CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4 DVD
Bring together the worlds of layout, photo editing, illustration and bitmap-to-vector tracing with CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4. It’s easy to collaborate with its market-leading file compatibility. New content and tutorials get you started fast. This Suite gives you the tools and resources to create a wide variety of projects. Speed up the design process with easy online access to font identification and client feedback. Upload scanned images of fonts, and you will get the closest match. All this is done through CorelDRAW ConceptShare docker. Share designs with colleagues and clients in real time from within CorelDRAW. Plenty of included clip-art and fonts help you speedily create just what you need, without the hassle of searching. CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4 helps transform your graphic ideas into reality and makes it seem quick and easy.
CorelDRAW Handbook CorelTUTOR - Online, project-based instruction Support for RAW camera files Straighten images Histogram feedback Enhanced Tone Curve dialog box Accelerate layout and text editing Training videos - Delve into hours of new training videos Modernized user interface
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars An excellent product with one drawback
Writing this review has been on my to-do list for a long time. That’s because this is a wonderful product, with one big drawback. I’ve been hoping either to find other drawbacks that could justify a less enthusiatic review, or a solution to that one flaw.
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite will do everything you want it to do, whether you’re creating brochures or websites or scrapbook pages. The learning curve is no steeper that it has to be for a product with this robust a range of options. The images and fonts included will come in handy over and over.
The only problem is: everyone else you work with will probably be using Adobe. You will have issues when you collaborate with others, you won’t find tutorials that work for you, you won’t be able to swap tips at the water cooler.
If that doesn’t matter to you, then this is pretty much the perfect graphics package.
5 Stars Best bang for your buck in the graphics arena
The CorelDraw graphics suite is, IMO, the best bang you’re going to get for your buck out there in terms of graphics applications.
Not only do you get a top-notch vector editor and raster (bitmap) editor, you also get over 1000 fonts, tens of thousands of pieces of clipart, a good screen capture app and a font manager. If you’ve ever had to purchase fonts, you know that a good font costs about $20 to $30 for a single face (i.e., normal, bold, italic, bold italic - those are all *individual* faces). The cost of this suite alone is cheaper than if you were to buy just the fonts!
I have been using Draw and Photopaint since version 7. I use them for web design, print, screen printing, engraving; and while, yes, I do have the Adobe equivalents of these applications, I get far more done (and far faster) with the Corel products.
Let’s be honest here. You will have fanboys/girls spouting praises and vilifications for either the Corel or Adobe products. I think both suites are good, but for MY workflow and mindset, the Corel products are better. Don’t take my word for it. You would be doing yourself a disservice if you do not download the trial versions of both the Corel and Adobe packages and find out which one is more intuitive/logical/friendly to *you*. For newcomers into the graphics arena, vector and raster apps can be daunting to wrap your brain around. Regardless of your purchase choice, there will be a learning curve - that’s why trying the trial versions of the apps are really a necessity.
If overall price is your deciding factor (and these days I think that’s an important factor for all of us), then the CDGS should be your choice. The price for this suite is still less than Illustrator or Photoshop and that’s why I say it’s the best bang for your graphic buck.
4 Stars Superb illustration for website graphics and much more!
I’ve been using CorelDraw since I discovered its version 12 (I owned Illustrator 10 at the time). I’m still puzzled that so-called pros look down at CorelDraw. It is simply the most intuitive of the illustrating heavyweights, and the price is a bonus!
I (web programmer and designer, businessman, no fax machine) typically design a website like this: manually sketch the idea, mock it up in Xara Xtreme (because it’s even more intuitive than CorelDraw, but with less depth of features), and then make the final graphic composition in CorelDraw. Mostly I prefer vector-based programs for their ability to easily and quickly move/copy/enhance selected items/layers etc during the mockup process.
Compared to mastering Illustrator’s learning curve (and I’m speaking from a well-studied programmer’s point of view), using CorelDraw is an absolute no-brainer.
I needed to find flow in the production process, and I just didn’t find that with Illustrator — I was wasting too much time studying how to get a result. Basic Example: try building a simple 3 color gradient swatch at say, 20 degrees (or whatever looks good to you) with Illustrator and then build that same swatch with CorelDraw (or Xara) and you’ll be amazed at the time comparison. Newbies like adding drop shadows and glows to objects. Compare those between CorelDraw and Illustrator.
It shouldn’t be unreasonable for someone in web design to extrapolate the time savings from these simple examples. Both CorelDraw and Illustrator can produce enormously complex illustrations, but getting there will cost you much, much more time and money with Illustrator. Some might argue that pre-press needs require Illustrator, but I’d recommend checking with your printer(s) to see what files they require first — especially if you’ll be working on a lot of pre-press.
I don’t use CorelDraw regularly for pre-press because I have so few pre-press needs. But I have used it for building mockups of 4 color glossy flyers, then struggled with the laborious task of transporting them into Illustrator because the printer the client was using specifically requested Illustrator files — and it wasn’t easy switching printers, or I would have.
