dillinger wrote:

I agree with you on PSP5 being the last useful version, but 25 years is really too old to be usable today, isn't it? Does it even install?

Hi dillinger,

Thanks for concurring on the last known good version of PSP, as we all work together here, and I can make a mistake just as easily as anyone else can.

Yes. PSP503 installs. You can tell it uses the "old style" installer, as I recall, but it works. It just is extremely rude with your context menus.

I you want something like that have a look at Photofiltre: https://www.photofiltre-studio.com/

Thanks for that suggestion of photofiltre, which rings a bell somewhere...

I don't use photofiltre but as I said, I've tested _every_ free image
editor ever suggested on the windows, photo and freeware newsgroups.

<https://i.postimg.cc/xjXSP6QY/app-editor-pic.jpg> c:\app\editor\pic\
{artweaver,faststone,fotor,fotosketcher,ghostscript,gimp,
imagemagick,inkscape,irfanview,jsware_crop,krita,morph,
paint.net,paintstar,photodemon,photopad,pinta,vicman_last_good_version,
xnview,psp_shareware,photome,freehandpaint}

Hmmm.. If I don't use photofiltre, it failed for some reason.
Let me look.
Oh... OK. Now I know why.

I keep logs of every test I run and it looks like I tested photofiltre
on 7/2/2022 at 3:18pm (which isn't in my long term archives yet).
<https://i.postimg.cc/HLfTjC63/picture-editors.jpg> New & old pic archives

It seems that fotofiltre intantly failed its initial software tests.
Here's my log, verbatim.

<http://www.photofiltre.com/download-en.htm>
PhotoFiltre 11 is shareware and is limited to a 30-day trial period.
At the end of the 30-day trial period, if you want to continue using
it you will need to purchase a registration key. If, on the other
hand you no longer want to continue using the program you must
remove it from your system immediately.

<http://photofiltre.free.fr/>
<http://photofiltre.free.fr/frames_en.htm>

PhotoFiltre is free for a private or educational use.
<http://photofiltre.free.fr/download_en.htm>
<http://photofiltre.free.fr/utils/PhotoFiltre-en-653.zip>
Name: PhotoFiltre-en-653.zip
Size: 1970704 bytes (1924 KiB)
SHA256: 1962098ABCFC484A883A55DE33F37AC3A38E257B6272BBCBB2E301BC9A49546E

That's all I remember as I only give a program one strike & it's out.
Looking back, it's confusing though since it says it's free for
personal use on one location and it says that it's not in another.

What is it?
--
Posted out of the goodness of my heart to disseminate useful information
which, in this case, is to faithfully report on my photofiltre testing.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

bad sector wrote:

I'm 79 but so busy that it'll be many a long moon before I get to do any
hands-on with it. I can say though that the early paint-shop had the
right idea about what people wanna do with a paint prog. I too use the
gimp and am ready to throw myself face down on the floor in adoration of
it every week but for drawing-n-painting it's freakin useless, photoshop
I've never even touched. As for the name Pinta, a pint o'what? It also
recalls the great little Pinto that got a bad rap courtesy of GM :-)

Hi bad sector,

Thank you for your purposefully helpful reply, which, in complete contrast
to the always purposefully _un_helpful childish taunts from the childish low-self-esteem iKooks, you added value so that the team is enlightened.

I can't disagree with you that the earliest "paint" program seemed to do "basic" stuff we all grew out teeth on before moving to the others...
<https://i.postimg.cc/xjXSP6QY/app-editor-pic.jpg> c:\app\editor\pic\
{artweaver,faststone,fotor,fotosketcher,ghostscript,gimp,imagemagick,
inkscape,irfanview,jsware_crop,krita,morph,paint.net,paintstar,photodemon,
photopad,pinta,vicman_last_good_version,xnview,psp_shareware,photome,etc.}

I've tested _every_ free image-editing program ever suggested (AFAIK) on
the Windows, digital photo & freeware newsgroups for something like two
decades (I am not counting - it's just been since the beginning of time).

I'm older than you, but still under my life expectancy of 91 years
(according to Social Security anyway) where if when you say "early paint
shop" you mean PaintShop Pro shareware, the main caveat I have with the PSP setup msi is that it _destroys_ your carefully crafted right-click menus!

And, when you delete Paint Shop Pro in frustration, it leaves fragments
behind in your right-click context menu that you have to find & delete.

