The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group
CorelDRAW 2.0
Ash Nallawalla
 ash@melbpc.org.au

If you use Ventura, PageMaker, WordPerfect, MS Word, Lotus 1-2-3, Excel, Ami Professional, PowerPoint, etc then CorelDRAW (CD) is an ideal complementary product for producing graphics. It runs on ATs, 386s, 486s & PS/2s with only MS Windows 3.0. It drives PostScript, LaserJet PaintJet & MS Windows supported devices. 

Since its introduction in January 1989, CorelDRAW has won top awards from the major trade publications for its power, speed and ease of use. These awards include PC Magazine Editors Choice (1989 and 1990), InfoWorld's Best in its Class (1989), PC Computing's Most Valuable Product (1989), Publish's Readers Choice (1989 and 1990), Personal Publishing Drawing Product of the Year (1989), Publish's Five Star Award (1989 and 1990), PC World's Best Buy (1989), InfoWorld's Product of the Year (1989) Buyers Assurance Seal (1990) and PC Week's Corporate Satisfaction Poll (1989 and 1990). 

When I was confronted with the pleasant task of reviewing version 2.0 of this popular program I couldn't see how I could describe every feature without writing a book. We don't have a professional graphics person where I work, so I have used earlier versions of this program as part of my otherwise nonartistic duties and have found it easy to use. This version is just as easy to use, although your artistic abilities will determine what results you will get.

Ease of Learning

The novice user has considerable training material available without spending any extra money. An eight-lesson tutorial book is included in all cartons and Australian customers whose copies were imported by Webster and Associates get a free comprehensive computer-based tutorial (CBT) for version 1.21 called CorelDRAW By Example. This package contains a disk each of both 5.25 and 3.5 inch sizes and a 161-page work book by Paul Webster. (I have not seen the CBT package for version 2.0 but from its description it sounds like a major revamp worthy of separate review later on. If you need to expend some of your company's training budget and need to get out of the office, Websters offer in Sydney a one-day course for $220 per person.

Documentation

The documents in the CD carton are:

  • User's Manual
  • Symbol and Clipart Library catalogue
  • Learning CD
  • Reference Charts
  • Mosaic reference
  • WIN Boss reference
  • CorelTRACE Guide to Operation
  • Technical Reference


Some of the effects available in CorelDRAW 2.0

(Editor's Note: Regrettably the images reproduced in this article are only available in black and white 
at this time.)
Without a doubt, all the information you need is somewhere in those 500 or so pages worth of comprehensive manuals. I have been perhaps the only critic of CD manuals in the past and can only add little praise about this release. The manuals appear to have been written from the functional specifications and touched up as the software was being written (the result is that the main "Users Manual" is a mixture of procedural and reference material). This is common industry practice you can't start writing the manuals after the software has been finished you want to start selling the product! This is why there is a large after market for third party "How to" books. I will make an exception of the tutorial book. It is entirely task oriented, that is, full of "doing" topics, which is appropriate to the learning situation. I still rate the manuals 8 out of 10 in case some of my friends at Corel Canada are getting worried.

CorelDRAW at a Glance

CD is an object-based drawing program, as opposed to a bitmapped "paint" program. In simple terms that means that a drawing can be scaled and edited quite easily. From a deceptively small toolbox menu one can select many more underlying tools to create or modify shapes. Let me describe some features in detail.

Enveloping

Enveloping enables you to transform any object - text or graphics by fitting it into a different shape. Imagine that your graphic is on a piece of rubber that you can pull in any direction. Simply reshape the box that defines the outside of an object until you have the desired effect. You can create fish-eye lens effects, vertical arching and fit text inside a shape. 

Blending

Blending is a powerful new feature that lets you create a series of intermediate shapes and colours between two original shapes. This feature is useful for adding highlights to drawings, creating a multitude of similar objects, or transforming from one shape into another.

Extruding

Extruding can give an object the feeling of visual depth and three dimensions. All you have to do is define an extrusion point and CD does the rest. Text or graphics seem to leap off the page.

Lines, Arrowheads, and Calligraphic Pen

You have a large range of choices when it comes to lines: give a hand-drawn feel with a calligraphic pen, use the 20 supplied dotted and dashed line styles, or create your own. And to top it off, use one of 50+ arrowheads, or create your own.

Font Conversion Utility

If you need even more than the 150+ fonts, the WFN BOSS font conversion utility can convert fonts into CD format from typeface suppliers, such as Adobe, Bitstream, Casady & Greene, Compugraphic, Digifonts, The Font Company, Fontographer, HP Type Director. Image Club, Linotype, Publishers Type Foundry, and Treacyfaces. The WIN BOSS utility also enables you to export CD fonts.

CorelTRACE!

CorelTRACE is a powerful batch autotrace utility that converts batches of bitmapped TIFF or PCX files into smooth vector art. You can then use the tracing directly in a page layout program, like PageMaker or Ventura, or modify it in CD. In this release the ability to trace colour or greyscale bitmaps has been added.

