Paintshop Pro for sale, not rent

Corel announced its newly-released Photoshop competitor, PaintShop Pro X6
Ultimate, will be available via download or in shrink-wrapped box, and for outright sale rather than monthly rental.

Additionally, the X6 version of PaintShop Pro features 64-bit support, improvements
in speed and performance, plus interface refinements and new quick selection tools.

Of as much interest to photographers seeking to unshackle themselves from constant payments to infamous price-gouging Adobe under its cloud-based subscription model, is that Corel offers a perpetual licence when you purchase its software.

‘X6 was developed based on our extensive customer research. Our users told us they want 64-bit power, faster performance, an improved user interface, and continued availability of a perpetual license, so we delivered them,’ said Rick Champagne, senior product manager, Corel Photo & Video.

Corel researchers drew from a base of over 2.6 million PaintShop Pro users, learning that more power, more speed and improved usability were the changes users most wanted to see in X6.

Key features
– Superior performance: 64-bit dramatically improves the power of PaintShop Pro X6, delivering more performance, speed, and stability. For example, when compared to X5, 64-bit PaintShop Pro X6 saw a 78 performance increase in cataloguing JPG images;
– New memory management: opening and saving files and applying effects is accelerated in both 32- and 64-bit versions of X6;
– Open more and larger images faster: With X6 users can open larger files and more files – upward of 50 – with ease. This significantly improves performance in batch processing, multi-layer compositing work and HDR processing;
– Enhanced support for Adobe Photoshop plug-ins: PaintShop Pro X6 now supports many 64-bit Adobe Photoshop plug-ins in addition to Photoshop format (.psd) images and Photoshop format (.abr) brushes;
– New selection tools make traditionally tedious editing tasks a breeze allowing users to focus on the creative side of editing;
– New Smart Selection Brush: This new brush enables the selection of objects based on a brushstroke. Users simply paint over an object to select it;
– New auto selection tool lets users enclose an image area in a bounding rectangle that automatically detects and snaps to the edge. It’s quick and simple, accelerating common selection tasks;
– Professional Level Plug-ins: PaintShop Pro X6 Ultimate also includes valuable photo editing extras worth over $200. Perfectly Clear, the award-winning plug-in by Athentech Imaging, saves users time by delivering advanced, one-click image corrections based on 10 years of scientific research. FaceFilter3 Standard, a versatile photo retouching and beautifying toolkit by Reallusion, provides scenario-based portrait editing and beautifying.

Corel has also announced availability of Corel Photo Video Suite X6, the comprehensive combination of PaintShop Pro X6 and VideoStudio Pro X6, for photo and video editing in one complete package.

PaintShop Pro X6 Ultimate can be purchased immediately as an electronic download (ESD) from www.corel.com/paintshopproultimate or from Corel resellers. Retail pricing is $129. Upgrade pricing, for users of versions X3 and higher, is $89.

PaintShop Pro X6 is available at $99, and $69 for an upgrade. Photo Video Suite X6 is available for $179.

Corel doesn’t appear to have an extensive list of Australian and New Zealand resellers. Is there an opportunity here for photo specialists?