Software Review of:
CorelDRAW
Graphics Suite 10 

Or you can, as Rick Altman of R. Altman Digital Studios says, “upgrade because Corel needs you to.”

The bottom line is, Version 10 is a worthwhile upgrade if you’re a professional CorelDRAW user or web artist. But if you use the Corel products for fun or home projects, or you own Version 9, this upgrade won’t mean that much to you.

That was then …
CorelDRAW was one of the first drawing programs for Intel-based personal computer.  In the early desktop computer days, Mac-based graphics artists were using Adobe and Aldus graphics programs.  PC users who needed help with their newsletters and graphics turned to CorelDRAW, and as the program’s reputation soared, to Corel Photo-Paint as the alternative to Adobe’s Photoshop.

Adobe and some of the other Mac-based art software manufacturers realized the PC customer base was growing, and modified their products to the Intel and Windows-based platforms. 

As some of these graphic artists turned their attention to  web graphics, they needed changes in their graphics programs:  the ability to export to GIF format, to control the conversion to JPEG to control picture quality, the ability to slice images, and animate images for web pages.  Both Adobe’s Photoshop and Macromedia’s Fireworks gave users these abilities.  CorelDRAW did not.  I wonder how much of its customer base eroded because of this?  I know I turned more and more to the above-named products and less to CorelDRAW over the past year as web-based graphics demanded more of my attention than paper-based graphics.

… this is now
Version 10 tries to reclaim its audience with enhancements that appeal to web designers and artists and those familiar with other graphics programs.  Most attention is going to Corel R.A.V.E.™ (Real Animated Vector Effects), a product designed to compete with Macromedia’s Flash. CorelDRAW is also leaving behind Tool palettes and substituting interactive tools that can be defined using the interactive property bar. (Corel began this with Version 9.)  Other tools, like the interactive drop shadow are enhanced with more preset routines.  Professionals will appreciate the improved preview, nudging, color management systems, and export capabilities. Web designers will see an improvement in HTML coding, exporting GIF and JPEG files, the ability to create javascript rollovers, a and the Web Image Optimizer.  Web designers, however, would do better to use CorelDRAW as a support tool – to create web graphics – than to use it to design web sites.

The laundry list
Here is a partial laundry list of improvements to CorelDRAW:

• Property bars are enhanced to add more preset effects and you can add effects you use regularly
• The real-time preview is enhanced and more accurate
• The Undo docker provides a history of changes, similar to the type seen in Photo-Paint; you can save an undo list to a Visual Basic for Applications macro
• A web connector docker takes you directly to the Corel site
• The color management docker is re-vamped to provide, among others, improved access to color palettes, slider-based control
• The color model and resolution shows up in the Status bar
• You can drag and drop an object’s color swatch from the  Status bar onto other objects
• A new Page Sorter view provides thumbnails of all the pages in the file
• A new Navigator window allows you to reposition a zoom box on the thumbnail while you’re working on a zoomed-in version of the graphic
• Rollover effects are available from the Effects menu or Internet toolbar
• Improved graphics export gives you improved control over JPEG compression or HTML code; files can be exported as Flash SWF files, or vector-based SVG
• Publish to Web and Publish to HTML provide better opportunities for optimizing your images, slicing images, establishing CSS styles, and more
• The Distortion tool now works on text, similar to the envelope effect
• Erase and knife tools work on bitmaps 
• The Perfect Shapes tool gives you access to shapes, arrows, and call-outs that were previously available as symbols

The installation is pretty straightforward.  Since I was having trouble with my 48x CD-ROM, I skipped the opening window (the intro.exe file) and simply installed the three main programs and ignored the other optional installations. You accept the license agreement, and enter the serial number, then choose the type of installation that you want.

The installation process also includes an installation of Aveo™ Attune.  Attune is suppose to alert you to possible computer problems before they happen (conflicting installations or driver conflicts?) and runs in the background (you’ll see it in the system tray).  If a known conflict is about to occur, Attune will present you with an Intelligram.  When you connect to the Internet, Attune will automatically update itself about known conflicts.  If you have concerns about this program, you may want to check out www.aveo.com before you install it.

As with any upgrade, it seems the applications act a little buggy.  I didn’t notice anything really significant, but my PC is relatively new and powerful.  Rick Altman mentioned memory freezes over long amounts of time (which I encounter with most programs I work with) and some conflicts with Office 2000 (which I don’t use enough at home to notice the difference).  Again, if this is concern, check some of the Corel and graphic arts newsgroups to see what the power users say.

The fine print
The upgrade for CorelDRAW 10 lists at $249.  Savvy shoppers will find it at reduced prices of around $200.  The non-upgrade street price for the full program is about $500, this makes CorelDRAW a good buy if you are just investing in graphics software. (One word of caution: if you shop for software at the online auctions, make sure you’re buying the original, register-able software, not bootleg copies).

Minimum computer requirements are Windows-based operating software (ME or NT okay), 64 MB RAM (128 MB recommended), Pentium 200, SVGA monitor and 160 MB free hard disk space.  My installation actually took 299 MB of space, and if I had installed the optional color management, the program would use 347 MB of space.  The suite included 25,000 clip art images and symbols, 1,000 TrueType and Type 1 fonts, and 1,000 high resolution photos. 

The suite also includes -- in addition to Photo-Paint and R.A.V.E. --   Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications 6, Bitstream Font Navigator 4.0, Canto Cumulus Desktop LE 5.0 (for media management), CorelTRACE, CorelTEXTURE, Corel  CAPTURE, select KPT plug-ins, Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0, Trumatch SwatchPrinter Software, Digimarc Digital Watermarking, Human Software Squizz and QuickTime.  Many of these add-ins were included in previous versions.

The documentation for programs is skimpy, but offers for third-party books are included in the box.  Three small user manuals for the three main programs (DRAW, Photo-Paint, and R.A.V.E.) are included.  No clip-art/font catalogue was included with the version I received, but there is a user guide for Canto Cumulus, the media management software.

Again, the bottom line is that if you use Version 8 or earlier, the upgrade to Version 10 will be a significant improvement to what you’re currently using.  However, unless you’re using Version 9 professionally or need its web capabilities, let your bank account guide your investment in the upgrade to Version 10.