Gérard on Graphics

Welcome, CS users!

Gerard Metrailler — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:24:00 GMT

Following the recent announcement made by Adobe regarding their shift to a purely subscription model for future versions of Illustrator, Photoshop and the rest of their Creative Suite products, we've heard from many CS users looking for alternatives. As stated before, we strongly believe in providing users choice to purchase your software the way you want.

So we're doing just that-giving Adobe customers choices. I'm happy to announce a special offer for CS4, CS5 and CS6 customers around the world (some restrictions apply). From now until August 30^th, 2013, owners of eligible Adobe products can purchase a wide range of Corel products at the upgrade price, including CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6, Painter 12, PaintShop Pro X5, PaintShop Pro Ultimate X5, Photo & Video Suite X5, VideoStudio Pro X6, VideoStudio Ultimate X6 and AfterShot Pro.

The process is simple. After trying our products for free, owners of Adobe products can buy the Upgrade version of the Corel software that matches their needs. There is a short form to fill out in order to confirm eligibility, and we'll send an email with installation instructions shortly after.

Owners of following Adobe products are eligible for this offer:

Creative Suite CS4/CS5/CS6
Photoshop CS4/CS5/CS6
Illustrator CS4/CS5/CS6
Premiere Pro CS4/CS5/CS6

To help new users get started during the test period, Corel provides a large collection of learning resources in-product and online. Check out our Discovery Center for a great collection of tutorials, product tips and training options. Visit our online communities and Facebook pages to interact with other Corel users around the world, and check out our product pages on Corel.com for links to specific tips & tricks, tutorials and much more!

If you are a Corel software user already and have friends and colleagues using Adobe products, simply point them to www.corel.com/cs so that they have an opportunity to try an alternative that might be better suited for them.

Corel is looking for a Graphic Designer/Production Artist – Contract

Gerard Metrailler — Wed, 15 May 2013 18:24:00 GMT

We're looking for some graphic design talent to support internal marketing projects and thought, who better than our own CorelDRAW Community to help market our products! If you're interested in doing some freelance work for Corel, read on...

Responsibilities may include:

Design, layout and prepare finished artwork using CorelDRAW and Corel PHOTO-PAINT (version X5 and up)
Produce English and localized print projects, such as packaging, flyers, posters, brochures and other marketing collateral
Layout localized versions of English material
Utilize existing standards and visual identity guidelines to reinforce brand identity, themes, messages and brand image
Work with internal team members to lay out printed pieces within strict deadlines and budgets

Requirements:

Advanced and proficient working knowledge of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5 and up
Acute attention to detail
Ability to multi-task, reprioritize as needed and consistently deliver projects on time

If you are interested, send me an email or direct message through the community and I will put you in touch with the right person. Please provide your contact info and sample images of your work, or a link to your online portfolio.

You can run CorelDRAW on a Mac!

Gerard Metrailler — Mon, 13 May 2013 18:42:00 GMT

Following my recent blog post regarding users choice and the Adobe Creative Cloud announcement, we've received a number of enquiries relating to Mac OS of our products to offer alternatives to those using Apple hardware.

Corel offers a broad range of software solutions for a variety of users. Primarily available on the Microsoft Windows platform, some of these solutions are also available natively on the Mac: Painter, the world's leading digital art software, AfterShot Pro, a fast, flexible photo management & RAW workflow tool, and CorelCAD, our high-performance CAD design solution with native .DWG support.

Based on the feedback we've received the last few days from Adobe CS users looking for alternatives, the number one request has been around CorelDRAW Graphics Suite, which today is designed and optimized for Windows-based computers. Our goal has always been to provide powerful and complete applications to our users, and difficult development investment decisions are taken by understanding the market opportunity and determining the resource requirement to provide a great user experience. The time and effort to bring our products to a new platform would have considerable impact on the features and enhancements that we would be able to make to the Windows application.

Consequently, while I understand this is not the answer that is sufficiently palatable for Mac OS users, we have sought other ways to try and provide solutions for Mac OS users. With programs such as Apple's own Boot Camp, or virtualization solutions such as Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion, CorelDRAW, Corel PHOTO-PAINT and our other Windows-centric products work great on Macintosh computers. We actually have a number of our users who regularly use CorelDRAW Graphics Suite on laptop and desktop computers from the Cupertino hardware manufacturer, including some Corel employees. We also make sure to test new releases on our design software on Apple computers.

