Jasc Software

Jasc Software

Jasc Software, Inc. was an Eden Prairie, Minnesota based company founded by Robert Voit, the creator of Paint Shop Pro, a popular graphics editing program. Jasc Software also created other popular software titles, including:

• Image Robot
• Animation Shop
• Media Center Plus
• Webdraw
• After Shot (later released as Photo Album)

On October 14, 2004, Corel Corporation acquired Jasc Software and its Paint Shop Pro operations. The Eden Prairie offices remained with positions in development, marketing, documentation, sales, finance, human resources and technical support, which at the time employed 120 employees and had revenues of more than $30 million. On November 28, 2007, Corel announced the closure of the Minneapolis office. This effectively put an end to the former Jasc Software establishment. While a few positions remained in the Minneapolis area, most operations were transferred to Corel's other offices.

"Jasc" is derived from the acronym, J.A.S.C. (Just Another Software Company). Founder Robert Voit needed a name to protect his assets legally, but at the time had not decided to make a go of the company so he came up with a tongue-in-cheek name. Later when the company took off, he realized that was not the best connotation for a company to have so he publicly "changed" the acronym to (Jets and Software Company) because he was a commercial airline pilot prior to starting the software company.