Digital Home Thoughts: Corel Introduces Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate Edition

"Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 has everything you need to create stunning photos. The integrated Learning Center and a selection of one-click photo-fixing tools make it easy to correct common photo flaws such as red eye, color and sharpness. Unique makeover tools let you whiten teeth, remove blemishes and paint on a tan, so you can make everyone look their best before printing or posting photos online. As your skills and confidence grow, you can harness the power of professional-quality features such as HDR Photo Merge, Histogram, Curves and Levels Adjustment tools to make precision edits. You can even get creative with artistic effects and filters to turn your favorite photos into fun projects to share with family and friends."

Hot on the heels of the VideoStudio Pro X2 announcement, Corel has an update to the venerable Paint Shop Pro product line: the Photo X2 Ultimate version. I haven't used Paint Shop Pro in years, but just the fact that it does HDR photos was enough to catch my attention - my current version of Photoshop Elemenst (6.0) doesn't to HDR photos and it's something I've been wanting to experiment with. Paint Shop Pro also supports over 250 different digital camera raw formats, so if you don't feel like dishing out the $299 for Adobe Lightroom, this might be a good solution (though clearly it won't have the same type of workflow). There's a nice bundle that Corel is offering which gives you both Paint Shop Pro Ultimate Photo X2 and VideoStudio Pro X2 for $149. The full press release is after the break. Corel Introduces Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate Edition
Award winning photo editing software now delivers more than $200 worth of additional value to photography enthusiasts

OTTAWA - September 09, 2008

Corel Corporation (NASDAQ:CREL) (TSX:CRE), a leading developer of graphics, productivity and digital media software, today announced the release of Corel® Paint Shop Pro® Photo X2 Ultimate, featuring more than $200 worth of free bonus items and new technology enhancements designed to provide users with the widest selection of photo editing features ranging from automatic tools for quick fixes to precision controls for fine-tuning.

"With increased raw camera support, new creative content and more than $200 worth of bonus items, Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate is an excellent value for consumers interested in managing, editing and being creative with their digital photo collections," said Denise MacDonell, Senior Director of Product Management, Digital Media at Corel. "Our users will find continued depth of functionality in Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate that enables them to grow as their skills and knowledge progress. Every photo and scrapbooking enthusiast will appreciate finding the latest photo-editing technologies and creative tools in a single purchase."
Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate features new additions and enhancements including:

* Enhanced Camera Raw Support - Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate now supports more than 250 raw camera formats, making it easier for users to edit photos taken with the most popular camera models.

* New Creative Content Pack - The Creative Content Pack includes 150 brand-new, custom-made photo frames, photo edges and Picture Tubes^TM that enable scrapbookers and other creative users to express their creativity with unique edges and custom graphics, including square or oval frames, modern or classic frames, mats or photo edges, or a variety of other styles.

* New Background Remover - An unwanted background image can ruin what would otherwise be a perfect photo. In three simple steps, the Background Remover isolates part of a background in an image and removes it, allowing the user to replace it with a complementary image. With the Background Remover, users can preserve image details that were once impossible to mask precisely by preserving fine, semi-transparent details such as strands of hair and wisps of smoke, as well as the detail that is found between larger objects, such as the sky seen between tree branches.

* New Certified for Windows Vista® - Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate is now fully certified for Windows Vista, the highest certification of support for that operating system, meeting compatibility standards for ease-of-use, better performance, and enhanced security.

Bonus items in Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate include:

* New Corel® Painter^TM Photo Essentials 4 - Scrapbookers, family memory keepers and photo enthusiasts can now convert photos into digital artwork in three easy steps. Using the unique Auto-Painting palette, users can create a stunningly realistic work of art including paintings and drawings.

* New PHOTORECOVERY® for Digital Media - When users think their digital content might have been lost forever, PHOTORECOVERY can recover images, movies and sound files from accidentally reformatted memory cards. It is compatible with virtually all media card formats, including SD^TM, miniSD^TM, microSD^TM, CompactFlash® I and II, Memory Stick^TM, MMC, xD, SmartMedia® and Microdrive®.

* New Flash Drive - A 2 GB USB Flash Drive makes it easier for users to backup and transfer photos, videos and other files from a PC. Includes plug-and-play compatibility with any PC.

Pricing

With a suggested retail price of $99.99 SRP (US and Canada), Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate is available starting today in English, German, French, Dutch, Italian and Spanish through www.corel.com and in the coming weeks through Corel's global channel partners. Additional languages will be available at a later date. Registered users of Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 may purchase the Special Upgrade from Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 for $29.99 SRP (US and Canada).

A Photo & Video Bundle will also be available in selected regions. The bundle includes Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate and Corel® VideoStudio® Pro X2 video editing and authoring software. Sold separately, each product is priced at $99.99 SRP (US and Canada). The Photo & Video Bundle is $149.99 SRP (US and Canada), a savings of $49.99. To learn more about Corel's digital media portfolio or to download a free, fully-functional trial version of Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate, please visit www.corel.com/paintshopprophoto.
About Corel

Corporation Corel is one of the world's top software companies with more than 100 million active users in over 75 countries. We develop software that helps people express their ideas and share their stories in more exciting, creative and persuasive ways. Through the years we've built a reputation for delivering innovative, trusted products that are easy to learn and use, helping people achieve new levels of productivity. The industry has responded with hundreds of awards for software innovation, design and value.

Our award-winning product portfolio includes some of the world's most widely recognized and popular software brands, including CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite, Corel® Paint Shop Pro® Photo, Corel® Painter^TM, Corel DESIGNER®, VideoStudio®, WinDVD®, Corel® WordPerfect® Office and WinZip®. Our global headquarters are in Ottawa, Canada, with major offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, China, Taiwan and Japan.