Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo XI

Paint Shop Pro Photo XI retains all the features of its predecessors. The “Learning Center” shows you how to get things done in an easy manner. The “Quick Review” feature not only lets you preview photos and videos in full-screen mode, it also lets you apply quick fixes and edits. The Image Information panel gives you quick access to image info.

You have the option to work with both vector as well as raster graphics. Photographers will be delighted to know that now you can open RAW images from virtually any digital camera. Some effects are meant specifically for digital photos: the Digital Camera Noise Removal feature deserves special mention because it does an amazing job at removing the tiny specks of unnatural colour or noise, and can save days of hard work for designers. Using the Skin Smoothing feature, you can even out the skin tone of people in a photo. Similarly, there is the Time Machine, which lets you see what your photos would look if they had been taken some years ago. There is the Depth of Field effect, which allows you to draw attention to a specific area of an image. One Step Photo Fix automatically adjusts the colour balance, contrast, clarity, and saturation to optimal levels.

One of the great features in this version is an image management tool called the Organizer: You can assign ratings, captions and descriptive tags-for easier and faster image searching-to images, and arrange them in thematic groups without physically moving them from the folder they are stored in.

Snapfire Plus SE is a nifty little digital camera software that comes bundled. It simplifies image download from digital imaging devices in addition to organising images, executing quick fixes such as red eye, cropping and applying small photo effects, as also some image editing. It has inbuilt project templates for print layouts such as Calendar, Greeting Card, and Collage.

Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo XI comes close to some of the bigger and obscenely expensive photo editing applications, while still managing to be commendably affordable. It’s definitely a good value-for-money proposition.