Yes there is a difference, and depending on what you need the program for, the difference can be major. But for most image editing, Elements or Paintshop Pro is just fine. For resources, there should be a few books at Barnes and Nobles and for online resources, go to Yahoo Groups and do a search for Paintshop Pro forums.

Larry Bolch is a big Painshop Pro user so he'll probably post to this thread also.

Dave Belew, who frequents this forum is a PaintShopPro beta tester and has many years experience as well as knowledge of any after-market books on its use.

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Larry Bolch is a big Painshop Pro user so he'll probably post to this thread also.

I do avoid the painshop - get my kicks in other ways! Yes, I do use PSP as Shutterbug and Corel told me a few months back!
Notariety

I find them totally complimentary. Photoshop is my digital darkroom. Whether coming from film or directly from my camera, that is where photographs are processed, fine tuned and interpreted. Adobe Camera RAW is bliss, while PSP won't even see my RAW shots. Most of my processing in Photoshop is done in Lab colour mode - totally lacking in PSP.

Where Photoshop falls down is when I want to add type, or any styling to my images or do anything from scratch of a graphic nature. Most anything that can be done in PSP can be done in Photoshop, but with pain. Dealing with type styling in PSP is elegant beyond words. I love it for creating and editing textures for my 3-D work.
Shade8.5
Sidhe

When I do a Photoshop tutorial - or any tutorial for that matter - for my web-site, PSP is used for all my screen shots and notations on the shots.

I just installed PSP-IX, (I skipped PSP-X) which is still a bit buggy, but it does have some very nice things that I have so far uncovered. There are some new film simulation filters that appear to work very well. I have yet to explore all of them but was quite astounded by the Infra Red simulation. I am particularly impressed with the way it can simulate film with its high grain and flare. The grain and flare can be turned down to simulate digital IR as well.

For the entry level photographer, in version 9.0 there was a one click photo fix that worked moderately well. Since then Smart Fix has been added. It makes a reasonable guess at what the photograph needs, but presents the user with a number of easy to use sliders to adjust the image to taste with ease. For me, it will not replace Adobe Camera Raw and everything I can do in Lab colour mode, but for entry level shooters, it is impressive.

Support for my Wacom tablet and selection tools in PSP leave Photoshop behind the far distant horizon. The ability to edit selections with brush tools is nothing short of brilliant. Layers and layer mask in Photoshop are implemented to the point of being almost intuitive, and are improved in PSP-IX, but still are a bit clumsy in comparison. I live in layers.

Though the photographic processing tools in PSP are improving from version to version, the names of the programs are a strong clue as to their strengths - Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro. Photoshop was designed with design pros in mind, but has migrated to be the industry standard photography program. It can still do all the graphics things, but with some clumsiness. Paint Shop Pro has much to offer the entry-level photographer, but lacks the power and elegance of Photoshop. However, when it comes to painting and graphics, it is pure delight.

I don't see them as competitors, but rather as compliments. They make a very powerful team, once one learns the strengths and weaknesses of each. In almost all cases, these are diametric opposites. I consider both essential.