Corel Upgrade Painter 11 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Corel Painter is in a category all its own. While photo manipulation software comes in all sorts and layout programs abound for every skill set, Painter is a unique program that allows real art to be made directly in a digital format.
This could easily be quite a cheesy goal and a sub-par result meant more for play than serious work. Could be, but Painter does the task so well it is really astounding.
I could have said the exact same words, and have, about Painter IX, a program I have owned since it was released.
I've found that program unsurpassed in all kinds of creative goals for both web and print use, for both serious work and for creative exploration.
I was familiar with Painter IX, and yet I'm still a bit blown away by Painter 11.
It's an easy transition. Everything looks the same and so there's no major transition from the older to the newer. The main difference is in feel. Painter 11 just feels more natural. It has better response, better control, better overall simulation of the various media. Even on the Intuos3, I could always feel a strong bit of distance, and artificiality, on Painter IX. In Painter 11 I just feel so much more connected to the canvas on the screen.
Some have noted some issues with their graphics pad. I've not seen any problems at all. Perfect and easy use, even better than Painter IX in every respect.
Often, new programs try to add so much they become slower, or more complicated, or otherwise a step down in performance for the steps up in function. Painter 11 adds a whole list of new brushes and capabilities, all functioning perfect as I try them out. It does this while speeding up all the various interactions. Everything just seem so smooth. So not only are the brushes and pens feeling so much more natural, the whole experience is sharpened and quick.
The integration with the Adobe products is likewise quite good. One thing I've appreciated about the various Corel products is their ability to 'play well with others'. Instead of trying to mark out its territory by ignoring the major players, Corel enables functions that takes seriously the probable software use of real designers and artists.
Painter has always been a program in its own class, and that sometimes means a company doesn't continue to innovate with it. Corel keeps pushing the edge, making a five star product much better, by making better what it already did great and adding quite useful capabilities on top of this.
Extremely pleased with Painter 11. Well worth the cost, and if you have an older version it is indeed worth an upgrade.
Some reviewers have noted this version seems slower. I just can't see what they mean. Indeed, not only does this program feel quite a bit faster it also seems to work well on a variety of systems. My main computer is a XPS710 with a quad core processor, a nice video card. Of course Painter flies on that one. But, surprisingly, it also works quite smoothly on my laptop, a Dell e1405, that has no separate video processor, is one of earliest dual-core, and only has 1gb of memory. If I do particularly processor intensive tasks it does lag a bit, but significantly less than my Adobe programs. It works better than Painter IX did on the same computer.
As far as operating systems, I've run this on Vista premium (my main computer), XP media edition (my laptop), and Vista home (my wife's laptop). Runs great on each.
I heartily do recommend downloading the 30 day free trial Corel offers to see how the program works on your computer and if you see the worth of an upgrade as I did.

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Expand your creativity with Painter 11, the most inventive digital painting software on the market. By adding Painter to your workflow, you gain a full art studio that gives you the tools to create unprecedented artwork. Digital art tools let you experiment with color theory, composition and brush strokes, without the toxins, mess and expenses associated with traditional art. Support for the entire Wacom product line, including industry-leading Cintiq interactive pen displays and Intuos drawing tablets, gives you the most responsive digital painting experience so your hand and brush work fluidly as one. Customizable paper textures give your art added artistic undertones, plus a level of texture and detail that no other digital painting or photo-painting tools can produce. Painter is changing what's possible in art. Now it's your turn.

The World's Most Powerful Natural-Media Software
Enhance the Creative Process
Enhanced Artistic Media reproduce the texture of their real-life counterparts and intensify color with each stroke
Pen and drawing tablet (recommended), combined with Painter's RealBristle brushes, recreate the natural interaction between hand and canvas
New Hard Media Controls let you create your own hard media variants, or choose from new hard media variants in the Brush Library

Go Beyond the Digital Darkroom
Improved color recognition for files imported from Adobe Photoshop, and individual color profiles per document, make your colors more precise
Photo-painting tools with SmartStroke technology let you creatively transform reality
Customizable surface texturing gives your art a level of fantasy and detail that other photo and painting software can't deliver

Learn from Unlimited Experimentation
Digital art tools let you experiment with color theory, composition and brush strokes without the toxins, mess and expenses associated with traditional art
New Hard Media controls give you the flexibility to play around to find the exact look you desire
Smart composition tools, such as Divine Proportion and the Rule of Thirds and Fifths, help you visually arrange your canvas to create perfect compositions

Features
What's Included
Content Libraries of unique textures, gradients, nozzles, patterns, stock photos and brushes, including the new RealBristle dry media brush category
Documentation
Getting Started Guide
HTML User Guide and Getting Started Guide
HTML Help files

Training
Online tutorials and testimonials

Enhance the Creative Process
New--Hard Media Controls Create your own hard media variants, or choose from new hard media variants in the Brush Library, so you have more creative control over your media. Customizable profiles, dab sizes, transitions and stroke width previews let you play around to create the exact look you want.
New--RealBristle Dry Media Marker, pen, pencil and chalk media reproduce the look and feel of their real-life counterparts in a way that no other software can!
Marker--intensify color with each new marker stroke so you can color in one continuous shade or create a buildup of color
Pen--choose to create fine pen strokes, or thick strokes and ink deposits, by changing the velocity of your stroke. The faster you go, the thinner the line; the slower you go, the thicker the line
Pencil & Chalk--control shading by changing the angle of your stylus on the drawing tablet. Choose whether to draw with the tip or shade with the side of the nib-just like in real life

Enhanced--Selection Tools A new Polygonal mode for the Lasso tool, plus overall improvements to marquee tools and the Magic Wand, let you make more nimble selections the first time around.
Enhanced--Wacom Support Support for the entire Wacom product line, including Cintiq interactive pen displays and Intuos pen tablets, gives you most responsive digital painting software and the best digital art experience.
RealBristle Painting System Replicate the sensation and interaction between traditional paint and canvas with your pen and tablet. This represents a major milestone for digital painting by making brushes totally responsive to your hand and canvas, creating the most realistic painting experience.
Customizable Brushes Create your own brushes in the type, size or pattern of your choice, so you can make custom brush strokes and create artwork that is truly unique.
Go Beyond the Digital Darkroom
New--Color Management Create better color matches with new individual color profiles for every document and improved color recognition for files imported from Adobe Photoshop. This enhances your workflow because you save time by having fewer color corrections to make.
Enhanced--Adobe Photoshop Support Maintain colors and layers when transferring files between Photoshop and Painter. This saves time when importing and exporting artwork between the two programs, because corrections are less necessary.
Photo-painting Tools Transform photos into paintings by hand, or let SmartStroke brush technology in the Auto-Painting Palette paint a photo for you. It follows the lines and contours in the picture just like a real artist would. This lets you take the best of both worlds--photography and painting--to create new forms of art.
Customizable Surface Texturing Give your art added artistic undertones, plus a level of texture and detail that no other digital painting software and photo-painting tools can produce. You can choose paper textures for your canvas, or create and customize your own textures to produce really unique artwork.
Learn from Unlimited Experimentation
Enhanced--Mixer Palette & Swatches Extra mixer swatches appear when you enlarge the newly resizable Mixer Palette. Increase the size of the Palette to put more colors at your disposal and have a clearer view of your chosen color. Reduce the size when you no longer need to mix colors so the Palette takes up less space on screen.
Smart Composition Tools Divine Proportion and the Rule of Thirds and Fifths help you visually arrange your canvas before sketching or painting to create perfect compositions.
Flexible Digital Art Tools Experiment with color theory, composition and brush strokes to your heart's content, and produce exciting results-without the toxins, mess and expenses associated with traditional art.
Universal Mixer Palette For multicolor selection, this palette gives you better control over color blending between the Mixer palette and the canvas, so your colors are more precise.
Underpainting Palette This palette includes color schemes based on various artistic styles, such as Impressionist, Classical, Modern, Watercolor, Sketchbook and Chalk Drawing, so you can create art like your favorite muses. You can also match your Underpainting Palette to that of any open image for consistency.
Match Palette Effect Match the color and intensity between 2 images. Just open an image that features your desired color scheme and use the Match Palette effect to bring that color to the image you want to change.
Increase Speed & Stability
Enhanced--Performance Painter 11 is optimized to provide artists with the fastest version of Painter ever. Depending on system hardware, brushes perform up to 30% faster, creating a more true-to-life painting speed.
New--Transformation Capabilities Switch between different Transform modes from one centralized tool, and choose whether to transform the complete contents of a layer, or selected content, for greater speed, flexibility and precision.
New--Resizable Color Palette Adjust colors manually with sliders on the Color Palette. Enlarge the Color Palette up to 800 pixels for a clearer view of your selected color. You can now also fine-tune the color wheel with your arrow keys so it takes less time to find the perfect color.
New--Color Management Interface The fresh and simplified interface makes it easier to control color profiles when creating new files, or when opening Painter and other file types.
Windows Vista Support Painter 11 supports the latest operating system from Microsoft.
Mac OS Support Painter 11 supports the latest operating system 10.5 from Apple.
Multiple Platform Support Painter 11 includes both Mac OS and Windows versions on the same CD.

