Jasc To Ship Two New Paint Shop Programs

Minneapolis — Digital imaging software maker Jasc will ship the latest version of its Paint Shop Pro software in addition to a new program targeted at beginners in search of more robust editing and creative features.

According to a company spokesperson, internal market research conducted during the Beta launch of Paint Shop Pro 8 identified two distinct user groups for the imaging software. The first desired a fully featured “professional strength” suite of tools for manipulating photos and creating digital art. The other segment wanted less work and more play, with features geared toward making photo editing easier.

To satiate the first customer base, Jasc updated Paint Shop Pro with version 9, adding photo correction filters for the removal of digital camera noise, chromatic aberration and purple blooming.

Paint Shop Pro 9 will also feature a new set of integrated art media painting tools, including a new Mixer palette which lets users add and mix paint into custom colors. A new information tab on Pro 9 lets users search their photo collections via the EXIF data stored on each digital image.

Paint Shop Pro 9 will ship in September for a suggested retail price of $129.99.

For the second customer base, Jasc will offer the new Paint Shop Pro Studio. This program offers a set of photo editing and graphic design tools that can walk novice users through enhancing, restoring, organizing sharing and editing their digital images.

To inspire the uninitiated, Jasc will bundle an “idea book” with the program which contains various photo projects that users can create within Studio.

Jasc will also bundle its digital organizer, Paint Shop Photo Album 5 Standard Edition ($29), with Studio.

Paint Shop Pro Studio will ship in September for a suggested $79.99.