I hope this doesn't open up a war of words... but I have used Corel software since version 3 (about 15 year nearly - current version is 14 or X4 as they brand it now) and I have found this to be far more functional than the matching Photoshop offering. Ok PhotoShop CS isn't bad nowadays but previously it's all been a bit hype - all froth no beer so to speak.
I refer to Corel PhotoPaint which is their premier image editing package, not Corel PaintShop Pro which is photographer and photo editing dedicated software, which is Corel's competition to Adobe Elements. However this too is an excellent package and puts out some cracking results with little effort which head-to-head has matched and in some cases beaten Elements in some mag and user reviews. There is plenty under that bonnet I can assure you.
Before PS lovers start picking up their verbal baseball bats, I need to add that I run a business that provides graphic design and imaging solutions for both printed media and the web (not a sales plug - just putting everyone in the picture) so we have always required more than just 'photo editing' from an image package. Photography is something I do for pleasure and have done since a teenager as I love it, but it also has now become part of my work too.
Personally (and professionally in some respects) I have found PS to be overly engineered and can sometimes take 15-20 steps (if not more) to do the same thing with equal results that Corel can do in 10!
I met an Adobe engineer at the Windows 2000 show (year not OS) and he admited to me and my printer colleague that Adobe purposly engineered their products to be compicated as (without predigest and every other leagal cover I can think of ..
) they didn't want their software being used by small businesses and home users! Their market was firmly the 'professional design' market and they saw us (then perhaps) as 'diluters of their brand'.!!
I remember PS v5.5 or 6 (I think) making a big noise about 'it's all new text handling features..' :shrug: Corel PP had been doing that for ages, and doing it very well. Popping text into or around your photos using PS then was not good - Corel just flew through the task with cracking results.
I still today (when I can be bothered to 'have another go') find it overly complicated. PS CS2 is ok and yes it has become the 'industry standard' so well done Adobe marketing dept
clap
but it is not necessarily the best at everything. i.e. Canons Photostitch offering (free with your Canon DSLR - if you havent tried it, do - it's great) produces comparible and some times far better results than CS2 does at stitching panorama elements together. My recent Snowdonia panorama in PS on auto took forever to work out and ended up looking pants. Phtotstitch turned in a cracking performance on auto first time, and in less than half the time too.
This is not a PS bashing reply honest, and I do hope your course goes well, but just be aware that Photoshop has become a comon phrase nowadays - people even refer to 'photoshopping your images' even if they don't use Photoshop (it's a bit like the Hoover brand name if you get my drift).
And don't even get me on the £'s issue.. thats a whole new ball game :thumbsdown: :bang: Training centres can afford the £'s that a full copy of PS costs - I bet not everyone using this forum can.
Examples:
Corel PaintShop Pro X2 £40 - latest version
Adobe Elements 6 £55 - latest version
CorelDraw X3 Suite (includes PhotoPaint) £70 - previous version, still available
CorelDraw X4 Suite (includes PhotoPaint) £340 - latest commercial version
CorelDraw X4 Suite (includes PhotoPaint) £99 - student version
Photoshop CS2 (only) £230 - previous version, still available
Photoshop CS3 (only) £500 !! - latest commercial version
Photoshop CS3 (only) £127 - student version
I'd better stop now... :bonk::bonk:
