Review by J. Sullivan

I have relied upon Paint Shop Pro for all of my graphics editing needs for many years. The software has eveloved for the better, and it can still meet the demands of both hobbyists, and professionals alike.

I have become accustomed to the three-tab interface that has been a part of the software for a few versions now. It helps to have one place for hand-crafted graphics editing tasks separated from the photo touch up features, which I rarely use, but have found to be exceptionally effective when needed.

I’m not much on using third-party software to organize my collection of photos, but Paint Shop Pro adds categories not available at the operating system level, and iprovides efficient search options for large collections.

My favorite part of X8 is how much faster the tools perform compared to the last version I had used. The preview for the text and shape cutter is such an improvement. I like the clean, uncluttered look of the workspace.

There’s not much reason to skimp out on going for the Ultimate package. Perfect Effects does some really cool stuff, and though I rarely need to fix photographs, I am glad to have the tools ready when I need them.

X8 is an excellent upgrade, and I am more happy with it than ever. I get some CorelDRAW-like features in a more consumer-budget package. It’s a winner.