurge and by Photoshop instead of Elements. I think it's worth it in the long run.

[Sage]

If you're a student you can go here and get yourself an inexpensive copy of Photoshop

www.journeyed.com

[keyscl]

"I used to use PSP, and when I first started with Photoshop I didn't really like it that much. You soon find, though, that Photoshop is a much more powerful program and isn't that hard to use with a bit of practice."

I disagree with dj-bri-t. Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro (PSP) are pretty much the same. In fact, almost exactly so, what with PSP being essentially a shareware clone of PS. It's only a matter of how they're laid out, and the names of the various tools. Almost any plug-in designed to work with Photoshop will work with PSP (I'm now using v 8.x).

Photoshop has a more clean interface, where "filters" are found under menu headings, and other options are also under central menu headings. PSP is more like everything is in your face, and right there. It may seem confusing, but then Photoshop may seem too simple.

Whatever anyone can do in Photoshop, I can replicate in Paint Shop Pro. The cost difference is very significant, so I would recommend that people on a budget forget about spending the overblown cost of the Adobe product. For an even less expensive option, albeit without the reference manuals, try the Open Source program "Gimp." This is even a closer clone of Photoshop but it's free, and runs on any operating system.

[ScottGem]

I disagree with dj-bri-t. Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro (PSP) are pretty much the same. In fact, almost exactly so, what with PSP being essentially a shareware clone of PS. It's only a matter of how they're laid out, and the names of the various tools. Almost any plug-in designed to work with Photoshop will work with PSP (I'm now using v 8.x).

PSP has often been called the poor man's Photoshop. It is a great alternative for those who can't afford Photoshop. But to say they are pretty much the same is going too far. Photoshop still seems the choice of pros. I sincerely doubt if Adobe could continue to charge the prices it does is PSP could do everything that Photoshop does.

[fredg]

Hi,
For what it's worth, my wife and I use Paint Shop Pro, Version 7.04. We both are still learning it after a couple of years now!
It does about everything she wants to do. It does have a fairly "steep" learning curve, with tutorials all over the web. There are also tutorials in different Yahoo Groups, with some groups devoting "how to" in emails and help. The PSP manual is about an inch thick!
I don't know if it's better than the other program, cause I haven't used the other one. But, it might be a good idea to go for the cheaper one, if money is tight.