This seems like a good time & place to ask for opinions about whether a newbie would want to get started with Paint Shop Pro or with Photoshop. At the moment, my primary interest is in enhancing/repairing old photos, not very sophisticated, I realize. I don't know that I'll ever get into any website-related work, but I'm interested in producing CDs of photos related to my family history research. I'd like to hear opinions about user-friendliness of the two programs, and availability of live instructional classes. Without having done a careful study, it appears that PSP may be more user friendly, but most classes offered seem to be for Photoshop. Looking forward to your responses, Elsa in Allegany County, Maryland

Good morning Elsa, I have Photoshop 7 and Paint Shop Pro 7 with PSP8 on order. I like both programs. They both have their plus and minus points as all programs do. For repair of photos, Photoshop is head and shoulders above anything I have experienced. Send me an old photo that needs repair as an attachment and I will show you what can be done. You can get online tutorials for both, but www.vtco.com has training CDs for Photoshop that are excellant. Jake > This seems like a good time & place to ask > for opinions about whether a newbie would > want to get started with Paint Shop Pro or > with Photoshop. At the moment, my primary > interest is in enhancing/repairing old photos, > not very sophisticated, I realize. I don't know > that I'll ever get into any website-related work, > but I'm interested in producing CDs of photos > related to my family history research. I'd like > to hear opinions about user-friendliness of the > two programs, and availability of live instructional > classes. Without having done a careful study, it > appears that PSP may be more user friendly, but > most classes offered seem to be for Photoshop. > > Looking forward to your responses, > > Elsa in Allegany County, Maryland

Which program are you willing to learn and keep up-to-date? My choice is Paint Shop Pro with the current public Beta loaded and the CD-ROM version on order. The full version of Photoshop is very expensive for people who have to pay for their own software and do not qualify for a student version. Local man who took a course in Photoshop was able to buy the student version but hasn't upgraded after several years. He uses an easier program most of the time. Paint Shop Pro does not need to have expensive classes. Local friends help eachother by phone or demonstrate at local meetings. PSP 7 runs quite well on an older laptop. -- Elizabeth ----- Original Message ----- From: "Elsa Vorwerk" > This seems like a good time & place to ask for opinions about whether a newbie would want to get started with Paint Shop Pro or with Photoshop. At the moment, my primary interest is in enhancing/repairing old photos, not very sophisticated, I realize. I don't know that I'll ever get into any website-related work, but I'm interested in producing CDs of photos related to my family history research.

Elizabeth, what is the difference between student versions and the regular versions? Are there less features? I have heard that usually the student versions are the same but at a lower cost. Just curious, have seen them advertised on ebay. Am looking for a book producing program like quark express or pagemaker, have Paint Shop Pro v7 as well as adobe photo shop elements. Kathy