Corel PaintShop Pro

Corel PaintShop Pro

Price: $

When it comes to photo editing software, nothing quite scales up to Adobe Photoshop. However, beginners find it burdensome to commit to Adobe’s subscription model. Well, if you are a Windows user working on a budget, you are in luck! Corel PaintShop is the ultimate beginner tool, offering Photoshop-like features. Let’s check it out!

PaintShop Pro 2022 is the latest edition of Corel’s image editing software. Besides revamping its Welcome Screen and AI Style Transfer feature, it has added a few extra features as well. New tools include Frame Tool, AI Background Replacement, AI Portrait Mode, and Creative content like brushes and patterns. It also added file support for iPhone photos.

What makes it the top choice for beginners are three different workspaces. For simple and quick editing, you can use the Photography workspace, whereas Essentials is perfect for those just starting out. Complete workspace does what its name suggests; unlocks the full potential of PaintShop Pro. Corel has a plethora of built-in tutorials for newcomers, so you should be able to grasp PaintShop Pro reasonably effortlessly.

Detailed topography, 3D modeling, and automatic subject selection are the missing features compared to Adobe Photoshop. However, it does sport gradients, effect filters, content-aware move, and other advanced image editing tools. PaintShop Pro supports editing for both raster and vector images, whereas you need Lightroom and Photoshop to do that.

Corel PaintShop Pro is a one-time payment type of deal, unlike Adobe’s subscription model for Photoshop. While you pay $20 per month for Photoshop, you can get PaintShop Pro for $79.99 (often being on discount) permanently. A clunky UI has been its main grievance for a long time, but they’ve modernized and tidied it in recent editions. Overall, PaintShop Pro performs well as an alternative to Photoshop and ON1 Photo RAW, making it a perfect choice for up-and-coming photography hobbyists.