A little less supreme than we were
hoping
PaintSupreme advertises itself as a
best-in-class photo-editing and image-creation tool that's fast, stable, and
easy to use. We can't argue with stable it never crashed in our testing.
However, we don't know if we’d agree with everything else.
Applying basic adjustments and filters to
full-resolution photos was fairly fast, even on a 5-year-old MacBook Pro.
However, using the brush and pen tools on top of a 10-megapixel photo was
painfully slow, as was working with layers and almost everything else in the
application. PhotoSupreme also cheats a little by showing users a thumbnail
preview of their photo adjustments, instead of previewing the adjustments right
on the photo.
Applying
basic adjustments and filters to full-resolution photos was fairly fast, even
on a 5-year old MacBook Pro
At first glance, PaintSupreme is a
simplified version of Photoshop. The layers palette and toolbars look familiar,
and the image-creation tools are relatively intuitive. However, the interface
is clunky and unpolished, and it lacks consistent menus for applying the full
palette of photo adjustments that are PaintSupreme's main selling point. This
makes the application not only a bit unintuitive, but not as fast to edit
photos as PaintSupreme claims. Plus, key photo-editing features are nowhere to
be found, such as the ability to adjust exposure, shadows, highlights, and
contrast. You can still achieve these adjustments by fiddling with levels and
curves, though not as quickly or intuitively. Even the most basic photo
editors, including iPhoto, contain some of these features. These oversights
would be excusable if PaintSupreme's automatic filters looked good, but they
look amateurish at best. Oddly, PaintSupreme offers more fine-tuned adjustments
within some (but not all) of its filters than in its regular menus.
Some
of PaintSupreme's filters can be adjusted, but others like this one can’t.
As an image creator. PaintSupreme offers
some relatively easy-to-use tools for shape creation and painting. The painting
tool does feature a brush palette, though no brush textures come with the
program. And, if you're used to using layers while painting, PaintSupreme's
layer palette is a little meager. There's no way to adjust opacity, and no
blending modes. But there are other useful features, such as a history view and
a clone-stamping tool. Ultimately, it feels like the program is trying too hard
to emulate the appearance of Photoshop, without many of its useful futures or
polished GUI.
The bottom line. If you’re looking for
tools to work with layers, vectors, and to draw, give PaintSupreme's free trial
a shot. If you need software just to adjust and correct photos, there are
better alternatives, even in this price range.
If
you’re looking for tools to work with layers, vectors, and to draw, give
PaintSupreme's free trial a shot. If you need software just to adjust and
correct photos, there are better alternatives, even in this price range
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PaintSupreme
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Website: www.braindistrict.com
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Price: $10
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Requirements: OS X 10.6.6 or later
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(+) Inexpensive. Lots of key features like
layer palettes and adjustment tools, in addition to filters and some
important photo-adjustment tools.
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(-) Lacking basic photo-editing features, like
exposure and manual contrast. Unintuitive. Slow and laggy. Most included
filters don’t look great.
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