PaintShop Pro (PSP) is a raster and vector graphics editor for Microsoft Windows. It was originally published by Jasc Software. In October 2004, Corel purchased Jasc Software and the distribution rights to PaintShop Pro. PSP functionality can be extended by Photoshop-compatible plugins.
The X-numbered editions have been sold in two versions: PaintShop Pro, which is the basic editing program, and PaintShop Pro Ultimate, which bundles in other standalone programs, additional artistic tools and/or plugins. The particular bundled programs have varied with each numbered version and have not been sold by Corel as separate products.
From release 8.00 onwards PSP came with an interface for automating tasks with scripts written in Python.
History
Originally called GIF2PCX, the software was a file conversion utility, conceived by Robert Voit, used to move images between the major online platforms of the time, Compuserve and AOL. Each platform had their own file format for images, so the utility allowed users to share images on either platform. When basic image editing was added, the name was changed to Paint Shop. The first version, 1.0, supported image conversions picture converter between BMP, GIF and PCX formats, and basic full-image enhancements like changing brightness and contrast. Paint Shop 1.0 was released by Robert Voit in August 1990. The name was changed to Paint Shop Pro when full painting, such as with variable sized brushes, was added to the product. Paint Shop was originally distributed as shareware and is still available at many download sites (4.12 being a popular version). Most newer versions are only commercially available although some have been distributed in the United Kingdom in computer magazine CDs after they became obsolete.
PaintShop Pro 5 added support for layers as well as CMYK and HSL colour modes, included JASC Animation Shop for creating animations and in fact was marketed as "Paint Shop Pro 5.0 with Animation Shop". PaintShop Pro X6 was the first to be available as a native 64-bit version (purchase includes both versions). PaintShop Pro X7 includes content-aware features such as "Magic Fill" and "Smart Edge" as well as support for XMP sidecar files that preserve edit settings for raw formats.
From 2006 to 2011 (versions XI to X3), PaintShop Pro was marketed as "Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo". Having dropped the "Photo" part of the name in version X4, Paintshop Pro X5 was derived from Ulead Photo Explorer after Corel's acquisition of Ulead.
On November 28, 2007, Corel announced that the office in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, where Paint Shop Pro was created, would be shut down, with development moving to offices in California and China.
Version history
JASC Paint Shop releases: 1990?–1993 In the table below, italicized dates are approximate, based on the earliest file timestamp on JASC or Corel's FTP server. Non-italicized dates are sourced from official press releases or notifications posted on JASC's web site.
Version number Release date Release notes 2.02 24 May 1991 Supports Windows 3.0 Standard/Enhanced mode. Supported file formats include: Windows BMP (1/4/8/24bpp, RGB/RLE4/RLE8 encoding) OS/2 BMP (1/4/8/24bpp, RGB encoding) GIF 87a (interlaced/progressive), GIF 89a (interlaced/progressive) GEM Paint IMG old style (1bpp), new style (1bpp) MacPaint MAC (1bpp, with/without header) Zsoft Paintbrush PCX version 0 (1bpp), version 2 (1/4bpp), version 3 (1/4bpp), version 5 (1/4/8bpp) Pictor/PCPaint PIC (1/4/8bpp) Windows RLE (4/8bpp) TIFF uncompressed (1/4/8/24bpp), Pack bits-compressed (1/4/8/24bpp), LZW-compressed (1/4/8/24bpp) WordPerfect WPG version 5.0 (1/4/8bpp), version 5.1 (1/4/8bpp) 3.0 14 August 1993 Last known version of Paint Shop. Changes over Paint Shop 2.02 includes: Relocated red/green/blue colour channel adjustment to Paint Shop Pro 2.0-style dialogue Relocated brightness/contrast adjustment to Paint Shop Pro 2.0-style dialogue Removal of restore orig. colour menu item Addition of Selectable printer from local/network source Addition of Built-in portrait/landscape print mode, paper size/source selection Addition of undo operation Addition of fit to full screen viewing Addition of image resizing with aspect ratio preservation option Addition of decreasing colour depth to 256 colours (8bpp) Addition of client area option for window capturing Addition of file format support for: Dr. Halo CUT image (8bpp), PAL palette Windows DIB (1/4/8/24bpp, RGB/RLE4/RLE8 encoding) OS/2 DIB (1/4/8/24bpp, RGB encoding) GIF 87a (1/4/8bpp, interlaced/progressive, 1st image data), GIF 89a (1/4/8bpp, interlaced/progressive, 1st image data) GEM Paint IMG old style (4/8bpp), new style (4/8bpp) Deluxe Paint LBM (1/4/8bpp) Microsoft Paint MSP old version (1bpp), new version (1bpp) Zsoft Paintbrush PCX version 5 (24bpp) CompuServe RLE (1bpp) Truevision Targa TGA (8/16/24/32bpp) TIFF Huffman-compressed (1bpp)
JASC Paint Shop Pro releases: 1990–2004 Version number Release date Release notes 0.9 1990 1.0 1992 1.02a 1992 1.02a 1993 2.0 14 August 1993 Introduces the floating toolbar Changes over Paint Shop 2.02 includes: Object linking and embedding Status bar showing image colour depth/dimensions, cursor location, image memory size, system memory size, activity progress bar. Image acquisition from TWAIN-compliant device Selectable import image size Batch conversion Selectable JIF/JPG compression level Selectable DPI settings for PCX/TIFF/WPG Selectable printer from local/network source Built-in portrait/landscape print mode, paper size/source selection Selectable screen capture time (immediately after selection/on right mouse click) Selectable undo buffer source (disabled/memory/disk) undo operation emptying clipboard zoom view (10:1 zoom out to 1:10 zoom in) Floating tools/histogram window arbitrary image rotation (0-359 degrees in 1 degree increment), adding border to image, image resizing with aspect ratio preservation option, filtered