I have been testing X6 64bit. I am forced to keep X4 and X5 on the system due to some issues peculiar to both.
Initially I installed X6 32 bit and saw no other issue than X6 photopaint opening when selecting 'EDIT BITMAP' from within X5 and X4. A file type association issue I guess. I didn’t test X6 32 much as I meant to get the 64bit version but i was able to work normally in X4 and X5 while it was on the system.
Now I have X6 64bit installed I have lost 'EDIT BITMAP' in X4 and X5 entirely - greyed out. Uninstalling X6 64bit hasn’t fixed it. I'll be peed if I have to reinstall both X4 and X5 again. Love to hear fix suggestions. Its a critical function for me as bitmap merge mode is lost (defaults to 'normal' merge mode -can only be seen with CMYK images and with proof print ON) when saving as bitmap in X5, you can only fix it by opening bitmap in PP and changing merge mode. This is a bug in Corel X5 and X6.
'Font substitution for Missing Fonts' list is missing many fonts in X4 and X5, didnt check X6. I'm guessing this will have something to do with new font features in X6 being incompatible with older versions/types of fonts. After uninstalling X6 I reran Find Fonts in Bitstream Font Nav and this has fixed it. My guess is that all the Corel versions are using the same font management software. What X6 applied applies to all.
Unfortunately these 2 issues have stopped me from being able to produce work so I had to uninstall and havent been able to do further testing. I cant imagine being able to risk it again especially if i have to reinstall X4 and X5 every time. A real pity as I felt X6 64 was faster editing large bitmaps and has some attractive improvements.
DavidonCorel:Now I have X6 64bit installed I have lost 'EDIT BITMAP' in X4 and X5 entirely - greyed out.
X4 and X5 are too old to have been tested to work with 64 bit programs, but perhaps somebody else who has this problem could try setting the default .cpt file association to the 32 bit version of X6 photopaint and see if that enables the edit bitmap function.
DavidonCorel:Uninstalling X6 64bit hasn’t fixed it.
Too late now, but I think it might have done if you had reinstalled the X6 32 bit afterwards.
Reinstalling X6 32 sounds like a great suggestion, as I still have it I'll try it.
Trying to get some work out this morning I found out that not only isses mentioned above but all my Macros, purchased and personally created, no longer work either. Not in X5 or X4. I expect there will be a bunch more issues that I just havent stumbled over yet.
So I reinstalled X6 32 and hey presto everything came back wokring fine- Yay.
These X6 's have been trial versions and I have found bugs that proclude me from being able to use it in either 32 or 64 so I can't use it.
So I uninstalled X6 32. All the issues have come back.
So in brief.
With X6 64 installed I loose. With X6 32 reinstalled I get it back. With X6 32 uninstalled I loose it all again. It seems I am being forced into purchasing X6 32. I have been hanging out for Corel to come out with a 64bit version for a long time, Im running Windows 7 pro 64 specifically in anticipation of its release.
Corel requested I trial X6 due to a bug in X5 - I havent got the time to be Corels guinea pig. Not happy.
Hello DavidonCorel; I don't blame you at all, Have you tried putting one of the DVD's ( like X4 ) in and at the install screen do a repair? Keep in mind if you do the repair thing it WILL reset the work space to the factory settings, meaning you would have to set up the macro's and the work space. I have X4 and the X6 64 bit installed in this computer at the same time and they work fine together. It is NICE to be able to get work done with out having to work around something or other. ( This is a computer I built and loaded Windows 7 64 bit Ult. on WITHOUT all the added stuff the off the shelf computers have. )
My Thoughts George Good Luck
Thanks George, valuable info. I could live with that X4 X6 combo. I have a couple of questions if you can spare the time. I'll probably loose a whole day testing this out. X6 is no worse than X5 but there are the font issues. When X6 asks you to update the fonts in your file is it making those fonts unusable for older programs? I already had missing fonts and never did any updating. I wish I tested that. If anyone else can have some input on this Id really appreciate it.
Did you ever have X5? I guess its possible theres a domino effect - X6 effects X5 effects X4 but without X5, X6 doesnt effect X4. Because X6 cant reach X4... lol ... why is my eye twitching.