Historically, the justification for creating a suitable Mac OS version of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite and other products, did not warrant the investment required. Adobe's recent announcement will put the discussion back on the table. Getting a Mac OS native product to the market will take time and significant effort. We will continue to review our options and are committed to provide the best possible products we can to our users, as well as to provide you with the choice between perpetual licenses and subscription going forward.

If you are today using CorelDRAW Graphics Suite on a Mac, we would love to hear from you. Please share your thoughts and comments here, in the CorelDRAW.com community and on our Facebook page.

Happy 6th birthday CorelDRAW.com

Gerard Metrailler — Fri, 10 May 2013 19:37:00 GMT

Just realized that CorelDRAW.com has been live for 6 years today! Thank you very much for everyone making this community such a great place to hang around.

Gérard

Corel is all about giving users choice

Gerard Metrailler — Wed, 08 May 2013 18:20:00 GMT

As you've probably noticed, big changes are underway in the high-tech industry at large, and more specifically in the graphics software world. Earlier this week, Adobe announced that it will discontinue the boxed version of Creative Suite and move exclusively to a subscription-based model (AKA Creative Cloud). This means that going forward, the only way to keep up-to-date with the latest offering from Adobe will be by paying monthly fees. When you stop paying, your products will stop working. Looking at it from the outside, one could argue that it feels like forcing users down a specific path they might not be ready to go down.

At Corel, we strongly believe in giving users the choice to purchase your software the way you want. For many of you, we know that the preference is to purchase a box or download version of our products in what is called a "perpetual license", i.e. in a way that gives you the right to use the product forever without having to pay anything extra. You then have the choice, if the new features and benefits make sense to you, to purchase and upgrade to a new version.

At the same time, we understand that some of you are looking for the flexibility to rent your software as needed, so you can reduce the capital costs for your businesses and have an operating expense that is much lower in the short term.

There isn't one solution that will work for everyone, and we have different offerings for different products in our portfolio.

You have options!

To make it as easy as possible for you, our professional-level graphics package, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6, is available to purchase as a box, an electronic download, through volume license or by subscription. If you choose to subscribe for no up-front cost, you simply choose a monthly or yearly fee to continue using the software as long as you need it.

There are differences between traditional box or download sales and the subscription model. The traditional software offering, where you buy a box and then wait a few years until the next major version is released to decide if you want to upgrade or not, has limitations when it comes to releasing smaller updates more frequently. Subscription does make it easier for us to deliver more regular updates, but there's still a significant portion of users around the world who aren't ready to rent their software. That's why we've introduced our Membership program.

Not ready for subscription? We have an answer!

When you purchase your box or download version of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6, it comes with a Standard Membership at no additional cost. Standard Membership gives you access to the latest performance and stability enhancements, as well as unlimited access to a large content library of over 10,000 clipart images, 1,000 high-resolution stock photos and 1,000 fonts, for example.

For those who want the best of both worlds, we also offer Premium Membership where you get all the benefits of subscription, but you still own a perpetual license of the product.

For a yearly fee, Premium Membership adds to the Standard level by including regular feature updates to CorelDRAW Graphics Suite, as well as exclusive high-quality content. In addition, Premium Members automatically get access to the next major version(s) of the suite. Yes, all Premium Members will be amongst the very first to get access to the latest version at no additional cost when Corel officially releases it. In other words, by adding a Premium Membership to your box / download version of CorelDRAW, you have the benefits of what you would get with a subscription (always up-to-date, exclusive content and more) combined with the perpetual usage right of the product you purchased.

What's next?

For the foreseeable future, we will continue to sell the box version of Corel software in stores, through online partners and on our website - www.corel.com. You can also purchase a full download version through our website and through selected channel partners. Both the box and the download version are perpetual licenses, i.e. they will never expire and you can keep using them forever (we do not commit to compatibility with future operating systems or hardware though).

And as stated above, you can add even more benefits to a box / download version by signing up for the CorelDRAW Premium Membership, for which a free trial is available to any Standard Member from within CorelDRAW / Corel PHOTO-PAINT. Alternatively, if you're looking for a cost effective or short-term solution, you can subscribe to CorelDRAW on an annual or monthly basis (subscriptions are available from Corel or selected resellers). The choice is yours!

Give us a try!

If subscribing to software from Adobe is not your preferred choice, don't cloud your judgment... give CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6 a try. We do offer a 30-day free trial version, which includes extensive learning materials, and you can even set your workspace to the Illustrator mode to feel more at home.

