Corel [formerly Jasc] Paint Shop Photo Album 5
A Review by Sandy Kaplan
I used to have lots of photos in my old computer, and it was somewhat difficult to find them easily. So I welcomed the chance to use this program. I have a little experience in photo editing with other programs, so I thought it would be fairly easy for me.
This program really is not basic enough for the first time user who is unfamiliar with how to fix photos and or organize them in a meaningful way in order to find them again quickly. I first went to Help; and then Getting Started, for a general overview which contained no [tutorial] narrative.
As an aside, when I bought a Nikon digital camera, the company was nice enough to include a CD tutorial which had a live person explaining the fundamentals, from connecting the camera strap and inserting the batteries, to how to take good photos. It was wonderful. By the way: since it was so easy to learn to use, I recommended that particular camera to several people, and at least 3 of them went out and bought it. It also has photo editing software included.
Unfortunately, the Paint Shop Photo Album 5 program is not “Intuitive” like it claims to be. It leaves you hanging and wanting more information. I felt that I was at a “dead end” several times at the beginning. It can be pretty frustrating to reach a point where you say “Now what do I do?”
I went to Jasc.com (which has been sold to Corel) for information, and luckily there were tutorials. [www.jasc.com actually connects you to special page at "www.corel.com" but you won't end up at the same page if you type "www.corel.com" –Ed.] No narrative, but still pretty straightforward. There are plenty of other programs out there which do pretty much the same thing as this one. I remember using Roxio Easy CD creator last year which offered photo editing in their software program and contained more features (like erasing wrinkles from a person’s face, etc.) This isn’t an available option with Paint Shop Photo Album 5 software. Most people would rather look good by erasing or smoothing wrinkles, moles and any other small defects than removing red eye or thinning themselves with the “thinify” enhancement. Frankly, I don’t see any advantage to using the “thinify” enhancement.
Otherwise, this program does a fair job of enhancing the photos and removing red eye. The red eye feature worked pretty well. The “quick-fix” button is a nice feature: it sharpens the photo, adds flash, crops, and creates a panoramic shot—something I didn’t try. I tried fixing some of my photos, cropping, etc. and it performed well, but nothing exceptional. And frankly, it didn’t seem to enhance my photos appreciably. This was a disappointment. You can also create greeting cards, but Hallmark does this well.
By the way, the frames are okay but the borders (edges) for the photos are rather rudimentary; and you can find much better borders and frames through Hallmark or other create-a-card software programs.
The photos were easy to download from the media card onto the hard drive. However, it was not easy to organize my photos using this program. I organized by folders, then keywords (you can also use calendar). I selected and highlighted the 40 photos I wanted, but all 108 photos were imported into my folder. I read and re-read the directions in the book and the tutorial and finally got it right, but it was a chore. I went to “Show Me” for their tutorial on this. I guess you could call the procedure “unintuitive” because you have to follow exactly their hieratical order to get it right.
Eventually, I was able to organize my photos by folder and keyword. In some cases, I had to re-do my selection. You’re supposed to hold down the shift key while clicking on the first picture you want and dragging to the last picture [aka: Selecting or Highlighting]. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn’t. It bothered me that that some of my photos would be in 2 separate folders without the program notifying me that there were duplicates. It takes up too much space on the hard drive to have to contend with duplicate photos!
There was just one program “bug” that comes to mind: namely, when I first tried to “add text to a picture”, I pressed the Help key and I was incorrectly linked to “Audio Help” instead. I tried e-mailing my photos, BUT, you have to use a different program included on the CD called “Shutterfly”. Paint Shop Pro 8 comes with the software, but it’s a 60 day trial version. If you mistakenly click on the link, you automatically start your trial version. After the 60 days are up, of course, you have to pay for it. I didn’t want to do that. It’s easy enough to e-mail photos without having to pay extra for it.
Additionally, most people in this day and age prefer learning visually through pictures or diagrams, rather than reading text. In the Jasc User Guide, there is a great deal of text, and not enough pictures.
Another problem I had with the program was the difficulty in setting up my e-mail account to share and use “Quick E-mail”. I have both AOL and Hotmail, which the program recommends using. Once again, it was a chore and took much longer than expected.
I usually have my digital photos developed at Wal-Mart or Target or at a local drugstore. On the Kodak machines there, I can edit my photos quickly. I can also add text, and colorful borders and frames for all occasions. They range from 20¢ to 36¢ a picture, and you get them instantly. Therefore, I save by not having to use up my ink cartridges or paper. Also, the borders on the Kodak machine are way better.
Photo Album 5 came pre-installed on my new Dell computer along with other programs from Corel, like WordPerfect, which I am eager to try.
So far, as a photo organizer, PSPA5 hasn’t worked so well for me in terms of “ease of use”. As a photo editor, I would rather use a different program. This program does come with lots of features, like backing up photos to a CD, and eventually I may give it a try.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to try out your software. I wish I could give a more positive endorsement.
Corel [Jasc] Paint Shop Photo Album 5
Corel Corporation
http://www.jasc.com
$49