PhotoImpact's text tool permits easy customization. The type tool makes it simple to vary everything from font size and typeface to textures and 3-D effects. A background designer forms tiled backgrounds. The interface is less intuitive than ImageReady's, but PhotoImpact does not take long to learn. Unlike the other programs reviewed, it has no layers.
Selections turn into objects, which can then be sorted or moved around the canvas.
This approach has advantages, but it is easier to work with layers. PhotoImpact supports both vector and bitmap graphics, although the bitmap graphics are better. By itself, it has no real optimization tools, but the accompanying Ulead SmartSaver program optimizes images decently. Ulead also throws in GIF Animator 2.0, one of the best gif animators on the market. Overall, PhotoImpact is good for fast graphics that are not too complex.