Tested version - v19.1.0.419
Price - 15-day trial, $469.00 for full version (or $198.00 for a yearly subscription)
Systems - Windows 7/8.1/10
Official website - https://www.coreldraw.com/en/product/graphic-design-software/
Raster or Vector - Vector
Ease Of Use - A bit daunting at first honestly, but once some of the docked windows (main menu Window -> Dockers) get switched on and hovering over the icons for their text descriptions, picking-up the basics is straight forward.
In the Help menu are various options for help, video tutorials, etc (that are opened through a internal window). Online there are official tutorials, forums, and more.
All software is subjective to hardware installed, so with that in mind here is my current workhorse PC (A updated HP Z200 Workstation) specs I used for testing with all updated drivers...
CPU - Intel Core i5 CPU 660 @ 3.33GHz (2 Cores, 4 Threads)
Memory - 12 GB DDR3 total
Graphics - EVGA NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti SC (Superclocked GM107) 1 GB (DDR5 memory)
Space - 2.5 TB hard drive disk space
System - Windows 8.1 Pro
Program Speed - Responsive and fluid in most tasks. Even at tabloid sized work at 600 dpi the brush and fill bucket are lag free - even filling the page in one go. Yes, it is vector, but other vector programs do not even come close to the speed/lag at larger sizes.
Noticeable Lag - Interestingly I would not call it lag, but intelligent programming. If the PC is running slow/resources some options such as zoom, tend to do it on their own time (perhaps waiting for the zoom level to be reached before redrawing).
To set the page bleed settings access it from the main menu Layout -> Page setup. In the Options window select the tabs Document -> Page size, which shows bleed near the bottom (in the 2nd image above).
There are additional settings such as Page borders, Printable area, etc that can be setup too (3rd image). From the main menu Layout -> Page setup. In the Options window select the tabs Document -> Guidelines -> Presets. The presets can be manually adjusted on the page itself, or enter your own using the User defined presets options.
* Multiple settings can be set manually too, see the Options window Document -> Guidelines -> Guides to see the ones set currently - as well to add, move, and delete all the guides that you want.
See a tutorial for setting up printing options, from a printer company nonetheless.
File Formats - More formats than I thought possible, truly a massive list of supported formats (and a pain to type out). 😀
- Open - AI /EPS/ PDF (Adobe Illustrator), CLK (Corel R.A.V.E.), CDR /CDT (CorelDRAW), CGM (Computer Graphics Metafile), CGZ /CGMZ (Compressed CGM), CMX (Corel Presentation Exchange), CPX (Corel CMX compressed), CSL (Corel Symbol library), DES (Corel DESIGNER), DSF /DRW /DST /MGX (Corel/Micrografx Designer), DWG /DXF (AutoCAD), EMF (Enhanced Metafiles), FH8 /FH7 (Macromedia Freehand), FMV (Frame Vector Metafile), GEM (GEM), HTM /HTML (HTML), MET (MET Metafile), NAP (NAP Metafile), PAT (Pattern file), PDF (Portable Document Format), PIC (Lotus Pic), PCT /PICT (Macintosh PICT), PLT /HGL (HPGL Plotter), PPT (Microsoft PowerPoint), PS /EPS /PRN (PostScript), PUB (MS Publisher), SHW (Corel Presentations), SVG (Scalable vector graphic), SVGZ (Compressed SVG), VSD (Visio), WMF (Windows Metafile), WPG (Corel WordPerfect Graphic)
