PhotoImpact Review - CorelDraw Review - Corel PhotoPaint Review - PhotoImpact 11

 

PhotoImpact is our favorite graphics program, so much so that we wanted to share this review with you.  Most of the graphics on our sites are done with Photo Impact review

 

review CorelDraw (also known as Corel Draw)  and Corel PhotoPaint (also known as Corel Photo Paint) are our 2nd most favorite Graphics Program.  We do our flash animations with Corel RAVE, also known as Corel R.A.V.E.  We are not professional reviewers or selling these products, we actually use PhotoImpact and CorelDraw

We only take time to write reviews when we find exceptional value, exceptional service

Or when we feel short changed, taken advantage of, or otherwise feel ripped off.  This review is our opinion or a reflection of our experiences.

We are not selling anything here.

We are impassioned by the value and functionality of PhotoImpact 

We love CorelDraw, Corel PhotoPaint and the suite.  We wish Coral's products were more well documented and marketed better.  We feel that Adobe's Photoshop is far too expensive for the non-dedicated, non-professional.  If you don't use photo editing software all day there are great alternatives in PhotoImpact and CorelDraw

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PhotoImpact (also known as Photo Impact - Review includes Gif Animator, Photo Explorer, and PhotoImpact Album):

Summary:  Great Great Value and Wonderful Results produced by PhotoImpact at a budget conscious price:

There are a wonderful assortment of templates in PhotoImpact that get you started toward professional results. The Photo Explorer does simple photo tweaking and shows you a catalog of the photos in a folder, the album creates slide shows, outputs album for web pages or to CD or DVD disks and more.

The Ulead Gif Animator is for creating or editing and making movies and professional animated gif files PhotoImpact is for serious image editing and the serious would be image professional. 

PhotoImpact has various versions and iterations such as PhotoImpact 8.5, PhotoImpact Pro, PhotoImpact XL, and PhotoImpact 10.  PhotoImpact 11 and Version XL and 10 (and perhaps PhotoImpact Pro) includes 10 tutorial movies that you can play in MS Media Player. The movies will teach you the PhotoImpact basics and make you productive. PDF manuals for PhotoImpact and the other included programs come with the package.

The price-power is a very fair trade off for the learning curve. At this price you do not get much technical support but you get versatility and power. PhotoImpact will give you immediate results if you are new to photo editing.  The powerful feature set gives you room to expand your skills - as you learn you will think "I wonder if I can do this or that"?  In PhotoImpact the answer is usually YES!

I've purchased this program at several small businesses that I consult with, for a retired friend who has started to develop web pages, and even for my not very technical sister. I recommend it to everyone that wants sophisticated power but cannot spend $400 to $900 on a professional photo editing program. With experience, most users will not need the more expensive programs.  PhotoImpact lists for about $90 but can be found at various retail stores and on the web for less than the listed price.

PhotoImpact 10 and PhotoImpact 11 Software Review:

• The box versions includes the separate Ulead Photo Album program, and

• Ulead Photo Explorer, and

• Ulead Gif Animator, a powerful professional strength animation program, and

• Ulead Cool 3-D, a 360 degree photo stitching program.

Things we liked about PhotoImpact (Photo Impact) review

• It is inexpensive. Great power but at a much better price than the very expensive Adobe Photoshop.  PhotoImpact is cheaper than the professional strength CorelDraw Suite too.

• Has a large assortment of Web Templates and editable Web Components such as buttons, rollovers, page separators and more.

• Imports created web pages into FrontPage

• Creates java scripts for animations and so on when designed pages are exported for the web

• Each version of PhotoImpact shows improvements over previous versions, new features are added with each upgrade.

• You can easily create your own rollovers from Photo Impact created buttons

• PhotoImpact has support for output file formats and import file formats for a plethora of competing products.

• The overall and impressive power of the software means you will not soon outgrow its features.  After using PhotoImpact for over 5 years we are still discovering more sophisticated features and functions.

• The PhotoImpact 10 interface is professional standard, rather than the "gee, lets make this an idiot friendly" interfaces found in some similarly priced competing photo editing products.  The interface can be customized to a basic mode for beginners or a standard mode for the more experienced.

• PhotoImpact does screen captures to make any screen image a graphics file you can edit.

• We've tried other low end graphics programs such as the various Microsoft photo suites and Adobe Elements.  We've found them more limited than PhotoImpact without the wide feature set and found them to have more boundaries - these products limit our ability to grow and improve our skills

Things we don't like about PhotoImpact (Photo Impact)

• PhotoImpact is not idiot proof, it has a learning curve but there are video tutorials included in the newer versions that give you a head start

• Licensing terms allow for one PC but does not include the option to have a second copy for a laptop. Come on, Photo Impact - if a user has it at their business, don't you think it is good marketing to have that user have it at home - and visa versa.

• The Photo Explorer is an aging product and needs improvement as a way to manage your image catalog.

• PhotoImpact has no import / export file filters for CorelDraw and Corel PhotoPaint .cpt and .cdr formats.

• Downloading the PhotoImpact 11 trial version now requires a user registration.  We love the opportunity to test new software but absolutely resent having to give information that results in lose of privacy, and resent giving more information for junk mail and other marketing.

All in all, PhotoImpact is Value with a capital V.  And that  needs to be repeated, PhotoImpact is the Best Value in graphics software on the market.  It's powerful!  We highly recommend it for the beginner and the experienced some-time graphics artist.

Notes about PhotoImpact 11:

• PhotoImpact 11 was released in mid-October 2005.  We are currently only finding the new version on line and expect it to take a few weeks for PhotoImpact to reach retail channels.  We have not yet seen the new version.

• Ulead releases annual upgrades to PhotoImpact.  The upgrades usually offer incremental new features and performance enhancements.  See Ulead.com for the latest version's improvements. 