Happy CorelDRAWing!

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6.3 Hot-Fix 1 now available

Gerard Metrailler — Wed, 08 May 2013 15:41:00 GMT

Earlier this morning, we released Hot-Fix 1 for CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6.3, addressing the hottest issues reported since the availability of the third update to X6. Here is a list of what is fixed with this patch:

When you export files to EPS with the Selected only option enabled, multiple pages are created in the exported file.

CorelDRAW stops responding when you skew linked groups together with other selected objects.

Some effects cannot be applied to vector objects.

The Alt key cannot be used for drawing arcs with the Polyline tool in a customized workspace that contains custom keyboard shortcuts.

CorelDRAW stops responding when opening files that contain cloned text.

Some files print additional blank plates.

When you work with text in Corel PHOTO-PAINT, the Text anti-aliasing control reverts to Soft.

As always, this update is available from www.corel.com/support and you will be automatically notified through an in-product message that this hot-fix is available in the next few days. You can always go to the Help menu in CorelDRAW or Corel PHOTO-PAINT and select "Check for update" to get it sooner.

ZERO260 with CorelDRAW X6

Gerard Metrailler — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 12:42:00 GMT

This post was written by Jeremy Foster, who works at Microsoft as a Developer Evangelist. Jeremy Foster was educated in computer engineering and mathematics, gathered disparate industry experience in education, aerospace manufacturing, and insurance. With just enough and not nearly enough education and experience, he finally joined Microsoft with the goal of informing and inspiring other software developers to write code and write it right. Jeremy is the author of CSS for Windows 8 App Development. When he is not working, he is likely spending time with his wife and son, hiking and camping, sailing, scuba diving, or working on house projects. Find Jeremy online at @codefoster and codefoster.com.

With the exception of some time spent teaching high school, I have always been a professional developer. I should qualify, though, that I have never been a professional designer. An amateur designer I am for sure – a somewhat passionate hobbyist, yes. Let me put it this way, when it comes time in the creation of a new app to create the icon, I get very excited.

These days, developers can hardly avoid the acquisition of design skills. Corporate developers working on enterprise apps may be fine sticking entirely to back-end development, but it’s certainly not so with web and mobile developers – and especially game developers!

I find all too many developers still limping along with a free bitmap-based graphics package that ends up being a royal pain to use consequently limiting the time and effort they spend working on the design of their app and consequently making a poorly designed app. I just want to throw a vector bomb their way and have it explode in front of them and see them realize the power of designing with vector-based software.

I’ve been a CorelDRAW user for over a decade now (an eternity in the software world!) and my frequency of use approaches daily. As a Developer Evangelist at Microsoft, I am constantly switching from one program or event to another, and practically everything requires some graphical presentation of information to people and that requires graphics software. Whether it’s whipping up a poster to advertise an event, composing a report of program success, or designing a new logo and microbrand for something, I usually launch CorelDRAW.

One program that I’m working on these days is called ZERO260 – a virtual game training studio, and, yes, I made the logo in CorelDRAW. Participants register from zero260.info for any of several sessions and then join us online for direct training creating Windows 8 games using Scirra Construct2 (scirra.com). The event is primarily targeted at student developers of any programming skill level. Microsoft provides, as an incentive for a student to get involved and complete their apps, what every student can use more of – Xbox hardware!

Following the car racing theme, some students win copies of Forza Motorsport 4 and the Xbox Racing Wheel package. In addition, Microsoft has a program call the Windows 8 App Madness which qualifies students to get $100 for every app (max of 5) they develop. Corel has chosen to team up with Microsoft as well as generously offer every participating student a free copy of CorelDRAW Essentials!

In the process of learning how to create a Windows 8 game, students are given CorelDRAW training. Creating game graphics using a vector-based graphics package like CorelDRAW is much easier and more flexible than the same using a bitmap program.

In the online sessions, students are taught concepts like:

combining primitive shapes to create custom ones
gaining fine control over colors
copying and customizing vector graphics from online sources
exporting resulting graphics in formats that work well for gaming

So far, participating students are excited about turning their ideas into pictures using CorelDRAW and turning their pictures into games.

If you’re interested in participating in a ZERO260 event, please visit http://zero260.info/events and find one that works for you.

