PaintShop Pro vs Canva

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Which program is better, PaintShop Pro or Canva? Both products come with numerous editing features. Cutting, cropping, straightening, and various filters are just some of them. You can also create graphics for logos, images, ads, and social media platforms.

The main difference between these two products is that Canva is a web-based program while PaintShop requires downloading and installation.

PaintShop Pro will suit those users, who frequently edit. Nevertheless, it adopted basic features of graphic design software as well. Both hobbyists and professionals will find this software useful due to its broad range of tools, textures, brushes, and palettes.

Canva is great for producing professional marketing materials. You can start your project from the ground up and adjust it to the custom fit. The program also has pre-designed layouts and effects, which you can customize as well. It is a useful design and content creation program suitable for both beginners and experts.

What Is PaintShop Pro?

paintshop pro logo

PaintShop Pro is user-friendly image editing software with a powerful set of editing, color correction, and drawing tools. You can make the best use of advanced tools to quickly improve your photos, work with graphic designs, perform editing and restoring, and complement your projects with various effects.

The 2021 version of the program is reasonably priced and incorporates a slew of useful features for editing. Besides, it brags about user-oriented interface, top-tier performance, and brand-new artistic tools. Whether you are a novice user or have a huge editing experience, PaintShop Pro will definitely come in handy.

Besides, it is possible to customize all settings to create unique editing styles. The interface shrinks this product down to basic features, such as red-eye removal, cropping, and adding captions. So, you don’t need to go through different options. PaintShop Pro offers all commonly-used editing tools and features in a fully customizable layout.

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  • paintshop pro interface

    PaintShop Pro: Pros and Cons

    Neat interface. PaintShop Pro gets the first point in the PaintShop Pro vs Canva battle due to its intuitive interface. You can switch between two tabs such as manage and edit. The former allows you to effectively organize your photos while the latter tab includes all the image editing features. In a Manage tab, you can also find useful features like EXIF data, geotagging, the possibility to group photos by faces, and rate images. 

    Face detection technology. The program relies on subject-based cluttering technology. This considerably streamlines the process of storing images on DVDs and CDs. 

    Slicer tool. With PaintShop, you can easily optimize your photos for uploading on the web. The program includes a Slicer tool that divides an image into smaller pieces. This is a useful feature, especially if you are going to create content for an online environment. Thus, you can reduce the loading time of your images. 

    Rich format support. The program is compatible with over 40 file formats, including RAW, JPG, GIF, PSD, PNG, and TIFF extensions. This means that you can import almost every image in the program.

    360° image editing. This feature lets PaintShop stand out in the PaintShop Pro vs Canva comparison. Once you activate a 360° editing mode, your image will be opened in a separate window. With straightforward guidelines, you can easily figure out what you can do to your photo. For instance, you can level a panorama, apply Planet Effects, remove a tripod or straighten skewed angles. Once you apply an effect, you can convert a 360° photo into a common image format. 

    Isn’t compatible with macOS.

    What is Canva?

    canva logo

    Canva is known as feature-rich web design software that caters to the needs of enterprises, corporations, and brands. It allows creating first-class graphic design using powerful functionality. Canva has a drag-and-drop design tool, extensive library of photos, graphics elements, and fonts.

    This program allows you to accomplish all your creative goals, regardless of whether you are going to print your project or upload it online. With Canva, you can create engaging designs for numerous purposes such as business cards, logos, presentations, marketing materials, etc.

    With well-elaborated drag-n-drop functionality, creating projects from scratch is a breeze. It is also possible to customize logos or watermark them to accentuate your brand identity. Canva comes with completely editable templates and designs to ensure a coherent look across your works.

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    • canva interface

      Canva: Pros and Cons

      Photo effects. Canva has multiple effects for editing. Aside from flipping and cropping your images, you can complement them with filters, correct contrast, brightness, saturation, blur, tint, and even more. It is also possible to apply such effects as Liquify and Duotone. Besides, you can remove the background just in a few clicks. 

