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Feature List of Every Previous Release?

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Jed Hunsaker posted on Thu, May 7 2009 19:04

Hi. I'm looking for a list of Corel PHOTO-PAINT features as they were released by version and year. I'm also going to try to get a Photoshop list of the same thing to compare the two and prove that Photoshop isn't really as innovative as many Photoshop enthusiasts believe.

Does anyone know where I can get my hands on either or both of these lists?

I've used the CorelDRAW Graphics Suite since version 3 and I can't possibly remember which features it had back then vs. what it has now.

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Gerard Metrailler replied on Mon, May 11 2009 17:12

I don't think we (at Corel) have such a list handy. We have a version to version matrix comparison for Graphics Suite since version 10 (it does not include every feature, only the bigger ones):

http://www.corel.com/content/pdf/cdgsx4/CDGSX4_Upgrade_Matrix_Matrix_ENG-5087-11_printable.pdf

Gérard

Using CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5 (SP3), Corel DESIGNER Technical Suite X5 (SP1) & CorelCAD
on Windows 7 Professional 64-bit SP1 / Intel Core i7, 6 Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GT 330M graphics

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Jed Hunsaker replied on Mon, May 11 2009 20:15

Yes, I believe I've seen this matrix comparison before.

Interesting to know that even Corel doesn't have such a list handy. Oh well! Can't say I didn't try.

Though, I've seen a similar list on Wikipedia, but it's not very descriptive and it's more about CorelDRAW than PHOTO-PAINT.

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Mosh replied on Wed, May 13 2009 20:11

The wikipedia list is quite complete. It mentions every major feature introduced, paired with the version it appeared in.

_mosh

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Jed Hunsaker replied on Wed, May 13 2009 20:54

Yeah it's pretty solid, but it'd be nicer if it had dates next to the feature releases, along with a comparison to Photoshop's and Illustrator's feature list.

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Mosh replied on Thu, May 14 2009 5:09

The dates are there, mate. The comparison... I haven't seen such.

 

  • Ver. 2 (1991): Envelope tool (for distorting text or objects using a primary shape), Blend (for morphing shapes), Extrusion (for simulating perspective and volume in objects) and Perspective (to distort objects along X and Y axes).
  • Ver. 3 (1992): Included Corel PHOTO-PAINT* (for bitmap editing), CorelSHOW (for creating on-screen presentations, CorelCHART (for graphic charts), Mosaic and CorelTRACE (for vectorizing bitmaps). The inclusion of this software was the precedent for the actual graphic suites.
  • Ver. 4 (1993): Included Corel PHOTO-PAINT* (for bitmap editing), CorelSHOW (for creating on-screen presentations, CorelCHART (for graphic charts), CorelMOVE for animation, Mosaic and CorelTRACE (for vectorizing bitmaps). The inclusion of this software was the precedent for the actual graphic suites.
  • Ver. 5 (1994): This is the last version which was made for, and works on Windows 3.x. Corel Ventura was included in the suite (and then sold as a separate program). It was a desktop publishing application akin to PageMaker, Quark Express, or InDesign.
  • Ver. 6 (1995): This is the first version which was made exclusively for 32-bit Windows. New features were customizable interface, Polygon, Spiral, Knife and Eraser tools. Corel Memo, Corel Presents, Corel Motion 3D, Corel Depth, Corel Multimedia Manager, Corel Font Master and Corel DREAM (for 3D modelling) were included in the suite.
  • Ver. 7 (1997): Context-sensitive Property bar, Print Preview with Zoom and Pan options, Scrapbook (for viewing a drag-and-dropping graphic objects), Publish to HTML option, Draft and Enhanced display options, Interactive Fill and Blend tools, Transparency tools, Natural Pen tool, Find & Replace wizard, Convert Vector to Bitmap option (inside Draw), Spell checker, Thesaurus and Grammar checker. The suite included Corel Scan and Corel Barista (a Java-based document exchange format).
  • Ver. 8 (1998): Digger selection, Docker windows, Interactive Distortion, 3D, Envelope and tools, Realistic Dropshadow tool, interactive color mixing, color palette editor, guidelines as objects, custome-sized pages, duotone support. Corel Versions was included in the suite.
  • Ver. 9 (1999): Mesh fill tool (for complex color filling), Artistic Media tool, Publish to PDF features, embedded ICC color profiles, Multiple On-screen Color Palettes and Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications 6 support. The suite included Canto Cumulus LE, a piece of software for media management.
  • Ver. 10 (2000): CorelR.A.V.E. (for vector animation), Perfect Shapes, Web graphics tools (for creating interactive elements such as buttons), Page sorter, multilingual document support, navigator window.
  • Ver. 11 (2002): Symbols library, image slicing (for web design), pressure-sensitive vector brushes, 3-point drawing tools.
  • Ver. 12 (2003): Dynamic guides, Smart Drawing tools, Export to MS Office or Word option, Virtual Segment Delete tool, Unicode text support.
  • Ver. X3 (2006): Double click Crop tool ( the first vector software able to crop groups of vectors and bitmap images at the same time), Smart fill tool, Chamfer/Fillet/Scallop/Emboss tool, Image Adjustment Lab. Trace became integrated inside Draw under the name PowerTRACE.
  • Ver. X4 (2008): Whatthefont font identification service linked inside CorelDraw, ConceptShare, Table tool, independent page layers, live text formatting, support for RAW camera files.