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QuarkXpress 6.0 (Mac) Review

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(More customer reviews)This program is a complete joke. Quark has basically re-issued Quark 4 (and 5 for that matter) with almost NOTHING new worth mention.
* The very first thing you'll notice is this ridiculous validation scheme. Think you're going to buy software and install it and go to work? Wrong!! You have to be validated first which, if something goes wrong, can take DAYS!
* The multiple undo's would have been a great feature for 1998, even now not everything is undo-able.
* Quark has this wonderful new system of "Projects" and documents. If you ever pick-up an old document to make some changes and then re-save as a new one, the old file name remains with the file because Quark assumes you're just adding a new document to the project...A MAJOR ANNOYANCE! If you do use the project thing as intended (multiple documents and sizes wrapped up into a single file) you still have to collect each individual document seperately! HELLO?! HOW BOUT "COLLECT ALL"??
* The "Export to PDF" feature so rarely works, I don't even bother with it. I still have to "print" to a PDF.
* The "full resolution preview" isn't and frequently causes crashes when trying to change the preview res on a picture.
* All the old stupid annoying things about Quark are faithfully preserved in version 6...
* Still no "update all" feature in the links menu.
* Still no way to select a graphic and tell Quark to re-link to something different.
* Still no key commands to select tools on the tool palette.
* Still limited to 48x48" layouts.
* Still no support for OpenType. If you use OpenType fonts, expect lots of very strange letter spacings, etc.
* Lots of people still use Quark 4. If you need to save down, you must save from Q6 to Q5, then Q5 to Q4. If you're upgrading from 4 to 6, YOU'RE SCREWED! Quark 6 WILL NOT save down to Quark 4!
* Quark brags about all these new features that NOBODY will have a use for. Web pages?! PLEASE! Not even even a half-a** hack web designer would try to create a website in Quark! I tried just for the experience and believe me, it's a joke! 3 words... NO CODE VIEW!! How bout 4 more? NO MEASUREMENT IN PIXELS. These things alone makes Quark a web program not to be taken seriously.
If you're DYING to waste nearly $900, keep your antique Quark 4 or 5 and take that money to Vegas. Better yet, download a free trial of InDesign and see what a REAL page layout program should look like in the year 2004!

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Item #: F72218. QuarkXPress is powerful layout software with an intuitive, versatile interface that lets you combine writing, editing, and typography with color and pictures to produce dynamic final output. QuarkXPress is widely used by magazines, newspapers, advertising agencies, typesetters, printers, corporate publishers, design firms, catalog houses, book publishers, and form designers. It is also used by businesses with publishing requirements.QuarkXPress 6 software includes a wealth of new design and productivity-enhancing features that let you produce professional layouts - for print and the Web - more efficiently than ever.Because PDF creation technology has been incorporated into QuarkXPress 6, you can output PDF files directly from QuarkXPress without buying third-party software.Layout spaces simplify the management of complex projects by providing the ability to share specifications such as style sheets, colors, hyphenation settings, and lists among layouts. You can also include multiple content types and layouts with varying page sizes in a single file. Synchronizing content allows you to share text between layouts.Full-resolution preview displays images at the file's full resolution so that you can scale or magnify images with minimal pixelation and position page elements more precisely. You must register your copy of QuarkXPress before you can access this feature.Create a more compelling Web experience through better design with new and enhanced tools, including two-position rollovers, cascading menus, font family specification for cascading style sheets, form controls improvements, and more.Improvements to output features, including As Is Color Space and DeviceN, underscores Quark's continued commitment to supporting open standards in the workflow and delivering the highest quality output. Product Description: QuarkXPress ( v. 6.0 ) - complete packageCategory: Creativity applicationSubcategory: Creativity - desktop publishingVersion:

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QuarkXpress 4.1 Review

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(More customer reviews)It took me a few months, but I finally stopped complaining that they'd screwed up XPress. Version 4.1 is light years beyond version 3.3. And, it's a whole lot better than 4.0. The new features make this program a pleasure to work with. The user interface is more intuitive than ever. And, it still beats PageMaker and InDesign by a mile.

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QuarkXPress software gives you powerful design command over every aspect of your document, from conception to output. QuarkXPress lets you create a wide variety of materials quickly and efficiently from within an intuitive, standards-based environment. This premier electronic page-layout application provides you with software solutions to meet your publishing needs. Building on existing tools to facilitate digital workflow and multipurpose publishing, QuarkXPress 4.1 includes improved support for PDF, scripting, and Internet publishing. Some of the new features include PDF Import QuarkXTensions software (import pages from PDF files created with Adobe Acrobat Distiller 4.0 into QuarkXPress picture boxes and print high-resolution output, as you would any other graphic); PDF Export QuarkXTensions software (output PostScript files optimized for use with Adobe Acrobat Distiller 4.0, with the option of distilling your file immediately or saving it as a PostScript file that can be distilled later); and HTML Text Import QuarkXTensions software (import HTML text into QuarkXPress text boxes, the same as other text formats). You can also author XML content easily and efficiently; generate high-resolution image previews; use the new Scissors tool to cut text and picture boxes, lines, and text paths; use custom bleeds to specify a bleed value for each side of a document; and more.

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QuarkXpress 5.0 Review

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(More customer reviews)Pay no attention to the catty doom-sayers: QuarkXPress is here to stay. Quark is too firmly entrenched in the collective consciousness of the computer community at large, and has too many diehard loyalists, to go quietly into that good night, just because a certain monopolistic competitor is banging loudly at the gate. The demand for Version 6, released in June, is phenomenally high. The reason is elementary: Quark is the best LAYOUT program - an all-important distinction - available, period, and has been since the dawn of desktop publishing.
My personal experience with Quark goes back to 1993, when I started a home-based advertising agency specializing in Yellow Page advertising. Quark was the first program I loaded on my then-formidable Macintosh Centris 610 (which nowadays sits on a couple of cement blocks out in the yard). I had never touched a computer in my life before then, but I felt an instant rapport with Quark, whose logical interface brilliantly exemplified the "your computer is your desktop" metaphor. (I might add, before starting my business, I had been a "paste-up artist" for nearly ten years, working with X-acto knives, layout boards, art wax, etc. It was easy for me to make a seamless transition from these tactile tools to Quark's virtual workspace.) To those who find Quark "non-intuitive," "non-user friendly," "frustrating" and "difficult," I politely suggest, perhaps you are in the wrong business. I've found Quark to be the polar opposite of these pejoratives.
For ten years now, Quark has been my primary program AND my favorite one. No exaggeration: I could not have survived the text-intensive world of the Yellow Pages without Quark's peerless typographical capabilities. I use Quark not only for my bread-and-butter YP work, but for virtually every print need imaginable: forms, labels, brochures, newsletters, calendars, greeting cards - you name it. For business correspondence and for creative or leisure writing (including all my Amazon reviews), Quark is also my chosen collaborator. After ten years, we're inseparable.
Sure, Quark has its quirks - I defy you to name an application that doesn't. (For instance, whenever I collapse a window in Illustrator, my G-4 freezes. I've never been able to figure that one out.) Considering the myriad of GREAT things about Quark, I prefer to think of its occasional lapses as the entertaining skulduggery of cyber-gremlins, no doubt playing pool with all those ones and zeroes. I never get bent out of shape over Quark's idiosyncrasies, because these, too, shall pass with a little sweet-talk, patience and tinkering.
I will never throw Quark over for Adobe InDesign for several reasons. One, I am too fond of and too loyal to Quark ever to betray my trust in the product. Two, I have nothing but admiration for the maverick Quark company, which has steadfastly resisted encroachments on its territory. And three, I have enough Adobe products already, thank you very much. I like them well enough, but I will not put any more money in the coffers of a humongous company that enjoys quite enough dominance already and has no business trying to rope and tie my favorite maverick.
It's important for desktop publishers and other professionals to have choices that don't include Adobe in their titles. For me, the only choice is QuarkXPress.

