14 DAY TRIAL // Image processing at any level, professional or home, has always been a common task among PC users. Some do it for money but most of us do it for fun. I prefer watching an amazingly ?tuned up? image rather than creating one, for I know I have no talent for it at all. Nevertheless, it is a big difference between pencil drawing and the digital one, because the latter, thanks to many years of experience and constant need for close to reality images, provides a series of ?artists? who, nowadays, represent a competitive match for Picasso's hand.
As there are different types of purposes, there are also different types of softwares to help you fulfill your ?creation?. For a fistful of dollars or for free, applications offer a variety of tools and special effects more or less accurate and satisfactory. But they are trying to do their best taking into account the skills and dedication of each author.
SlavaSoft Paint Express appears to be both of professional and home use graphic editor, but with limited options, which deals mainly with common image files such as .bmp, .cur and .ico. This latest updated version is able to recognize .jpg, .jpeg and .png(Portable Network Graphics ? an improved replacement for .gif), providing its users with the opportunity of expanding their area of work. It would have been better if this update included more extensions in the supported files category; not just because other similar products do, but because they are free. We can only hope for further improvements.
The Win98 graphics contradicts with its XP skills for it is designed to work with and create files using some advanced options. Besides the common ?mod? tools (pencil, brush, fill, select, erase), this application allows setting the color depth (1 ? 32-bit with alpha channel), up to 10x zoom, predefined or custom resizing, image rotation, rescaling (biliniar/bicubic). Several image filters (smooth, blur, sharpen, drop shadow) and effects (grayscale, opacity, brightness, contrast) are default, not being able to gradually perform its task, which is why some of you, including me, might find it somehow unprofessional. It is the one-click converter that makes all the money for it is really simple to convert even professional images with transparency created using consecrated applications into high-quality icons/cursors. Another interesting feature is the capture tool within the application, where you can choose from screen, window and custom/fixed region (main window only).
Besides effects, a great image is all about colors. And yes, here there are some major palettes starting from the classic Windows 98 and Windows XP themes up to Macintosh and Web Safe. For all those who prefer the never-ending fashion colors, Paint Express comes with a 256 pack from black to pure white. You can also benefit from the custom color option where you can create your own, one playing with shades of red, blue and green.
A special but not unique tool is the search engine which not only filters your computer's hard disk drive(s) taking into account file types but also the search results are based on colors. One can also use its built-in extractor to extract image resources from files such as .exe, .dll or .ocx (used in programming in Visual C++, FoxPro,.etc). The drag-and-drop tool also makes its presence and use with this application but also limited to one file at a time, not being capable, unfortunately, of handling a whole directory. The ?hot keys? enabling is a sort of professional feature which comes to offer its dedicated users a sense of easiness, and for the main tasks the software pops-up, while hovering over, with tips regarding definition and shortcut. For the beginners, it offers a startup help-tips window, tips that you can easily find in the help menu.
Due to its quite simple looks and medium featured tools, Paint Express reveals a hunger for memory usage with each task performed, gulping up to a little over 100MB.
The Good
It is fast in loading and customizing images, one-click features, and quite potent for its small installation size.
The Bad
The price is definitely not justified for there are plenty of similar other softwares who are free and even more potent. The GUI needs to be worked on, just for the looks if not for the abilities.
The Truth
It's a short ranged application, with some interesting features, not meant, I guess, to be the best software in its class. Looking forward to improved updates.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