CorelDRAW Premium Membership webinar - watch it now

Gerard Metrailler — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 14:03:00 GMT

We've uploaded the CorelDRAW Premium Membership webinar recording so that you can watch it (again). Here is the video:

CorelDRAW Master: Stefan Lindblad - a video

Gerard Metrailler — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 17:42:00 GMT

CorelDRAW Subscription or Perpetual Box / Download – It’s Your Choice

Gerard Metrailler — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 08:20:00 GMT

If you read my blog, receive emails from Corel, or follow us on Facebook, you may have heard about our new CorelDRAW Membership and Subscription programs in the last six months. As many companies in the software industry move to solely cloud-based distribution and even stop selling physical products for some, we’ve chosen to expand the different ways that you can purchase and use CorelDRAW. By offering more options to you our users, we’re giving you the flexibility to choose how you want to experience CorelDRAW.

We will continue to sell the box version of CorelDRAW in stores, through online partners and on our website – www.corel.com. You can also purchase a full download version through our website and through selected channel partners. Both the box and the download version are perpetual licenses, e.g. they will never expire and you can keep using them forever (we do not commit to compatibility with future operating systems or hardware though). Alternatively, if you’re looking for a cost effective or short-term solution, you can subscribe to CorelDRAW on an annual or monthly basis.

With the latest version, current X6 users are entitled to a Standard Membership at no additional cost. As a Standard Member, you’ll receive product updates as well as online access to digital content during the life of the product. If you want to expand your design experience and always be up-to-date with the latest features, you can become a Premium Member, which gives you access to exclusive content, use of exclusive new features and an upgrade to the next major version of CorelDRAW when it’s available at no extra cost. Yes, that’s right, if you purchase a (perpetual) box or download version now and sign-up for a Premium Membership (yearly fee required), you will get the next Major version at no extra cost (if you premium membership is active at that point). And for those of you who decide to subscribe to CorelDRAW Graphics Suite, the Premium Membership is included in that monthly or yearly price.

I did post more information about the CorelDRAW Memberships & Subscriptions in previous entries on my blog – here, here and here.

What You Can Expect From the Latest CorelDRAW Update for Premium Members

Today, we’ve added more cloud-based content and more new features available exclusively to Premium Members with the X6.3 update. Now you can create customizable QR codes in CorelDRAW that incorporate colors, text and images. Once you’ve finished designing the code, you can also validate it to ensure that it can be read on most major smartphones and scanning apps. With this update, we’ve also added integration with Microsoft SkyDrive. Using Corel CONNECT, you can sync trays with SkyDrive, so that you can access the contents on other computers. For PHOTO-PAINT users, you can apply new special effects to your photos including bokeh blur, time machine, colorize and sepia toning. These are just a few of the new features that Premium Members can exclusively use through this update. To find out more about X6.3 and other features available through the X6.1 and X6.2 updates, visit corel.com/coreldraw-membership.

As we continue to develop our Membership Program and offer more choices to extend the CorelDRAW experience, we always like to hear your feedback. Are you a Premium Member or are you thinking about upgrading your Membership?

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6.3 Update available tomorrow

Gerard Metrailler — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 19:42:00 GMT

We will officially make available the third update for CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6 tomorrow morning (Ottawa time). CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6.3 will update CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6.1 or X6.2 (build 16.1.0.843 or 16.2.0.998). The build number after this update is applied will be 16.3.0.1114 and requires a valid Standard (free) or Premium Membership in order to be installed. If you have build 16.0.0.707 installed, please install the X6.1 update prior to installing X6.3.

If you have installed CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6 on more than one computer, you might notice a message during installation regarding the fact that you are only allowed to install the product on a limited number of computers as per the End-User License Agreement (EULA - www.corel.com/eula) or that you are about to add one new computer to your collection of machines. Part of the installation process of the update, we are actually making some changes to the way we count unique machines (a very limited number of users had some problems with virtual machines installed on the same system as CorelDRAW) and we are actually making sure the computer on which you are installing the X6.3 Update is counted correctly. We will not add a new computer to your count, simply replace the one you had previously. Please make sure to be connected to the Internet during the installation of the X6.3 Update.

The new version includes Performance and stability enhancements to CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6 available to everyone with a free Standard Membership, as well as new and enhanced product features & content exclusive to CorelDRAW Premium Members. Not a Premium Member yet, you can get your Premium Membership through the Help > About CorelDRAW Memberships menu in CorelDRAW or Corel PHOTO-PAINT, and can try the Premium Membership for 15 days at no cost.

