For $70, PaintShop Photo Pro X3 Ultimate is a smart addition to a virtual photo toolbox. A few performance problems and some slightly questionable editing capabilities puts PSP in the uncomfortable position of still being in the tall shadow of Adobe. That said, if you want to skip the $700 purchase price, PSP is on the right track.

The idea of loading an image and pushing a button and seeing what happens may be anathema to some photographers, but for certain images where you might want an extra-special touch done easy it might just do the trick.

As PCs evolved from the early to the mid-1990s and more and more had color monitors there was a flurry of interest among application programmers to develop and offer paint programs, mostly to provide computer users with a creative opportunity to make digital art. As color scanners became more available in the consumer market these paint applications were also used to input...

Would you like to transform your photographs into striking works of art echoing oil paint on canvas, charcoal on textured art paper, woodcut, silkscreen, watercolor, pastel, pencil drawing, even mosaic tiles or scores of other natural art media? Whether for your own artistic expression or to broaden the services you offer to clients, creating naturalistic art directly from...

Compatible with both Mac and Windows, Corel's new Painter X can transform your portrait, landscape, and still life photos into images that emulate oil paint on canvas, charcoal on textured art paper, woodcut, silkscreen, watercolor, pastel, pencil drawing, mosaic tile, and scores of other natural art media. You can start by enlisting Version X's enhanced automatic...

CPAC Imaging PRO, Version 3.0, is sold mainly as a retouching software for professionals with a sell line that says, "Outstanding results in just minutes." But it's much more than that. While Adobe's Photoshop is the de facto software for professional image-makers, that doesn't mean that there are not other applications that can perform some of...