As you now have X6 have you had cause to use X4 much - if so can you say why you need X4.
Cheers
Foster D. Coburn IIIFacebook * Twitter * Free Graphics Blog * CorelDRAW Book * 1400+ CorelDRAW Brushes * CorelDRAW Clipart * 1400+ Seamless Textures
Brilliant info thank you. Is this kind if indepth information available anywhere on the net ?
DavidonCorel:Brilliant info thank you. Is this kind if indepth information available anywhere on the net ?
DavidonCorel:Trying to get some work out this morning I found out that not only isses mentioned above but all my Macros, purchased and personally created, no longer work either. Not in X5 or X4. I expect there will be a bunch more issues that I just havent stumbled over yet.So I reinstalled X6 32 and hey presto everything came back wokring fine- Yay. These X6 's have been trial versions and I have found bugs that proclude me from being able to use it in either 32 or 64 so I can't use it. So I uninstalled X6 32. All the issues have come back.So in brief. With X6 64 installed I loose. With X6 32 reinstalled I get it back. With X6 32 uninstalled I loose it all again. It seems I am being forced into purchasing X6 32. I have been hanging out for Corel to come out with a 64bit version for a long time, Im running Windows 7 pro 64 specifically in anticipation of its release.
I have a very similar experience with the X6 trial! I read on Corel's trial page "you can run them side by side without a problem" what a nightmare. I get the same feeling as you that we are being forced into buying the upgrade. I hope that I'm wrong as dedicated and longtime user of CorlDraw since version 5 it just makes you wounder.
Macros not working in X5 after uninstall of X6 trialhttp://coreldraw.com/forums/p/33446/157222.aspx#157222After uninstalling the X6 trial X5 macros and plugins not working!http://coreldraw.com/forums/t/33683.aspx
Please post any updates or solutions you my have found.
Thanks,
Hello David; I don't have X5, but I do use X4 a lot because there are a few things that aren't up to speed yet with the 64 bit ver. the people at Corel know about them and have said they are going to addressed it the first up-date. I went from ver. 11 to ver. X4 and still have ver. 11 loaded on one computer, even after they fix the X6 I'll keep X4 on the computer just in case. I got X4 the same week they came out with X5 ( bought 3 Copies of X4 ) and was mad because they didn't say anything about coming out with X5, but they had all the bugs out of X4 ( with the patches ) and I don't think that they got X5 to a 100% before coming out with X6. On the font thing I have had problems with some of the OT fonts so I don't use them, And I was told by someone that the "Up Date Fonts" that shows up was for the new monitors display, and I still use a CRT so I don't use it. ( I don't know if it's true or not ) Once they get X6 up to speed I don't see me using X4 much. I do have a few programs that I use installed it this computer but I learned a long time ago not all programs play well with each other, so I don't have anything in it that's no needed to run the business, and clean it out every week to keep it running fast and as it should be. I don't use a lot of macros but I do know that the ones I need work well In X6 64 bit ( SM.Auto size )( Jeff's site http://macromonster.com ) and the one Brian put in a post here ( InnerShadow )
George
I have X4, X5, & X6 on multiple systems all running Win7 64 and I really didn't care for X5 so I have been mainly using X4 until the X6 release. It has been very stable and other than the changes in the color modes that got introduced in X5 it has been solid. There are many changes and some take some getting used to because they are different than they were in X6. I have been strictly working with X6 and now I am getting to like it a lot.
One of the things that I like is that using FN it now handles open type very well. I work with a lot of type styles and the new open type features add a lot of nice features with X6.
Have A Great Day! Bill Meyer Ginny's Gems www.ginnysgems.com
you dont say anything about your CGS being 64 bit. Is it?
FosterCoburn: And you are dead wrong on what we believe! While I have recommended X6, I have also provided a lot of honest information about limitations of X6 so everyone can make an informed decision. My own personal experience with X6 on multiple machines is great. I have not had a single crash yet. Again, that is MY experience. Others have not had the same experience. Then again there are those who want thousands of fonts installed even though they are advised it is a bad idea. Or there could be software running in the background that causes problems. The variables are endless. MY experience with X6 is great!
