I <3 Corel Draw 12!!!

[UNCjigga]

Let me just say I've been using CorelDraw since version 3, and I will never switch to Illustrator or Freehand!! Its kinda funny how it all started. My dad was with DEC (Digital Equipment Corp., aka Alpha AXP aka bought out by Compaq) and we were living in Canada. Those crazy socialists had some idea of promoting Canadian software in the tech industry, so these Corel reps would come out to my dad's office and meet with the sales/marketing team and show them how to use CorelDraw to make their presentations better, do professional layouts etc. etc. My dad was a manager, and since they were practically giving away the software for free and providing free training materials, he took it home. That's when I got hooked!!! I would just fool around with it mostly, didn't do anything constructive.

I upgraded from 3 to 4, and then from 4 to 5, and then for awhile I sort of lost interest in the whole drawing thing and Corel kept getting more and more expensive and bloated as they added more stuff to it (PhotoPaint to rival Photoshop, and some stupid 3D program which they later dumped.) It wasn't until I actually started doing graphics work for clubs in school before I upgraded to version 9 (education discount...woohoo!) Then I got version 10, and just this fall I upgraded to 11 (sister's education discount...woohoo!) I saw a torrent for 12 go up last month (it wasn't in stores until this week) and downloaded it to try it out. It rocks!!!

My favorite thing about the new version is the auto-snap/layout features. It is so easy to arrange things its like butter. I can align things correctly the first time on sight, and the software automatically measures distances, draws guidelines when needed, and shows angles so I can match things up. You really gotta see it in action.

What I don't understand is why everyone uses Illustrator and FreeHand when Corel is soooo much better IMO. Imagine a world where everyone used FrontPage and thought Dreamweaver was too 'weird'. I think Corel really missed the mark in their marketing earlier and they're gonna keep paying for their mistakes. Oh well, old habits die hard I guess.

 

[EeyoreX]

What I don't understand is why everyone uses Illustrator and FreeHand when Corel is soooo much better IMO.

I think the answer is exceedingly simple:

Illustrator
Freehand MX
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 12

Now, if you don't feel like clicking the links, the thing I am trying to illustrate (no pun intended) is that nearly everyone that is a "Pro" or "serious" graphics "worker" knows that Apple is (or was) the premeire platform for graphics editineg and design. Adobe has always (AFAIK) been an Apple-able company. Macromedia I am not sure when they started doing Apple software, maybe from version 1, I don't know. As far as I could find from Corel's support site, CorelDRAW didn't support Apple until version 10. And, as far as I could find, there is no mention of the current version supporting Apple. Where are the OS X system requirements? That's 10 entire software revesions that were ignored on the premeire graphics platform (unless DRAW was supported earlier and I just couldn't find it. I didn't look too hard). While Adobe on the other hand had focused primarily on Apple, gaining respect in the graphics world. My dad has used DRAW from the earliest versions, and stands by it today. But then he is neither an Apple guy nor a graphics pro.

In short, I could be way off, but IMO at least, I think it is because of Corel having ignored Apple for too long, and now that Adobe is so entrenched in the minds of graphics types, Corel has too much work to catch up. I am not debating the better product, I find Adobe and Corel and Macromedia too difficult and cumbersome for the simple tasks I perform.

\Dan