PhotoLine being discovered?

[OldRadioGuy]

In a PSP forum to which I belong, a longtime PSP user reported testing PhotoLine against several versions of PSP, including the new PSPX3, in processing a scanned negative. PL was the winner. I'm not surprised, and I hope the word will get out among the English-speaking users of competing products.

[akeller]

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[OldRadioGuy]

Could you provide a link

The note was posted to the message board for the Paint Shop Pro Users Group. Here's a link to section in which that message was posted: http://www.pspug.org/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?b-pspp13/

Bob

[akeller]

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[Twindaddy]

Unfortunately, as a PSP user, I have to agree with this unlucky man. When I see what PL can do from an USB stick ... well ...

There are 10 more days on my evaluation counter, but I think I will buy a PL license and uninstall (I hope, there's not too much cleanup work to do) my PSP X2 Ultimate. The only other editor I will keep will be Gimp because of the "Liquid rescale" plugin and the great healing tool.

Corel developed PSP - formerly a decent program worth every penny - to a bloated piece of software with attached malware which one is forced to install to use it and I for one cannot find any advantage over (for example) PL to justify that kind of "big brothering".

Ok ... excuse me ... but after my photo workflow encountered some severe changes (Acdsee Pro -> EM2 -> IDImager, PI -> PSP -> PL) I just needed to rant somewhere.

Cheers,
Markus

[akeller]

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[Koyaanis]

While I understand the idea of "large community" where everyone is sharing ideas, actions/scripts, etc. I'm not sure you'll ever find that with Photoline like you will with the standard "herd-programs". Most people (if they are anything like myself, and I'm guessing here from intuition) have already been through their photoshop phase, their PaintShop phase, their GIMP, and every other editor phase, eventually broadening their search when every previous editor has let them down in one way or another. Which is probably why I overreact sometimes when I find something lacking in Photoline at rare moments, reliving that "Oh no, not this editor too!" I luckily stumbled on Photoline back at v6.06 (March of 2000). Every time I couldn't get my at-the-time preferred editor to do something, I would think, "Hmmm... I wonder if Photoline will do that?" I'd run it, do what I needed to do again, then go back to my favored editor at the time just because I was more familiar with the one I had been using for so long. I eventually relied on PSP for most of my editing needs during the last decade. Then when corel bought PSP, that was what clinched it. PSP went downhill fast. So I booted up Photoline and started using it full-time after that. Once I started to learn the intricacies and vast amount of things that Photoline could do I never felt the need to find another program. There's a few unique features from PSP that I still wish existed in Photoline (its CA Filter, Manual Color Correction filter, and ability to use the red-eye correction on green and gold animal-eye reflections), but its not often I miss them and will boot-up an early version of PSP to do what I need. Conversely I don't miss photoshop at all. I only keep a copy of that installed to run the one or two photoshop-only plugins that can't be supported in any other editor. I take it as a personal offense that I have to even boot-up photoshop to use one of those plugins.

I guess what I'm trying to say here, is that ... people who eventually find Photoline are independent, creative, usually intelligent, self-taught thinkers who reason and solve things for themselves. The same way they eventually arrived at Photoline's doors. They rarely follow any herd mentality. We've been through all the other editors on which we cut our first editing teeth. Then there came a time to grow up and edit solo, without that huge supportive community that has someone handing out advice for every need.

It is somewhat rare I log into this forum to ask for advice, and when I do there's 3 or 4 true Photoline experts which will be more than happy to supply an answer to a question. (But that Hoogo drives me nuts with how much he knows , like a PL Wizard or something, knowing every little secret passageway and hidden chamber full of riches that exist in "Castle Photoline". Embarrassing to say the least, when you've hunted for hours and hours searching for a feature and then ask here. Hoogo says, "Oh, just press CTRL-Shift and right-click on ..." Poof there it was all along. I'm now afraid to ask sometimes for fear of appearing so stupid now. )

I think if you've found your way to Photoline, consider yourself one of the exalted secret-society of creative and independent people who no longer need that huge community of hand-holders. Sure, it's fun to feel like "one of the gang". But I'm feeling even more pride in having reached a point in using image editors where I don't need someone to hold my hand anymore. While inventing even better ways to solve old problems without someone else telling me their way, myself finding unique better ways than "their ways". Well, until I need one of the Hubers' or Hoogo's advice on how to get from A to B.

btw: for you PSP fans that miss its mysterious "Clarify" filter that no other program could ever seem to duplicate and nobody knew how it worked, I discovered that it's nothing more than Photoline's "Median" filter found on the Filters/Other menu. Applied with negative intensity values. Use it carefully, it goes well beyond the effect that PSP used to provide with its small changes. Try sizes of 10-100 and intensities of -10% to -100% (minus percentages). Something in between those limits will suffice. I've compared the results to PSP's Clarify filter output, it's the exact same effect when used properly, only with even more control and effects in how it can be applied.

[Pjotr]

Hi Markus,

Ok ... excuse me ... but after my photo workflow encountered some severe changes (Acdsee Pro -> EM2 -> IDImager, PI -> PSP -> PL) I just needed to rant somewhere.

This is absolutely OK. I'm also angry about what Corel made out of PSP. Let's hope that more people find the way to PL. I'm looking forward for a large comunity.

Cheers,
Andreas

Hi Andreas,

I found it!

Greetings from Peter