Corel Paint Shop Pro 11 - Impressions

Software & Apps
#1

Got Corel Paint Shop Pro 11 today for $30. I have been comparing it a little to Paint Shop Pro 7.04, just to get an idea of how it holds up.

First thing I tried was saving images as JPEG, to see if anything changed.

Well, as it turns out, 7.04 puts out a higher level of quality in a smaller file size. There’s just no comparison. It looks like they really FUBAR’d the JPEG encoding.

Both have a quality scale from 1 to 99. 7.04 defaulted at a level of 15 - I always set it to a level of 10. Version 11 defaults to a level of 20 instead of 15.

Well, doing various screen and window captures, I pasted the same image into both 7.04 and 11 and saved them both at a compression loss of 10. The file created by 11 was noticeably larger. In order to get version 11 to get near the same file size, I had to lower quality to 22/23. So with both files around 134k, I compared them side by side. 7.04 was NOTICEABLY better in terms of quality, with much fewer JPEG artifacts.

So in step one, 7.04 wins hands down.

I’ll keep on testing, but wanted to let folks know what I found, given that JPEG is such an important output file format.

I’ll keep postin’ as I find out more.

#2

I also have found that the default dithering pattern for GIF files gives results that to me seem less pleasing to the eye than 7.04 provides.

It looks like Corel just went nuts and changed over to different algorithms for conversion. Inferior ones at that.

Maybe it has some enhanced features and functionality, but if the output quality suffers, I would think it would not be worth messing with over 7.04.

Anyone else done a comparison of any kind between 7.04 and Versions 10/11?

I’m glad I only spent $30 on it.

#3

IIRC Corel are famous for acquiring lots of little pieces of software from different sources and throwing them all together under an impressive-sounding umbrella application title. I guess it’s entirely possible that they sourced a whole different JPEG compression routine for v.11.

Are there any extra or advanced options for saving JPEGs in v.11, because there’s a few algorithms for lossy JPEG (progressive, multipass) and the comparison might not be quite the same.

JPEG is indeed an important file format where many of the image pixels are of different colour. If they’re mainly the same, like in a screen capture of this forum page, then PNG is better. Is there any noticeable difference in that format?

#4

On the PNG, I did one test shot and both saved at right about 52k each, and I could not tell any difference visually.

I guess the JPG must be kind of like MP3 in a way. Various encoders can actually make an MP3 compliant file, but the methods of how you get there can be different. Lame is better than Blade, Fast Fraunhoffer might not handle high frequencies as well as Lame does, etc.

It is a real pain to see that the default output quality of JPEG has indeed changed for the worst. The GIF thing may just be a different default dither method - I’m not sure - but I can indeed see a differenece.

Is it possible that Corel has to pay a specific license for its set of JPG and GIF encoders, and would have had to pay a different fee if Paint Shop Pro used a different set (brand) of encoders?

Perhaps they simply replaced the JASC encoding libraries with the ones that they use in Corel Draw and Corel Photo Paint?

As an aside, I just noticed that Corel renamed Paint Shop Pro to Corel Paint Shop Pro PHOTO. Wonder if they are going to maintain Corel Photo Paint as an idependent product?

Whatever the case, as cool as these new features may be in version 11, I wonder if simply saving the file uncompressed in 11 and then rendering the final output in version 7.04 would indeed be the best way to go.

What a disappointment. Paint Shop Pro will never be the same as the good old days, it seems. :frowning:

Oh well, at least I still do have 7.04 handy, and now with a new additional license for version 11, I can run 7.04 on my other machine and run 7.04 on this machine and still be legal, I believe. Doesn’t owning a license to the latest version allow you to run previous versions instead using that same license? Sure hope so.

#5

Here’s a generic pdf rebate form for a $30.00 upgrade/competition rebate. It’s an Amazon link but doesn’t say anything about a store name on the rebate form.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html/104-3624577-8936708?location=http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/00/00/00/45/71/64/45716425.V35663082.pdf&token=FD5C8E0AC014164CD5C9E3BB1C3EF8AE47DB0555

Mods! If this is not allowed, please delete.

Rusty

#6

Hey - thanks! I’ll try it out and see if I can end up getting it for free! w00t!

Hope it works…

#7

Hope it works! You have nothing to lose other than an envelope and a postage stamp.

For anyone else, I was in a hurry and didn’t have time to post the usual ymmv warning about this rebate. Why the warning? Because the rebate form was not advertised in conjuction with the product in the BB ad.

Rusty

#8

Well, we shall see.

#9

Hey BeardedKirklander,

Did you ever get that REBATE for Corel Paint Shop Pro 11? Just wondering

Rusty

#10

Anyone seen BeardedKirklander around lately?

Rusty