The addition of new photo editing tools -- specifically the Express Lab -- helps position Corel Paint Shop Pro X2 as a premier graphics editing application at a very reasonable price.

The most obvious change from this program's prior iterations is the interface's new graphite theme, which is similar to Adobe Lightroom and Apple Aperture. The darker look helps put the emphasis where it belongs -- on the image, not the user interface. The changes are not always consistent, however; at times, features or tools pop up with the more colorful Windows-themed interface that is common to desktop applications.

The Auto-Preserve feature lets you try out image edits without losing the original image, although this feature does have its downside: When you invoke the original image, you permanently lose any edits you made.

We like the new Express Lab, a quick editing system that lets you adjust brightness, highlight and shadow detail and saturation. You can also let the program make suggested changes for you, similar to the auto functions in other image-editing programs. Other Express Lab tools include red-eye elimination and rotate, crop, and straighten tools. Express Lab is easy to use and its functions are nicely implemented; its only real drawback is that it's a separate applet, which means that when you're in Express Lab, other Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 functions are not available.

The other new feature that catches our eye is the HDR (High Dynamic Range) Merge tool. HDR lets you create a single composite image that incorporates the images taken using your camera's auto-bracketing feature; this can produce an image that shows good detail in high and low lights. This process can be performed manually with most cameras, but HDR Merge can combine the multiple images into a single image. The finished image should have a wide dynamic range that contains significant detail in highlights and shadows.

Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 is a good choice for hobbyists who want to make basic corrections to their photos or experiment with HDR photography.


Pros: Original image is always recoverable, Express Lab has easy-to-use photo editing tools, includes HDR support
Cons: Express Lab blocks access to other tools, user interface is not consistent

Warranty
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