_mosh

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Jed Hunsaker replied on Thu, May 14 2009 6:06

I got an email from this guy David Mutch who has some old-school PHOTO-PAINT tutorials. Here's what he had to say about it:

BTW, I do have some older reviews of previous releases of PHOTO-PAINT (which is the direct competitor to PhotoShop).

And yes, early versions of Photo-Paint (PP) were much better then PS at the same period.
PP was at version 8 when PS was at version 5

  • PP had floating Objects before PS had layers (they are the same thing)
  • PP had unlimited multiple levels of undo while PS only had 1 undo.
  • PP had lenses before PS had styles (these were both based on methods to incorporate non-destructive alterations to objects/layers and to the image) .
  • PP had clip masks before PS had layer masks (again, same thing)
  • PP had a Paint on Mask Mode before PS had Quick Mask
So YES you are very correct - many of PS's early ground-breaking features were copied and renamed directly from PP.

Sadly, since PP version 8, Adobe has put much more development into PS than Corel has put into PP and PS is now miles ahead.
It would be great to see Corel do what Adobe did ages ago and copy and rename some of PSs newer features such as much improved saveable and reuseable layer styles, multiple object levels, in-built vector tools etc etc. However, and again sadly, I think Corel has just about missed the boat trip now and it would take an enormous effect to catch up, but I still support and fully endorse PP for general bitmap editing a it has most of the professional tools that one needs to do such things without a lot of glamorous extras.

Interesting bit of History:
Neither PP nor PS were actually invented by their current owners.
PP was originally called ZPaint and bought by Corel at around version 1 or 2 (sorry, no web link to this history available but I know this from my own investigations about 10 years ago)
PS was originally called Display, then ImagePro and then PhotoShop and Adobe bought it from a uni student called Thomas Knoll who originally developed it solely for use on the Mac platform (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Photoshop)

Hope this helps and that you find it interesting.
- David Mutch, Melbourne, Australia --  http://www.visionary-voyager.com.au/corel/photopaint/

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Gerard Metrailler replied on Tue, Jun 2 2009 16:42

Yes, PHOTO-PAINT mades its first appearance with CorelDRAW 3 (the first graphics suite on the market). I did post something about the history of CorelDRAW in my blog a while back. Here is the link to the entry.

Using CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5 (SP3), Corel DESIGNER Technical Suite X5 (SP1) & CorelCAD
on Windows 7 Professional 64-bit SP1 / Intel Core i7, 6 Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GT 330M graphics

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Jed Hunsaker replied on Tue, Jun 2 2009 16:47

Yeah, I read that blog and it appears that someone has copied all of that text onto Wikipedia as well, but I'm trying to focus more on Corel PHOTO-PAINT here, which is often overshadowed by CorelDRAW.

Granted, I love both! I use CorelDRAW all the time! But it's hard to distinguish which of your blog's stated features were released also inside Corel PHOTO-PAINT. And some of the features within Corel PHOTO-PAINT are totally non-existant in CorelDRAW, so the list isn't as useful in this respect.

Great list though! I enjoyed reading it!

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Ariel replied on Tue, Jun 2 2009 16:50

PhotoPaint was bought to ZSoft, previously was PhotoFinish

Ariel Garaza Díaz

  arielgaraza.com


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Jed Hunsaker replied on Tue, Jun 2 2009 17:00

Are you sure Zsoft's PhotoFinish wasn't purchased by Brøderbund Software?

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