POSTS
CorelDraw Graphics Suite by Maxwell Edison
CorelDraw Graphics Suite X4 is a very solid program. It does most of what Adobe Illustrator does (vector-based graphic design) and much of what Adobe InDesign does (desktop publishing) in one handy application.
CorelDraw would be an ideal solution for a small business or organization that does a fair amount of advertising-creation and publication design in-house. With one application (well-priced when compared to buying both Illustrator and InDesign), the content creator can achieve very professional results.
The app is also friendly to first-time users. It offers more than 80 customizable document templates that will be useful to newbies. While there is still a learning curve for new users, the app has an intuitive interface that will help get the user up and running relatively quickly.
The problem for CorelDraw is that Illustrator has become the default vector app in the design/pre-press community. Professionals should still start with Illustrator and Quark and/or InDesign – they’re the industry standards. While CorelDraw is very good, it would need to be awesome to unseat Illustrator, and that isn’t going to happen anytime soon.
CorelDraw has new file formats that enable docs to be shared between CorelDraw and Adobe apps. This is handy, but also shows which format and apps are the most common – Adobe’s. If you’re in a design situation where you’re going to have to worry about your files working in Adobe formats, you should just go ahead and use Adobe products.
Another thing: Because the Adobe products are the standard, there are numerous training DVDs and books to purchase that can help you get the most out of your apps. With CorelDraw, not so much.
I feel bad for good apps like CorelDraw. I wish I could talk just about the app itself and not bring in a discussion about Adobe’s competitive products, but given the way the design industry works – or any technology-based industry, for that matter – you always have to bring the front-running application into the mix.
That being said, if you’re not a graphic designer or a pre-press operator but are instead a multitasking, Windows-based employee at a company or organization who has been put in charge of creating brochures, pamphlets and the like, CorelDraw will answer your needs very well. If you’re someone who doesn’t need to share files often with design colleagues, publishing clients or service bureaus (who are most likely using Adobe apps almost exclusively), then you have no worries.
BTW, if you’re already using CoreDraw, it’s worth the upgrade. The font-identifying tool alone makes it worth it, at least for me.