I have been teased by some colleagues who claim that Corel is for “old” designers hahaha. I really like you insight of this thanks.
I agree with you! lag of speed was always one of my inconveniences working on large files.
Well, they’re just showing their immaturity. Software has nothing to do with age, style or what others might feel is cool to use. The best software is whichever one(s) it takes to get the job done.
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I learned vector graphics with CorelDRAW!, and thought it was great. When they began distributing on CD-ROM, their releases included VOLUMES of fonts and clipart, some of which were pretty valuable to me back at that stage of development. Eventually (and somewhat reluctantly), I moved to Illustrator as an all-Adobe workflow became inevitable, but continued using CD long after that for all kinds of thing when Adobe integration was a non-factor. It’s been a long time now, but I’d love to dabble in it if I had time to dabble in anything.
My classmates use to give me grief about using CorelDRAW back in college. The only reason why I stopped using it was because it wasn’t available for Mac.
Corel Draw may be OK for Vector Illustration and (at a push) Logo design, but if you use it for anything with fonts on you are going to have problems. Many people can only afford one package and think Corel Draw can be used as a page layout program.
The first thing it does on startup is load all installed fonts into its own memory. When you have a lot of fonts installed (and I have) this is a real handicap.
If it’s not PostScript it’s not going to produce decent PDFs.
It seems to nerf fonts badly - if you zoom in on a curve it’s usually dozens of points instead Bezier curves. This will cause problems on some RIPs and seems to be down to a redefining of the font metrics to get around PostScript.
you’re right, Corel for me it has been that several times.
I leave you a video with the new features that Corel 2018 brings, maybe it encourage you to use it hahaha who knows?
same happened to me, but I used it recently.
I see for the points you mentioned and those that others mentioned for more good tool that is CorelDraw still needs to improve a lot to cover efficiently the needs of us designers.
I actually debated stepping into this conversation. last post seems to be back in Sep 2018. But here’s my two cents worth. I have been a Corel Draw user ever since Corel 1.0, hell I was even a beta test on Corel Draw 7.0 ( that and a toonie will get me a coffee at timmies LOL) Anyway think of when and why Corel was created. Back in the late 80’s you had your choice of Apple or apple or apple if you were doing any form of work that could resemble what is known now as desktop publishing. So you had two main industries that needed access to this typ of tec. Traditional printers and publishing houses and the sign industry. the printers and publishers had already embraced the concept of technology improving their work flow with stat cameras and film work for producing photo plates etc… But on the sign industry side they were still firmly entrenched in the traditional manual brush and paint skills. For most moving to a keyboard was alien and cost prohibitive. In swoops the “personal computer” 286, 288’s then the 386’s and so on Sitll in the beginning Adobe held fast to being Mac only, and for those who could not afford the investment were left out in the cold. Now the Corel Corp of Canada… developed Corel Draw for the IBM and other class of PC computers. Looking at it, it was a blend of CAD tools and basic drawing tools. Sign shops gravitated to this application because of it’s low investment needs. 1500 for the computer and about 200 for the software. Now as time has gone on Corel has added a tonne of features and for my money can run rings around Illustrator. But that’s me. I’ll work in Corel draw for example on a design for a 45’ Scarab Off Shore boat Hull and Deck. In Corel I’ll be working full size, I’ll create my shapes and layout my lines and then export direct from corel to adobe photoshop for the filters and other effects. Why? well simple I just like how a Raster program like Photoshop handles and manipulates things. But then I’m back in Corel for the layout and vector work. There are very distinct advantages of one over the other as in Corel over Illustrator and vise versa all based on what you are working on.
I guess what I am really trying to put across in my Corel slanted view is choose the tool based on the job. After all as a carpenter you would not only use a hammer but might actually need to know how to use a saw or a screw driver. All software has a place in our world of Graphics and Creative Design and we should embrace it. As to the comments about Corel not running on a Mac well true in the native OS no, but run Parallels or dual boot into a Microsoft partition on your Imac and it’ll work just fine. Please keep the flaming to a min
I’ve never had great luck with Parallels. It’s always given me problems of one sort or another. I’ve finally mostly abandoned it in favor of an old Windows laptop I can use for when I really need Windows for something.