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QuarkXPress 5.0's new and enhanced tool suite produces professional print and electronic media publications more efficiently than ever before. Design Web pages and entire Web sites using the same palettes and tools you use to publish print documents. And because QuarkXPress 5.0 conforms to open standards, your Web pages can be opened and edited in standards-based HTML development tools, such as Dreamweaver. The 5.0 release also boasts an XML export tool that lets you extract content from QuarkXPress documents and store it in XML format.
QuarkXPress 5.0 streamlines print, Web, and PDF workflows by importing and exporting documents in dozens of file formats, including HTML and PDF, as well as XML format. The software's new tables tool sports typographic and image controls that create graphically rich tables in no time. QuarkXPress 5.0 also adds a new layers tool that isolates items within documents, letting you manage hundreds of document variants and making it an ideal tool for separating multiple design elements within a document.
With version 5.0, the QuarkXPress design environment gets Web savvy. Add drop-down lists, rollovers, hyperlinks, image maps, and metatags to your Web page designs. The product's powerful XTensions interface lets developers enhance QuarkXPress to meet the needs of unique publishing workflows, while its new License Administrator benefits publishers with multiple-seat installations by helping larger organizations share the use of a smaller number of licenses.

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Quarkxpress 8 Upgrade for mac/win with int Designer Xpert Tools Review

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(More customer reviews)I've been using QuarkXPress since 1994 and I would not be able to do a good job as a graphic designer without it. It is part of my layout arsenal including Illustrator and Photoshop.
I know that InDesign is also a great program but since I started with Quark, I'm staying with Quark as long as they continue to deliver a great piece of software.
The truth is, I looked into getting an Adobe Suite but Adobe did not make it easy or inexpensive to do so. I own 5 other Adobe products that are already included in the suites but I would have had to pay full price (minus $100) to buy a suite. $100 was the only break Adobe would give me as a loyal customer. So for a minimum of $1300 I could buy the basic suite. It just wasn't worth it since the only thing I didn't have was InDesign.
So, getting back to Quark 8.0 upgrade. I upgraded from Quark 7 because I purchased a new computer running Windows 7 64 bit. I wasn't sure if Quark 7 would be compatible but I decided it was just easier to upgrade and be done with it. I've had no problems running on 64 bit Windows 7.
There are some great new features (that really should have been part of the program to begin with).
1.) When you import a picture into a picture box and that picture is larger than the picture box, you can see the rest of the picture faded back (when you unselect the picture box, it goes away). This really helps in positioning a picture. Additionally, you can rotate and scale by grabbing picture corners.
2.) The tools/measurements have more options. For example, the measurements box now gives shortcut access to just about anything like alignments, tabs, runarounds, drop shadows, etc.
3.) Font choices in the measurements box actually displays a sample of the font.
4.) You can create a plain box. Not a picture box, not a text box, just a box to be used for fill or whatever. That box can later be defined as either text or picture.
5.) The object alignment options are now the same as Illustrator, flush left, flush right, center, flush top, flush bottom, distribute evenly both horizontally or vertically, etc. and are easy to get to in the measurement box.
6.) You can import native Illustrator (.ai) and Photoshop (.PSD) files although I try not to do this since I eventually go back to make them flattened files before publishing.
7.) It is much easier to edit shapes with the expanded Bezier tool options.
8.) Just about every tool has been enhanced with more options or more common options and shortcuts from other programs.
There are really too many changes to keep listing but Quark's website has a lot of detail as well. I'll try to come back and update as I come across new things or crash issues.
I have had just a couple of crashes in the two months I've been using it. They seemed to be related to text reflow and table editing -- two things that I had trouble with in previous Quark versions.
Other than that, I have had no trouble in setting up new projects, editing previous versions, exporting for print or navigable PDF's for online posting.
The thing that keeps Quark as an industry leader in publishing is the ability to manipulate type so precisely. That and the detail and flexibility in style sheets, master pages and 'find and replace' options.
I really think that Quark has taken a good product and brought it well up to speed with competitors in the industry. It is worth every penny to upgrade.

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QuarkXPress 8 complements the way creative professionals work. Strive to do better and constantly improve, employing this state-of-the-art page-layout and design software developed to help get you there. Work faster and design more with fewer clicks using the modern, intuitive interface of QuarkXPress 8. Create stunning text and achieve the effects you want with designer-driven typography. Share your print content across media with built-in Web and Flash authoring tools. Inspired by the designer's passion for perfection, QuarkXPress is a superior page-layout and design software that creative and production professionals depend on to deliver print, Web, and Flash output.Common Illustrator and Photoshop keyboard controls Flip between QuarkXPress, Photoshop, and Illustrator without having to change the way you switch tools or manipulate objects, reduce your learning curve Easily move text and pictures between QuarkXPress and any applications that support drag and drop System Requirement -Microsoft Windows XP (service pack 2 or 3) or Windows Vista 1.0 (certified on Windows Vista), Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), G5 PowerPC processor or Intel processor (G4 minimum), 256MB RAM minimum, 500MB free space, DVD-ROM drive, and Internet connection for activation

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Corel Paint Shop Pro 9 Review

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(More customer reviews)To be honest Adobe Photoshop is the top pro paint/photo package to use because of the amount of extras and plugins that it can use but I find myself turning to Paint Shop Pro very often. Let me list the reasons why.
1. It is quicker than Adobe Photoshop.
2. It has enough functions to do most of the things I need.
3. It is easy to use.
4. The learning curve is not steep.
5. The package is smaller in hard drive size than Photoshop.
6. It can do the vast majority of things that Photoshop can do.
PS has a very steep learning curve but is the only true Pro package out there, however how much of PS you think you will use depends on the type of work you are doing. I would recommend PSP just on the basis that you can get it working right out the box by just learning the basic interface.
I use this package an awful lot. I even do complex composites with it. In short - simple.

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The Print Shop Pro Publisher 22 Deluxe Review

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(More customer reviews)Don't be fooled by the box saying how many they've sold anyone who knows anything about software knows you cannot return an opened software box so sold means nothing.
This software in unimpressive, I bought it because I needed to do my wedding invitation and I liked the description thinking I could use it for may other things as well.
Well I ended up using WORD for my invitations, yes WORD, why because word actually did everything I wanted that this program said it would do but didn't! I spent HOURS trying to use it's "simple" templates to no avail they would not print correctly or in the size they claimed to be. In the end I am out the money I spent and pretty mad about it.

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The Print Shop 22 Pro Publisher Deluxe delivers more creative tools than any other Print Shop product, along with the professional features you need to take control of your business communications.400,000+ premium images & graphics PLUS, 22,000 professionally designed project templates!Packed with the text and layout tools you need, you'll easily create high quality projects including multi-page brochures, stationery, CD/DVD labels, newsletters and more.Enhanced photo editing tools provide the professional touch you need to make your photos look your best.Whether you create slideshows, burn to CD, resize for a mobile phone or design and publish your own web pages, showcasing your photos is easier than ever.

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Adobe Photoshop CS5 Review

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(More customer reviews)I've been using Photoshop Elements for a few years now, and it was okay, but I upgraded my camera a year ago and started using Adobe Lightroom (another product that rocks my boat!), and I wanted to use a product that was well-integrated with Lightroom; Elements just wasn't there. Enter CS5.
I forgot to mention, too, that I recently made the switch to a Mac at home, so I needed to buy new licenses for everything anyhow. Not only was I looking for a photo editor and a DAM (digital asset manager) tool, I needed a panorama stitcher and an HDR tool. Lightroom is taking care of DAM, and CS5 is taking care of the rest.
PRO's:
* Everything is integrated under one roof for me -- basic image editing, HDR, panorama generation.
* If you have used Elements in the past, you already know part of the program...stuff is basically in the same places, and there's more features to do almost anything imaginable.
* Content-aware fill is almost unbelievable!
CON's:
* Price. Even at Amazon's lower price, it ain't chump change.
* Learning curve. Even though I've used Elements for a while, there is so much to this program that I need to learn. Guess I better buy some books from Amazon and get cranking!

