Easy and Fun: Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 Review

Everyone will acknowledge Adobe Photoshop as the industry standard for photo editing and retouching. Photoshop does have a few drawbacks: It’s huge, complex and intimidating. And, it’s expensive. For most “hobbyist” photographers, using Adobe Photoshop is like using an anvil to swat a fly.

Enter Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3. This application is chocked-full of one-click functionality for shooters who want to spend time taking photos, not learning the intricacies of monolithic image editing programs.

Corel has aimed this package at what they call Photo Enthusiasts: New DSLR or advanced Point-and-shoot photographers. With the number of images they shoot, these enthusiasts need to develop a workflow – from transferring their files from camera to computer, to adjusting and printing files. Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 is just the ticket, or so says the Ottawa-based Corel Corporation. The application boast easy conversions of RAW files and offers non-destructive editing and HDR merging. The package also offers HD video support, a growth area with the proliferation of video-capable DSLRs.

DVD Review: Real World HDR

HDR photography or High Dynamic Range  is all the rage. Three files, five, seven, all at different exposures, are combined to form a super-detailed image. Making an HDR image can be a frustrating process. Photomatix is the industry-standard HDR application, but it can be confusing to a recent HDR convert. Tone-mapping? Micro-smoothing? Sbould I use…