Performance

Version 8 is certainly faster than its predecessor. Images load in faster, filters take effect faster. Processing images within the system takes only a few moments in the system which makes it more viable than Corel Paint Shop Pro from that perspective. The UI is intelligent enough with all features on hand within easy reach. There's also the useful drop down boxes that automatically collapse when you open a different one.

To batch convert 1Gb of TIFF images took Pro 8 just under a minute. Considering that version 7 converted 3.5Gb in 7 minutes, that's a massive improvement for the new system. In fact it would appear that ACDSee have doubled the speed of the processing power. It's good to see a program that actually makes real life improvements instead of just adding a few extra filters or features.

Conclusion

The overall idea of the workflow to us, is to edit each picture in your batch one page at a time. It's easy to stick with one picture and go through each stage before going back to the start. However, with the way that the ACDSee Pro series are laid out, it might be easier to do it one page at a time instead.

ACDSee Pro 8 is a lot more aggressive and invasive than previous versions. As soon as it had installed we noticed it had taken over previewing JPEGs. There's a permanent option in the Toolbar of My Computer to View images with ACDSee Pro 8.  If you look at pictures a lot, it's very easy to simply open them up in Windows Viewer. It takes mere seconds. Opening them in another program means that program has to launch, then load the picture in. It takes longer. It's not as easy to navigate through different pictures either.

ACDSee Pro 8 has the possibility of converting current Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro users because it plucks the best parts of each program and amalgamates them into one bundle. With version 8 you get the powerful editing performance that Photoshop offers with the useful and interesting features that you would expect on Paint Shop Pro. Couple that with a very fast batch processing time of lossless images and you have a winning formula.

Ratings (out of 5)
Features	4.5
Ease-of-use	4
Value for money	4.5

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