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Do you want to own the best image-editing program there is? Then withdraw £550 or so from the bank, pop down to your local software shop and ask for a copy of Adobe Photoshop.
Back in the real world, it's likely you'll want to spend less - a whole lot less - and that is why Serif is hoping budget-conscious buyers will plump for Photo Plus 8. It exhibits many of the fancy image-editing facilities found in a professional package like Photoshop but costs just £70.
In fact, PhotoPlus 8's real competitor is Paint Shop Pro, a product that costs a third more but sells in far greater quantities. Initially, you can't help wondering why this should be the case: PhotoPlus 8's interface is almost identical and its complement of image-editing features is, to say the least, broad.
Indeed, in many areas, PhotoPlus 8 outshines its rival. When it comes to resizing images, for example, the program's results are far more impressive. In both programs we enlarged a stamp-sized cartoon to wall-poster proportions, and while Paint Shop Pro's best 'smart resize' effort looked unrefined and blocky, the same tool in PhotoPlus produced a remarkably smooth distension.
Before you start toying with such features, though, PhotoPlus asks how you wish to work. Accomplished digital artists can proceed straight to a blank canvas, with little guidance on display beyond the menu headings but in an effort to ease the way for new users, the program shows a 'Start-up Wizard' with quick links to common jobs.
Sadly, the options on offer are far from exhaustive: open an existing picture, acquire an image or photo from a Twain-compliant scanner or digital camera, or create a new animation.
This last feature is the most interesting. Unlike Paint Shop Pro, which delegates animation-building to the auxiliary Animation Shop application, PhotoPlus doesn't outsource. This means you can make use of PhotoPlus's image-editing functions while working on animations.
What's more, if you open an animated GIF file in PhotoPlus its frames are displayed automatically - something Paint Shop Pro does not do.
PhotoPlus 8 also has its share of quick-fix photo-enhancement tools, such as red-eye removal and colour correction. On the whole, these are straightforward to use with step-by-step instructions in the Help section.
However, we felt a little cheated by the promise of tutorials, which aren't in fact included. Selecting the View Tutorials option in Help tells you to purchase an additional Resource CD. This costs an extra tenner if bought with PhotoPlus, or £30 afterwards.
PhotoPlus 8 is a great image-editing program let down by failings in a few key areas. While on occasion it outsmarts Paint Shop Pro, Serif's application runs at a frustratingly slow pace. Our test PC was fitted with a fast processor and plenty of memory but the program still crawled where its chief rival would sprint.
True, it's cheaper than Paint Shop Pro, but beginners will almost certainly want to buy the Resource CD, making the price advantage far less distinct.
DETAILS
Price: £70; with Resource CD: £80
Contact: Serif 0800 376 7070
www.serif.co.uk
See also:
These two budget photo-editing suites go head to head. 08 Jan 2003
This edition of Photoshop 'Lite' offers home users exceptional value for money. 27 Aug 2002
Paint Shop Pro's little brother is very affordable and crammed with useful features. 11 Jul 2002All Image Editing & Management
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