Here more details about the X6.3 Update from the release notes:

New and enhanced features

The new features found in the X6.3 Update are available only to users with a Premium Membership.

Premium cloud-based content

The X6.3 Update offers a variety of online content for CorelDRAW® and Corel® PHOTO-PAINT™ users, including the following exclusive cloud-based content which is available to Premium Members:

20 new bitmap patterns
25 new vector patterns
45 new interactive text frames
45 new interactive powerclip frames
500 new photos

Inserting and editing QR codes

Now you can create customizable QR codes in CorelDRAW. Add text, images, colors and styles to create a unique artistic look. Plus, resize, scale and align your QR code or change the appearance of the fill, outline and other properties. When you're finished, use built-in validation to ensure your QR code is fully functional and can be read on all major smartphones and scanning apps.

Syncing trays with Microsoft SkyDrive

Using Corel® CONNECT™ you can instantly sync your working trays with SkyDrive*, Microsoft's all new cloud-based file storage service. You can then access your tray contents on other computers. It's a simple way to continue your CorelDRAW Graphics Suite experience no matter where you are!

*A valid SkyDrive account is required to use this feature

Applying new bitmap effects

In CorelDRAW you can now apply new special effects to bitmaps—including artistic effects, camera effects and texture effects:

Smart blur – blur images while retaining edge detail. It's the ideal way to improve detail by sharpening lines and edges, as well as letting you remove noise, artifacts and wrinkles from JPEG images and photos.
Colorize – replace all colors in an image with a single color to create a duotone image. You can also adjust the saturation or vividness of the color to experiment with different images.
Photo filter – simulate the effect of placing a colored filter in front of a camera lens. Choose the color of the filter and adjust the color density and luminosity to get the perfect look.
Sepia toning – simulate the look of old photos taken in a sepia tone.
Time machine – take your image back through history to recreate popular photographic styles from the past. Choose from seven unique visual and historic styles which range from 1839 to the 1960s.
Alchemy – transform images into artistic media paintings by applying brushstrokes to images. Simply create a brush and then specify color, size, angle, and transparency settings. Choose from a variety of preset brushes, or save your customized brushes for quick and easy reuse.
Bump map – add texture and patterns to an image by embedding its surface with a relief based on the pixel values of a bump-map image. Use a preset bump map or load a custom image. You can also specify the surface and lighting properties of the effect to create a unique visual appearance.
Cobblestone – make an image look as though it were created with cobblestones.
Elephant skin – gives an image a wrinkled look by creating an overlay of wavy lines. You can also specify the age of the skin (up to 100 years) as well as the skin color.
Etching – transform an image into an etching. You can control the depth of the etching, the amount of detail, the direction of the light, and the color of the metal surface.
Plastic – make an image look as though it were made of plastic. You can specify the image depth, as well as the color and angle of the light shining on the plastic.
Relief sculpture – transform an image into a relief sculpture. You can set the smoothness of the relief, the amount of detail it contains, the direction of the light and the surface color.
Stone – give an image a stone texture. You can specify the amount of detail, the density of the pattern and the angle of the light hitting an image.

Drawing arcs with the Polyline tool

In addition to drawing freehand lines and straight segments, in CorelDRAW you can now use the Polyline tool to draw circular arcs, saving you both time and effort.

Smoothing Objects

In CorelDRAW, you can now smooth curved objects to remove jagged edges and reduce the number of nodes. You can also smooth shapes, such as rectangles or polygons, to give them an organic, hand-drawn look. To control the smoothing effect, simply vary the size of the brush nib and the speed at which the effect is applied. For added effect, experiment using the pressure of your digital pen.

Enhanced support for digital cameras

In both CorelDRAW and Corel PHOTO-PAINT, you can open and import raw camera files from new camera models, including:

Canon EOS 6D, 1DX, SX50
Casio EX-ZR100
Fuji X-E1 & XF1
Pentax K-5 II (s)
Samsung EX2F

Applying new special effects in Corel PHOTO-PAINT

In Corel PHOTO-PAINT, you can now apply several new camera effects to adjust the color and tone of your photos.

Boken blur – control the amount of blur applied to the outside of an editable area and adjust the transition between the area in focus and the blurred area. Choose between circular and hexagonal aperture shapes to create unique light patterns in out-of-focus areas.
Colorize – replace all colors in an image with a single color to create a duotone image. You can also adjust the saturation or vividness of the color to experiment with different images.
Sepia toning – simulate the look of old photos taken in a sepia tone.
Time machine – take your image back through history to recreate popular photographic styles from the past. Choose from seven unique visual and historic styles which range from 1839 to the 1960s.

