Corel PaintShop Pro Essentials for PC [Key Card] - Amazon Exclusive

This review is coming from someone who has never used ANY kind of photo enhancement software. When I first opened the program, I admit, it was a little daunting. But I watched the videos provided (and found a few more on YouTube), and with a remarkably quick learning curve, I was suddenly editing photos! The software is quite user friendly -- which for me means I can easily find the commands I need to accomplish a task. I will say, if you're as much as a novice as I am, the videos are a requirement so you are at least familiar with the buttons and the commands needed to accomplish a task. I've only been using the software for about two weeks, and I can already cut a person out of one photo and put them in another, clean up photos to eliminate things like telephone lines, and even smooth out skin tones. I think that's pretty good! I can tell the more you use this software, the more comfortable you'll become with it. But if you're a novice, this may well be the best "beginner" photo manipulation software for you. I will leave review of the more advanced features to those reviewers who are more experienced with this type software than I.

I ordered this program because my last version of PSP was 10 years old and I was hoping for better tools in the current edition. On the Amazon page where the item was listed, it was described as measuring 5.5 inches x 1.2 inches x 7.5 inches. This could only mean that the item was being shipped in a box, which meant that I was receiving a disk. What I received instead was a small mailing envelope containing a piece of paper giving me download instructions. I could have dealt with that except that the Key Code for the product was printed on a piece of paper that was cut off just before the last character of a 28-character alpha-numeric sequence. The last few words of instructions for download and installation were also cut off. I am going to contact Amazon about getting the whole Key Code and a disk, but this has been pretty annoying.

Edit: I'm coming back to remove one star. Not because the program isn't good, but because ever since I installed it, Corel keeps randomly popping up an ad on my desktop for me to buy some other program that I don't need. The pop-up happens at random times, whether I'm working in Word, Excel, or using Chrome - and PSP is NOT open/ The ad covers 1/3 of the screen, and doesn't go away until I click the tiny X - so it not only distracts me, but actually covers the thing I'm working on. There may be some random setting to block these pop-ups, but frankly, they shouldn't be necessary, and I have other things to do. Combined with the forced registration, and I'm deeply disappointed in Corel.Original review:As a professional sculptor, I take my own photos of my artwork and edit them in various programs for the best results. I'm not (and have no desire to be) a graphic designer, but I'm willing to put in significant time to learn my tools. I hear so many people gushing about high-end editing software that I really wanted to give PSP 2018 a try. For background, I've used GIMP (steep learning curve, but effective and free); Picasa (decent and free, but no longer supported); Pikmonkey (not robust enough for me); Photoshop (far more than I need and too expensive); and Photoshop Elements (the best of the bunch for my purposes, but it's only for editing photos). For what it is, PSP is a good, solid program that does what it promises and has a reasonable interface. I'd rank it somewhere between Photoshop Elements and GIMP in terms of capabilities and learning curve.I'm not sure why other reviewers have dinged this listing for being a Key Code, since that's stated in the title (maybe it wasn't stated when they purchased?). But once you download the installation package, you're forced to register with Corel to open the program. I keep a junk email account for these types of forced-registrations, but I hate, hate, hate them, nonetheless.Once you're in the program, you can Open a file, use templates, or create something new. You've also got easy access to Corel's tutorial library online. The videos are of varying quality, and an awful lot of the presenters seem to have terrible colds (one guy's voice was so raspy I couldn't understand him at all and had to quit). If you're patient enough to sit through the videos, you'll get most of the basics you need to do everything from editing photos to creating graphics, playing with layers, applying effects, and the usual roster of tools.The first time you start a new file, the program pops up a few handy tips to familiarize you with the workspace. The program runs smoothly and without glitches on Windows 10. Menus are logical if you're familiar with the terminology. The Learning Center (available under Help) has a collection of tips that are well-organized and easy to digest, without having to go online and sit through videos.All that said, there's still a significant learning curve if you're more familiar with basic software like Picasa, Paint, or Pikmonkey - more along the lines of GIMP. I don't find it as tedious to learn as Photoshop was for me, but I still have to click around quite a bit to finish basic tasks, which is time-consuming.If you're looking for just photo editing, take a look at Photoshop Essentials, instead. If you just want graphic design (for free), go with GIMP. If you're deciding on a single tool for graphic design and photo editing, this is a strong contender for not a lot of money, and you'll only have to learn one software program for both sets of tasks.

Good software at a good price.

I think this is a case where you get what you pay for. When you hear the name "Corel", you expect a decent product. This version of their photo editing software is called "essentials", and you do receive all of the basic photo editing functions (including rotation, cropping, red eye removal, blemish correction, merging photos, and adding text). In addition, this software also allows you to apply special effects to your photos, which can transform them from a regular photograph into a work of art with several, more advanced painting tools.I definitely believe that for most people, this product will take care of their photo editing and enhancing needs. If you haven't used similar Corel products before, it may take a while to get used to this software, so make sure you plan some time for learning how to use this editor. This version gives you a key code that you use to download the actual software from Corel's website (it does not contain any software DVD's, etc.). As I stated, it's a good product with enough features to keep most users satisfied, and it installed and runs smoothly on Windows 10.

I had a similar issue as another user earlier. After receiving the item card with code series and defined link to the download site. This calls for a link on that link to have another link to Amazon. At worst it was made plain to anyone reading their info. I was able to d/l the install file and run it. However, each time i ran the proper codes...image reading...typing..a few times and glaring to find out if there were an error on my end. There was not...each time was correct...yet each time I got a failure message. I'll look for a code for the original *Jasc Paint Shop Pro. Now that was a cool program that is preferred.