Foster could you point me to the information about limitations of X6 you have provided - I couldnt find anything. I am assuming you have created a single source so everyone could 'make an informed decision' as you put it. I really need to be better informed before I go installing upgrades in future and that info may be really helpful. I guess i have a workaround that might be helpful to others. I find I am forced to leave X6 32 bit trial version installed (but not use it) as without it macros stop working. Re point all file associations to X4 or X5. ie find Photopaint.exe in file manager and reassociate it with X5 Photopaint. Re associate all other file extentions like tif and jpg to Corel X5. As long as I leave X6 32 installed I can continue working with out having to reinstall everything from scratch.Some observations -All versions of CGS use the same file extentions. This is common practice across many programs but it doesnt seem wise. ie; EDIT BITMAP within CorelDraw is a hotlink to photopaint.exe. I have 3 photopaint.exe files, 1 for each version installed X4, X5 & X6. So EDIT BITMAP in Corelraw 4 opens PhotoPaint X6. They could change the extentions and links so that they are specific to their own program. ie change photopaint.exe to photopaint6.exe, .cdr to .6cdr. By doing this it isolates the versions and so issues from one another. All versions of Corel use the same Bitstream font manager. I had fonts go missing from my list in Bitstream font manager when I installed CGS X6 64bit. Sharing prgrams like this seems foolish to me as older CGS's are forced to use updated versions and incompatibilites / conflicts are sure to arise. Other issues I have found;- Merge mode being lost. For any professional creating files for CMYK offset, Merge Mode loss is a crital flaw/bug/issue in Draw X5 and X6 and invisible unless you are in proof mode. Invisible of course until you output to pdf to find your blends are all normal and look (like crapp) nothing like the file in corelDraw. - Macros failing in older versions with CGS 64bit installed suggests that installing X6 64bit replaces a new and nonbackward compatible version of Visual Basic which disables all macros in previous versions that try to run on this new VB. X6 32 VB does not cause issues. This is my best guess and would love comment. There must be a reason.I have been in touch with Corel Support about Merge Mode being lost and other issues. I wouldnt recommend it to anyone with elevated blood pressure. That twitch in my eye is now permanent ;) . I have had no solutions - most issues have been ignored - where they have replied it has been odd or issue has been totally misunderstood as if they dont understand the inductry they are selling to. I said to Corel support 'Merge mode is lost when saving as a bitmap... ' Their expert replied ' As per our Subject Matter Expert: When converting objects to bitmap the program will no longer recognize the changes that has been applied while it was an object. So, when you edit the bitmap, the program will recognize the bitmap's properties as is.'They've repeated the issue back to me, acknowledging my statement is correct, but not that it is an issue or will be looked at. Very confusing. Anyway Ive had enough time wasting...
DavidonCorel:All versions of Corel use the same Bitstream font manager.
I don't think it could work in any other way, because it has features that perform at the windows level.
What I think possibly ought to happen is that bfn should be treated as a common resource -- updates to it being properly tested for backwards compatibility. Under normal circumstances, all versions of the calling programs should be using the latest version of the common resource -- which should therefore remain uninstalled, even if the later version of the calling program is subsequently uninstalled. Reinstalling an earlier version of the calling program should give a choice of reverting to the previous version, but keeping the later version should be the recommended default -- because that is usually the most capable and compatible version.
And, unless somebody else knows different, the X6 version of bfn is backwards compatible. Problems do not usually arise when installing X6 over previous versions, even when the previous versions are used. The problems arise when subsequently uninstalling X6 -- which is why I'm sure it would be safer not to uninstall the common resources such as bfn as part of the X6 uninstall.
The 64 bit version of VBA is a different questiion. Here, an incompatibility is inevitable. But it is typically solved by something like putting a "use64" keyword in newer macros and using a 32 bit version of the code for macros that do not contain it. The uninistall problem is I suspect similar to bfn -- hooks at the windows level continue to point to X6 modules which have been uninstalled. Again, perhaps at least the 32 bit version of VBA should be left in place when X6 is uninstalled.