Paint Shop Pro clone for Mac

[Johnchapin]

PC Updates

Opeter, I only use the PC once a week or less. I turn it on and it wants to update Windows, virus checker, firewall, browser, etc. It spends more time updating than I do using it. My daughter has exactly the same problem with a seldom used PC at her work

So yes, I'm thinking of turning Windows updates off if I install Windows and PSP to a Mac. Then my plan is to not let that dark side of the partition access the internet, but I'm on uncertain ground about all this

 

[opeter]

If you will not have your PC connected to the internet, maybe than you can turn the updating off. But don't forget: you antivirus software will also not be updated.

So if someone puts in an infected USB dongle into your computer, than God help you!

Most updates from Windows updates are security fixes, I know, I would let install them. What do you think, how many security holes modern programs have? Especially the closed source ones (like these from Apple, Microsoft, etc.) ...

 

[Johnchapin]

Installed Bootcamp XP & PSP 8

I finally got tired of waiting (2+ years now) for someone to come out with a decent photo editor for a Mac The other impetus was my MacBook is getting out of date. I never figured I would use up 80 GB of hard disk, but with a lot of photos, it happened, even while moving most of the raw photos to a 1 TB external disk. So, I'm experimenting so to speak, with not a lot to lose, I hope. Then hopefully I'll know whether to try this on a new machine.

I read up on security issues and decided they're not so bad with due caution, such as: Don't let the Bootcamp partition (that has the Win XP) connect to the internet. Use the NTFS format instead of FAT. They require you to have XP with Service Pack 2, and the XP I bought is with SP3 (Amazon.com $62). The NTFS doesn't allow exchanging files across the partitions, and is therefore more secure. The way I go around this is to put the files I'm interested in on the external drive, then read them with the other partition. I realize this is compromising the security somewhat, but since these files are mainly photos I've taken and edited, I'm thinking a virus has little chance of piggybacking across.

So, I've moved several photos to bootcamp, edited them, and moved them back to the Mac partition. So far so good, and I'm sooo happy to be using PSP again without dragging a PC around

I'll post to this thread if there turn out to be issues, but right now I'm thinking this is going to work

 

[AV8TOR]

I like Pixelmator a lot and find it much easier than GIMP. Pixelmator can do more than PSP but much easier than Paint Shop Pro.
Funny thing about this post as I was just like the original poster a big fan of the Paint Shop Pro, especially before Corel got their hands in the program.

 

[Johnchapin]

Pixelmator

I tried Pixelmator, but probably wasn't patient enough to get used to it.

The reason I used PSP 8 was that I had a copy, but also one of the last JASC editions before Corel got their hands on it.

 

[Stevebullman]

Hi, I just joined up after finding this thread, though i appreciate its quite old.

i was in the same dilemna as the original poster. I run parallels on my mac, solely for my accounting software really, but i just downloaded paintshop pro and installed it.
It works fine, I can drag my picture files onto the other screen running windows and when i make adjustments and click save it automatically saves it back in the mac.....i thought i was going to have to mess around dragging files back and forth.

Another member questioned the speed of parallels. my mac runs windows faster than my pc ever did..im pretty happy with the whole set up

 

[oldhickory]

Trying Pixelmator

Not sure if it will do everything I want (I guess I can use my old and slow laptop PC--or my husband's desktop if I need to process large files) but I'm doing a 30 day trial of Pixelmator. It looks as though it's pretty close to many of the PSP features. If, at the end of the 30 days, I feel it's going to compete, then I'll buy and and purge windows off my mac. The only other thing I had to run on the mac that was windows only, was Internet Exploder, and since I quit the business that required IE for the proprietary portal, I can say goodbye for good.
Fingers are crossed!

 

[Stevebullman]

had a quick look......does this resize images as easily as paintshoppro? i might give it a try if it does

 

[Johnchapin]

Resize Images

Preview crops and resizes images. For cropping, click-drag the cursor and Cmd K. For resizing, under tools, "adjust size".

My usual photo workflow is from camera image, Preview for cropping, adjusting exposure, contrast, saturation, color temperature, and size. Then to PSP for selections and selective adjustments, distortion corrections, etc. Then, if I like it, into my favorites or slide show files.

