CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 11 Upgrade

For example, in CorelDRAW there are now new "three-point" tools for drawing rectangles, ellipses, and curves. With each, you click to fix the first point, stretch out to define an axis or baseline, and click again to complete the object. The new Polyline tool enables you to create lines and objects segment by segment, where each segment can be straight or curved. The Pen tool offers a quick way to create Bezier curves.

CorelDRAW 11 introduces Symbols to its repertoire, too, so you can save and reuse drawing elements in a clip-board-style library. Using symbols saves considerable file space, which can be particularly important when drawing Web graphics.

Corel Photo-Paint 11 is to bitmap editing what CorelDRAW is to vector drawing. In many ways a competitor to Adobe Photoshop, the new version of Photo-Paint includes more improvements for Web artists. You can now slice images into a number of small parts to aid quick downloads and create rollovers for buttons and image maps, so they appear differently when pointed to or clicked. The program also supports JPEG 2000 files, so you can save your images in this new high-compression format.

The Cut-out masking tool helps extract foreground images from picture files and create objects from them that you can incorporate into other pictures. While not as comprehensive as Corel's own stand-alone KnockOut product, it's a useful tool in its own right. Red-eye removal from portrait photos can be a nuisance, but the new red-eye removal tool replaces red pixels with their greyscale equivalents. Various other effects within Photo-Paint add to its usefulness--things like enhanced lens flare, improved bevels, and reworked image stitching for panoramic photos.

The third part of the suite is Corel R.A.V.E., a Macromedia Flash animation creator. This module now uses a very similar interface to CorelDRAW and incorporates most of the same tools. It also offers tools and effects specific to its animation role, such as tweening of text on a path and of the program's predefined library objects, Perfect Shapes. Export of graphics to Macromedia Flash has been improved and includes the ability to export text as text rather than curves, which saves considerable file space.

Overall, the latest version of Corel Graphics Suite shows the company has once again proven itself to be a real player in the graphic design space. --Simon Williams

Amazon.com Product Description
Designed to make your work more enjoyable, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 11 features software for graphic design, page layout, photo editing, and vector animation. It offers live feedback, extensive compatibility, and a full range of output options. The suite includes CorelDRAW 11, Corel Photo-Paint 11, and Corel R.A.V.E. 2.

Reduce the number of steps it takes to complete your tasks. Use the new 3-Point Ellipse, Rectangle, and Curve tools to achieve the exact size and rotation you want in two clicks. Draw both curves and lines with the Polyline tool. Symbols support has also been added, letting you reduce the number of elements in your designs and reuse the most common elements to save time and shrink your file sizes.

Corel Photo-Paint 11 and Corel R.A.V.E. 2 offer a host of new features as well. Use the CutOut tool to quickly mask complex objects. Load large images onto a Web page faster by breaking them into segments with the Image Slicing tool. Produce compact animations for the Web in minutes with the R.A.V.E. 2 Flash Filter. And create advanced text transitions and effects by animating text on a path and using customizable shapes to create quick animations.

This new version of Graphics Suite has many new features that allow the graphic artist to go the extra mile in their design, and I have found that power and ease of the applications allows me to be far more productive then with competing products.

If you are new to Corel you will enjoy how easy it can be to use these applications. You will also enjoy the ability to make many different types of graphics, such as vector and raster images as well as fully interactive Flash animations.

If you are already familiar with Corel you will appreciate the new features and the added power that Corel has put into these applications.


CorelDRAW kicks Illustrator ...any day!   October 28, 2002
Brenda L Middleton (Washington, DC USA)
21 out of 23 found this review helpful

Keith W. states: "These other two reviews are almost certainly not legitimate consumer opinions."

As a 12 year veteran of this program, I most certainly am a legitimate consumer and this is my opinion:

In 1990, I took a computer certificate program and one of the applications I learned was CorelDRAW [ver. 1] -- a new vector drawing program made by a little Canadian company that set out to show that the graphics industry didn't need to revolve around Adobe or MACs.

I have successfully used CorelDRAW on a daily basis in commercial print shops and more. I have sent my projects to third party printers with no production problems because CorelDRAW is able to save to so many "acceptable" file formats to satisfy anyone.

I have seen CorelDRAW grow and mature from version 1 to version 11 and I still say it beats Illustrator hands down, not only for its ease of learning and intuitive interface, but for value of dollar. Many features that Illustrator has only recently introduced in its Version 10, CorelDRAW had already implemented several versions earlier.

No, I'm not a Corel Corp employee. I'm simply a consumer that loves CorelDRAW, has used it professionally for over 10 years with consistent, high quality results and has shown others the value of this remarkable program.

If I was stranded on a deserted island with a laptop and my choice of one program, CorelDRAW would be my choice.


great price upgrade from corel8   January 27, 2003
17 out of 18 found this review helpful

Wow! What a great price [$$$] after rebate. I was relieved to learn upgrade from corel 8 was ok. In fact I didn't even have the serial# because it was long lost. I called customer support. After giving me the serial# to load the Corel suite 11 asked me to fax or email a picture of my Corel Draw 8 disk. Although the box seems to say version8 or higher, I got the impression proof of any Corel draw version was OK to upgrade from. I was satisfied with Corel 8 but It was giving me problems after upgrading from pIII450 win98 to new P4 3gig winxp pro. My print options were all Greek and program crashed (Locked up) often. It seemed logical to just upgrade to version 11. I have had none of the old problems so far. I will enjoy some of the new features but really feel the money well spent just to have the same features solid and reliable. Corel is the best program available for the money. Especially for someone like me who has the wide range of graphic needs. That is to say the paint/photo graphic needs to the high tolerance Corel draw cadd options. I really use the ability to work in full scale and print tiled pages on banner paper. Although I rarely print longer than six feet before concern the printer paper will go out of alignment. If you don't have a previous version of Corel draw to upgrade from you may want to buy corel8 for [$$$].


CorelDRAW - solid like a rock!   September 3, 2002
10 out of 12 found this review helpful

I've used the Corel graphics suite since version 2, and to date I've not experienced such a solid version to work with.

This time Corel did their best in providing stable up to date software to actually work with.

D.G.


Outstanding Graphics Software   November 4, 2002
Mike in St. Louis (Ballwin, MO United States)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

Upgraded from version 8. New features, some of which first appeared on versions later than 8 are very useful and easy to use. My primary tool is Draw which I use for my work but I enjoy playing with PhotoPaint as well.

I have an older computer with a Pentium II 266 mhz chip so it's not quite up to handling version 11 but I was forewarned so I expected an occasional crash. When I upgrade my computer that issue will be resolved.

I am constantly amazed at the scope and capability of this program. I doubt that there is anything graphically that can't be done with it.