Review by Patrick O

Couple of key things when looking at software. First, how does it run. The best features or potential in the world are useless if the program is buggy or frustrating. Corel runs great. It loads quick, a fair bit quicker than Adobe Illustrator (and other Adobe programs), and runs fine on even older computers. It’s a cleaner program, it seems. Yet, it’s also feature rich. While AI and the Adobe suite are considered industry standard, that is increasingly more tradition and habit than a reflection of capability. I’d go as far to say that for Windows users Corel is a step ahead of Adobe, both because it connects fluidly with Visual Studio for application development and OneDrive for cloud storage, and because it offers a purchasable product rather than a rental. Adobe, after all, has moved fully into the subscription mode, so that you have access as long as you pay a fee. Sure you get upgrades but you also pour constant money into Adobe’s coffers, with nothing of your own.

CorelDRAW comes in a box, with a disc. You buy it, it’s yours. You can work online if you want, or offline as long as you want. It’s not constantly nagging you for upgrades. It’s a well-designed software package that is primarily about design, with accompanying support programs, like photo-paint, which make for a unified suite that will serve almost any purpose. If you’re new to design software, I’d heartily recommend Corel because of this, unless of course you’re in a company or profession that demands you toe the Adobe line. Not to say Adobe is bad, it’s great, but it’s strengths no longer, in my opinion, outweigh its frustrations and liabilities. Indeed, I have a 1 year subscription with the Adobe suite already (primarily for its web design capabilities, which Corel doesn’t come close to matching)nnCorelDRAW is setup for the new user, facilitating pros but giving a lot of guidance and tutorials for those new to the program. If you’re not already comfortable with AI or another program, are looking for a job in the design industry, and want to have a program that you own, that’s yours, that has high quality features and capabilities while running smoothly, then Corel is the way to go.