Some of the best features, perhaps unnoticed, of PSP are warp brush, gamma correction, blur, motion blur, add or subtract noise, and jpeg artifact removal.

 

[Stevebullman]

ive just downloaded this and running the demo version, resized a picture which was nice and easy, but then when i save it im unable to save as a jpg, just a pmx file. can anyone tell me if i can save as jpg on the paid version?

thanks

 

[Pomeroy]

ive just downloaded this and running the demo version, resized a picture which was nice and easy, but then when i save it im unable to save as a jpg, just a pmx file. can anyone tell me if i can save as jpg on the paid version?

thanks

when using "Save As" click on the little arrow at the end of the "Save As" box, then you will see a check box to "Save copy as", check it and select the file type you want.
Also if you want to save as a jpg you don't have to use "Save As", click on "Export" and you can save as a jpg, png, tiff, photoshop, pdf or Other. Click on "Other and a dialog box with a long drop down list of file types will appear including gif and bmp.

 

[de tekenaar]

Watched Pixelmator online demo . . .

Not sure if it will do everything I want (I guess I can use my old and slow laptop PC--or my husband's desktop if I need to process large files) but I'm doing a 30 day trial of Pixelmator. It looks as though it's pretty close to many of the PSP features. If, at the end of the 30 days, I feel it's going to compete, then I'll buy and and purge windows off my mac. The only other thing I had to run on the mac that was windows only, was Internet Exploder, and since I quit the business that required IE for the proprietary portal, I can say goodbye for good.
Fingers are crossed!

had a quick look......does this resize images as easily as paintshoppro? i might give it a try if it does

. . . just now and am impressed with what's shown. Long time user 'til PSP8 which was my last version and I still use on an old, dedicated PC. Looks to me like someone has finally picked up the Mac's JASC PSP torch!

Going to download trial version, but have pretty much decided to buy it. REALLY vexed all this time not to have PSP functionality directly on the Mac! Never really understood why Apple never offered direct 'touchscreen drawing pad' functionality on any MacBook Pro either though, especially since HP had it on one of theirs for several years now using Painter software, my other "artist" favorite!

Can purchase it at Amazon for about $40 with no shipping cost . . . sounds pretty good to me for what I saw in the demo.

 

[de tekenaar]

That was then . . .

. . . Looks to me like someone has finally picked up the Mac's JASC PSP torch!

. . . have pretty much decided to buy it. . . .

Can purchase Pixelmator at Amazon for about $40 with no shipping cost . . . sounds pretty good to me for what I saw in the demo.

. . . . . . is now only . . . $19.99 at Amazon.com !

 

[mikeo007]

I like Pixelmator a lot and find it much easier than GIMP. Pixelmator can do more than PSP but much easier than Paint Shop Pro.
Funny thing about this post as I was just like the original poster a big fan of the Paint Shop Pro, especially before Corel got their hands in the program.

Can it draw a straight line? A rectangle? ... not impressed
I have an old version of PSP (4) that I always fall back to for editing, it just works so well.

 

[londonhogfan]

Can it draw a straight line? A rectangle? ... not impressed
I have an old version of PSP (4) that I always fall back to for editing, it just works so well.

I'm happy with the switch to Mac and I really want to like pixelmator, but i'm missing (any version of) Paint Shop Pro.

 

[MorisMac]

I miss Paint shop pro's tubes

Hi everyone

I switched to Mac some years ago and I miss too Paint Shop Pro. I already have Pixelator it's great!! but it hasn't tool 'tubes'

Does anyone know which one has something like 'tubes' ?

Thanks so much in advance

 

[chrono1081]

Hi everyone

I switched to Mac some years ago and I miss too Paint Shop Pro. I already have Pixelator it's great!! but it hasn't tool 'tubes'

Does anyone know which one has something like 'tubes' ?

Thanks so much in advance

Corel Painter but its much more expensive and is a bit different of a program. Its literally a digital painting engine with a GUI (and its amazing, but may not be what your after).