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Adobe Photoshop CS5 delivers breakthrough capabilities to help you create images with impact. Refine your images with reengineered photography tools for removing noise, adding grain, and creating high dynamic range (HDR) images. Get precise results when making complex selections. Remove any image element and see the space fill in almost magically. Paint with naturally textured brushstrokes and realistic color blends. Also work fast with cross-platform 64-bit support and dozens of other time-savers.

Create powerful images with the professional standard
Easy access to core editing power Get just the tools you need--exactly when you need them--as you perform common editing activities. Adjustments and Masks panels guide you in making precise adjustments and masks.
Extraordinary creative tools Achieve realistic painting effects with the ability to mix colors on canvas and create natural brushstrokes. Merge multiple exposures into stunning high dynamic range (HDR) images. Move, remove, warp, or stretch any image element.
State-of-the-art photography Easily merge multiple exposures to extend the dynamic range with more power, precision, and fidelity than ever before. Convert to black-and-white in new ways. And use Dodge, Burn, and Sponge tools that intelligently preserve color and tone details.
Industry-leading raw image processing Enjoy superior results when you convert raw images with the Camera Raw 6 plug-in, which offers support for over 275 camera models plus nondestructive editing so you can experiment without harming your original photo.
Automated compositing tools Easily create a single image from a series of shots that have different focal points, smoothly blending color and shading and extending your depth of field. And take advantage of accurate, automatic layer alignment.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom integration Enjoy tight integration with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom software (sold separately), easily moving files from Lightroom to Photoshop CS5 to create HDR images, panoramas, and multilayered Photoshop documents. Roundtrip your files back to Lightroom.
Efficient media management Manage your media visually with Adobe Bridge CS5 software. Enjoy more flexible batch renaming plus the ability to access files in the context of your work using the customizable Adobe Mini Bridge panel.
Powerful printing options Get outstanding prints in less time with automation, scripting, and a print dialog box that's easier to navigate.
Broad file format support Import and export hundreds of image file formats, including PSD, AI, PDF, NEF, CRW, TIFF, BMP, Cineon, JPEG, JPEG2000, FXG, OpenEXR, PNG, and Targa, and video formats including 3G, FLC, MOV, AVI, DV Stream, Image Sequence, MPEG-4, and FLV.
Extensibility Personalize Photoshop and extend its capabilities with custom panels that developers create to accomplish specific tasks, the Adobe Photoshop Marketplace for third-party plug-ins and resources, and Adobe Community Help for tips and tricks.
Top new features of Photoshop CS5 and Photoshop CS5 Extended
Intelligent selection technology Photoshop CS5 takes the time and frustration out of making precise image selections and masks, providing you a faster way to extract subjects from their backgrounds and create realistic composites. New intelligent selection technology offers better edge detection and faster, more accurate masking results of complex subjects, like hair. Automatic color decontamination helps you eliminate background color around the edges of a selection, resulting in more seamless compositions when placing extracted subjects on new backgrounds.
Experienced Photoshop users know that the best selections are created by constantly adapting the selection technique for differences in the subject's edges--one method for hair and another for the edge of a building. With Photoshop CS5, you can produce highly accurate masks and selections faster and more simply than before with a set of new adaptive selection-edge modification controls. Smart Radius automatically matches the best selection approach with the subject's changing edge characteristics, and the extra view modes assist you in previewing the quality of your selections. The Refine Radius and Erase Refinements tools customize your masks and selections as you make them. These tools, in combination with the color decontamination settings, help eliminate any residual background color from around the edges of your selections.
Content‐Aware Fill One of the most exciting new features in Photoshop CS5 is the remarkable ability to remove an image element and magically replace it with details that match the lighting, tone, and noise of the surrounding area so that it looks like the content never existed. Now, you can make substantial changes to photo composition quickly and easily, as even large complex subjects can be seamlessly erased.
You can use Content-Aware Fill with the Spot Healing Brush or as an option of the Fill feature to replace content in an active selection. Selecting the Content-Aware setting with the Spot Healing brush changes the way the tool fills in the areas you paint. This retouching approach is designed to account more fully for the structure and detail of the image elements that surround the painted area, providing a near-invisible result when removing unwanted objects. Alternatively, you can select the object to be removed, and then replace the area with synthesized details from the area surrounding the selection, simply by using the Content-Aware option in the Fill dialog box.
HDR Pro for creativity and precision with the next generation of high dynamic range imaging With just a few clicks, you can go beyond the capture capabilities of your camera by combining multiple exposures into a single high dynamic range (HDR) photo that preserves the full tonal range of a scene with high contrast. Photoshop CS5 introduces HDR Pro for more control over the HDR merging process and greater adjustment power over the mapping of tones and the styling of HDR output, resulting in images that range from photorealistic to highly surreal.
HDR Pro offers extended controls, an enhanced dialog box, and improved image processing. New algorithms enable more accurate alignment of source files and automatically deghost any problem areas that occur when trying to merge source photos where subjects have moved during capture. You can even select a source file to be used as the sole reference for any ghosted areas or allow the feature to do this automatically for you.
New tone-mapping tools and adjustment controls give you the power to implement your own HDR vision, producing photos that range in style from fully textured images of high-contrast scenes to wildly hyper-realistic creations. Save your favorite styles as presets and apply them to multiple groups of source files to provide a common look and feel to your HDR photos. And for times when you don't have multiple source files, create the look of an HDR-processed image from a single photo with the new HDR Toning feature that allows you to mimic the tone-mapping results traditionally achieved in high dynamic range photos.
Together with the existing Photomerge feature (which allows for image stitching), the exposure-merging capabilities of HDR Pro can add up to high-bit-depth, 360-degree panoramas ideal for composite photography, video, and beyond.
The Auto Stack Panorama/HDR files option in Adobe Bridge CS5 and the new panelized Mini Bridge groups source files together into stacks for quicker creation of HDR images in Photoshop CS5. You can even start the creation of an HDR file by choosing Tools > Merge To HDR from the Mini Bridge panel inside Photoshop.
State-of-the-art raw-image processing The Adobe Camera Raw 6 plug-in, which ships with Photoshop CS5, now supports more than 275 camera models as it continues to provide you with the industry-leading conversion of raw files. In addition, the utility provides advanced, nondestructive image editing and enhancement for raw files, as well as for other standard formats, including JPEG and TIFF. Now you can remove noise, achieve better quality sharpening, and creatively apply new styles of vignettes and film-like grain.
You can now shoot at higher ISO settings with confidence, because the updated controls in the Adobe Camera Raw 6 plug-in remove the noise common in such high-ISO images (as well as in photos captured with long exposures and pictures from consumer cameras) while still preserving excellent color and detail.
New controls for adding grain and additional post-crop vignetting settings join many creative options already available in this utility, such as the Adjustment Brush and the Graduated Filter. For the first time, you can add grain-like texture to photos as part of your nondestructive editing workflow. Adjust amount, size, and roughness of grain to easily give composites a more natural, seamless appearance by matching levels of grain across all source images--or simply use the feature to make a digital photo look more organic or film-like.
Updated post-crop vignetting options offer more creative control over the corner darkening and lightening process, and your favorite vignette effects can be saved as presets for quick application across multiple files.
Upgraded sharpening options produce clearer photos with fewer artifacts while providing better control over key details, especially when working with high-resolution pictures produced by multi-megapixel cameras.
Extraordinary painting effects With a new Mixer Brush, a Bristle Tips feature, and a new mechanism for blending colors, Photoshop CS5 redefines the way you paint. You can take advantage of more natural and realistic painting effects, making it easy to take your imagery and designs in new artistic directions.
The Mixer Brush lets you define multiple colors on a single tip, and then mix and blend them with the underlying hues on your canvas, achieving creative results that rival traditional painting media. When starting with a photo original, you can use a dry, empty brush to blend the existing colors while at the same time adding a painterly effect to the image. Mixer Brush settings provide extensive control over the wetness of the canvas colors, the load rate that determines amount of paint loaded on the brush, the mixing rate between brush and canvas colors, and whether the brush is refilled, cleaned, or both after each painting stroke.
In conjunction with these new mixing features, Photoshop CS5 incorporates unprecedented control over stroke characteristics of its painting tools with Bristle Tips. Bristle Qualities define key bristle properties such as shape, length, stiffness, thickness, angle, and spacing, which affect how the color is laid on the image as you paint.
The Bristle Brush Preview feature provides a visual representation of these changes, and you can save your tip configurations for future use, allowing you to build a customized collection of Bristle Tips to experiment with when using Photoshop brush tools.
Puppet Warp Puppet Warp gives you more freedom when pushing and pulling elements within an image. The feature lets you recompose an image to make it more appealing, or to fit a specific layout, by allowing the precise repositioning of any element within a Photoshop document, or selection, by simply clicking and dragging. After you reposition an object, Photoshop adjusts the rest of the image to account for the shifted pixels.
After choosing Edit > Puppet Warp, click on your image to drop pins establishing anchor points where you want image parts not to move, and handles that you can use for warping. Then drag any of the pins to reposition the picture elements. Use Puppet Warp to swing a raised arm to a person's side, warp and stretch text to create new effects, or reposition intrusive objects in a photo to create a more pleasing composition.
Automated lens correction The Lens Correction features in Photoshop CS5 create better quality captures by removing or correcting the three most common lens-based errors: geometric distortion, chromatic aberration, and vignetting. This means you can use a wider range of lenses with the confidence of producing images of the highest quality. With the aid of the Adobe Lens Profile Creator (available separately as a free download from labs.adobe.com) you can produce custom profiles characterizing the optical aberrations of your camera lenses. When installed and selected in the Lens Correction filter in Photoshop CS5, the profile automatically removes or corrects the three types of distortion.
The Lens Correction filter in Photoshop CS5 is redesigned to include manual adjustment controls under the Custom tab, and settings for locating and applying custom Lens Correction Profiles (LCP files) under a new Auto Correction tab. Installed profiles that match your camera and lens combination are used to apply precise distortion corrections to your photos. Suitable profiles can be located easily based on the EXIF data automatically recorded with the image, and if a suitable profile is not present in the Lens Correction filter, then with a single click within the dialog box, you can search online for the correct profile to meet your needs.
Individual error types can be selected in the filter's settings, as can options for handling any transparent areas that surround the corrected image.
User-inspired productivity enhancements Photoshop CS5 helps boost productivity and creativity throughout the editing workflow with dozens of enhancements inspired by Photoshop users. Some of these include:
A neutral-density preset for the Gradient tool
The ability to save 16-bit Photoshop documents in 8-bit JPEG format in a single step
An option for reversing the clone source using the flip buttons in the Clone Source panel
A Don't Show This Message Again option when saving files with maximum compatibility
Default value for Shadows/Highlights changed from 50% to 35%
The ability to move a selection while the active layer is hidden
An on/off option for trackpad gesture support on Mac and in Microsoft® Windows® 7
A new layer command for deleting all empty layers via scripts
A Straighten button on the Ruler tool options bar
A Close All Open Images Without Saving option
A Save As option for always defaulting to the folder to which you last saved an image
The ability to drag and drop a file onto an open Photoshop document to create a new layer
Multiple improvements in Lens Correction filter options, including:
Grid Display is off by default
Show Grid, Grid Size, and Grid Color settings are now sticky
Default grid size is increased from 16 to 64 pixels
Decimal point adjustments are allowed as values for the Chromatic Aberration sliders
A third Chromatic Aberration slider enables the correction of green/magenta fringing
The Background Color Edge setting is replaced with the Black Color entry
A White Color option is available in the Edge menu
Reset options are changed so that only the calibration settings are reset, not the Grid options

