Explaining things to first time users is my forte, so I figured I'd start a freindly thread just for them. CorelDRAW is such a feature rich program, folks often don't use all of it's capability. While it is very user friendly, there are lots of little things that aren't obvious when you first open up the program. I don't know how many beginners will be popping in here, but let's make them welcome!

This doesn't mean we won't need help from all you professionals out there! Most folks who start out with CorelDRAW do need to use it professionally, so we'll certainly need help for the industry specific questions. Feel free to jump in on the basic beginner questions, too, all you pros.

Have fun!

Val P. 

Thank you, Val. All help for CorelDRAW users is welcome

Best regards

Ariel 

Thank goodness!!!  I'm not a beginner, per say... but I am very new to Corel!  There are so many things to remember it becomes overwhelming! 

Many times I wish I could hear about how people design things, in DETAIL... BEGINNERS DETAIL.... step by step and why that method was used to create the art work.  Many times on The Screen Printers Message Board, I have read about and asked question about how to do designs.  Most of the artists on the board are advanced, so I think they forget about explaining details and going step by step, SLOWLY.  There are lots of things that I know how to do, but let's just say, I haven't figured out how to put it all together in my head yet.  Makes it really hard to create art sometimes!

This is what I am currently trying to learn, and it's just killing me for some reason....

How in the heck do you shade things?  I would love many discussions about different techniques and how to apply them.  Picture tuts are good!! 

Thanks for looking out for the beginner!!!

You might also check in the blog section, although there are not many educational blogs going at the moment I'm sure that this will change, I know there are some in the works.

Thank you Val!

I know that I will have a lot of questions that will fall into the absolute basic beginner category.

I remember when I first bought CorelDrawX3 and took it out of the box. I was so excited. I told myself that I was going to read the whole instruction book page by page to learn all about it.

While that idea is still in the back of my mind, I don't think I read too much before jumping in and clicking buttons.

LAINK:

This is what I am currently trying to learn, and it's just killing me for some reason....

How in the heck do you shade things?  I would love many discussions about different techniques and how to apply them.  Picture tuts are good!! 

Thanks for looking out for the beginner!!!

 Feel free to ask lots of questions here. As far as shading goes, well, there's shading and then there's shading and the techique you use depends on the result you want. Are you talking shading as in adding highlights and lowlights or shading as in adding shadows? Or maybe shading as in making gradual changes of color? Except for shadows, and sometimes even then, I'm a big believer in blends.  The mesh fill tool also has made some interesting things possible that were harder to accomplish before it came along.

If you can post a link to an image of something that has the kind of shading you are attempting, we'll try to break it down for you.

Have fun!

Val P.
 

 You're welcome, Ariel. I've gotten so used to teaching over the years, it seems I just can't quit.

Val P. 

 I know what yiou mean about just jumping in and clicking buttons. However, I have actually read those manuals at some point in the process. If truth be known, it was usually just before writing a lesson or tutorial rather than when I was actually trying to accomplish a job. Then I go "OH! Is THAT how it's supposed to be done!" LOL.

Feel free to ask lots of questions. Somebody around here is bound to know the answer.

Have fun!

Val P. 

wohooo, another user guide reader. I stress this to everyone. I actually read the guide about 3 times a year. Nutting like refreshing you memory on how everythig works. So how do you like Huntsville? I lived in Birmingham for a couple years while attending UAB. Totally different than Florida :D

 Yea. I figure somebody wrote the thing for a reason.

Of course, I haven't had a paper manual for several versions now because I use a site license, so it would sure help if the CD version or help files would be more searchable. Sometimes you just KNOW there's an answer in there, but it takes forever to find it.

Then there's the times when the manual says one thing and the program actually does something different...  You're left wondering at what step you went wrong until you finally figure out the manual is wrong. It can happen.

Don't get me started, LOL!

Have fun!

Val P. 

fluid:

wohooo, another user guide reader. I stress this to everyone. I actually read the guide about 3 times a year. Nutting like refreshing you memory on how everythig works. So how do you like Huntsville? I lived in Birmingham for a couple years while attending UAB. Totally different than Florida :D

Val, I look forward to "picking" your brain.  I am new to CorelX3 and will use it primarly for designs to use on my CNC machine.  I have a CarveWright and I need help designing projects to carve in 3D.  We have a CarveWright Forum, which is where I found out about this one.  I suspect that a bunch of our Forum members will migrate over here to try to learn what we can.  I look forward to learning something new.  I have also used CorelX3 for some web design for my website.

Hi Val!  Thanks for trying to help.... you might regret it, lol!!   Hopefully I will be able to post some images of what I'm talking about.

I am going to start with this.  This is a pic of a tee shirt that I printed (the screen used was pre-made), I did not design it, but would like to know how they did this shading effect.  The "shading" is 1/2 tones, I assume, because it's a series of little dots... I was wondering what tool they used because it looks to me like it was "drawn" on in a random fashion.

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m17/fauxlah/002.jpg

Ok... I get the part where you draw your design, and  I see there are some ovious lines drawn in, but do you see how they shaded it?  Boy, this is hard to explain!   I picked this image because I figured it would be a good starting point.... it's a one color design.  Since you work with kids, I figure you must have a lot of patience, lol!!

Me again, lol!!

As far as shading goes, well, there's shading and then there's shading and the techique you use depends on the result you want. Are you talking shading as in adding highlights and lowlights or shading as in adding shadows? Or maybe shading as in making gradual changes of color? Except for shadows, and sometimes even then, I'm a big believer in blends. 

All of the above Val!! 

I have so many questions.... I promise I will only ask one at a time though.

Thanks!

Leigh-Ann

 Leigh-Ann

Can you post a visual of the film positive? Its hard to tell from the scan of the print.

 Pick away, my friend. I know absolutely nothing about CarveWright machines, but if I can help you on the CorelDRAW end, I'll sure be glad to try.

Val P.

CAJUNPEN:

Val, I look forward to "picking" your brain.  I am new to CorelX3 and will use it primarly for designs to use on my CNC machine.  I have a CarveWright and I need help designing projects to carve in 3D.  We have a CarveWright Forum, which is where I found out about this one.  I suspect that a bunch of our Forum members will migrate over here to try to learn what we can.  I look forward to learning something new.  I have also used CorelX3 for some web design for my website.