 

[dcj]

I am more comfortable with Paint Shop Prop as well. I started with Paint Shop Pro and worked up to Paint Shop Pro Photo X. I searched everywhere for some EXACTLY like it when I switched to a MAC. Corel has been getting more requests but from my phone call this morning they don't have anything yet for MAC other than their digital painting programs. I can't stand Photoshop Elements, it's too complicated. I've tried many times it is no option for me.

HOWEVER, there is hope if you are like me and faithful to the old JASC turned Corel Paint Shop Pro.... it's true, you learn something new everyday. For those like me that didn't know, if you have a Mac OS X v10.5 and later, it includes Boot Camp that lets you run Microsoft Windows. So if there’s a PC application you need to use, start up Boot Camp and it will assist you in installing Windows. From there you can install your PC program

I didn't find Boot Camp in the applications folder so I used the magnifying glass at the top right to search for it and found it.

(and if someone already suggested this somewhere in this thread I apologize for not reading them all first )

 

[burekbeba]

Use Crossover with PSP on Mac

I tooo am having trouble adjusting to life without some of my favorite PC programs, such as Jasc PSP, EditPlus and TopStyle Pro. I found a program called Crossover that runs a bash shell and these programs run great using it. I have weaned myself from TopStyle Pro, my favorite CSS editor, and am how using Stylemaster for my CSS and Text Wrangler in place of EditPlus. So now on the few occasions when I need to use PSP, I just fire up Crossover. You might want to check it out. You don't need to set up a virtual machine to use it.

 

[Johnchapin]

Pixelmator 2.2

Just tired the new PM 2.2 version. Was using the PM 1.4 version. Either the new version is much better, or I'm just starting to get used to it. I like the new PM a lot. And the price is really great. Things that are still missing, that I haven't found yet, or that are more awkward to use than PSP are:

There's no freehand selection tool. They have a polygon selection tool and I get real tired of clicking around already. They claim other perhaps more advanced selection tools, I think, that may be more user friendly, but haven't tried them yet.

The brush sizes apparently aren't a slider or a number, but a bunch of preset sizes

There's no mesh warp or brush warp. Still the distortion tools seem to be adequate but a very awkward user interface. What the hey is that loop that goes from the tool popup over to the point you're editing

Can you "save as" a jpg file? No, you have to go into File, then Export, and then jpg. I suppose that saves losing info by not saving in their pxm format first. However, the jpg image had a fairly drastic difference in exposure than the pxm image.

Pixelmator software crew, I hope your reading this. As always this suggestion: Stand behind a new user and experience their frustrations firsthand. Nonetheless, congratulations on an excellent product Just what I've been looking for for a long time.

 

[Acorn]

have you tried artrage 4?

 

[CloudLion]

I love Jasc/Corel Paint Shop Pro!

I purchased a Mac Mini. I've been using Macs dating back to OS 9+.

I'm a Linux user and promoter. Yet... Windows has an edge: It still has Paint Shop Pro.

PSP isn't just a photo touch up tool... it's a world of creativity tools in an intuitive interface that just works. I'd been using PSP well before Jasc was purchased by Corel. I actually told friends that I knew who worked at Corel that I'd rather use an older version of PSP than newer versions of Corel's flag ship products.

I did send an email request to Corel to ask if they would consider making a Mac version of PSP.... way back at 10.4.11 .... I received an email link directing me to the Corel main web page. No explanations given.

Mac Alternatives that I've used:

Photoshop..... Complicated, expensive, then more complicated, gets more expensive if you purchase extensions that claim to offer features mirroring PSP.

Gimp............ Complicated, not expensive, confusing, add-on and extensions can create havoc for Gimp on Mac. Some extensions and add-on modules can create havoc and chaos in Linux, and Windows versions.

Autodesk...... SketchBook, intuitive, lacks the extensibility of PSP, Gimp, and Photoshop. Promising with it's offerings; gets expensive if you want full features you don't get with the Lite version.

My work around is to use BootCamp and Windows. Unfortunately it's really only a practical solution if you have access to a Windows XP, Vista, or 7 license. I have had issues running PSP with Windows 8. PSP's older versions can sometimes be easier to use compared to the newer versions following the Corel purchase of Jasc. I've had issues using older PSP files with newer versions of PSP following Corel's purchase of Jasc. I think my favorite version was the one just before Animation shop was included. The extensions to brushes and media types was a happy moment.