A new Cache Tile Size control in the Performance section of the Preferences dialog box
Zoom in and out with the new scrubby zoom tool
Presets for setting Cache Tile Size and Cache Levels simultaneously
The ability to use keystrokes to set values in the Adjustments panel text fields
Performance increases of up to 50% when importing OBJ files
Sample colors faster using the new on screen color ring built into the eyedropper tool
Customizable default values for Layer styles
New creative resources, including actions, tools, presets, brushes, swatches, shapes, gradients, styles, and tool presets
Window and Door shapes added to list of meshes that can be created from a layer
An option for changing the opacity of multiple selected layers
The ability to create a mask from the transparent areas of a layer
Pick colors faster using the new on-screen color HUD
Print settings saved with the image file, allowing one-button printing with user-selected values
Selecting a printer automatically lists the profiles installed for that printer at the top of the profile list
Printer-specific profiles are selected automatically when choosing a printer
Customized print settings can be recorded as part of a Photoshop Action
An overlay grid can be displayed when using the Crop tool
Layer groups can be nested more than five levels deep
New Paste Outside and Paste Inside commands, along with the previously existing Paste In Place option, are included in a new Edit > Paste Special menu

Streamlined creative reviews through integration with Adobe CS ReviewCollaborate with colleagues and seek client comment quickly and easily with Adobe CS Review, a new CS Live online service* designed to simplify and accelerate the design review process.
With CS Review, you can avoid the hassles of large email attachments, logon problems with FTP servers, and time-consuming next-day air deliveries usually associated with client reviews by instead initiating a secure, shared review. Comments are displayed in near-real time and in context, providing convenient feedback on your images and designs. You can access the CS Review service from within Photoshop CS5.
Faster performance with cross-platform native 64-bit support Tight deadlines and large file sizes make performance a high priority for many Photoshop users. Photoshop CS5 and Photoshop CS5 Extended deliver cross-platform 64-bit support, allowing you to perform day-to-day imaging tasks up to 10 times faster. Video and photo professionals, especially, benefit from the extra performance, as gains are even greater if you regularly work with very large files, where processing can be up to ten times faster when you take advantage of higher addressable RAM amounts--limited only by what your hardware accommodates.
To help you tweak the performance of your setup, Photoshop CS5 lets you adjust history, tile, and cache controls in combination.
Greater access to key resources via flexible custom panels Photoshop CS5 offers easy ways to integrate and extend your workspace with customized panels. With the aid of the Configurator 2.0 panel utility (available separately as a download from labs.adobe.com) you can produce your own panels, bringing together your most used tools and menu selections and incorporating your favorite web feeds or video tutorials.
Stay connected to the greater Photoshop community and all facets of your digital life directly from within Photoshop CS5 by using panels you create or those produced and distributed by other users. You can access anything that lives on the web--favorite blogs, video content, even your email--with these integrated panels. You can even expand content beyond a panel's standard viewing area when you need a magnified view.
Easier interface management with Live Workspaces and Workspace Switcher Creating dedicated, task-specific workspaces that mimic your individual workflow increases productivity and efficiency by hiding the features you don't use and exposing the ones you do. New Live Workspaces auto-save any changes you make to a task-specific workspace, so that if you switch to a different workspace and then back again during an editing session, your panels remain exactly where you left them. The number of entries displayed in the collapsible Workspace Switcher can be altered, and the position of each workspace can be rearranged. This provides quicker navigation between frequently used setups.
Superior black-and-white conversion Photoshop CS5 continues to support the tradition of producing finely crafted monochrome photos with the inclusion of new ways to explore an endless variety of black-and-white looks. You can use the integrated Lab Black & White Technique action, located in the Default Actions group of the Actions panel, for an easy and interactive way to convert color images. Create gorgeous HDR black-and-whites with greater ease and speed by taking advantage of the new and updated features in HDR Pro. Take your monochrome creations in new directions with conversion presets in the Black & White panel.

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Painter X Upgrade Review

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(More customer reviews)I have used this program for awhile for sketching but really got to dig in this time and use all the artist tools. Very well done and I am even creating Hot Rod fine art pieces with it now. Amazing how everything works and its a lot of fun! Great Product!

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Corel Painter X, the world's most powerful Natural-Media software, offers artists andphotographers professional art & design tools that are unmatched by any other product.Delivering the next-generation art studio, Corel Painter X blurs the line between traditional and digital art like never before. Complete with training videos by Painter Master Jeremy Sutton, artists can learn new techniques to create original works of breathtaking art.Setting the standard, Corel Painter X introduces unparalleled performance, new color and composition tools, and the revolutionary RealBristle Painting System that provides an organic painting & illustration experience—right down to the individual bristles on the brush.