Using the Planar Mask tool in Corel PHOTO-PAINT

The new Planar Mask tool lets you define a feathered editable area along parallel lines. The lines can be moved or rotated to adjust the position and degree of the effect. In combination with a blur effect, it's the perfect way to focus on a particular object in a photograph while blurring the areas outside the lines.

Creating an Unsharp Mask lens in Corel PHOTO-PAINT

The new Unsharp Mask lens lets you sharpen your photos by increasing the contrast of adjacent pixels. It preserves both high-frequency details, such as edges, and low frequency details, such as large structures, gradients, and background colors.

Adjusting brushstroke transparency and feathering interactively in Corel PHOTO-PAINT

You can now interactively adjust the transparency and feathering of brushstrokes as you paint with any of the brush tools.

Performance and stability

The following areas feature performance and stability improvements (formerly released as service packs).

Application workspace

The File > Send to > Mail feature works as expected.
Options set for alignment guides and dimension lines in the Options dialog box are preserved.
The Page Sorter View is always available.
The Font list box has normal width.

Color styles

The original tint of spot colors applied to objects is preserved when the color style is removed from a color harmony or the link between the object and the color style is broken.
Hint view works as expected.

Viewing and navigating documents

You can zoom out of very large documents.
Working with facing pages in multipage documents no longer interferes with aligning and distributing objects correctly.
You can use the Quick Pan mode when editing text.

Object properties and effects

You can copy properties from objects that have a contour effect applied.
Clone objects are updated properly when the master object changes.
Marquee-selecting objects no longer causes a rotation transformation error.
When you copy objects from a CorelDRAW X6 document into a Word 2010 document, the objects do not appear cut off.
It is easier to edit drop shadows that are applied to compound objects.

Printing

Spot colors with the same definition but different names are no longer merged when printing or exporting a document to an EPS file.

Text

Text fit to a path in a file saved to an earlier version of CorelDRAW is displayed correctly.
Text that you type by using an Urdu keyboard appears correctly.
The font that you choose as a substitute for a missing font can now be saved with the document for all languages supported by the product.
Changes that you make to the default text properties of a document are now preserved.
Applying a full-color pattern fill to the background of text that contains swashes fills the text bounding box.
When you move or resize a text frame that contains placeholder text and is fit to an open path, the application no longer stops responding.

Corel PHOTO-PAINT

Pressing Alt+Shift while using the Clone tool works as expected.
The last used values are now preserved in the following dialog boxes: Custom Rotate, Grayscale, Vibrance and Boken Blur.
You can load custom frames from the Frame dialog box (Effects > Creative > Frame) in Corel PHOTO-PAINT.
Separating a drop shadow from an object that has a lens applied no longer causes the application to stop responding.
Resizing editable areas by using the size handles no longer results in errors.
You can create editable areas that have the shape of a character even when the foreground color is white.

Corel Connect

Shortcut paths to local files are displayed correctly in the tray.

Stability

Instability issues were addressed in areas such as editing b-spline curves, font substitution, and using QuickCorrect.

Subscriptions

When you purchase a 30-day subscription after trying the product, your account page and the subscription expiration reminder show the same number of remaining days.

CorelDRAW X6.3 Sneak Peek #3

Gerard Metrailler — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:45:00 GMT

To follow-up on the recent videos, here is a third sneak peek video of what is coming with X6.3 for CorelDRAW Graphics Suite Premium Members and Subscribers. This video is about searching content you have on your cloud-based Microsoft Skydrive account, and also enable tray synchronizations between multiple computers (a laptop and a desktop computer for example) of the trays in Corel CONNECT, CorelDRAW and Corel PHOTO-PAINT. One extra piece of information: The version information of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6 with Update 3 installed will be 16.3.0.1114. You can find out more about the Premium Membership either on our web site or within CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6 in the help menu. Anyone with a Standard Membership can try the Premium Membership for free for 15 days (go to About CorelDRAW Memberships in the help menu).

How Winning the International Design Contest Changed My Life

Gerard Metrailler — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 16:15:00 GMT

This post was written by Joe Diaz and originally published in the official Corel Blog. It is cross-posted here with the authorization Corel Corporation. Find out more posts from Corel Corporation on the Corel Blog.

