I really like Corel Draw and I am a user since Version 6. Most things you can do really fast and the process is really streamlined. But there are some features that always make me use other software (that is much more complicated) or I do it in a really complicated way in Corel.
The listed features are already existent in one of the following three softwares: Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Word, Inkscape
Feature number 1 - Effects ("Layer Style" stolen from Adobe Photoshop):
In PS I can create a text or an object and I can simply add a Contour (in a shape I want), inner shadow, drop shadow, inner glow, outer glow, sparkle and whatnot in a minute. And most important: Text retains its text-properties.
In Corel Draw I have to create a multitude of lenses without getting the wanted effect and if I want to change the text I have to start all over again.
Often customers want such a simple effect and I am not able to satisfy them (in an acceptable timeframe), because, to be honest you cannot typeset in PS.
Feature number 2 - Colors with transparency Channel (stolen from Inkscape and the SVG-specification)
In Inkscape I can create any object with a color and a transparency. True, I can do that in Corel with a lens. But in Inkscape, every color can have an own transparency value, so I can create the fanciest gradients (with different transparencies and whatnot) in just a minute. More-so, I can reuse those gradients (and color-settings – they have an id) and change them all at once.
And without using a lens for transparency you can still use the lens for layer-blend-modes (which imho should be separate from lenses at all). In this way you could create a different color-scheme from a design with just changing one color-reference or gradient.
Feature number 3 - Fields (or Field-actions – "Feldbefehle" they are called in Germany) stolen from Microsoft Word/Open Office
In Word or OOo I can create a field that shows the current page number, the current date and whatever. It does not have to be so fancy as in those programs (as Corel Draw is no word processor), but it would really nice to create such a field in the master layer and let it show the current page number. This would really make creating small brochures ore universal styles much easier and faster.
Excellent suggestions
Bob Friedman Pennsylvanina, USA www.pamspress.com
<maweki> wrote in message news:80869@coreldraw.com... Feature number 1 - Effects ("Layer Style" stolen from Adobe Photoshop): In PS I can create a text or an object and I can simply add a Contour (in a shape I want), inner shadow, drop shadow, inner glow, outer glow, sparkle and whatnot in a minute. And most important: Text retains its text-properties. In Corel Draw I have to create a multitude of lenses without getting the wanted effect and if I want to change the text I have to start all over again. No you don't. Often customers want such a simple effect and I am not able to satisfy them (in an acceptable timeframe), because, to be honest you cannot typeset in PS.
No you don't.
Corel ROCKS !
maweki:Feature number 3
You have no idea how much I pushed for this.
And yes they do need to be done full on and be able to reflect the meta information about a file like Author, Date etc.
Have you ever seen a technical drawing without a box in the bottom right that didn't include such information? They don't exist.
That isn't an hugely complex bit of coding, it isn't surrounded by patents and it is a kind of deep dip in what should be feature balance. If you push for that you will very likely get a result.
The others are valid too but 3 is massive in the power it adds. Have a look at those Document Properties. They are pretty useless if they can't be added to a master page.
Ned's Mother -- You gotta help us, Doc. We've tried nothing and we're fresh out of ideas! ( The Simpsons, Hurricane Neddy -- Season:8 Episode:8 First Aired:12/29/1996 )
Edward Thurston: For your first "Feature", you can do that in Draw. Text can be changed anytime. .cdr attached
and how exactly do you create this effect in Draw with just one text-object (this picture was created in Draw with 2)? For Additional exercise: Add a shadow and an inner glow. To add even more to the fun: make the part between black and red transparent. You can't do that without converting a contour to lines and then cutting and merging (and stuff, you know the drill) with another converted contour.
And when you got all those effects, change the (ideally only one) wording and still have your effects.
What also would be nice to steal from Inkscape. Gaussian Blur on any object (text, vector, image) and still retain its properties (text and nodes still changeable). All in all I propose, that Corel gets full SVG-compliant in its color and object features.
Mario:Corel gets full SVG-compliant
What do you think is missing now? One of the issue I have with testing it is that I haven't been able to find a reader that is 100% right.
I did some testing but if you have a bug list for SVG let a rip. We will make sure that is listed. The best way is a Draw file with an example of the problem and a short write up.