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Art Explosion Publisher Pro 2.0 Review

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(More customer reviews)Publisher Pro 2.0 is a great product and a good follow-on to the first version. Not only can you easily produce small publications (I create 16 page "tabloid sized" newsletters, with tons of photos) and export them as pdf files, but you can now open and edit pdf files, a feature I haven't seen in any affordable publisher. Its interpretation is precise, though when it meets a change in formatting (such as a single word in bold type within a paragraph), it interprets that as the end of a text block and starts a new section. I only use that feature when I want to fill out forms I've received from others or add a little text or images to them. I wouldn't try to heavily edit a large file. Pdf creation now includes form fields, which allows for more interactive features such as radial and other buttons and fill-out-able forms in addition to the standard pdf bookmarks, index and table of content which link to content within the pdf, hyperlinks to external sites, and more.
As in the previous version, it still has lots of pre-made templates, but the blank templates are still the best. I love being able to make a tri-fold brochure and actually selecting each page I want to work on separately: the right panel, left panel back panel and interior spread. The program then prints it in the correct sequence on the page. And in each of the 24 categories (including Banners, business forms, greeting cards, webpages...) there are many blank styles from which to chose.
As a volunteer newsletter editor (with no formal training in design and only some spare time), I find myself in the position of producing newsletters, flyers, tri-fold brochures and ad books not only for the large regional and local group of one organization, but also for my friends' school groups and churches and the local library. I often have to send the files to professional printers who require high-quality pdf files. It's a little more complex than either it's predecessor (Pub. pro version 1) or the older version of MS Publisher I had used before (a program I was happy with, but it had no pdf support), but most questions are easily resolved by refering to the in-program help files. On the other hand, it's a more powerful program with color separation, palette (incliding Pantone) support, transparencies and effects - features you'd expect in higher end programs. It also has a more flexible studio bar with tear off tabs for line style, formatting, colors, object styles, etc.., that you can view, hide or drag to arrange.
Included with the program is the free Publisher Pro Photo Editor, which allows you to draw and paint using layers and transparencies, and then export your pictures in a variety of formats (including some transparent versions), such as jpg, png, gif, etc. It doesn't have a lot of filters and fancy stuff, but it's a good little program for simple photo editing or creating a small graphic.
But most important, the telephone customer support was good. When I first got the program, I had difficulty opening some, but not all, of my older Publisher Pro files - the program crashed! I called customer support after a few days trying to figure out myself what the difference in the files was. I was told it had to do with the Nova clip art in the files and to remove the images and the file would work. Luckily, I had the previous version installed on another machine. I noticed in the Tools: Resource Manager that those clipart files were "linked," so selected "unlink" (which embeds the image) and then the files opened fine. (The Resource Manager is a nice feature that shows you what images and fonts are in your document, what their size and status are, and allows you to jump right to them). Nova Developement is currently working on a fix for the problem.
Pros: great price (especially if you have a rebate), good customer support, some high-end features, free photo editor and the ability to export to pdf.
Cons: a little harder to learn (reading the tutorials helps!), legacy files crash unless the clipart is embedded.
Overall: If you want a more powerful publishing program that produces quality pdf files, but is still within your budget, this is the one!
p.s. If you do get this program, you should check out the entertaining place-holder text, with it's odd pop-culture references that form random stories. More interesting than Lorem ipsum.

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Art Explosion Publisher Pro is the fastest, easiest way to create documents with impact. From single-page flyers to multi-page brochures and newsletters, Publisher Pro has all of the powerful tools and readymade templates you need to turn out spectacular publications!

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Adobe Illustrator CS5 Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm a graphics professional and have been using Adobe software for 20 years and this is by far the most amazing suite of tools that they have produced. The upgrades to Illustrator are impressive-Bristle Brush (natural media painting tools that are vector), Perspective Grid, Shape Builder, enhanced Artboards, and more. I am already using all of these features to great benefit in my workflow. I've also used the new Blender Brushes in Photoshop which are very nice and I have played with Content Aware Fill and have been stunned by how well it works. It puts a lot of power into the hands of even casual users of the application. If you have any reservations simply go to their site and download a 30 day trial version and test some of these great new features.

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Create distinctive designs for any project. Used by creative professionals worldwide, Adobe Illustrator CS5 software provides precision and power. Paint expressively with vectors, draw in perspective, and explore designing for interactivity. Move easily between Illustrator, other Adobe products, and Adobe CS Live online services. Get the job done efficiently but beautifully, moving quickly from multiple ideas to multiple outputs with complete control and delivering exactly what you had in mind.

Explore new paths with the essential vector tool
Sophisticated vector drawing controls Create distinctive designs with precise shape-building tools, fluid and painterly brushes, and advanced path controls. Such powerful drawing capabilities provide practically infinite possibilities for creating unique and striking artwork.
Advanced typography Enjoy easy type creation and professional control with more than 80 OpenType fonts, paragraph and character styles, paragraph composition, underlining and strikethroughs, transparent effects, and more.
Gradients and transparency Interact with gradients directly on your object, defining the dimension of elliptical gradients, editing colors, and adjusting opacity. Control the transparency of individual colors in a gradient, including those applied to a gradient mesh.
Perspective Drawing Use perspective grids to draw shapes and scenes in accurate 1-, 2-, or 3-point linear perspective. Create the look of realistic depth and distance with snap-to guides to quickly put objects, live text, and symbols into perspective.
Beautiful Strokes Adjust stroke width interactively using new width handles. Precisely position arrowheads and symmetrically align dashes. Control stretch at any point when scaling art brushes on a path, and see how patterns behave beautifully at corners.
Multiple artboards Work on up to 100 artboards of varying sizes in one file, organized and viewed the way you want--overlapping or on a grid. Quickly add, delete, reorder, and name. Save, export, and print artboards independently or together.
In-panel appearance editing Edit object characteristics directly in the Appearance panel, eliminating the need to open fill, stroke, or effects panels. Work with shared attributes and toggle individual attribute display for faster rendering.
Drawing enhancements Work faster with everyday tools. Draw behind, disregarding stacking order. Draw or place an image inside, instantly creating a clipping mask. Join paths with one keystroke, see ruler origins at the upper left, and scale symbols with 9-slice control.
Crisp graphics for web and mobile devices Create vector objects precisely on the file's pixel grid for delivering pixel-aligned artwork. Generate clean, sharp raster graphics by turning on Align To Pixel Grid and using text anti-aliasing options for individual text frames.
Integration with Adobe CS Review Create and share--from within Illustrator--online reviews for clients and colleagues down the hall or around the world. Publish your review to the web and see comments in Illustrator so you can track feedback on specific design elements.
Integration with Adobe design applications Share files smoothly with other Adobe professional design applications and easily create artwork for multiple outputs. Work across products and across media with roundtrip editing and user interface similarities among Adobe Creative Suite tools.
Adobe PDF file creation tools Create protected, graphic-rich PDF files with Illustrator layers retained, multiple artboards for multiple pages, and color space and transparency handling. Include printer's marks and bleeds to share files confidently with service providers and with ultimate prepress control.
Industry-standard graphic file format support Work with almost any type of graphic file--including PDF, EPS, FXG, Photoshop (PSD), TIFF, GIF, JPEG, SWF, SVG, DWG, DXF, and more.
Top new features of Adobe Illustrator CS5
Perspective drawing Use perspective grids to draw shapes and scenes in accurate 1-, 2-, and 3-point linear perspectives. The new Perspective Grid tool allows you to turn on a grid that supports drawing directly on planes of true perspective. The new Perspective Selection tool allows objects to be moved, scaled, duplicated, and transformed dynamically in perspective. Easily move and duplicate objects from one plane to another.
You can also create objects in flat space and then apply them to a perspective plane, where they will correctly transform in shape. This works particularly well with symbols, in that you can place easily reapeatable instances onto the perspective grid and see the symbols "in back" recede to give you the look of realistic depth and distance. You can use the perspective grid to resize objects; you can even work with live text in perspective.
No longer do you need to construct your own perspective environment--no more creating your own horizon lines and vanishing points. You can even use the perspective grid to draw vector objects on top of a reference photograph or video still placed on your artboard. Consider adding a series of street lamps to a cityscape for a sequential lighting animation, for example. Or add fence posts to a reference landscape image to complete your billboard for a western wilderness camp.
Beautiful strokes In Illustrator CS5, a number of new features have been introduced that make designing with strokes even more powerful and flexible. The core drawing tools within Illustrator merit attention every software release, and with Illustrator CS5 there are five significant updates that new and long-time users will appreciate. You can finely control stroke width, dashes, arrowheads, and how brushes stretch along a path. And improvements in corner handling mean that stroke shapes behave predictably in tight angles or around sharp points.
Variable-width strokes--Draw strokes with variable widths that you can quickly and smoothly adjust at any point, symmetrically or along either side. You can create custom width profiles that you can save and subsequently apply to any stroke.
Dashed line control--Control alignment of dashes on a stroke. Now enjoy symmetrical dashes around corners and at the ends of open paths, with lengths adjusted automatically to fit. Toggle between adjusted and preserved dashes and gaps.
Precise arrowheads--Work in a completely new way with arrowheads. Pick an arrowhead shape and control placement and scaling from within the Stroke panel. You can even choose whether to lock the tip or base of the arrowhead to the path endpoint.
Stretch control for brushes--Define how art and pattern brushes scale along a path. Choose areas of the brush graphic you wish to stretch and those you wish to keep in proportion. For example, you may need to elongate the middle of a banner graphic while keeping the detailed, curly ends of the banner from stretching.
Brushes with corner control--Apply art and pattern brushes to a path and get clean results, even at tight bends or corners. Where strokes of different widths join, or they form obtuse or acute angles, choose options to properly fill points where joins occur.

