MEP2015 with Paintshop Pro X7 Ultimate - does it work both ways?

browj2 wrote on 11/21/2014, 11:27 AM

Hi,

I saw in this message that John E. Baker is using "Paintshop Pro X5 Ultimate and it also is my external image editor for MEP - media exchange is fully integrated with MEP."

Terry indicated in this message that "it's a pity that despite specifying an alternative such as PaintShop Pro in Program Settings > Folders, MEP can not use it for integrated editing."

Thus we seem to have conflicting comments. Terry's comment is older than John's and maybe things have changed.

Corel has a sale on Paintshop Pro X7 Ultimate (I've been waiting for this) for 59$ Cdn (probably 50 US) for the full version which includes a few sweeteners. The local FutureShop has the box version on sale for 50$ Cdn without sweeteners.

Before I buy this, I just want to confirm that if I use this as the Graphics editor in MEP, it will open with the image, I can modify the image, and the modified image will be brought back into MEP, the same as Magix Photo Designer 7 does.

Does at least X5 work as above? With MEP2015 Plus or Premium? Has anyone tried X7 with MEP2015?

Thanks,

Comments

johnebaker wrote on 11/21/2014, 2:48 PM

Hi John

Looks like MEP 2015 has broken the MX link with PSP X5 - I get a message that PSP X5 cannot open the file because it is an invalid type.

Still works OK with the same images in MEP 2014

John

terrypin wrote on 11/22/2014, 3:40 AM

Hi John,

I use PSP 8, a much older version than John EB's, and that is not integrated with MEP (2014 and earlier). I have to re-save and rename and re-import any image I've already imported into MEP (and to which I've applied any effect), but now want to edit externally. But that workaround is preferable in my case to changing my many tweaks and macros customised for my familiar and heavily used PSP8.

Terry, East Grinstead, UK

browj2 wrote on 11/22/2014, 9:54 AM

Gentlemen,

Thank you for your replies. I took the plunge and purchased PSP 7 Ultimate. Sale is for the weekend only.

Terry, you say you have PSP 8? Back to the future?

I installed both 32 and 64 bit versions, along with FaceFilter and AfterShot and the other add-ons. Then I changed the Image Editor in MEP2015 to PaintShop Pro 64bit exe, and tried it. Lo and behold, it opened my photo, I modified it, and when I closed it, PSP asked if I wanted to save a copy of the original (definitely), and then it displayed my modified image in MEP. Success!

What the program does is saves the changes to the original file, thus the image in MEP changes. It is important to keep an original, obviously, and PSP creates a subfolder and places the original there. I always have another backup of originals just in case.

I added some effects in MEP then exported the image to PSP. The image that is opened does not have any of the MEP effects obviously. I added some text and a brush circle, exited PSP, and my modified image is in MEP with all of the effects.

Terry, you may want to change your workflow so that you don't have to re-import the image with a different file name. Just make a copy of the original in another folder, modify the original file, and it should automatically show up with the changes in MEP.

Now I have to learn all about PSP.

Thanks again!

johnebaker wrote on 11/22/2014, 1:20 PM

@ JohnCB - that is good to know - after further testing I suspect my issue is because MEP 2015 is 64 bit whereas PSP X5 is 32 bit.

Time for an upgrade I think, maybe, perhaps - will think about this one a bit more because I have changed my methodology regarding editting still images, ie do it seperately because if the image needs editing for MEP then it also needs editting for printing, all because I now have everything colour calibrated .

John

terrypin wrote on 11/22/2014, 2:24 PM

Hi John ,

Maybe I didn't explain the issue clearly, but that approach doesn't work. I haven't searched for them yet but I've posted several times over the last couple of years about it. I'm on my iPad so can't work along with you but from memory try this:

Edit, after getting back onto PC:

These two illustrations show what I mean:

johnebaker wrote on 11/23/2014, 8:20 AM

I succumbed - the new version of PSP X7 has several new features that I use to do the hard way. Plus you can install on up to 3 computers.

As John CB has done I installed both 32 and 64 bit versions and the 64 bit version works with MEP 2015 and the 32 bit with MEP MX onwards.

@ Terry

If you have registered your PSP 8 with Corel you should be able to get the new version at the Upgrade price.

John

browj2 wrote on 11/23/2014, 12:03 PM

Hi,

@Terry

I didn't think about changing the underlying format. I can understand that the program would have a tough time trying to figure out what to do with the new size parameters.

I can also understand that if the photo is placed on the timeline and then retouched outside of MEP, MEP would not do a refresh immediately as it wouldn't know that the image had changed. I haven't tried this.

Other than that, is there anything else that would not work if the photo is retouched completely outside of MEP? By this I mean that a refresh in MEP (or reopeing the project) would just update the image, leaving all effects intact.

@John

Corel is probably selling off everything before issuing a new version. So far I am pleased with this one. I don't recall the last time I printed out a photo. My wife does, by I don't. Most of what I retouch are scanned photos and slides and I have been using Xara for the last year to do some healing and enhancing of some images, then importing the image into a video. I can see a resemblance between PSP and Xara, and I presume that Corel Draw and PSP were offshoots of Xara before they went their separate ways. Of course, Xara, being principally a vector drawing program, doesn't handle images nearly as well as PSP, which is why I wanted PSP. Being able to use it from within MEP/VPX6 is a big plus.

I wish that Magix would fix the interface between VPX6 (and MEP2015) and Xara for animation and psd files for modifying DVD menus, and fix the multi-language DVD creation before coming out with a new version. It's great that PSP and VPX6 play nicely together, so why don't VPX6 and Xara play properly together? The same applies to AML and VSCL2014 that don't play with VPX6 or MEP2015, but should. Maybe some day.....

browj2 wrote on 11/23/2014, 12:24 PM

A little update, I just checked VPX6 with PSP and I noticed that when I return from modifying an image, the image does not update. So I went to MEP2015 and did the same exercise and the modified image showed up correctly upon return from PSP. In VPX6, I noticed that the changed image shows up in the icon in the media pool but not in the preview monitor or the image on the timeline.

John, if you have both VPX6 and MEP2015, perhaps you check to see if you get the same result.

Could it be because of the project folder? I noticed that inserting another copy from the project folder uses the unchanged image. I inserted the image again from the media pool and the changed image appeared. I then inserted the same file from the project folder thinking that it would have now been updated, but it was not; the project folder still had the unchanged image.

johnebaker wrote on 11/23/2014, 3:53 PM

. . . . Corel is probably selling off everything before issuing a new version . . . .

X7 was released 27th Aug 2014 so the next version will not be for another year.

. . . . I return from modifying an image, the image does not update . . . .

MEP 2015 update a few seconds after X7 releases the image, do not have VPX to check. Do you have Auto preserve turned on and do you close the image, saving it ?

The Auto preserve is a life saver if you forget to work on a duplicate image.

Paintshop Pro was originally manufactured by Jasc Software who were bought out by Corel in 2004.

Xara was originally a UK company (Computer Concepts) and were bought out by Magix.

John

browj2 wrote on 11/23/2014, 10:36 PM

Hi John,

Thanks for the info.

Auto preserve is on, and you are right, it is a life saver. PSP always asks me if I want to save a copy; I select yes, and a copy of the original is saved in the subfolder "Corel Auto-Preserve." I checked to make sure that if I went back a second time to make additional modifications, that the first modified file did not overwrite the original in the Auto-Preserve folder when I closed the image. It does not, which is the desired result. The original files are not overwritten.

Thanks,