- Import - AI /EPS /PDF (Adobe Illustrator), BMP /DIB /RLE (Windows Bitmap), CAL (CALS), CLK (Corel R.A.V.E.), CDR (CorelDRAW), CGM (Computer Graphics Metafile), CGZ /CGMZ (Compressed CGM), CMX (Corel Presentation Exchange), CPT (Corel PHOTO-PAINT), CPX (Corel CMX compressed), CSL (Corel Symbol library), CUR (Cursor), DES (Corel DESIGNER), DOC DOCX (MS Word), DSF /DRW /DST /MGX (Corel/Micrografx Designer), DWG /DXF (AutoCAD), EMF (Enhanced Metafiles), EXE /DLL (Bitmap Resource), FH8 /FH7 (Macromedia Freehand), FMV (Frame Vector Metafile), GEM (GEM), GIF, HTM /HTML (HTML), ICO /EXE /DLL (Icon), IMG (GEM Paint), JP2 /J2K (JPEG 2000), JPG /JTF /JFF /JPEG (JPEG), MAC (MACPaint), MET (MET Metafile), NAP (NAP Metafile), PCX (PaintBrush), PDF (Portable Document Format), PIC (Lotus Pic), PCT /PICT (Macintosh PICT), PLT /HGL (HPGL Plotter), PNG, PP4 (Picture Publisher 4), PPT (Microsoft PowerPoint), PS /EPS /PRN (PostScript), PSD /PDD (Photoshop Document), PUB (MS Publisher), ORF /NEF /MRW /THM /CRW /CR2 /RAF /DNG /DCR /KDC /PEF /RAW /MOS /SRF /SR2 /ARW /SRW /NRW /RW2 (Camera RAW), RIFF (Corel Painter), RTF (Rich Text Format), SCT (Scitex CT), SHW (Corel Presentations), SVG (Scalable vector graphic), SVGZ (Compressed SVG), TGA /VDA/ ICB /VST (Targa), TIF /TIFF /TP1 (TIFF), TXT, VSD (Visio), WQ1 /WB1 /WB2 /WB3 (Corel Quattro Pro), WKS /WK1 /WK3 /WK4 (LOTUS 1-2-3), WMF (Windows Metafile), WP /WP4 /WP5 /WP6 /DOC (Corel WordPerfect), WPG (Corel WordPerfect Graphic), WSD (WordStar), XCF (GIMP), XPM (XPixMap, XLS (MS Excel)
- Save - AI (Adobe Illustrator), CLK (Corel R.A.V.E.), CDR /CDT (CorelDRAW), CGM (Computer Graphpics Metafile), CGZ /CGMZ (Compressed CGM), CMX (Corel Presentation Exchange), CSL (Corel Symbol library), DES (Corel DESIGNER), DWG /DXF (AutoCAD), EMF (Enhanced Metafiles), FMV (Frame Vector Metafile), GEM (GEM), PAT (Pattern file), PDF (Portable Document Format), PCT /PICT (Macintosh PICT), PLT /HGL (HPGL Plotter), SVG (Scalable vector graphic), SVGZ (Compressed SVG), WMF (Windows Metafile), WPG (Corel WordPerfect Graphic)
- Export - AI (Adobe Illustrator), PFB (Adobe Type 1 font), BMP /DIB /RLE (Windows Bitmap), CAL (CALS), CGM (Computer Graphics Metafile), CMX (Corel Presentation Exchange), CPT (Corel PHOTO-PAINT), CUR (Cursor), DOC (MS Word), DWG /DXF (AutoCAD), EMF (Enhanced Metafiles), EPS /DCS (Encapsulated PostScript), FMV (Frame Vector Metafile), GEM (GEM), GIF, ICO (Icon), IMG (GEM Paint), JP2 /J2K (JPEG 2000), JPG /JTF /JFF /JPEG (JPEG), MAC (MACPaint), PCX (PaintBrush), PDF (Portable Document Format), PCT /PICT (Macintosh PICT), PLT /HGL (HPGL Plotter), PNG, PSD /PDD (Photoshop Document), RTF (Rich Text Format), SCT (Scitex CT), SVG (Scalable vector graphic), SVGZ (Compressed SVG), SWF (Adobe Flash), TGA /VDA/ ICB /VST (Targa), TIF /TIFF /TP1 (TIFF), TTF (Tue Type Font), TXT, WMF (Windows Metafile), WP /WP4 /WP5 /WP6 /DOC (Corel WordPerfect), WPG (Corel WordPerfect Graphic), WSD (WordStar), XPM (XPixMap)
Plug-in Support - Yes, plug-ins and extensions, via the main menu Bitmaps -> Plug-ins -> Get more. Also from the website here, any of the Corel X8 extras or newer work with CorelDRAW 2017.
