VERDICT: Paint Shop Pro Photo XI is moving in the right direction but it’s not easy teaching an old dog new tricks.

Paint Shop Pro (PSP) is a long-established and popular software brand, but over the years it has come to seem dated – an old-style bitmap editor rather than an up-to-date PC Photography package.

It’s a perception that new owner, Corel, is determined to address as shown by the recent release’s change of name to Paint Shop Pro Photo (PSPP).

VERDICT: For a new release Snapfire already looks old-fashioned and terminally unexciting – but at least the basic version is free.

Corel describes its new Snapfire program as a “next-generation modular digital imaging platform” designed to provide “all the tools users need to easily organise, enhance and share their digital photos”. That sounds ideal - especially as Corel is providing the program for free from its new Snapfire.com site.