      Large library of photos, videos, and templates. The program includes an extensive library of over 75mln images and 420K+ pre-designed layouts. Based on the type of your design, Canva selects the most suitable template automatically. You can navigate the platform and search for the necessary templates by color or language.

      Ability to add icons, shapes, and stickers. If you want to complement your project with shapes, icons, stickers, charts, or other objects, just navigate the Elements tab. All elements are completely customizable. You can adjust their size, color, and transparency.

      Animate images. If you are hesitating which program to choose, PaintShop Pro or Canva, this may be a decisive point. With Canva, you can create awesome animated effects just with several clicks. You can choose between multiple free animation effects such as Breathe, Pan, Block, Fade, and Rise.

      If you want to try more effects, be ready to pay. Experiment with multiple options to create stunning images. This feature especially works for those who are going to jazz up their social media content.

      Publish to social media or schedule. Canva has multiple exporting options. You can upload your images on the most popular social media sites in a matter of seconds. The bragging point of the program is that you can schedule your posts on social media sites.

      Team collaboration. Canva allows you to invite your team and work on a project together. Thus, it significantly simplifies the process of design creation in real-time.

      Difficult to navigate on small screens. Canva is available as a mobile app, but it is more confusing compared to a web-based desktop version. Using a program on a computer, you can get a better user experience.

      PaintShop Pro vs Canva: Price

      paintshop pro vs canva price

      PaintShop Pro 2021 and PaintShop Pro Ultimate versions are available for free within a 30-day trial period. However, you need to complete the registration at Corel to access the program for free. It is possible to purchase a product license or upgrade from previous versions by choosing one of the following packages:

      PaintShop Pro Full version: $85.99
      Upgrade from previous version: $64.99
      PaintShop Pro Ultimate version: $107.99.

      The difference between Pro and Ultimate versions is that the former has extra features such as Corel Creative Collection of brushes, textures, and background images. Also, you can make the most of Corel AfterShot 3 software and Parallels Toolbox.

      Canva offers three plans – Free, Pro, and Enterprise.

      The free version has enough features to serve the needs of individuals who create about 10 to 15 designs per month. It includes 250,000+ templates and a large library of photos and graphic elements.

      Canva Pro costs $12.99/month and you can share it with 5 people. The Pro version gives you access to numerous perks, such as 75mln exceptional stock media files, 420K+ layouts, Background Remover tool, and even more.

      Canva Enterprise costs just $30/month. This package is suitable for teams, companies, and agencies that want to create designs in real-time. With the Enterprise version, you can take advantage of unique workflows, unlimited storage, and toolsets.

      PaintShop Pro vs Canva: Who Wins?

      The PaintShop Pro vs Canva comparison shows that the former is inferior to Canva in terms of functionality and user-friendly interface. PaintShop Pro is a full-featured program with a rich array of tools, but it can be rather confusing for beginners. Besides, PaintShop Pro supports only Windows OS and offers just a 30-day free trial.

      Canvа is available free of charge without time limitations. Both amateurs and experienced users like its straightforward interface. Canva allows you to quickly edit images and create designs using a simple drag-and-drop functionality. The strongest advantage of this program is that it is available online.

      Eva Williams

      Lead Content Writer

      Eva Williams is a talented family photographer and software expert who is in charge of mobile software and apps testing and overviewing in the FixThePhoto team. Based in New York, Eva earned her Bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts from NYU and work 5+ years assisting some of the city’s popular wedding photographers. Having worked on over 100 wedding photoshoots, she now is good at working in challenging conditions, from unpredictable weather to high-pressure events.

      Read Eva's full bio

      Tetiana Kostylieva

      Head Editor

      Tetiana Kostylieva is the Head Editor and Content Creator of all FixThePhoto blog articles, bringing years of creativity and expertise to the team. Her career started in 2013 as a caricature artist at events in New York, where she honed her eye for detail and her ability to connect with people. Now, she leads our editorial team, testing new ideas and ensuring every piece of content is both helpful and engaging.

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