Corel Draw 9

CorelDRAW was first developed by Corel in 1989 and has since been the flagship product of Corel for many years. It is primarily a vector-based graphics application. A vector graphic uses a computer algorithm to determine its shapes and lines. The graphics are scalable to any size without losing their image quality. Common clipart is an example of a vector graphic.

My previously owned copy of the CorelDRAW suite was version 7. CorelDRAW 9 offers many applications in its suite, including the main applications CorelDRAW and PHOTO-PAINT. These main programs are supported with other applications such as Corel TRACE, Corel CAPTURE, Corel SCRIPT, over 25,000 pieces of clipart, 1800 fonts, and 2,500 royalty-free photos.

The central application of the suite, CorelDRAW 9, is what will be the focus of this review. The published Corel Feature Guide for CorelDRAW 9 says that the application is designed to "create professional artwork, from simple logos to intricate technical illustrations." They are correct – CorelDRAW 9 is primarily designed with professionals in mind, and it does a good job doing what it is made to do.

One of the new features that has been integrated into the program is the publish to PDF output feature. CorelDRAW does an excellent job of converting documents into the Adobe PDF format. Fonts are embedded, graphics are crisp, and hyperlinks are converted live, allowing someone to click a link in the PDF document and be transferred to the corresponding page.

Convert outline to object is another productivity tool Corel introduces with version 9. Simply by selecting an object in CorelDRAW, one can make a separate copy of that object’s outline. Corel TRACE works hand in hand with CorelDRAW. It will trace the outline of a raster-based image (more about raster images later) and will create a new vector object based on that outline.

I was disappointed in version 9 in selection of clipart it provided. Corel is renowned for its popular clipart. Version 9, however, has a significantly different selection than version 7 had. The amount has been reduced by 7,000 images. In addition, many of the images in version 9 are less realistic looking. They look hand drawn by a nine-year old with fat crayons. I also noticed the significantly longer amount of time it takes CorelDRAW 9 to load compared with CorelDRAW7. Maybe it’s due to so many "new" features loading. If this is the case, then I would encourage Corel to create an application setup wizard similar to that of MS Office 2000’s setup procedure, where one can specify what features are to be installed upon first use.

There are other features that Corel adds to version 9 of CorelDRAW. Some are tools to increase productivity and some are tweaks made to the program interface. The purpose of this review, however, is to evaluate whether or not CorelDRAW 9 is worth the upgrade. The professional artist who uses CorelDRAW 9 to create technical drawings may find that it increases their productivity. I, however, do not find the changes in version 9 warranting the upgrade from version 7. For the casual user, version 7 is more than adequate. It loads quickly (unlike version 9), and its selection of clipart is much better in version 7. For those that enjoy manipulating clipart and designing logos, CorelDRAW 7 is more than adequate. Is CorelDRAW 9 a win, lose, or a draw for the consumer? It has gained a few features, lost some usability, and is not an impressive improvement over version 7 – CorelDRAW is a draw.
System requirements: Windows 9x or NT 4.x, 32 MB of RAM (64 MB recommended), Pentium 133mhz, 2x CD-ROM drive, mouse or tablet, SVGA monitor, 100 MB minimum of hard drive space.

PhotoShop ‘Til You Drop

Adobe PhotoShop 4.0 was reviewed in the May, 1998 issue of PC News, and received the following comments: "PhotoShop…cannot be rivaled in the power it gives to Web artists, professional photo editors, or home users wishing to touch up a scanned photo." The question again at hand is whether or not Adobe’s new version of PhotoShop, 5.5, rivals its own previous version 4.0 with new additions, features, and ease of use.

Versions 5.5 renovates the way Adobe approaches Web site graphics. One of the most notable additions is the save for Web listing in the File menu. Clicking on this selection gives the user a wealth of options regarding methods to save images for display on Web sites. One can adjust the images file format (GIF, JPEG, or PNG), dither options, color levels, compression settings, and more. Previews of images can be seen on the fly, as well as information about the download times each graphic would be subjected to. The LiveWindow screen allows the user to view the original graphic in one window with three different optimized version in separate windows. Adobe has also bundled their program ImageReady with PhotoShop 5.5 which lets users create advanced graphic techniques, such as Java roll-overs and image slicing.

I am a big fan of the "undo" command. I am lost without it, and become very frustrated with programs that do not have adequate undo capabilities. Photo Shop 4 was only capable of single-level undo, meaning that it could only fix "one mistake". Versions 5 and 5.5 are much more forgiving with their multi-level undo support. Using Photo Shop's new History palette, one can fix mistakes from every step in the editing process. Also new with versions 5 and 5.5 is Photo Shop's support for editable text layers.

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