For that reason alone, I will _never_ install PSP again, but if others need
the program, here are the pointers to the latest known good version.
<https://web.archive.org/web/20220205033721/http://www.oldversion.com/windows/paint-shop-pro/>

Note you can't get the last known good version of PSP from here:
<http://www.oldversion.com/windows/paint-shop-pro/>

As far as I know, the last known good version is 5.03 (IMHO).
Bear in mind there are a _lot_ of dead ends with PSP nowadays.

For example, this purports to be PSP version 5.03
<https://winworldpc.com/product/paint-shop-pro/5x>
Name: JASC Paint Shop Pro 5.03 Update.7z
Size: 4135963 bytes (4039 KiB)
SHA256: 9BCE9AC19B2608B947A7F01B012398EEEF8E96D36F7686B4E024738A315AB842

That unzips to
Name: psp503up.exe
Size: 4113688 bytes (4017 KiB)
SHA256: A8511907E9748F1F2D882D991430E459157100A055A1DC04A7C9236F20DB4BD9

But that's just an update to the 5.00 or 5.01 version which has to already
be installed for this update to bump either of them to version 5.03.

Hence, my advice is the last known good version is "only" found here:
<https://web.archive.org/web/20220205033721/http://www.oldversion.com/windows/paint-shop-pro/>

As always, we're a well-honed team, so if you know of a better location
for the last known good version of PSP, please let all of us know where.
--
Posted out of the goodness of my heart to disseminate useful information
which, in this case, is to faithfully respond to bad sector's comments.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

sobriquet wrote:

I think photopea.com is the most obvious free alternative
for photoshop, because it is both cross-platform (running in the
browser on ios, android, windows, mac, linux, etc..) and convenient
(no need to install any software).
It is also powerful, since it supports advanced editing
(like using layer masks, which paint.net doesn't seem to support).

https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/120062-layer-masks/

Hi sobriquet,

Thanks for the suggestion of photopea.com as we all work together, for
decaes, helping each other find the best software for photo editing.

Given that suggestion, I, for one, try to test every viable free
image-editing app ever suggested on the photo, windows, and freeware
newsgroups (the freeware 3D editors being tested separately from the cad newsgroups), and I looked & don't see that in my archives.
<https://i.postimg.cc/HLfTjC63/picture-editors.jpg> New & old pic archives

First, since you provided the link, I will look at it, where I went to:
<https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/120062-layer-masks/>
*Posted May 27, 2022 by Brittw*
"Paint.net is great and, with many plug-ins, I can do just about
anything that I could do in Photoshop. One feature that is lacking
however, which would be of tremendous benefit to users, would be
the addition of Layer Masks. This would, for example, enable users
to blend bracketed photos simply. It is a feature found in many
photo editors (e.g. GIMP)."

*Posted May 27, 2022 by TrevorOutlaw*
"Use Alpha Mask Import Plugin 2.0"
MODERATORS NOTE: This Alpha Mask effect may have issues with
newer versions of Paint.NET. An alternative plugin, called
Paste Alpha, is available here.
<https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/1854-alpha-mask-import-plugin-20/>
Alternatively, BoltBait's PasteAlpha does the same thing.

<https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/113220-boltbaits-plugin-pack-for-pdn-v4212-and-beyond-updated-july-16-2020/>
"Gimp and Photoshop's layer mask are non-destructive while Paint.NET's
masking approach is destructive. Whenever using either Alpha Mask
or Paste Alpha, make sure to duplicate the original object."

*Posted May 28, 2022 by Ego Eram Reputo*
"I asked Rick about this quite a while ago. At the time Rick explained
that adding layer masks would break existing PDN files (not something
he was willing to entertain)."

*Posted May 28, 2022 by Rick Brewster*
"Layer masks require extending the .PDN file format. That's not on
the table until PDN v5, along with several other features.
Doesn't mean alpha masks are coming in v5, just means it
becomes possible to start talking about it at that time."

I don't really know what this feature does, nor whether the plugins
do what sobriquet is asking for, but I should note those threads
are old but they probably are still accurate even as my Paint.NET
version is 5.03 (so it's likely layer-mask capable).

