I used the SmartClone tool to superimpose Proust’s face onto a separate image of the beach at Cabourg – a scene he’d have known well. It seems to have a very subtle HDR effect that perks many photos up. More useful, I think, is “Local Tone Mapping” at its default low settings. You need to be careful with this if you don’t want to blow highlights.

The “Histogram Equalize” adjustment in PSP 2020 evens up the tonal range of the image, often brightening it. For instance, the “Histogram” adjustment layer is a kind of advanced blend of Levels and Curves. There are a few things you may not have seen before. Paintshop Pro offers most of the features you’d expect in an advanced pixel editor when it comes to correcting color and tone. All adjustment layers have built-in layer masks for selective editing. Some of the editing choices are not available as layers, though you can always apply these to a duplicate layer. Just like Photoshop, Paintshop Pro 2020 gives you the choice of editing photos on adjustment layers or independently. But if you’re coming from years in Photoshop, you’ll probably skip to the Complete workspace where all things are possible. It’d be a good place to start for beginners. The new “touch-ready” Photography workspace is inviting since it doesn’t distract you with a bewildering set of tools. The first thing to do in Paintshop Pro 2020 Ultimate is to choose from three workspaces: Photography, Essentials and Complete. The latter works well with layers since you can adjust the opacity to achieve optimum results. A notable exception to this is DNG support, but it does have lens corrections, layers and Perfectly Clear auto image enhancement.

Although not as sophisticated as the pro version, Aftershot 3 Standard offers much more than the in-program raw conversion tool of PSP 2020. The latter lets you create Lightroom-style catalogs, so all changes to images are stored inside the program instead of in separate XMP sidecar files. Aftershot 3Īftershot 3 is a pared-down version of Corel’s Aftershot Pro, which you can upgrade to for a modest sum. Since many of our pictures start out as raw files, it seems apt to look at these facilities first. Paintshop Pro Ultimate comes with Corel Aftershot 3 raw processing software as well as its own in-built raw conversion. The new touch-ready Photography Workspace may not suit everyone, but it’s uncluttered and armed with enough tools to rifle through many pictures.

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