PaintShop Pro vs AfterShot Pro: Which Software is Better

Both PaintShop Pro vs AfterShot Pro are expert software designed for editing and managing RAW pictures. The main difference is that AfterShot Pro is the most optimal tool for RAW file processing whereas PaintShop Pro offers the greatest number of editing features.

PaintShop Pro is developed for beginning users but is often chosen by professional editors as the program is fitted with many AI options and instruments. The product has many innovative features for editing graphics. Its toolkit also includes basic image processing options for adjusting contrast, exposure, altering colors, and tonality. As the software supports raster images and offers a great variety of templates, it is great for creating various types of designs.

AfterShot Pro is a highly functional editor for categorizing and managing your pictures. It is a great alternative to Lightroom CC, as the program has a built-in editor with a rich set of features. The toolkit of AfterShot Pro allows processing images, adding tags to photos, and grouping your pictures to prepare them for sharing and storing.

PaintShop Pro is a versatile photo editing software for PC that has various workspaces for different editing tasks. You can use the program for eliminating imperfections, refining your images with speedy corrections, and adding some cute or eye-catching effects. The winning point of this software in Paintshop Pro vs AfterShot Pro comparison is its user-friendly UI. Besides, the editors will definitely appreciate a great number of written and video tutorials.

Users also often compare PaintShop Pro vs Photoshop. Both tools have handy features for correcting colors, adjusting saturation, and image tonality. They can also help you distort, crop, retouch and overlay pictures. However, Photoshop has more extensive functionality.

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Intuitive UI. Many users prefer PaintShop Pro because of its intuitive interface that even amateurs can easily understand. All image post-processing features are grouped into tabs for greater convenience. Once the program is launched, you will see its Welcome screen that displays the files you’ve processed recently, product news, guides, and various paid extensions. Choose a picture you need to edit and work on it using one of four workspaces: Photography, Essentials, Complete, and Sea-to-Sky.

Excellent editing features. The program is fitted with a great variety of editing features for adjusting brightness and contrast, hue and saturation, correcting white balance, getting rid of noise, sharpening the picture, leveling its tonality and vibrancy, etc. It also offers a great number of smart selection tools for outlining shapes and contouring subjects in pictures, such as Selection, Freehand Selection, Magic Wand, and Refine Brush instruments.

Manage mode and various import options. The program allows uploading content from scanners, webcams, or older PaintShop versions. You can import visuals, brushes, gradients, and Picture Tubes. Make certain that these elements are stored in the standard folders. To categorize and manage your visuals, you can rate images with stars as well as add tags for keywords, people, and locations.

Allows editing 360-degree files. You can use the software to edit 360-degree files in a separate window for processing images. Besides, you will get all the necessary instructions on what to do with a file. The program offers editing tools for processing files: Straighten, Remove Tripod, 360-to-Panorama, and Planet effects. The last two options allow converting 360 files to such basic formats as JPG.

A plethora of image templates. By using image templates, you can speed up post-processing. The program offers multiple templates that will definitely come in handy for those who need to launch social media and marketing campaigns. You can choose the desired dimensions for headers, covers, or banners to make them fit any platform.

Cropping tools. The program allows cropping pictures to the desired dimensions. Besides, you can refine the look of the cropped section using various effects like the Rule of Thirds, the Golden Ratio, and the Divine Proportion.

Supports various image file formats. Another advantage that I should mention in our PaintShop Pro vs AfterShot Pro review is that the program supports a variety of image file formats such as JPEG, PNG, and TIFF. The program allows importing RAW images from more than 800 different camera models. PaintShop can also process PDF files. The newly released version also supports HEIF and HIF iPhone files.

Only for Windows.

A bit slow even on powerful devices.

AfterShot Pro is a photo editing software for Windows and Mac devices. The program was developed for professional and amateur photographers. It allows editing RAW pictures, removing blemishes, adding watermarks, etc. The software has a rich collection of presets and allows downloading lens profiles. By using this editor, you can categorize, refine, and send images for printing, as well as share or import them.

AfterShot Pro makes it easier to group images automatically or manually by names, dates, tags, and more. When comparing AfterShot Pro vs Adobe Lightroom, you will see that the former has a more basic toolkit. It allows adjusting such standard specifications as balance, saturation, contrast, hue, exposure, sharpness, and more, meaning that even amateurs can use this software without problems.

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Convenient image management. With this editor, you can process your images without trouble. It lets you examine, refine, and download retouched images. A user can create personalized catalogs to view and edit their designs even on another PC.

Editing options. AfterShot Pro is fitted with a variety of basic editing features for fixing minor imperfections. Besides, you can get rid of unwanted objects with the help of Clone and Heal instruments. As a result, you can get sharp and clear images. Employ color and tone editing instruments for customizing the white balance, exposure, contrast, etc.

Impressive search functionality. The software has solid search functionality that makes it easier to find a necessary file using effective metadata tools. To make your search faster, you can use keywords, labels, captions, and more. Moreover, the program can find pictures by file metadata.

Non-destructive editing. You won’t experience any difficulties when refining photos. Besides, all these changes do not affect the source file. You can apply intelligent, automatic, and manual corrections. The program allows you to adjust the exposure, correct colors, adjust WB, perform optical corrections, and more. In case some error occurs when processing the file, you can always restore its initial version.

Batch editing. When comparing PaintShop Pro vs AfterShot Pro, you will see that the former allows editing several files at once. The program lets you rename multiple files simultaneously and process a group of pictures by applying the same adjustments. When you need to convert several files into different formats, you can select a custom size for them.

Quick output. It is very handy when preparing files for printing, sharing, or processing them in other apps. If you need to edit numerous pictures, use batch processing to apply predefined configurations to them.

Lack of some editing options.

You can use PaintShop Pro with a life-long license. There are two versions of the software. Both of them have a free 30-day trial.

PaintShop Pro 2022 costs $79.99.

PaintShop Pro 2022 Ultimate costs $99.99. This version has more sophisticated features.

AfterShot does not require monthly payments. Instead, you need to pay for a one-time subscription.

The full version of AfterShot Pro Full costs $79.99.

As an alternative, you can test the functionality of the program by downloading its trial. In case the toolkit of the software does not meet your needs, you can get a refund within one month after purchasing the license.

You can also buy AfterShot Pro Upgrade for $59.99. To gen an upgrade, you must be an active user of a previously licensed version of Bibble Pro or Lite 5, Corel AfterShot Pro, Corel Paint Shop Pro, Photo X2, or higher, Adobe Lightroom, or Apple Aperture.

If after comparing PaintShop Pro vs AfterShot Pro you are still wondering which product satisfies your requirements, the choice depends on whether you want a program for editing or for managing images.

As the practice shows, AfterShot Pro is great for basic editing, but I recommend using PaintShop Pro for more complicated tasks. For instance, I use PaintShop Pro for customizing Histogram/Levels and working with Layers/Cloning. PaintShop Pro offers more flexibility and comes with a Scripting Tool.

AfterShot Pro is a handy editor for enhancing images that supports the RAW format. Its winning features are flexibility, precision, and comfort. Besides, it is an affordable picture editor.