A similar experience can be had if anyone in the audience can remember Visio before it was purchased by Microsoft. Visio was, is, and I hope will continue to be a fantastic tool. Microsoft messed up Visio a bit by force feeding it into the Office GUI and paradigm. Older versions of Visio seem to be more intuitive than the newer generations.

Such is the challenge of software. We will only get what we want as consumers if we continue to challenge the monsters that be; that includes Apple, Microsoft, and any other software manufacturer that decides to shove something down our throats without our consent.

 

[eejits]

I, too, am a long time Paint Shop Pro user that has recently switched over to Mac. I have been stuck in the habit of using PSP to create my cartoon creations: eejits ( http://www.eejits-online.co.uk ).

I bought Pixelmator when I got my iMac, in the hopes that it would be a viable replacement but I have been frustrated with it. I use PSP to create vector lines for my outlines (and other shapes) of my drawings and then use raster layers for colouring/shading/highlights. I found the level of control that was given in the Pen Tool very limiting and not what I was used to (no knife tool for example). I got frustrated and gave up on Pixelmator (probably too quickly if I honest).

I've also tried Manga Studio as a replacement to PSP as well, but with similar frustrating results (cursing at the pen tool).

I've also tried (and liked) Illustrator but it's hard work getting what I wanted done (outlines). I loved the results though.

Haven't given Photoshop a whirl yet, but I can see it being as much hard work as Illustrator if I'm honest.....

I need to stop being so busy and actually sit down and learn a program properly. But it's a question of where do I focus my time and efforts on. Which program is going to give me the results I want (similar to PSP) but without the frustration.

The quest continues.....

George

 

[CrickettGrrrl]

I, too, am a long time Paint Shop Pro user that has recently switched over to Mac. I have been stuck in the habit of using PSP to create my cartoon creations: eejits ( http://www.eejits-online.co.uk ).

I bought Pixelmator when I got my iMac, in the hopes that it would be a viable replacement but I have been frustrated with it. I use PSP to create vector lines for my outlines (and other shapes) of my drawings and then use raster layers for colouring/shading/highlights. I found the level of control that was given in the Pen Tool very limiting and not what I was used to (no knife tool for example). I got frustrated and gave up on Pixelmator (probably too quickly if I honest).

I've also tried Manga Studio as a replacement to PSP as well, but with similar frustrating results (cursing at the pen tool).

I've also tried (and liked) Illustrator but it's hard work getting what I wanted done (outlines). I loved the results though.

Haven't given Photoshop a whirl yet, but I can see it being as much hard work as Illustrator if I'm honest.....

I need to stop being so busy and actually sit down and learn a program properly. But it's a question of where do I focus my time and efforts on. Which program is going to give me the results I want (similar to PSP) but without the frustration.

The quest continues.....

George

Have you tried Mischief? It's all vector but is like raster painting. The interface is very simple. You can adjust the line correction though as needed for outlines. You can keep your outlines on a separate layer.

There are free trials for Mac & PC. Check out the Gallery of user work too, there is a large variety of work styles there.

Also -are you using a digital graphics tablet?

 

[qwho]

psp 9!

I have read this entire thread, it is quite old, but has had posts recently.

So...I am getting ready to buy an iMac, have used psp for years, have thousands of unmerged images in .psp format as well and countless thousands of tubes, so needless to say I NEED psp on the imac (unless I want to try mass converting everything to .psd format which I understand pixelmator will open, which I do not)

I understnad there are a wealth of options for running psp/windows on an imac. which ones work the best? I am going to try WinOnX app ($4.99) and was going to try vm fusion but not sure if I have to buy windows to use it, same with parallels, plus there is crossover and winebottler and who knows what else.

I use psp9, so I would love to hear about users of that version that run it on an imac and what program you use to do it, please!

I do not want to run bootcamp, I want it intergrated into the mac, not have to shut down the computer every time I use psp and then again to use the mac as a mac.

looking forward to replies on this topic! my biggest reason for not wanting to use a different program is the quantity of images and tubes that use the .psp format...

TIA!