Serif PhotoPlus X4

I read somewhere that this was labelled a "Poor Mans" Photoshop, which is a little unfair, considering what one can actually do with this program.
That said, you had better know what you are doing, or have at least some experience with advanced photo editing.
The box reads - " Digital Photo Editing editing made easy" but if you are only using a simple program like Picasa, or a bundled camera software to crop, brighten and sharpen, this may be over your head.
There are way too many features to write about in one review, most are covered in the Amazon description above, and I would rather talk about how easy, or difficult the software is to actually just load up and use.
For my limited needs, once you get used to it, it's relatively straightforward, and very nice to see large on screen editing before saving copies or printing.
As I already said, there is also a lot of stuff for semi, and even pro editors.
Considering it's about 1/10th the price of the current Adobe, if you want a place to start, this is probably one of the better budget programs out there.

You'll find a lot of functionality in PhotoPlus, but its price point puts it among serious competition. It certainly merits consideration.
PhotoPlus opens instantly, which gives it an edge over Photoshop CS5 when I need to do something quickly. For a first test, I went right into an HDR merge. Sure, that's not a mainstream task, but I hope my review will add to what others have written.
Big problem here: the program does not recognize the .NEF files from my Nikon D700 ... or D300, or Fuji S2 Pro, or Canon G10. What gives? I see what's happening; PhotoPlus can open these raw files but does not show thumbnails in the file browser. Perhaps it uses the Windows file browser and cannot see the embedded jpeg thumbnails in the files.
Plan B, I'll open a NEF and see how I like the raw file converter. Options are pretty basic, but unlike Picasa (when I last checked) I can set white balance, explosure, black point, highlight (clip, recovery, neutral), noise reduction (one slider, no option for luminance and chroma) chromatic aberration reduction, bit depth and color space.
The raw converter offers various before/after views and zooming to examine areas in greater detail. Since changes like exposure and highlights take time, but zooming is instant, we know the program is really processing the image in real time, not just the preview. I'll open the image and see if this is true. Indeed, it opens in a flash. I'd rather wait at the end of the process than each time I tweak a setting. What happens when I select two NEF files to open? Each is opened in the raw converter sequentially. Here Photoshop has a big advantage as does DXO Optics Pro, my other favorite raw file converter. These allow you to refine settings for each image in a batch, then go away while they process the settings.
Let's take a look around the desktop. PhotoPlus has a tools palette on the left, then a "How To" menu, the image pane, an open documents browser below that. on the right from top to bottom are three sets of stuff. On top you'll find tabs for histogram (color channels and luminance) navigator and color mode and adjustments (no LAB). In the middle are three tabs a good selection of the expected adjustment tools, brush tips, and history. Below that are tabs for layers, channels and macros. All of this is very familiar to the Photoshop user.
Across the top of the frame, in addition to the standard menus, you'll find the layer mode and opacity settings (odd location), brush size and flow settings, as well as Pressure Studio (for tablet users), PhotoFix, Cutout Studio and Filter Gallery.
All of this illustrates that PhotoPlus X4 is quite a complete package and is easy to comprehend if you have used similar programs.
Now for some fun, I look at Filter Gallery. The split view is a handy way to see the before and after of these effects. But a number of them have the international "do not enter" symbol indicating that I can't use them. Better go back and convert this 16-bit image to 8-bits. If you don't know what that means, don't worry. Once again I see that the program works directly with the full image, so I have to be patient as I try different settings. Too bad as this really slows me down.
Let's examine the tools palette. I think I see a few missing from PS CS5. Tools include Deform, Selection Deform, Crop, Straighten, selection tools like rectangle, ellipse, magnetic lasso, polygon selection, magic wand, and wait; here's a selection brush. Think I'll give it a try.
I adjust my brush size then paint on a selection of areas I want to adjust. The Modify Selection box allows me to feather, smooth, expand or contract my selection, as well as choosing what kind of view of my selection I prefer: overlay, marquee, etc. Once again, I have to wait for the full image to be processed; the preview does not change while I adjust the selection.
Now looking at the right side, I choose Curves and voila, I have a Curves adjustment layer masked to my selection. In this case I can apply a curve to one of the three color channels or all. Missing are any presets to shortcut this process. But my adjustment layer shows up in the Layers palette, and I can turn if on or off or discard.
One tip, PhotoFix is a treasure trove of refinements, many of which don't appear elsewhere. One example is conversion to black and white. Although no match for more sophisticated programs with specific film looks, PhotoFix provides some nice presets and more control. It also seems to operate very quickly.
Something I don't appreciate is how previews work ... or don't. Let's take sharpening for example. In the main program I can go to Effects, Sharpen, Unsharp mask. There is no preview toggle to see before and after. Trying Plan B, I go into Photofix and turn on Unsharp Mask. I can use the split view to see the before and after, but I'm in trouble if I want to see it after I did a sepia black and white conversion. The split view shows the original on the left and with all active "photo fixes" on the right. There seems to be no way to see the sepia image before and after sharpening.
On the flip side, anything I do in PhotoFix shows up like an effect; it's a sub-layer below the one to which I applied it and I can click the eyeball to view or hide it. But all PhotoFix tweaks are lumped together so I have to back into that plug-in to turn individual fixes on or off.
I hope this has provided a little different perspective on PhotoPlus X4. I've tried to describe dimensions you might not have heard from other reviewers. There are more features but this tour should have given you a general sense of the product.
So what's my verdict? I think this could be a handy program for quick fixes and an alternative to full Photoshop for those who want a similar interface at much lower cost. Photoshop Elements is serious competition to consider, and by all means try the free Picasa. I consider Serif PagePlus Essentials a price-busting alternative to InDesign or Quark, but PhotoPlus does not speak to me quite so clearly. If the price were lower, I'd give an unqualified recommendation since it really does offer a lot. For now let's just say, put it on your short list.

UPDATE July 21, 2011
Now that Amazon has this product priced below $30, it's a no-brainer. It provides plenty of functionality for the money.

Dirt you ask? Well right now I teach digital photography to high school students. My school is a very poor school and a middle of the road academic school. This means my students want answers now and they are in a hurry to do everything. They can "break dirt." I have Photo Shop and Macs so you would think I don't need this program,technically you would be right but in reallity oh yes I do! This program does the basic things of Photo Shop quickly and easily for my slower students. They can do the basic reguirements for my class with little instruction using this program. It works so well for them that my advance students are fighting to use this.

The bottom line is this: This program loads quickly. The instructions for layering are easy to understand and gets you into the job quickly. This program does the basic things and if you are a part time photographer or hobby one this is all you would need. Advanced students or photograhers who need programs like white baolance, would want Photo Shop.

There is another thing, this for those people who have PCs. Photo Shop is a Mac porgram or the program I have is. Most of my students have PC computers at home so they are comfortable with PCs and this program.

Kids want things now and they don't want to wait, so this program gives them all that they want when they want it. For me as a teacher, it works.

If you want to "totally" control the making of a photo and "get off" having every bell and whistle at your command, then this isn't for you.

My only problem now is I need more PCs in my room.

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