McMahon - PaintShop Photo Pro X3 for Photographers

Why PaintShop Photo Pro X3?

If you're thinking about buying this book (or, better still, if you've already bought it!) the chances are that you own and use a digital camera. You're far from alone. Back in 2007 sales of digital cameras topped 100 million for the first time and have remained above that figure every year since.

Digital photography is now the norm, and we're all familiar with the advantages that it has brought us. No more film to pay for, instant pictures that we can post online or email around the world, and virtually no limit to the number of shots we can take. Digital photography has also opened up countless new ways for us to work and play with our pictures.

Which is where PaintShop Photo Pro X3 enters the picture. This inexpensive, versatile application will allow you to do just about anything with your digital pictures, from correcting exposure problems and removing red-eye to making Christmas cards and event posters. It will also help you organize your growing collection of digital photos so that, in years to come, you'll easily be able to locate the ones you want without having to dredge through thousands of digital files. Dealing with the huge numbers of photos we now generate is such an important issue I've devoted an entire chapter to how you can manage it using PaintShop Photo Pro X3s Organizer.

Why This Book?

PaintShop Photo Pro X3 is a powerful image-editing application that's packed with sophisticated tools and features that will help you get the most from your digital photos. But all this power and sophistication comes at a price you need to learn how to use it. This book is designed to help you do that.

In PaintShop Photo Pro X3 for Photographers I've tried to do much more than simply explain how PaintShop Photo Pro X3 works. In each of the chapters I've taken a practical approach to demonstrating tools and techniques so that you can learn how to use the program to do the things you want with your own digital photos. At the end of each chapter you'll find a series of step-by-step projects that demonstrate many of the techniques covered.

Why Me?

The book is aimed at anyone who wants to get more from their digital photos and has a basic understanding of how to use their PC. You don't even need a copy of PaintShop Photo Pro X3! If you go to www.corel.com you can download a free, fully functional, trial version. The book is also suitable for those working with earlier versions of the software.

If you're new to PaintShop Photo Pro X3, I'd recommend you work through the book in a linear fashion as later chapters introduce more complex techniques. If you're keen to cover a topic dealt with later in the book, start by taking a look through the first two chapters, which provide an introduction to the workspace and basic feature set.

If you're already familiar with PaintShop Photo Pro X3, feel free to dip in wherever your interest takes you or where there is a gap in your knowledge. Chapter 1 covers features new to PaintShop Photo Pro X3.

Digital photography is here to stay and PaintShop Photo Pro makes getting the best from your digital images easier than it's ever been. With PaintShop Photo Pro X3 for Photographers you'll be able to get the best from PaintShop Photo Pro and have some fun in the process!

A Note From Corel

Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 delivers a complete set of photo-editing tools to help you create professional-looking photos fast!

By combining Ken McMahon's ideas from a photographer's viewpoint and the powerful yet easy-to-use features within Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3, you will be able to: fix brightness, color, and photo imperfections; compose photos full of depth and imagination; give photos a unique and exciting look; plus organize and share all your photos.

Corel, Ken McMahon, and Focal Press have worked very closely to create a book for anyone who aspires to make good photos great and that puts the power of Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3 at the fingertips of anyone who wants to create stunning photos right out of the box.

About Corel Corporation

Corel Corporation provides innovative software solutions that help millions of value-conscious businesses and consumers in over 75 countries improve their productivity. The company is renowned for its powerful software portfolio that combines innovative photo-editing and graphics creation, vector illustration and technical graphics applications, along with office and personal productivity solutions. Corel's flagship products include the CorelDRAW Graphics Suite, the WordPerfect Office Suite, the Corel Painter and Natural-Media painting and illustration software, and the PaintShop family of digital photography and image-editing software.

Founded in 1985, Corel is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada. For more information, please visit www.corel.com.

2010 Corel Corporation. All rights reserved. Corel, PaintShop Pro, and the Corel logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Corel Corporation and/or its subsidiaries. All other product, font, and company names and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

According to the Camera and Imaging Products Association (CIPA).

What's Covered in this Chapter