[Leica] paint shop pro -- the inexpensive alternative to photoshop

["Peter A. Klein" <pklein@2alpha.net>]

> all this bickering about how photoshop will bankrupt the most affluent of
> us -- paint shop pro (www.jasc.com) is the $99 alternative to photoshop.
> heck, it's cheaper than a brick of film! 
> 
> kc

I read through the manual the other night, and Paint Shop Pro looks very
good.  Except for one thing.  It does not handle more than 8 bits per
pixel data.  This eliminates 16 bit B&W and 48-bit color.  As I
understand it, Paint Shop Pro will read these files, but everything is
immediately converted to 8-bit.  So you must do levels and curves
adjustments in 8-bit mode.  This can lead to the "picket fence" effect
in your histograms and posterization in the final pictures.

If you have scanner software that allows levels and curves adjustment at
scan time, the above won't matter.  NikonScan does, but VueScan does
not.  And I prefer VueScan.

I spent a lot of time on the Picture Window Pro site in the last couple
of days.  PWP is $89 shareware (Evaluation copy turns into a pumpkin
after 30 days).  It's a lot different from Photoshop, but it does most
of the same things, except layers and the prepress and CMYK stuff.  I've
read that it is a *lot* easier to use than Photoshop, but significantly
slower.  One great thing about it is that it will do everything in
16-bit mode.  It has full levels and curves adjustments with histograms,
as well as more user-friendly adjustment.

Another good thing about Picture Window Pro is that it started out as a
program for photographers, rather than a graphic arts package that added
photography.

There are also some *excellent* tutorials and "White Papers" on the
site.  Many of them could be useful to anyone, regardless of what
program one actually uses.  He actually explains color management
*coherently*!

- --Peter Klein
Seattle, WA
Seattle, WA