
If you prefer you can change this central area to show a preview of a selected image or as a world map showing where the various images were collected. Images can be displayed as thumbnails, with a user-definable size using a slider bar, within a central work area. Hardly surprisingly, Manage mode provides the user with the means to review, organise and find photos stored in a variety of locations. This option is available from the View menu. You can select from Dark, Medium or Light grey for the workspace and from Black, White, Dark, Medium or Light grey for background colour. Other customisable options that I tend to make include setting the background colour for the background and workspace colour. An option is available to set your preferred mode with a choice of Adjust or Edit with the former being the default. They are accessible from tabs located across the top of the screen.

These modes are designated as Manage, Adjust and Edit. The Paint Shop Pro X9’s opening interface gives you a choice of modes that come into their own when tackling certain tasks.

I found, as with previous versions, that my flatbed Canon LIDE scanner could only be detected by Paint Show Pro 32-bit. However, on the other hand, you could miss out on the functionality offered by some 32-bit plug-ins or 32-bit compatible software when using Paint Shop Pro. When making the decision which version to install or work with, you might need to take into consideration issues such as the 64-bit version being able to handle larger file sizes and being faster with certain tasks. The installation was not a particularly speedy operation as separate folders were created for the two versions.

When installing this product I was given the choice of either working with the 32 or 64-bit version or, as I finally opted for, going for both varieties. As with the previous version, Paint Shop Pro X9 is available in either a Standard or Ultimate offering. This product has developed, over the years, from a file conversion utility into a photo editing and graphics designer package. The software in question is Paint Shop Pro.
