fmw
No longer a newbie, moving up!
I used to have PS CS2 on two of my computers - one in the studio where I do most of this sort of thing and another in the office so I can fool around during slow periods.
The other day, however, I decided to upgrade my hard drive in the office system from 80GB to 400GB. I backed up the drive, made the switch and restored to the new drive. During the process I lost the "validation" for PS and couldn't get it validated. I can't tell you why.
So I deleted it and tried Corel Photo Shop X3 which came with the X3 graphics suite. I had bought it for the drawing program but this digital imaging program comes as part of the package.
I was pleasantly surprised. This software does almost everything PS can do and it does some things in a simpler manner. As an example, what would be the "levels" adjustment in PS is called "image adjustment lab" in X3 and has most of the adjustment options you would ever need for most images right there. This is where you find the black and white point pickers but also a bevy of other standard editing options. Of, course, there are separate full featured options as well just like PS. I can take one of my images for the web and edit it right there. The only other things I need to do would be to size the image and then save it out as a JPEG. I can slice large images, too, just like in Photoshop Image Ready. I don't even have to load another program.
One of the tools I really miss from Picture Publisher is the slick and easy image stitching function. Doing it in PS is an extreme hassle in comparison. Image stitching in X3 is pretty easy.
The only downside for me is the need to have a separate RAW image converter called Rawshooter. You need to convert RAW to some other file format to use in X3. It won't take RAW images directly as PS will. It doesn't have some of the more extreme features of PS either such as smart objects and HDR. If you need these things then X3 isn't for you.
I bought this package very inexpensively on Ebay. It was certainly a lot less than $200. Honestly I don't remember the price. I think it was around $150. You can check it out yourself on Ebay. You get the Corel Draw drawing program - one of the best and Adobe Illustrator's main competitor. You get Corel Capture which makes bit map files out of your computer screen or portions of your computer screen and you get Photo Paint. I think this is an excellent option for people who don't want to spend the asking price for Photoshop. It's really a very good package.
The other day, however, I decided to upgrade my hard drive in the office system from 80GB to 400GB. I backed up the drive, made the switch and restored to the new drive. During the process I lost the "validation" for PS and couldn't get it validated. I can't tell you why.
So I deleted it and tried Corel Photo Shop X3 which came with the X3 graphics suite. I had bought it for the drawing program but this digital imaging program comes as part of the package.
I was pleasantly surprised. This software does almost everything PS can do and it does some things in a simpler manner. As an example, what would be the "levels" adjustment in PS is called "image adjustment lab" in X3 and has most of the adjustment options you would ever need for most images right there. This is where you find the black and white point pickers but also a bevy of other standard editing options. Of, course, there are separate full featured options as well just like PS. I can take one of my images for the web and edit it right there. The only other things I need to do would be to size the image and then save it out as a JPEG. I can slice large images, too, just like in Photoshop Image Ready. I don't even have to load another program.
One of the tools I really miss from Picture Publisher is the slick and easy image stitching function. Doing it in PS is an extreme hassle in comparison. Image stitching in X3 is pretty easy.
The only downside for me is the need to have a separate RAW image converter called Rawshooter. You need to convert RAW to some other file format to use in X3. It won't take RAW images directly as PS will. It doesn't have some of the more extreme features of PS either such as smart objects and HDR. If you need these things then X3 isn't for you.
I bought this package very inexpensively on Ebay. It was certainly a lot less than $200. Honestly I don't remember the price. I think it was around $150. You can check it out yourself on Ebay. You get the Corel Draw drawing program - one of the best and Adobe Illustrator's main competitor. You get Corel Capture which makes bit map files out of your computer screen or portions of your computer screen and you get Photo Paint. I think this is an excellent option for people who don't want to spend the asking price for Photoshop. It's really a very good package.
![[No title]](/data/xfmg/thumbnail/37/37604-7ad625e983f92f880eb65a264eeef5e4.jpg?1619738148)
![[No title]](/data/xfmg/thumbnail/37/37605-90c8efaef5b7d1f52d4bf8e7dfd33673.jpg?1619738148)