• We recommend that those new to PhotoImpact buy the latest version, in this case PhotoImpact 11.

• The new releases usually get a service pack, downloadable from Ulead.com, 6 to 24 weeks after the new product is released.

• We will buy the new version as soon as we can find it in retail stores.  Even though new versions are annual and improvements are incremental, we've always found the new releases to be worth the annual cost.

Short review of CorelDraw, also known as Corel Draw)) review

Summary:  Professional Strength Graphics Production in CorelDraw review
I have been using CorelDraw and Corel PhotoPaint since version 1 - the current version is 12.  The recent version is one of best professional graphics suites available.

CorelDraw once was the 'standard' in professional graphics and had the biggest market share in both the Apple MacIntosh and PC worlds.  The software lost its way as the competing Adobe Photoshop became more innovative and produced more stable software.  However, CorelDraw is back - version 11 and 12 are newly innovative and stable.  AND considerably less expensive then its professional strength rivals such as Photoshop.  CNET.com reviews Photoshop CS and CorelDraw Suite as equals in rating points.

Unfortunately, most people who review CorelDraw (that is Corel Draw, the program itself, not the suite in its entirety) do not understand the software. Reviewers of CorelDraw almost always get the program wrong  It is hardly ever mentioned that Corel Draw is a page layout and illustration program, that is, it is produces a summation of graphics and animations designed in programs like Corel PhotoPaint and Corel RAVE (and by competing programs) and has superb editable text and page layout capabilities and formats.  CorelDraw will do much more than Microsoft Publisher! CorelDraw produces brochures, posters, banners, business cards, forms and more in professional and industry standard file formats

The Most Recent CorelDraw Suite (CorelDraw Suite 12) includes:

• CorelDraw - page layouts and illustration

• Corel PhotoPaint - image editing

• Corel R.A.V.E - flash animator

• a font manager, a screen capture program, a tracing program.

Things we like about CorelDraw12, Corel Photopaint 12 and Corel R.A.V.E 3 suite review

• It is inexpensive compared to the similarly capable professional competition.  The CorelDraw 12 Suite lists for $399, full version, before discount.  Adobe Photoshop lists at $649 before discounts

• CorelDraw has probably the most intuitive interface of any full featured, "professional" Graphics Suites

• The CorelDraw Suite combines three programs that might cost $1000 or more if combined capabilities were purchased from competitors.

• CorelDraw Suite comes with a printed manual, printed book of fonts and clipart - but - (see end notes)

• Hundreds of fonts, and thousands of images and clipart, and other graphics are included in the Corel boxed version

• The RAVE animator is light duty. R.A.V.E. can does not, however, compete with the full featured Macromedia Flash program.  Corel Rave should be able to do all the flash animations most users want to do.  As bundled with the other two programs, CorelDraw, and Corel PhotoPaint, it is a great price!  (The new Macromedia Flash 8, basic edition sells for $400 alone - the professional edition is more)  You can see an example of an animation produced by R.A.V.E on our AugustaWi.com site and a page on this site, here

• This package is a great value for those who want to get started and learn professional strength graphics

• We've purchased this product, the CorelDraw 12 suite too, for several of the small business that we consult for.

Things we don't like about Corel Draw Suite Review

• Its power is great but the user options are sometimes overwhelming to the more casual user.

• The Corel R.A.V.E. flash animator and the other programs are less than well documented.

Rhetorical end notes to the producers of the CorelDraw Suite, Corel PhotoPaint and other Corel Graphics programs:

• The graphics programs are some of the best available, why doesn't anyone know it?

• More help in the documentation, online help or video tutorials are needed. (Corel, can you take a hint from PhotoImpact and do some video tutorials?)

• The templates offered are minimal, couldn't you tap the user community for examples to use as Corel templates? How do new users create web pages in CorelDraw for example?

• Your marketing does not tell us how CorelDraw can work for us; how it offers solutions.  Who uses it? Where are the professional web sites created with CorelDraw?

• Reviewers of page layout programs hardly ever include CorelDraw.  Reviewers of  photo editing programs hardly ever include Corel PhotoPaint.  Reviewers of animation software hardly ever include Corel R.A.V.E and so on - why is that?

• Does anyone know that CorelDraw competes favorably with the capabilities of Microsoft Publisher?  As a matter of fact it is better, if only because it supports industry standards graphics formats such as jpgs and gifs rather than, and over, the propriety Microsoft formats. (an unwritten rule among web developers - never use Microsoft graphic formats on the web - they are not web standard)

We obviously are not computer journalists or graphics consultants whose primary job is to sell or review software.  We actually use both PhotoImpact 10 and the CorelDraw 12 Suite on an almost daily basis.  Overall, we appreciate having them both and would not want to be without either.  The Corel Draw Suite complements Photo Impact and vice versa; buying both suites is less expensive than buying one of the market leading competing programs.

We recommend PhotoImpact if your budget is tight and CorelDraw or both if you want professional grade software and / or want to save and have versatility too.

Final Words about buying Graphics or any other software:

We have learned to always buy boxed editions. Downloading programs from the web limits you to always having the original software on your hard drive. (Retail boxed versions are more usually more competitively priced too)
 

And there are other limitations - add-ons, filters, clipart, photos, printed manuals and the like are inconvenient or impossible to get if you do not purchase boxed versions.
 

Your task will be complicated without the original software disks if you system crashes, if you have hard disk failure, or if you want to upgrade at a later time your pc and move the software to the new one. (Imagine - your old system dies; you decide to buy a new PC rather than spend time or money to fix the old one. You do not have the original software disks to reinstall or upgrade - you are out of luck.  It has happened to us more than once.)

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Last updated: 01/13/2007