image resizing image filters (edge enhance, find edges, trace contour, blur, sharpen, soften, add noise (random/uniform), despeckle, dilate, emboss, erode, median, mosaic (square/non-square, 2-100 pixels), posterize (1-7 levels per channel), custom (1x1-5x5 matrix with custom division factor/bias, selectable colour channels, filter presets (includes enhance detail; import/export filter)) additional colour tools (gamma correction (0.01-4.99, with preview), highlight/shadow (with preview), solarize (with preview), palette edit/import/export (at 4/8bpp modes only), colour counter, decreasing colour depth (8/15/16bpp, X(17-256) colours), increasing colour depth), previews for brightness/contrast, red/green/blue colour channel adjustment; selectable colour channel when decreasing colour depth to 2 colours, additional options when decreasing colour depth to 16/256 colours (optimized/standard palette, nearest colour/ordered dither/error diffusion, boost marked colour, include Windows colours, reduce colour bleeding), additional options when decreasing colour depth to 32k/64k colours (nearest colour/ordered dither/error diffusion) additional capture options (client area/window capture, cursor capture) Multi-document interface, document window duplication Histogram 2.01 15 November 1993 Changes to Paint Shop Pro 2.00 includes: Catalog ad for ImageCommander, and order forms for ImageCommander in Paint Shop Pro help file 3.0 August 1993? 3.11 14 August 1995 (2-disk archive edition), 11 August 1997 (joined installer archive) 3.12 1 July 1996 (16/32-bit compilation), 25 November 1996 (2-disk shareware archive edition) Supports Win32s, Windows 95, Windows NT 4.0 4.0 1 July 1996 (registered) First 32-bit only release. Changes from 3.12 includes: new paintbrush tool increases the user's artistic control by allowing custom settings of size, shape and paper texture for any brush type (pen, pencil, marker, crayon, chalk, charcoal, airbrush and paintbrush tool) Magic Wand tool supports capture an area of an image based on hue or brightness values enhanced selections tool support adjusting overall opacity, designate a transparent color, or feather a selected area to create the illusion of a smooth edge new file format support include: progressive encoded support for JPEG files alpha channel support for the TIFF alpha channel support for TGA alpha channel support for PNG A Channels feature that allows users to split or combine an image's RGB values, with a histogram window that displays red, green, blue and luminance channel information. An Image Arithmetic feature for combining two images together using functions, channels and/or modifiers. The ability to open the same image both at the zoom and whole-image level An integrated image browser that permits visual searching of thumbnails and optional saving of thumbnails. Thumbnail size and selection colors are adjustable. customizable toolbar The option of performing multiple screen captures using the screen capture utility. Increased system requirement to Intel 80486 or compatible CPU, 8 MB RAM, 5 MB hard drive space Power pack version includes Kai's Power Tools SE. 4.10 3 September 1996 (registered upgrade patch) Changes to 4.0 includes: GIF and PNG transparency previews full screen viewing/editing support for opening CMYK JPG files ability to load third party plug-ins in the background as the program loads 4.12 10 January 1997 (shareware, registered upgrade patch) 4.14 13 October 1997 (shareware, registered, registered upgrade patch) Changes from 4.12 includes: improved memory performance improved TIFF file format support addresses stability issues reported by users 4.15 April 1998 4.15 SE April 1999 Bundled software edition distributed with some PC peripherals, as well as an issue of PC Advisor 5.0 beta 20 February 1998 Changes from version 4.14 includes: JASC Animation Shop Newly supported image formats include Multi-layer PSD, Kodak PhotoPIX, FlashPix, Scitex CT, Pro Photo-CD, 24-bit IFF, PSP, and enhanced metafile Support for layers editing, including blend mode controls, layer grouping, naming, visibility, transparency locking, user masking, and variable opacity. User-customized viewable grids and display optional on-screen rulers. Support for Kodak DC40, DC50 and DC120 digital cameras. Support for pressure-sensitive drawing tablets. Increased TWAIN support printing CMYK color separations directly multiple levels of undo (limited only by available hard disk space) with viewable history New retouching brushes (dodge, burn, saturation, hue, lightness, and HSL to target modes) Added adjustable cropping and Free Form deformation tools New filters (arithmetic, buttonize, blur, Gaussian blur, sharpening and unsharpening) New Picture Tubes brushes allows inserting a sequence of graphic elements such as letter blocks, pointing hands, rocks, old cars, candy, etc. as the user drags the mouse across an image New colour manipulation tools (shifting of color ranges, splitting channels to HSL and CMYK, combining channels, Octree method for decreasing colors) Tree-based file browser based on c-style interface. Supports Photoshop file format plug-ins (also supports custom input/output devices) 5.0 6 April 1998 Retail version of Paint Shop Pro 5.
Japanese-language version was distributed by P & A, Inc. 5.01 June 1998 5.03 May 1999 6.00 13 September 1999 Changes to Paint Shop Pro 5 include: Included Jasc Animation Shop 2 New vector graphics tools (editable text tools, illustration tools with node editing) multiple color/transparency gradients with custom gradient profiles New special effects (including Bevel, Weave, Blinds), deformations, and filters JPEG and GIF optimizer tools Multiple-image layout and printing Adjustment layers for editable color corrections Direct support for over 120 digital camera models Enhanced visual Browser file management OLE screen capture module Multiple-level redo Expanded palette functionality (improved Layer and Tool Options palettes)