When you think of photo editing, the chances are you think of Adobe Photoshop. However, the majority of non-professional users don't need Photoshop's high-end power and can't justify its cost. That's where Paint Shop Pro (PSP) comes in. Its low price is definitely its initial attraction, but that has never stopped it aiming high. At times, as with version 6's introduction of vector layers, it has even left Photoshop trailing behind. However, version 7's minor fiddling was a serious letdown and as time passed, it began to look as if PSP had run out of steam. Version 8, though, shows this isn't the case.You begin to realise how fundamental the overhaul has been as soon as you load the application.

A shift of focus to advanced CSS and JavaScript handling, but Dreamweaver is beginning to look old-fashioned

A simplified interface, strong photo-to-art Focus and the low price make painter essentials a great buy.

The new interface plus PDF and AIR export sees Fireworks CS4 fully integrated into the Creative Suite.

A new interface, smart albums, guided editing and photo merging keep Photoshop Elements ahead of the pack

A new interface, drawing engine and programming language, but surprisingly little new power.

FreeHand has had a long, distinguished career since its launch 15 years ago, but time has caught up with it. While Macromedia concentrated development on its Web-oriented MX applications, FreeHand was put on the back burner and fell seriously behind its main rivals CorelDRAW (see issue 60, p54) and Adobe Illustrator (see issue 51, p88). So, is this latest release evidence of further decline, or has FreeHand finally risen to the challenge?

Improved handling of templates, tracing, text and layers along with new table support, but ultimately X4 disappoints

Advanced long document functionality and screen-based publishing via Flash contribute to another Quark-bashing.