I'm keen for SVG to be ready when the browsers support it accurately. Which is going to be very soon. Only IE fails totally but IE fails on all counts anyway.
If you do this test all output in the latest version of Firefox as I've done some testing and FF is as good as it gets at the moment.
Yani: Mario:Corel gets full SVG-compliant What do you think is missing now? One of the issue I have with testing it is that I haven't been able to find a reader that is 100% right. I did some testing but if you have a bug list for SVG let a rip. We will make sure that is listed. The best way is a Draw file with an example of the problem and a short write up. I'm keen for SVG to be ready when the browsers support it accurately. Which is going to be very soon. Only IE fails totally but IE fails on all counts anyway. If you do this test all output in the latest version of Firefox as I've done some testing and FF is as good as it gets at the moment.
It is not the output that s****. This is really all right. But importing really gives me the creeps. Take any svg from wikipedia or elsewhere. Road signs are pretty good (or bad in that case) because they have a lot of contours. Take it and import it and tell me if everything is all right. I just tried this in my X4 and the yellow sign was almost completely black.
And as I mentioned, the missing svg features Draw has not implemented yet and are therefore imported the wrong way (like alpha values on colors – without using a lens) or the gaussian blur on objects or the very way gradients are handled. Or the way objects are filled (you can decide if same-object-intersections are to be filled or not). I don't have these problems in Inkscape (which is, I know, not fully compliant either), but is definitely more compliant (as it uses the underlying xml as its very data structure.
Oh yeah, not to mention: filling outlines with gradients (without converting them) and patterns. And what probably is most annoying: with svg (and Inkscape) you can create a path without closing it and still fill it (the last line is automatically omitted as filling path (but has no outline). Corel either doesn't fill the object or creates some strange paths to complete the object (I think this one is decided by dice). Shall I go on?
Compared to other format SVG is well documented (and plenty of work has been done at some time n the past).
Don't be discouraged if something takes a while to float up the list and be seen as repaired. My thoughts are the SVG will become the archive format for vectors. It's destined to gain in importance.
I'll list that one for you Mario, any others to do with SVG that you would like listed?
Yani: I'll list that one for you Mario, any others to do with SVG that you would like listed?
Repeating gradients, reusing gradients (as they have an UID) and then being able to change them in one place, pattern gradients.
Do you have the blur?
And keep in mind: when using these effects and properties the object context has to remain consistent, so I can blur a text and still change it with the text tool. I think this should be all for now.
Basically: one can look at Inkscape and just try it out for a few minutes and find something you cannot do in Draw
OK I think you need to write this up and put it in a Draw file with examples. There is no rush because nothing is done to code between versions that changes any feature.
Corel have been collecting ideas for years and years, and the dev team aren't exactly short of their own ideas. I you want to get something up then you have to mount a strong case and have patience.
Bugs are different. They don't get processed the same way.
Edward Thurston: For your first "Feature", you can do that in Draw. Text can be changed anytime. ..cdr attached and how exactly do you create this effect in Draw with just one text-object (this picture was created in Draw with 2)? For Additional exercise: Add a shadow and an inner glow. To add even more to the fun: make the part between black and red transparent. You can't do that without converting a contour to lines and then cutting and merging (and stuff, you know the drill) with another converted contour. And when you got all those effects, change the (ideally only one) wording and still have your effects. What also would be nice to steal from Inkscape. Gaussian Blur on any object (text, vector, image) and still retain its properties (text and nodes still changeable). All in all I propose, that Corel gets full SVG-compliant in its color and object features. http://coreldraw.com/forums/p/18780/80935.aspx#80935
Edward Thurston: For your first "Feature", you can do that in Draw. Text can be changed anytime. ..cdr attached
Hello Mario, Text + outline+ contour + dropshadow (.cdr attached)...as you already know. It would be a nice addition to be able to make the outline transparent ( I cheated, to make the quickie, just converting to a bitmap etc...no edit posibilities). The enhancement request(s) has been forwarded up the ladder. Like Yani said, there are several areas open to improvement but it has to be remembered the R&D dollar difference between Adobe and Corel (and the final price to the customer for the suites). Ted