Bristle Brush Paint with vectors that resemble real-world brush strokes. The new Bristle Brush provides breakthrough control of painting. You can set bristle characteristics such as size, length, thickness, and stiffness. Set brush shape and bristle density. And set paint opacity, which uses transparency variations to simulate lifelike blending. When you have chosen the perfect characteristics for your Bristle Brush, you can save it for later use.
With the Bristle Brush you can achieve the expressiveness of natural media like watercolors and oils--but with the scalability and editability of vectors. Get the most out of the Bristle Brush using a tablet with a Wacom 6D Art Pen, which responds automatically to pressure, bearing, and tilt, plus provides 360-degree barrel rotation and anaccurate brush preview.
Crisp graphics for web and mobile devices Create vector objects precisely on the file's pixel grid for delivering pixel-aligned artwork. When you're designing artwork for Flash Catalyst, Adobe Flash Professional software, and Adobe Dreamweaver® software, it's critical that raster images look sharp, especially standard web graphics at 72ppi resolution. Pixel alignment is also useful for video resolution rasterization control. And in Illustrator CS5, new web graphics tools include type enhancements. Choose one of four text anti-aliasing options for each of your Illustrator text frames.
Pixel grid alignment Generate clean, sharp raster graphics by turning on Align To Pixel Grid. Objects are automatically nudged to the closest pixel edge when you create them or apply transformations.Now, a one-pixel stroke won't straddle two pixels and get blurred or lost with anti-aliasing. Zoom in to see the grid and watch your objects align as you work. The alignment control is located in the Transform panel.
Text anti-aliasing Create readable text for the web, mobile devices, handsets, gaming devices, or any destination where you need to generate raster images from your Illustrator artwork. Four anti-aliasing options now appear in the Illustrator CS5 Character panel. Choose among Sharp, Crisp, Strong, and Smooth, which match the text anti-aliasing rules in Adobe Photoshop® software. You can apply a different rule to each text frame in your artwork, and your specifications are saved with the file.
Multiple artboards enhancements The multiple artboards feature introduced in Illustrator CS4 is now markedly better. Work on up to 100 artboards of varying sizes all in one document, organized and viewed the way you want. New and greatly expanded artboard options in Illustrator CS5 include a full Artboards panel, in which you can name and reorder artboards. Quickly add, delete, and duplicate them using panel controls or keyboard shortcuts.
Artboards are also easier to arrange, aligned to a grid if you wish, with rows and columns you define. New ruler behavior includes automatic top-left origin, and the options for saving your artwork now include saving one, all, or a range of individual artboards as individual AI files. The advantage of multiple artboards is that you can work on a variety of related projects in a single file and share settings and content across designs. For different outputs, you can choose among a variety of preset ratios and guides, such as for print or web design. You can create artboards to mock up aspect ratios such as an HDTV screen, a movie theater screen, or the screen of a mobile device, exploring ways to adapt your composition for each of them.
You can also create an artboard inside an artboard to serve as a crop area so it's easy to export just a piece of a composition. Save, export, and print artboards independently or together--as a series of files or as a single, multipage PDF file.
Shape Builder tool Intuitively combine, edit, and fill shapes on your artboard. Drag the cursor across overlapping shapes and paths to create new objects and add color without accessing multiple tools and panels. Quickly unite, exclude, trim, and more.
If you have ever worked with the Pathfinder panel, you will appreciate the Shape Builder tool. It enables merging objects, breaking overlapping shapes into distinct objects, subtracting areas, and more. For example, you can draw a stroke across a the middle of a circle and quickly create two half-circles--no need to open a panel or choose another tool.
Coloring fills and strokes is easier now, too. The Shape Builder tool includes interactive color selection for quickly filling closed or partially closed areas of your artwork. Options include automatic gap detection and choosing whether or not to automatically fill new shapes.
Drawing enhancements Work faster with everyday tools. Improvements to familiar drawing tools make using Illustrator CS5 efficient and productive. Instant masking using Draw Inside mode and joining paths with a keystroke are just two of the enhancements that speed up your routine tasks.
Draw behind and inside--Draw behind other objects without choosing layers or worrying about stacking order. Draw or place an image inside a shape, including live text. The draw inside feature automatically creates a clipping mask from the selected object. Find Draw Behind and Draw Inside modes at the bottom of the toolbar. Select an object, choose a mode; then, when you draw, place an image, or create a shape, your new element is behind the selected object. With Draw Inside, the selected object will also become a mask.
Symbols--New 9-slice scaling in Illustrator and registration point control make symbols more powerful than ever. Scaling an object with 9-slice control enables proportion maintenance in exactly the places you want it, now available in Illustrator and not just for export. Repeat extremely complex symbols and maintain ultimate control while you scale and transform them in Illustrator.
Artboard ruler origin and coordinates--No longer think twice about your coordinates. Artboard ruler origins and coordinate systems are now oriented from the upper left. If you have scripts that use a previous coordinate system, they will still work correctly. You can also choose to work with a global ruler that provides coordinates across all your artboards, or you can work with local, artboard-specific rulers.
Path join--Join open paths in a single keystroke with objects selected. You no longer need to select endpoints, and you can join more than one path at a time. Simply select two or more open paths and press Command+J (Mac) or Ctrl+J (Windows) to see your paths join into one open path.
Select behind--Use a keyboard shortcut to easily select an individual object located behind other objects. Press Command (Mac) or Ctrl (Windows) when you select the object that's in the back.

Roundtrip editing with Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5 Use Illustrator CS5 for interaction design, now enabled by new Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5, available in Adobe Creative Suite 5 Design Premium, Web Premium, Production Premium, and Master Collection. Develop your ideas and design your interface in Illustrator, creating screen layouts and individual elements such as logos and button graphics. Then open your artwork in Flash Catalyst and add actions and interactive components there--without writing code.
After you've added interactivity to your designs, you can still make edits and design changes directly within Illustrator. From Flash Catalyst, simply choose Modify > Edit In Adobe Illustrator CS5 and the artwork opens, ready to edit, in Illustrator. For example, you can edit the look of interactive button states in Illustrator while seeing that the structure you added in Flash Catalyst is maintained.
Resolution-independent effects See raster effects such as drop shadows, blurs, and textures maintain a consistent appearance across media. Have you ever found that your artwork mysteriously loses its smooth, high-quality look when you publish? You can now create work for different types of output and know that popular raster effects maintain an ideal appearance no matter how your resolution settings change--from print to web to video. You can even go up to a higher resolution. Work quickly and efficiently with low-resolution artwork and then scale up when you're ready to go to a finished output such as high-quality print.
Integration with Adobe CS Review Illustrator CS5 integrates with Adobe CS Review, one of several new CS Live online services. With Adobe CS Review, you can create and share online reviews for clients and colleagues down the hall or around the world. From within Illustrator CS5, publish a review of your work to the web. Multiple reviewers can then access your review from a browser without any additional software and make comments right in their browser window with easy-to-use annotation tools.

