After using the recently-released Paint Shop Pro Photo XI, it was a relief to move onto something a little snappier. For while Corel's image editing tool is undoubtedly strong, it also took glee in slowing down our PC a lot more than we'd like. Ulead's latest incarnation of its photo editing app is guilty of no such crime, but you do have to make some compromises along the way.

The first thing that's slightly tempered is the friendly face. PhotoImpact is fairly welcoming and easy to work around, but the interface is a little more conventional, compensated by a quick start pop-up menu that takes you quickly to many of the key functions (such as quick editing, bringing in photos etc).

Next, there aren't as many ideas. Ulead is content to present its package of tools, without the need for fun gizmos such as the Time Machine option in Paint Shop Pro. Gone too are the extensive, context-sensitive menus that help you zip around the program and understand how to do what you want to do.

And yet we quite liked PhotoImpact. It substitutes flair in favour of logic, and is a little more 'old school' in the way it does its business, but it's no less effective for it, although it does temper the user-friendliness slightly. If you can cope with that, then it's a focused photo editing application, with single button clicks to get good results, but plenty of numbers (which it generally favours over sliders) to manipulate.

PhotoImpact also deserves credit for bridging the gap between the beginner and more experienced user quite well. Take the Express Fix option, for instance. In much the same way that Pinnacle's Studio 10 simplifies video editing by allowing you to switch between beginners' one-touch stuff and more sophisticated tools at the touch of a button, so you can here, with the option to switch back again just a mouse click away. The likes of batch conversions are simple, while there's always a palette of tools within reach should you want to get your hands dirty. Plus the separate album tool is good for photo organisation.

The usual sharing options, commonplace in applications such as these, are as present and straightforward as always, while a good selection of effects, filters and automated fixes are also available. In short, PhotoImpact 12 religiously ticks all the right boxes, and has enough tools to satiate novice and intermediate image editors. Its interface and way of working perhaps lacks warmth, but it's fast, efficient and up to its promised work.

Other applications present similar functionality in a more friendly way, but PhotoImpact is nonetheless a lean, good quality image manipulation tool.