Colour

You can choose from either the industry-standard PAN1bNE (R) colour matching system, or process colour mixing models (choice of CMYK, RGB or HIS). CD also gives you the option of having a custom colour palette right on-screen.

Mosaic

Mosaic is a visual file manager, which you can use as a stand-alone program or as a fully integrated part of CD. You get previews of files before you select them, intelligent search and select by keyword, batch import, export and print, append notes, and perform mail merge functions. Mosaic is ideal for large image libraries because it can compress images to conserve disk space.

Paragraph and Multi-column Text
CorelDRAW enables you to manipulate large amounts of text in paragraphs and multiple columns. For single page reports or ad layouts, you can type your text in directly, or import it from your word processor. And you can use all of CorelDRAW's 150+ fully scalable outline fonts (75 typeface families).

Fit Text to Any Path

With CorelDRAW, making curved text is fast and easy. All you have to do is create an irregular path like a curve or a circle, create your text, select both of them, and with the click of your mouse, your text fits to the path. This effect is commonly used to make logos.

Perspective 

With perspective, you can take any object on a two dimensional plane, and shift that plane in three-dimensional space. It gives objects a sense of depth by moving some of the edges farther from the eye than others. Perspective is different from the envelope feature in that the resultant shape is rendered in true mathematical perspective. Both CD and Arts & Letters Editor 3.1 claim to be "unique" in having this ability!

Pattern Fills

CorelDRAW enables you to fill with one of 80+ predefined vector and bitmap patterns, or you can create and use your own. These patterns preview exactly as they will print, and they print perfectly to any printer.

Canned Graphics

I will take CD's word that more than 3500 images are supplied with the package. I used to miss the symbol library provided in Arts & Letters Composer but now CD has provided such a set in addition to the 750+ more complex illustrations. All illustrations are now in CDR format so that they will reproduce at maximum resolution at any size. The only catch is that they are supplied in archives, so some effort is required to extract them. The installation process no longer copies them to your hard disk automatically. That is understandable because the library now contains nine megabytes of images divided into 14 distinct categories; people, sports, technology, transport, science, maps, industrial, food, flags, festive, environment, business, architecture and animals.

Other Features

I will list below a summary of the other CD features.

  • Optional visible grid and ruler guides
  • Ruler guide and grid snap
  • Text objects now snap to baseline (used to be highlighting box)
  • Overprint "trap" feature for PostScript colour separations
  • Comprehensive status bar
  • Programmable second mouse button
  • 2 character font preview
  • Kern letters interactively on-screen
  • Edit character outlines
  • Modify text envelope
  • Manipulate text in paragraphs and columns
  • Access symbol libraries visually
  • Move, scale, rotate, mirror, skew and duplicate objects-freehand or precisely e.g. Rotate/Skew now allows 1/10th of a degree increments
  • Create shapes: rectangles, squares, ellipses, circles, arcs, pie segments, etc
  • Edit nodes precisely: break, join, align, etc
  • Bezier/freehand drawing method choice
  • See 256 pure colors on 256 color devices
  • Mask objects or text
  • Print and preview colour bitmaps
  • 35 line styles
  • Free Pantone license
  • 31 import/export filters
  • Comprehensive user manual
  • 1.5 hour video (PAL colour)
  • Font chart, type ruler, colour chart (no key ringl)
  • Free newsletter
  • Traces colour or b/w PCX and TIFF files
  • Produces EPS file that is usable in CorelDRAW or page layout programs
  • Traces batches of files automatically
  • See files with Mosaic before you open them
  • Run a slideshow by just clicking files
  • Search and select files by keyword
  • Maintain compressed clipart libraries
  • Export objects as symbol sets or fonts (make your own typefaces)
  • Toggle switch for sending files to Mac-based PostScript typesetting service bureaus
  • Faster printing, more comprehensive PostScript features
  • Grey-scale and colour bitmaps now print on all printers. Dotted/dashed lines now print on all printers (used to be just PostScript)
  • Improved print quality of grey shades on HP LaserJet and other non-PostScript black & white printers using Corel-generated halftone screens
  • Improved print quality of text at small point sizes for HP LaserJet and other non-PostScript printers
  • Macros no longer supported. Blend function and Windows-supplied macro recorder provide comparable functionality.
  • Timed autobackup feature added (user-definable time)
Conclusion

I have no hesitation in recommending CorelDRAW 2.0 to illustrators and desktop publishers. The product continues to impress major commercial magazines, as evidenced by a proud list of awards on the carton. My employers have standardised on this package in several departments.

Contact

The street price of CD is around $800. You should check to see if your dealer supplies a free copy of CorelDRAW By Example. Upgrades cost $195 plus $10 freight plus disk #1 and registration number. Additional clip art from Art-Right costs $149 per pack, and volume discounts apply for more than one set. Free telephone support is available to registered customers.


An example of the Blend and Perspective features


The new user interface - see colour bar at bottom.


A preview of the chosen font appears at the lower right


Bitmap fill pattern editor


Symbol selection screen


Fountain fill options.

Reprinted from the June 1991 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia