![[Bytes Link logo]](../../../cgif/bytelnk2.gif)
Corel Draw 8 Package Corel Draw 8, Corel Photo Paint 8, and Corel Dream 3D 8
by By Ted Thomas, NJPCUG http://www.njpcug.org - March 26, 2001 at 23:17:51:
Pros—Wide range of advanced professional-level tools and capabilities at a very reasonable price. Wizards, Tutorials, 450 Templates, 40,000 Clip Art Images and 1,147 Fonts. Color Management Software with Color Calibration Target included. Image Cataloguing and Browsing Software.also includedCons—600 MB for full install. 59 MB for 1,147 Fonts. A lot to learn. “Corel Draw 8: The Official Guide” book is required reading.
Conclusion—A lot for the money
This is a good example of a full-bodied, mid-level graphics software package. Mid-level means that, on the one hand, Corel Draw is trying to compete with high-end professional appli-cations, in this case Adobe Illustrator (for vector drawing) and Adobe Photoshop (for bitmap image editing). And, in fact, Corel Draw does provide many sophisticated tools that are similar or essentially identical to those found in Adobe’s Illustrator and Photoshop products. Yet, on the other hand, Corel Draw is also trying to keep things very simple and easy for beginners, as the Micrografx products do. To accomplish this, Corel Draw relies primarily, on multiple wizards, some 450 templates, and The CorelTUTOR, all of which are aimed at helping beginners and non-designers.
Corel Draw’s 450 templates are divided into 18 different categories, ranging from Advertisements and Business Cards through Letterheads and Newsletters to Purchase Orders. though not all of the obvious categories are present. Among the missing, are Press Releases and Expense Reports. Of those available, each category in turn has from one to two dozen ready-to-go templates in it. The templates themselves, as far as I sampled them, are solid and useful. In addition, there is not just one but several separate Wizards to choose from, all of which are presented on the first Wizard screen. They are Corel or Paper Direct—Text and Paper
Samples or Paper Direct—Text Only. Paper Direct is a printer located in Secaucus, NJ. Its Phone and Fax numbers as well as its web site address, pop up once you push either Paper Direct button. A preview window is included, so that you can get an idea of what the templates look like before choosing the one you want. In addition, image cataloging and browsing software, from Cumulus, a leader in its field, is part of the package.
The CorelTUTOR is another very important tool for beginners. It has four parts, which are Welcome, Basic Tutorials, Workshops, and Cool Effects. Together, these cover a wide range of tools and effects, over fifty in all. Cool Effects, for instance, includes Emboss Text, Neon and 3D Objects. Of course, CorelTUTOR provides written, step-by-step instructions on how to create all these effects. I tried out the Logo Workshop and liked working with it. It introduced the Gradient Fill Tool, which was a joy to use. It is simple, intuitive and easy. In fact, it is much easier to use than the Photoshop 3 version of the same tool. The many topics covered by CorelTUTOR range from Drop Caps to transforms; from outlines to fills; from interactive effects to Bézier Curves. There are well over 50 in all.
Some features of Corel Draw 8 particularly caught my attention. For instance, color calibration is recognized and addressed as an important issue. This is essential when you want your screen colors to resemble as closely as possible the colors printed on paper by a printer. Here “printer” can mean anything from your desktop printer, to workgroup printers, service bureaus, or offset presses. Since each printer has somewhat different characteristics, this means that the same electronic document will print with slightly different colors on each printer. (Well, hopefully just slightly different!) To launch this program, go to Start® Programs® CorelDRAW 8® Graphic Utilities® Corel Color Profile Wizard 8. This software uses Kodak Digital Science technology and bears the Kodak Digital Science logo. Also included, is a color calibration target, which is used in conjunction with your scanner if you have one. You have the choice of doing the calibration manually, automatically or by means of a colorimeter, which can be rented from supply houses. Either way, the Wizard is there to lead you through the process. Once your equipment is color calibrated, you should be able to put nasty color surprises behind you.
A related tool is the Service Bureau Profiler. This program is found at: Start® Programs® CorelDRAW 8® Productivity Tools® Service Bureau Profiler. As you may have guessed from the previous paragraph each output device wherever it may be located, has its own color peculiarities called its color profile. The Corel Color Profile Wizard helps you determine these profiles. Then the Service Bureau Profiler organizes this data along with other pertinent information by individual output device. So, if you’re sending a job for client ABC to the Heidelberg Quickmaster DI offset press #4 at service bureau #2, then all you need to do is click on the proper button(s). Each of the relevant parameters will be applied and sent automatically along with your job.
Some of the other very attractive features in Corel Draw 8 include the Font Navigator, which helps you to organize and use large collections of fonts more efficiently and effectively. And who doesn’t have a large collection of fonts these days? Another nice capability makes it possible to customize your Corel Draw desktop/workspace. There are well over100 parameters that you can customize, with thousands of different settings in all. These range from choosing the number of undo levels (up to 99,999), to customizing the behavior of each tool in the toolbox or deciding which tools to actually put in the toolbox, and on the toolbar(s).
Also, you can have the workspace imitate Corel Draw 7, or Adobe Illustrator or Macromedia Freehand. Any custom workspace can be named and saved—say, for multiple users, or for different jobs/clients with different requirements.
Conclusion—Corel Draw 8 is a strong contender in its market. Corel Photo-Paint 8 uses the same type of CorelTUTOR training as Corel Draw. It has many tools similar to advanced professional applications such as Adobe’s Photoshop. Corel Dream 3D 8 has a “Scene Wizard” that is short and simple, easy to use. Although traditional Help is available, Dream 3D installs no built-in tutorial. Instead, a visit to www.corel.com will yield FAQ’s and the Corel FTP site, both sources of much information. Dream has a set of ready-to-go 3D objects in its library and a whole fist-full of tools to get your web work done. If you like Draw, you’ll love Paint and Dream.
![[------STRIPE-----]](../../../cgif/str1.gif){kind=small}
Site Disclaimer Suggestions? E-Mail to webmaster@noccc.org