How did Catholics view Protestants in the early modern period?

I know this is a very, very broad question, and may seem to have a fairly obvious, straightforward answer (i.e. that protestants were heretics), but I'm curious as to the particular nuances of catholic perceptions. As someone who has researched English history far more than any other European country, I have developed a thoroughly protestant perspective on the Reformation and later early modern history of religion.

Particularly, I'm curious as to whether Catholics viewed Protestants as simply misguided but genuine in their religious convictions, or if they saw them as evil heretics who were deliberately misinterpreting the word of God for their own ends. I'm sure, as with most things, it was probably a bit of both, but in that case, which opinion was more prevalent? Also, did this change over time?

I'm also very interested in how Catholics viewed puritans, and how they reconciled the latter's zeal for moral reform with their own belief that they were heretics. Did they see the puritan desire for moral reform to be admirable? Did it make them consider whether Protestantism might actually be a force of good in society? Or did they just think that, because puritans were heretics, any attempt at moral reform was therefore disingenuous and even dangerous?