Conclusion: CorelDraw works. It’s fast. It’s intuitive, and I’ve been using it for several years instead of Illustrator.
5 Stars An amateur’s perspective
I’m no artist. I want to be. But, I’m not. I do, however, have a need to create and customize graphics, especially for websites now.
So, I picked up a copy of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4.
I’ve used Adobe Photoshop in the past, and although I know it is the industry leader among graphics software, I find it difficult for a novice like myself to learn.
When I call myself a novice, it is strictly in the realm of computer artistry. I’m very adept technically, and work in the IT industry as a senior systems engineer. I know software.
I figured that with the tutorials and help system in the CorelDRAW software, I should be able to easily learn what I needed to know. Corel didn’t disappoint me.
Not only are the commands a bit more intuitive than those in Adobe Photoshop, but the help system has quickly answered all of my questions so far regarding how to do anything I’ve needed. Watching the video tutorials has helped teach me graphics concepts that may never have occurred to me to explore on my own.
The tools in this suite have aided me in creating custom banners, graphics, and editing pictures. I’ve found the process to be easy and fun.
The program is a bit slow to open, even on a PC with a 3 GHz processor and 2 GB of RAM. Once open, however, it responds very well. The slowness to launch seems to be standard with such programs, however, so I am not sure it is really a fault with the software or if it is simply the nature of the beast.
There you have it - an amateur’s perspective. I’m not knowledgeable enough with graphics to review every little nuance, but for those of you who hope to be able to muddle your way through graphics creation, as I hoped, you will find this a useful and informative tool.
5 Stars An unprecedented combination of graphics design power and usability
I have to admit that I’ve bad-mouthed Corel more than once in my life, especially back before my employer saw the light and dumped WordPerfect Suite for Microsoft Office, but I have nothing but praise for CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4. Not only is this an impressive, powerful suite of graphics design tools, Corel doesn’t throw you under the bus as soon as you install the software. If you’re like me and don’t have a single artistic bone in your body (I can’t draw a straight line with a ruler), you would expect a fancy-pants software package like this to leave you dumbfounded from the start, with no clue on how to get started. Much to their credit, Corel throws you lifelines as soon as you jump in the pool and makes a diverse set of rescue resources near at hand for you at all times. I’m not saying you’ll be a graphics design guru after a couple of hours - this is a really advanced, powerful set of programs here - but you would have a hard time finding a piece of software with more impressive built-in support. The first of several excellent video tutorials is available on the Welcome screen, and you can choose to have a built-in docket of usage tips available for every function you choose. Users of previous versions of the software will have no problem recognizing the changes this upgrade brings with it, as you can choose to have every single change and addition from your previous version highlighted on the screen. That doesn’t sound like much, but it is a big help. You also have What’s New and Learning Tools readily available to you from the Welcome screen as well as from inside each of the featured programs. Of course, you also have a complete help file available but you won’t need to resort to using that very often.
As I’m sure you can tell by the price, you don’t buy this program if you just want to take the redeye out of your vacation photos or create a cute little Christmas card to send to friends. You can certainly do those things with this, but Corel Photo-Paint X4, impressive as it is, is overshadowed by the primary CorelDRAW application. (If all you want is a powerful photo editor, I would still recommend Fireworks - my favorite - or Photoshop.) I would like to have seen a few more built-in templates included, but CorelDRAW actually succeeds in making graphics design possible for even artistically inept folks like me. This is one powerful program which actual graphics professionals should take to like fish to water. Professionals may be the primary target audience for this software package, but Corel does a great job of making these powerful tools available and actually useable by anyone.
I also have to mention several additional software applications and features included in this suite deal. Corel PowerTRACE X4 is of enormous help in turning traced bitmaps into images you can convert into editable vector images. Corel CAPTURE X4, as you might guess, is a powerful screen capture utility. The Bitstream Font Navigator is a comprehensive font manager that even helps you identity scanned fonts from an outside source. You even get a Duplexing Wizard to aid you in optimizing the appearance of your document when printing two-sided copies. Vista users will also welcome the integration of this software package with the Vista operating system, as the search and preview options by themselves should be of great convenience to them.
What about file formats and the age-old question of compatibility? After all, the odds are that some if not many of your associates are working with different file formats in non-Corel software. Well, Corel has worked to make CorelDRAW Graphic Suite X4 software as compatible as possible with other users and systems. In this release, the list of additional new formats includes Word and Publisher 2007, AutoCAD DXF and AutoCAD DWG, and Adobe CS3.
I could go on writing paragraph after paragraph about this product, but I could never begin to describe all of its many impressive features. Is it the best graphics design software on the market? I don’t know, as I have no experience using any comparable graphics design programs. Even if I had, I don’t think anyone short of a professional graphics designer would be able to judge the comparative pros and cons. What I do know is that anyone who is serious about graphics design in any of its various facets would do well to give CorelDRAW Graphic Suite X4 a long and serious look.
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