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The Print Shop 22 Deluxe Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I was shopping for an alternative when it occurred to me to review...I've used Printshop since ver. 10, and I know it pretty well. I use it a lot both for work and personal and usually from "scratch". A few things have improved but not enough to keep me committed to it. The art gallery directory is ridiculous, you can't search for a subject, the silly names are like "he likes ice" for a picture of a panda and it is full of old cards and really silly items (pretentiously called "premium images", maybe young kids like them) and many duplicates of images, sadly I've never figured out how to access images from earlier versions, which were superior. Some nice tools of the past like "transparency" seen to have disappeared ;-). It has a tendency to do odd things like "forget" the earlier version of a project or change font sizes when you cut and paste, or refuse to copy...I've run it on a few different computers and it does this on all of them. Today it changed my #10 envelope size every time I closed the project so I had to keep redoing it and couldn't find my address book so I couldn't use mail merge. It gets confused about using legal size paper, changing the layout when you reopen the project to fit letter. I've never been able to work the text in "table", the columns are difficult to size and print set up has a wrong page that has never been corrected. Do NOT call fee based customer support, they charge whether they know how to resolve the issue or not, after telling the tech what I had already tried he had me re-try, charging me all the time, I paid half after some argument and in retrospect should not have paid at all. There is really no technical support. It is easier to use than full programs but has surprising limitations and quirks. I use it all the time and can do a lot with it, but it can be unnecessarily frustrating.

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The Print Shop 22 Deluxe offers the best in total personal creativity.350,000+ images & graphics PLUS 20,000+ Project Templates!Packed with new features and tools, you have everything you need for satisfy your creative side.Enhanced photo editing features provide professional looking results to make your photos perfect every time.Easily add them to any project, create slideshows, burn to CD, or resize for your mobile phone.New project size options, photo quality printing and borderless print features mean your projects will have the refined look you want!Even manage your time with Calender Creator Express, the address book, and improved mail merge for effortless mailings every time!

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Adobe Creative Suite 5 Design Standard Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)All of the CS5 suites are shipping with Acrobat 9. Acrobat 10 will be shipping in December and I assume they'll be updated to include Acrobat 10.
Adobe says you can NOT get a free upgrade to 10 with these versions so it's probably best to wait until December to see what happens.
As far as the programs are concerned, they obviously are all 5 star programs.

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Adobe Creative Suite 5 Design Standard is tightly integrated professional software for delivering distinctive print design in marketing collateral, magazines, books, packaging, and more. Achieve exceptional quality even under the tightest deadlines with best-in-class drawing, image editing, page layout, and print production tools.

Create outstanding print design, even under the tightest deadlines
Comprehensive toolset for print design and production Express your most innovative creative visions in print, using tightly integrated software for moving fluidly and confidently from inspiration to output. Accelerate creative reviews with new Adobe CS Live online services that integrate with your Creative Suite software. CS Live online services are complimentary for a limited time--visit www.adobe.com/go/cslive for details.
Breakthrough image editing Create compelling digital images with Adobe Photoshop CS5, the industry standard in digital imaging. Use versatile brush tools to paint with realistic strokes, precise selection tools to make exacting refinements, and a wide range of workflow and performance enhancements to accelerate everyday tasks.
Sophisticated vector graphics Craft compelling graphics with Adobe Illustrator CS5, the vector-drawing environment used by design professionals worldwide. Experiment freely and quickly to achieve the look you want for illustrations, creative effects, typography, and color.
Professional page layout Lay out stunning pages faster and more efficiently in Adobe InDesign CS5 with an intuitive design environment, precise typographic controls, built-in creative tools and effects, robust preflight capabilities, and a host of productivity features.
Adobe PDF creation, editing, and delivery Prepare files for high-end print production with confidence using Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro. End-to-end PDF workflows share common technology to generate, preview, and print PDF files, enabling consistent high-quality output.
Adobe CS Live online services Bring creative reviews directly into your design workflow using new CS Live online services that integrate with your Creative Suite software. Initiate a quick online review from within Photoshop, Illustrator, or InDesign. Reviewers comment in their browser using simple annotation tools, and you view comments in the context of your work--making it much easier to match each comment to the right design element.
Comprehensive preflight and production Use robust preflight features to check files for high-end print publishing. Catch production glitches as you lay out pages, avoid color output surprises in graphics, and apply output presets to reliably meet exacting production standards and minimize costly errors.
Sophisticated typography Easily compose beautiful type for page layouts, images, and illustrations using robust styles in InDesign CS5 and Illustrator CS5, along with a host of advanced typographic controls for creativity and precision.
Built-in creative tools and effects Explore artistic possibilities with built-in Photoshop effects, nondestructive effects, and finer transparency controls in InDesign CS5. Create or modify images with brush tools and paint settings in Photoshop CS5. Sketch naturally and draw in accurate perspective in Illustrator CS5.
Faster performance in Photoshop Perform day-to-day imaging tasks faster, and process very large images at least 10 times faster. (Requires a 64-bit-capable computer with a 64-bit version of Mac OS, Microsoft Windows 7, or Windows Vista. Actual performance increase varies depending on the installed drivers, the features that you're using, and other factors.)
Adobe Photoshop CS5Create powerful images with the professional standard Adobe Photoshop CS5 delivers breakthrough capabilities to help you create images with impact. Refine your images with reengineered photography tools for removing noise, adding grain, and creating high dynamic range (HDR) images. Get precise results when making complex selections. Remove any image element and see the space fill in almost magically. Paint with naturally textured brushstrokes and realistic color blends. Also work fast with cross-platform 64-bit support and dozens of other time-savers.

Refine with powerful photography tools Create and refine images using state-of-the-art photography tools that deliver superior results with unprecedented ease and in fewer steps than ever before.
Maximize creative impact Explore new creative possibilities with breakthrough tools that enable you to select, adjust, paint, and recompose images with tremendous precision and freedom.
Boost productivity Accelerate your workflow with fast performance on 64-bit hardware systems, smoother interactions thanks to GPU acceleration, and dozens of time-savers throughout the application.
Adobe Illustrator CS5--Explore new paths with the essential vector tool Create distinctive designs for any project. Used by creative professionals worldwide, Adobe Illustrator CS5 software provides precision and power. Paint expressively with vectors, draw in perspective, and explore designing for interactivity. Move easily between Illustrator, other Adobe products, and Adobe CS Live online services. Get the job done efficiently but beautifully, moving quickly from multiple ideas to multiple outputs with complete control and delivering exactly what you had in mind.

Design with powerful creative tools Take advantage of exceptional precision and power to create distinctive vector artwork. Combine highly controllable drawing tools with expressive natural brushes and dramatic effects to make unique, striking designs.
Work smoothly and efficiently Speed up your workflow with innovations that encourage efficiency. Get the job done with purpose and agility using shortcuts and time-savers to take multiple ideas to multiple outputs.
Deliver virtually anywhere Incorporate vector artwork into essentially any project and deliver resolution-independent graphics across media. Enjoy tighter-than-ever integration with other Adobe products and go anywhere your creativity takes you.
Adobe InDesign CS5--Design professional layouts for print and digital publishing Adobe InDesign CS5 software provides precise control over typography and built-in creative tools for designing, preflighting, and publishing documents for print, online, or to mobile devices. Bring documents and presentations to life with interactivity, animation, sound, and video. Leading industry tools, and productivity enhancements make page layout simpler and faster. Access Adobe CS Live online services* from within InDesign to streamline critical review processes.

Streamline review processes Build powerful documents as a team. New integrated tools and the availability of efficient online services make review processes more efficient, whether your clients and colleagues are across the hall or around the world.
Do more in less time Create, edit, and publish documents faster. A wealth of new productivity features help make page layout simpler, easier, and speedier.
Create powerful, innovative digital documents Engage, inform, and attract readers with documents that include interactivity, animation, video, and sound. Develop stronger, more compelling communications with rich interactive documents.
Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro--Protect documents and accelerate information exchange with PDF Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro software builds on the foundational feature set of Acrobat 9 Standard to provide business and creative professionals with additional capabilities, including enhanced security features, high-end print production support, and easy-to-manage electronic document reviews.
Deliver polished, professional documents Quickly integrate content, insert company logos, define navigation, and add polish to your PDF Portfolio using one of many customizable templates.
Create dynamic electronic forms Use included Adobe LiveCycle Designer software--a professional form design tool--to create, customize, and automate dynamic forms.
Collaborate and share with virtually anyone, anywhere Gain the input you need--in real time--through interactive, shared document reviews that help participants see and build on each other's comments.
Adobe Creative Suite 5 With powerful new creative tools, enhanced performance and workflows, and the ability to integrate with timesaving new Adobe CS Live online services, Adobe Creative Suite 5 software provides the edge you need to create rich content for virtually any media--print, web, interactive, video, audio, and mobile. Whether you need to produce printed pages efficiently or design and distribute engaging content online, on film, on air, and on device, you'll find the right combination of Adobe tools to increase your productivity and keep pace with your creative vision.

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