Quandry over which software to use

I have PSP Version 8 and PhotoImpact Version 8 but have found myself using
the latter. However I get the impression from past postings that the PSP may
be better for me to switch to?

What I like in the PhotImpact are the automatic one click enhancement which
seems to do an excellent job, also the season (summer, autumn, winter &
spring) one touch clicks which can turn a dull shot into one more vibrant.

My problem is do I start to use the PSP and will it have features similar to
those I like.

Any help would be appreciated.

Phil

PS My son tells me Photoshop 7 would be better but I am not looking to spend
that money or for a sledgehammer to crack a nut!!!!

 

Why did you buy it if you never intended to use it or even at least
look at it's features? If you take 5 min you will find PSP8 also has a
bunch of " auto processes:" Look under the "Enhance Photo" pull down
on the toolbar.

Auto Color Balance
Auto Contrast Enhancement
Auto Saturation Enhancement.


At the top is One-Step Photo Fix
Which is a script:
# This script provides "one-step" photo enhancement by running the
# following commands in order: Automatic Color Balance, Automatic
# Contrast Enhancement, Clarify, Automatic Saturation Enhancement,
# Edge Preserving Smooth and Sharpen.

________________________________________________________
Ed Ruf Lifetime AMA# 344007 ()
http://members.cox.net/egruf
See images taken with my CP-990 and 5700 at
http://members.cox.net/egruf-digicam

 

Thank for reply. Software bought by son and given to me as he bought
Photoshop which looks to complex for me.

The one step fix works well with my shots so I will spend some time getting
to know but time is something I am very very short of hence sticking with
the other application so long.

Phil

 

I'd get started using PSP. Automatic features are fine for quick work,
but if you want true creative control, you need to avoid using these.
PSP has both. If you do stuff manually PSP has very good control over
parameters.

A good example is sharpening. There are two canned functions, sharpe
and sharpen more. However, unsharp mask has several parameters you can
set, to give much better control than using a preset.

PSP has an excellent, thick manual that can help you learn these manual
controls. Start using it with auto features, but gradually start doing
more and more manually.