Entering the contest

Well, it has been almost two years since the last CorelDRAW International Design Contest . When I try to think back to the competition and the process of creating my design, I remember first my decision to participate. I had no idea what to expect.

Truthfully, I don’t normally approve of design competitions where designers compete against each other on one project just for the chance of some prize or payment, specifically crowdsourcing. However, this contest was different. First of all, the subject matter of my submission was my choice. I could do anything I want. I could have just submitted past projects, with the permission of my clients of course. Second of all, I believe in CorelDRAWand enjoy using it on an almost-daily basis.

I saw this as an opportunity to challenge myself by working on a design for a fictitious business: Steampunk Stella’s. I felt that, in a best-case scenario, I might win or place high in one of the categories. In the worst case scenario, I would spend a lot of time creating a design that could be a nice show piece for our portfolio. But the goal was to try new things and challenge myself. Whatever happened, I would learn something along the way.

The creation process

I always liked the Steampunk genre, but never had a client request it. The funny thing is, since winning, I have had several customers request Steampunk-themed design work after seeing my design.

So with a loose theme picked out, I then decided to pretend that I was the owner of a bar or restaurant. If time and money were no option, what would I want? How could I tie those ideas together and maybe incorporate a sexy woman into the equation? And Stella was born.

It was fun to ‘chip away’ at my design. Little by little I would work on it after work, and little by little it came to life. All the while I enjoyed the great tools that CorelDRAW has to offer. Before I knew it the deadline approached and I knew I had to wrap it up.

Winning

Winning the grand prize is kind of a blur now. At our family-run business, we were excited for not only the recognition, but also because one of the prizes was a new Roland VersaCAMM Printer. We already owned an earlier version of the VersaCAMM that served us very well for many years. We were considering purchasing a newer one to replace it. Winning a new one couldn’t have come at a better time, and because of the increase of work in the year since, we’ve been running this printer non-stop. It’s a huge part of our business.

How winning changed my life

Since winning the contest, I’ve had the pleasure of working with Roland on a few projects; an opportunity I might not have had without winning this competition. One of the projects we worked on was expanding the Steampunk Stella’s brand, all in an effort to showcase the many types of projects that can be realized with their wide selection of printers and products.

Using CorelDRAW, I created designs for beer labels and packaging, business cards, p.o.p. displays, menus, glass wear, signs and even a Stella’s Brand Hot Sauce. These designs are printed and produced at trade shows around the country.

Another amazing opportunity that has fallen in my lap since winning the contest is being named one of eight CorelDRAW Masters. To be included alongside these very talented CorelDRAW users is a huge feather in my cap. One of the responsibilities of being a CorelDRAW Master is create tutorials and webinars to help other designers and artists fine tune their craft. To be a part of that process means the world to me.

Along with being named a CorelDRAW Master, I’ve also had the pleasure of traveling toCorel’s Head Quarters in Canada to meet all the amazing people that create the software I enjoy using so much. I visited our neighbors in the north during the release party of CorelDRAW X6. It was an experience I’ll never forget.

Advice for others:

If I could give any advice to fellow designers and artists that wish to participate this year it would be this: Do what you love, and push yourself. If you challenge yourself and have fun doing it, whether you win the contest or not, you still win.

Will you enter the contest?

CorelDRAW X6.3 sneak peek #2

Gerard Metrailler — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 08:20:00 GMT

Another week, another sneak peek. This time, I wanted to share a little video showing some of the new enhancements coming to Corel PHOTO-PAINT X6.3, available exclusively for those of you who have signed-up for a Premium Membership or a Subscription of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite. This video shows some of the new effects, including Sepia, Time Machine and Bokeh Blur, as well as the new planar masking tool. You can find out more about the Premium Membership either on our web site or within CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6 in the help menu. Anyone with a Standard Membership can try the Premium Membership for free for 15 days (go to About CorelDRAW Memberships in the help menu).

CorelDRAW X6.3 sneak peek #1

Gerard Metrailler — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 13:42:00 GMT

The R&D team continues to be hard at work around new features for CorelDRAW Graphics Suite and the X6.3 update will be released in the not too distant future. Today, I wanted to give you a sneak peek of one of the new features that will be exclusively available for those of you who have signed-up for a Premium Membership with that update. You can find out more about the Premium Membership either on our web site or within CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6 in the help menu. Anyone with a Standard Membership can try the Premium Membership for free for 15 days (go to About CorelDRAW Memberships in the help menu).