Matt
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Serif PhotoPlus X3 Review
Generally, ask a photographer what software they use for post processing and you will find the majority will be using Photoshop or PS Elements, few will have tried Photoplus.
The perception of Serif software is one of an application that does some of the stuff you want, but not everything. Is that something that Serif can change with Photoplus X3?
Photoplus X3 is the 13th (see what they did there?)release of Serifs image editing answer to Photoshop, Elements and Paintshop Pro, Serif boast Professional level tools with this release, aiming it firmly at the photoshop users, rather than the Elements user, but pricing it firmly in the Elements range.
Installation
The software has a small footprint, requiring between 128mb and 328mb of HDD, works on Vista 32bit, and XP, but sadly not Mac, which, in my opinion, is a blunder. Just look at how many people use a Mac for design, DTP and photo editing. Come on Serif, get your finger out...
Installation is fast, and updates are run straight away, so the software is bang up to date when we start.
In Use
Firing up the software, the first thing to notice is how similar it is to PS, the layout of the menus, tools and screen has a certain familiarity. This is a huge advantage if you are familiar with the PS family as the tools that you might want are exactly where you might think they are.
Closing the help screen and selecting an image from File>Open (serif supply some images to get on with, just incase you haven’t any of your own..no, really) creates a new menu with the familiar listings of File, Edit, View, Image, Effects, Layers, Select, Window and Help
The menu on the left consists of:
Crop and straighten tools, handy for those errant landscapes..
Move
Deform and Selection Deform tool
Mesh Warp
Elastic Warp – a collection of tools including Pinch, twirl and punch, among others..clicking on these icons brings up more subitems, again all are familiar. There is not enough space in a simple review to go over all the features so its worth investigating further.
Another useful feature is Quick Fix for images. This neat feature gives a lot of adjustment options in a simple interface, red eye, blemish removal, crop, straighten etc..all these features are in CS too, but in X3, its all in one handy menu on the right.
In Use
So we’ve discovered that the features are similar, but what about in use? Im going to do a quick mono conversion with a little curves push on the same image in CS and in X3 to compare.
In X3 – Select Image>Adjust…another familiar menu appears, from this select ‘Black and White Film’
This brings up a new menu for tinkering with conversion.
The same image in CS, Image>Adjustments>Black and White, this bring up a menu for adjustment. Can you spot the difference?
Minor adjustments to the colour sliders to bring out the different tones. Again, there is an air of familiarity!