Booting into a Windows partition, of course, makes Corel Draw run natively on a Mac, but it’s a bit of a hassle switching back and forth between operating systems and having to reboot the machine in the process. It’s a rare situation where I’m only using one application at a time, so those back-and-forth reboots are a deal-killer for me.
Partitioning the drive is also problematic given that it’s something not easily done unless one starts from scratch with an empty drive. And given the relatively small size and popularity of solid-state drives, sacrificing a good chunk of it to a Windows partition comes with a price. It also requires buying a copy of Windows.
It’s also a tough sell given that other increasingly capable Mac drawing programs exist in addition to Illustrator.
Add all this up, and it amounts to a significant practical hurdle for Mac users considering CorelDraw as an alternative to Illustrator. Like I’ve said, CorelDraw, given my limited exposure to it, is a very capable application, and if a Mac user prefers it, it’s certainly an option, but still inconvenient. Then again, someone experienced with and preferring CorelDraw is likely using a PC and not a Mac anyway.
Personally, I wish that Corel had committed itself more consistently to both Macs and Windows earlier on and competed head-to-head with Adobe. At this point, though, it might be too late in the game, but I’d still like to see it happen.
I used many vector based programs e.g. illustrator, CorelDraw, Freehand etc. May be few years ago CorelDraw could not compete other Vector drawing and editing software like illustrator, but now CorelDraw is became a versatile & powerful Vector editing application specially its Drawing & layout making tools are very easy & powerful. Almost all problems were being faced in previous version have been fixed. Its other language support specially Right to left typing & setting options is very powerful.
Given that Aakhan resurrected an old thread on CorelDraw, it’s probably a good time to note that since the thread was previously active, Corel has made an attempt at remedying one of its major shortcomings — last spring they released a Macintosh version.
I haven’t used it, however, so I can’t comment on how good it might be. Unfortunately, with the nearly $500 price tag, it would need to be ground-breakingly amazing to get people to switch from Illustrator — especially considering that another very capable suite of contenders is available from Affinity for a fraction of that price.
I’ve never used Coral Draw before, but I’ve seen some great work people have created using the program.
Tempted to get a trial and give it a whirl. Thing is a lot of clients will still be expecting Adobe files, so can’t see a permanent switch happening anytime soon.
Still stuck in the Adobe chokehold!
Corel Draw does odd things on output. There used to be quite a thread on the old forum where people would ask about all sorts of problems dealing with print. Broacher was a pro at answering all that (wonder what happened to him?)
I have one specialty print vendor that refuses to accept any form of .cdr file. They will only take a .tif or other raster format from that program, it gives their workflow so much trouble. No, I don’t go find another vendor, one, because I don’t use CD, and two, these guys are only one of two places in the entire US that do what they do, so they can set whatever parameters they want. If they had their way, they’d never deal with InDesign either, but do make that concession.
i used corel draw in 1997 and still have nightmares today.
hopefully they improved and is free.
I think some of us of a certain age will remember learning on Corel Draw, as it used to be THE vector illustration program. I do remember the program being very picky with movement. Adjusting the curves was a nightmare. Perhaps I’ll download the newest trial and have a throwback Thursday. 
Yes, here I am still using CorelDraw & it’s awesome I design everything with this software like logos, banner, catalog, newsletter even I made college prospectus & magazines & many more.
Every software has a different way of working, I use CorelDraw more than Adobe package. And yes, I don’t understand why people glorify Adobe packages over Coreldraw.
I believe in quality work over software used.
For a loooooong time Corel was PC only. No Mac version.
And for a Looooooong time, it did not play well with rip software. (It still doesn’t to some extent.)
It’s still fairly prevalent in the small-shop signage industry mostly because it comes bundled with garage-shop printer/cutter bundles. But once a shop gets up and running they often find that the Adobewares are a necessity to interact with their growing client base. It is what it is.