Moving forward on sobriquet's purposefully helpful suggestion,
<https://www.photopea.com/>
Photopea: Advanced photo editor supporting
PSD, XCF, Sketch, XD and CDR formats.
(Adobe Photoshop, GIMP, Sketch App, Adobe XD & CorelDRAW)
Create a new image or open existing files from your computer.
Save your work as PSD (File > Save as PSD) or as JPG/PNG/SVG
using File > Export. Suggest new features at our GitHub site.
<https://github.com/photopea/photopea/issues>
Where one of the issues is "Too many ads" as shown here:
<https://github.com/photopea/photopea/issues/5510>

It's a GREAT IDEA for a bunch of reasons, not the least of which is that it requires no installation, and therefore anyone can use it on any platform.

My first test failed miserably, but I'm sure that's just data dependent.
a. I read in this exact file...
<https://i.postimg.cc/QN6rbSQD/browser05.jpg> All 3 Microsoft browsers
b. And this is what showed up...
<https://i.postimg.cc/Sx1zCsdp/photopea01.jpg> My 1st photopea edit
c. But that could be due to my browser settings...
Can you test out that exact file to see if it's the file please?

No big deal if you don't, as the value inherent in your suggestion is that there is a documented supported reasonably powerful photo editor that is available online using a web browser on any platform - which is really
nice.

Thanks for that wonderful suggestion.
I likely won't use it but it is great to know that it exists as others
may use it so we can help many people who don't want to install editors.
--
Posted out of the goodness of my heart to disseminate useful information
which, in this case, is to faithfully try to help the original poster.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

AllanH wrote:

Version 7.2.1 is the Last Freeware Version and can be found here:

https://www.photofiltre-studio.com/pf7-en.htm

Hi AllanH,
Thank you for that pointer to the last known freeware Photofiltre version.

People like you are what makes Usenet great because everyone benefits
from the effort you put into helping us find the last known free version.

<https://www.photofiltre-studio.com/pf7-en.htm>
PhotoFiltre 7 is freeware for private uses.
"PhotoFiltre 7 is a complete image retouching program.
It allows you to do simple or advanced adjustments to an image
and apply a vast range of filters on it. It is simple and
intuitive to use, and has an easy learning curve.
The toolbar, giving you access to the standard filters
with just a few clicks, gives PhotoFiltre 7 a robust look.
PhotoFiltre 7 also has layer manager (with Alpha channel),
advanced brushes, batch module and lot of other powerful tools."
<https://www.photofiltre-studio.com/utils/pf7-en-7.2.1.zip>
Name: pf7-en-7.2.1.zip
Size: 5332573 bytes (5207 KiB)
SHA256: DEE1337ABBDE74ED8F908AD405DDB8F0EE5FA801DC323CA38039A860CCED6356

The zip unarchives to a directory which I moved to my pic editors
c:\app\editor\pic\photofiltre\.
In that directory are a bunch of files, the most important being:
Name: PhotoFiltre7.exe
Size: 3478528 bytes (3397 KiB)
SHA256: 3D7C8943C8A4BEC3A2AEF47D17007E0E318B4DEA615DECA502E2836578FF90B1
Making a shortcut and putting that shortcut into my cascade menu:
c:\menu\editor\pic\photofiltre.lnk
Target=C:\app\editor\pic\photofiltre\PhotoFiltre7.exe

The first test was to load in this arbitrary file which I was working on
at the very moment of testing, for this thread on Android sneakyware...
*This free Android app ad and tracking inspector will easily show apps you might want to delete*
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/ALTier7haA0>

This is the test file that I was working on to document that app.
<https://i.postimg.cc/BQ06Hvyd/inspector01.jpg>

Normally I annotate the screenshots using three fundamental tools
a. I text a description
b. I circle key items in that description
c. I also point to key items in that description

I have one rule which is NO LINE OR BOX COVERS ANY TEXT EVER!
(which is why curved arrows are required!)

First I'll try circling the application in the FOSS Google Play Store
client and then I'll try arrowing and then texting to point out detail.
<https://i.postimg.cc/httm3wtg/photofilter01.jpg> Expected input

This is the result (or similar) that I expect _any_ editor to realize:
<https://i.postimg.cc/d1PLvSwh/text-circle-arrow.jpg> Expected output

I couldn't even _find_ the circling, texting and arrowing tools in
photofiltre, so I will send this off and look for those later.

In summary, this looks like a nice program, which seems to be truly
freeware, which means it's useful to know about for now & the future.

Thank you for pitching in to be purposefully helpful for everyone.
--
Posted out of the goodness of my heart to disseminate useful information
which, in this case, is to faithfully test out the freeware photofiltre.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)