It is truly a unique experience (among Corel products) the amount of things that can be done, and can be individually reset to defaults too if needed. Access it by menu Tools -> Options, in the Options window select the tabs Workspace -> Customization -> Commands is where you can customize to your hearts content. Don't like something simply drag it off the screen and into the Options window to remove it. To change or rename something click the item, and in the Options window choose the tab Appearance (top-right). Likely the best way to setup frequent tools, besides memorizing all the shortcut keys.
The options are primarily Visibility, Printable, Editable (Lock layer), and Name. Selecting a layer and right-clicking it offers the same options, as does selecting Properties from the right-click menu. The only other thing to mention is clicking the plus sign (before the eye icon for Visibility) will show all the various objects in the layer (see below image).
In simplest form the palette on the right can only load saved palette colors, and right-clicking a color changes your current color. The palette along the bottom shows the colors in the current image.
If you enable the Color docker, you will be greeted with the window shown in the second image above. The main options are a color window (aka color bar), or the sliders with numerical input including hex value.
The Freehand tool (1st image) options include Size (outline width), Line settings (End /Middle /Start), and Freehand smoothing amount (works with graphics tablet or mouse).
Artistic media tool (2nd image) starts off with type (Preset /Brush /Sprayer /Calligraphic /Expressive) which will alter the other settings. With the default Preset selected a drop-down list of Preset strokes are available, Freehand smoothing amount (works with graphics tablet or mouse), Size (stroke width), Scale stroke with object, and Show/Hide bounding box.
In the 3rd image is the Object properties docker (Window -> Dockers -> Object properties). The window shows the basic tool options too, but tends to be same options - if they can even apply/affect a tool.
Common Necessities - Other tools that are primarily tools, and is surprising lacking in some software making it necessary to include them briefly.
Paint Fill - The Smart fill tool works great at applying quick color to outlines. Options are Fill type (how the color is chosen), Fill color, Outline type (how the color is chosen), Outline width (if expanding the fill with a stroke), and Outline color.
Eraser - Very limited. Eraser tool (X) is rather hidden too (extended tool on the third tool icon), and only works on a single object at a time. As such if you have a fill color, outline, and any other objects you will have to erase them all individually.
Image Zoom - Onscreen button, and shortcut controls. It includes zoom in/out on the mouse scroll wheel when you hold CTRL. Zoom range 1% to 240758%.
View Rotate - None - however unless you are using raster effects, vector art can be rotated by layer/image selection endlessly without degrading the quality. This is done by selecting the artwork with the Pick tool and dragging out a selection on everything. Once selected click a object, and the selection allows everything to be rotated - click the corner rotate arrow to rotate.
Selection Tools - The Pick tool and variation called Freehand pick (a cross between a Lasso selection and Pick tool).
The 2nd image shows the Font list, with the Filter button clicked and it's many various options. At the top of the list are the recently used fonts, and at the bottom my name Thomas is text typed and selected in the CorelDRAW image - which acts as a font previewer.
Finally as seen in the 3rd image, a program that properly shows all the font character glyphs! Opening the docker window Insert Character shows them with the proper font preview, so the glyphs are properly shown and can be entered without worrying about keyboard tricks, or remembering where each are in various fonts.
In the image above you can see that a font with more internal options are available/enabled (on the right). Also on the right I pressed a few of the option arrows to show more of the options.
* Unlike many programs CorelDRAW has no issue properly showing all the fonts in families and much more, I have not found a font (TrueType or OpenType) that is not properly listed in it's entirety.
Pros -
- No monthly/yearly subscription costs if purchased, but a subscription is also available.
- New version upgrades are 60% off ($469 new, or $189 upgrade)
- A working fill bucket tool - some vector programs offer useless/limited ones.
- A huge ridiculous list of supported file formats, covering nearly anything.
- Extensions (plug-ins) and many others online.
- The great text/font options is feature packed and great to work with.
- Good brush tools, but like all vector programs they are nothing like raster program brushes.
- Signing-up for a Corel user account, and being connected online is required to activate CorelDRAW (and afterwards to use some of the elements).
- Limited docked windows options, nothing is combinable regardless of used docker height.
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