Corel Review 2025
Corel Creative Tools Plans & Pricing
Corel Comparison
Expert Review
Pros
Cons
Corel Creative Tools 's Offerings
CorelDRAW provides flexible plans tailored to businesses, offering both subscription-based options and one-time purchase licenses. The plans are designed to cater to various needs, from general graphic design and illustration to advanced technical illustrations, ensuring businesses have access to the tools that best support their creative and professional goals.
Customer Support
Corel provides various customer support options for PaintShop Pro and AfterShot Pro users. Standard support includes a comprehensive online Knowledge Base and FAQs that cover numerous topics, from installation to advanced features. Users can also access Community Forums, where they can ask questions, share experiences with other Corel users, and browse Tutorials and User Guides for step-by-step assistance.
For more personalized help, you can submit a ticket via email and expect a response within 24 hours. You can also contact the support team via a live chat session or phone during business hours.
Features & Functionality
Key Features
CorelDRAW provides advanced image editing tools such as AI-powered image enhancements, layer-based editing, and professional-grade photo retouching, empowering businesses to create visually stunning and detailed designs.
Supported File Formats
Work with a wide range of file types for maximum compatibility.
Pricing plans
Choose from various plans to suit your creative needs.
Platform available on
Accessible on multiple platforms for versatile use.
Usability
Designed for ease of use, catering to different skill levels.
Advanced Editing Tools
Edit with precision using powerful professional-grade tools.
Sharing and Export
Easily share projects and export them in desired formats.
Export Formats
Support for diverse export options to meet specific requirements.
Performance:
PaintShop Pro performs well on modern systems, handling large files and complex edits without significant lag. However, on older hardware, some of the more resource-intensive features, like AI-based tools, can cause the software to slow down or even freeze. We recommend you meet the system requirements for the best experience.
AfterShot Pro is lightweight and performs exceptionally well, even on older systems. It handles large RAW files and batch processes quickly.
Ease Of Use:
PaintShop Pro
PaintShop Pro is compatible with Windows 11 and 64-bit Windows 10, although there’s no macOS version. Here’s how we rate its user-friendly features:
User Experience/Interface
From the moment you launch PaintShop Pro, you immediately feel that Corel has gone for a functional, intuitive interface. The welcome screen provides quick access to tutorials and recent projects, and we liked the clean layout with clearly labeled tools, although some users find it somewhat cluttered. There are four tabbed workspaces to choose from- Complete, Essentials, Photography, and Sea-to-Sky (available only in the ultimate version). You can access any mode from the File > Workspace menu. That said, PaintShop Pro’s interface can feel a bit dated compared to modern competitors.
Workspaces
The Complete Workspace is where you’ll find Paintshop’s full range of tools for a Photoshop-like experience. It includes two sub-workspaces at the top: Edit and Manage. The Edit window is the primary photo editing area, while the Manage window is for browsing, organizing, searching, and tagging images. All the essential graphic tools are present, although some may have different names or placements. You’ll easily find the text and brush tools, selection and masking tools, smart and auto selection options, and numerous editing effects in the Effects menus. The complete workspace also features the Learning Center on the right panel for guidance through various image-editing processes.
The Essentials workspace simplifies Paintshop’s interface with a basic Tools Panel and a Materials Panel. It’s well-customizable and allows for quick, straightforward image editing.
Beginners will find the photography workspace a simplified environment, perfect for quick edits without the complexity of advanced tools. It’s designed to look more like an app, minimizing clutter with large, clear icons and a straightforward menu system. Here, you’ll find basic tools: Brightness, Rotate, Crop, Color adjustments, Fill Light/Clarity, Vibrancy and One Step Photo Fix, and White Balance. Despite its simplicity, it still includes advanced AI tools like AI Upsampling, AI Denoise, AI Artifact Removal, and AI Style Transfer. The Sea-to-Sky workspace is exclusive to the Ultimate version and offers underwater and drone photography tools.
Learning Curve
PaintShop Pro is quite user-friendly for basic editing tasks. The language of the user interface is familiar and understandable, and anyone with knowledge of Photoshop or similar image editing software can jump right in. For beginners, the software includes guided tours and learning centers directly within the interface to help you get up to speed quickly. However, mastering the more advanced tools, such as scripting and AI features, requires a steeper learning curve. This can be a drawback if you’re looking for professional-grade edits without a significant time investment in learning the software.
Photo Editing Process
The photo editing process in PaintShop Pro is streamlined with features like one-click fixes, layers, and advanced selection tools. Standard edits like cropping, adjusting brightness and contrast, and applying filters are straightforward and accessible. The software’s AI tools for denoising, artifact removal, and upsampling further simplify complex editing tasks.
Templates/Themes
PaintShop Pro provides a variety of templates and themes for creating collages, calendars, greeting cards, and social media graphics. These templates are accessible from the “File” menu and can be customized with drag-and-drop simplicity. You can also create custom templates when needed. While the selection is decent, it’s not as extensive as other popular photo-editing software.
Customization
Users can personalize their workspace by rearranging text, icon sizes, workspace colors, toolbars, panels, and menus to suit their workflow. The main window’s side panels can also be undocked or dismissed. The software also allows you to create custom scripts to automate repetitive tasks, though scripting may require some technical know-how.
AfterShot Pro 3
One big positive of PaintShop Pro 2023 is its integration with AfterShot Pro, Corel’s solution for RAW processing, organizing, and editing, similar to Adobe Lightroom. While AfterShot Pro operates as standalone software, it’s now embedded as the AfterShot Lab within PaintShop Pro as a separate window. This allows users to open RAW files from the Manage window, make adjustments in the AfterShot Lab, and then continue editing in PaintShop Pro’s Edit window.
AfterShot Pro’s strength lies in its non-destructive editing capabilities and the efficient batch processing of large volumes of RAW images. It might seem limited in customization at first glance, but its modular design and straightforward controls make it accessible even for beginners. The software excels in noise reduction, lens correction, and exposure adjustment and includes a handy blemish correction tool for quick touch-ups.
The platform is generally user-friendly, but those used to other photo editing software might need some time to adjust. Two areas where AfterShot Pro falls short are its lack of support for PNG files and some of its less sophisticated editing tools compared to competitors
AfterShot Pro doesn’t offer traditional templates or themes but provides preset styles for consistent photo enhancements. Users can create and save their presets, which helps maintain a uniform look across multiple photos. This focus on practical editing over aesthetic templates can be a downside for those seeking more creative options.
The Customization options in AfterShot Pro are geared towards workflow optimization rather than aesthetic changes. Users can adjust tool palettes, set up custom keyboard shortcuts, and create personal presets for batch processing. It’s less flexible, but it gets the job done nicely.
However, users transitioning from other software might find AfterShot’s import procedure clunky and the organization features somewhat lacking. The program also occasionally struggles with importing new camera models and lenses.
Verdict:
Corel has made notable strides with its latest photo-editing software iterations, PaintShop Pro 2023 and AfterShot Pro 3. Aside from their reasonably priced one-time purchase model, both programs offer good features for creating professional edits. The inclusion of AI tools like AI Upsampling, Denoise, and Artifact Removal cuts down on the amount of time needed for complex edits and brings them up to par with modern competitors. However, the interface does feel somewhat dated, and users with older Windows versions might struggle with intense editing on both platforms.
Ultimately, Corel’s offerings aren’t quite at Adobe’s level yet. But they’re a strong contender and will provide a solid editing experience that will satisfy most users. For those looking to avoid subscription fees while still accessing professional-grade tools, PaintShop Pro and AfterShot Pro represent excellent value, with numerous learning resources and decent customer support to assist along the way.
Write a Review