The Letterville BullBoard: Corel Tip

This is topic Corel Tip - Outlines to curves in forum Old Archives at The Letterville BullBoard.

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Posted by Joe Rees (Member # 211) on :

I learned something new today. I was working at a friend's computer today who also has CorelDRAW nine, but set up a bit different than mine. I could not find the contour tool anywhere to add a cuttable outline to this particular line of copy. But in my looking around for it, I came across a command I had never noticed before. Under 'effects' right below 'convert to curves' was this strange thing called 'convert outlines to curves'. Hmmm. I have been using the keyboard shortcuts or toolbar icons for all those effects commands for so long I rarely ever open the dropdowns anymore. How many versions have had this?? So I tried it.

Un-friggin-believable! It takes any weight outline and very speedily and accurately traces it as a separate, fillable shape. Too cool. And much faster than using the contour utility.

In this test I assigned a fat outline to the word with a 'behind fill', clicked on the 'convert outlines to curves' button and almost instantly got a dead accurate tracing that I could then assign the gold fountain fill to. This blows away the contour utility because it lets you see what the results will be before converting instead of assigning some arbitrary offset number - and it's waaaay faster too.

Hope this helps somebody.

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Joe Rees
Cape Craft Signs
(Cape Cod, MA)
http://www.capecraft.com
http://www.dave-joe-show.com
e-mail: joerees@capecraft.com

Posted by Donna in BC (Member # 130) on :

Thanks for the tip Joe! I've got to get my 9 loaded at home so I can play more.

Quick question: does this feature load the graphic with hundreds of nodes?

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Graphic Impact
located in BC Canada
gisigns@sprint.ca

Posted by Joe Rees (Member # 211) on :

What the heck are you doing up at this hour???

The answer is NO. I should have said, that was the other thing that really impressed me about this utility. It seems to be very economical and precise in its use of nodes. Way better than the usual 'contour' results. Play with it and see. And get some sleep will ya!

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Joe Rees
Cape Craft Signs
(Cape Cod, MA)
http://www.capecraft.com
http://www.dave-joe-show.com
e-mail: joerees@capecraft.com

Posted by Doug Downey (Member # 829) on :

Joe

The contour tool is on the side tool bar
with the blend, contour, drop shadow tools.
This will give you more control.

Doug Downey
corel certified user www.freshink.net

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Freshink Creative Design Group
376 Romeo, Street
Stratford, ON N5A 4T9

Posted by Tony McDonald (Member # 1158) on :

Is that option available somewhere in Draw 8 or is it just in the new version.

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When good things happen...that must be a sign!!
Tony McDonald
DBA-Ace Graphics & Printing
P.O. Box 91
Camdenton, MO. USA
(573) 346-6696
<daddyo@advertisnet.com>

Posted by Joe Rees (Member # 211) on :

Hi Doug. I know where the contour tool is on every other Corel I've seen, but for some reason it was missing on this particular setup. I poked around in 'tools/options' for a while to see if I could activate it, but was having a brain freeze. After getting back to my own machine I can see that contour is bundled in my toolbar with the 'interactive envelope' set. This gives me a clue of where to activate it on the other machine, which I'll be getting back to later today.

I only discovered this feature yesterday so I havn't had much time to try it in real situations - but - I may want to take issue with your claim that contour gives more control. For the way I usually work, first indications are that converting the outline to curves is going to give faster, cleaner, more WYSIWYG result than the old 'assign some arbitrary contour value out of my head and see what happens' routine.

So far, I'm diggin' this a lot more.

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Joe Rees
Cape Craft Signs
(Cape Cod, MA)
http://www.capecraft.com
http://www.dave-joe-show.com
e-mail: joerees@capecraft.com

Posted by Dave Grundy (Member # 103) on :

Joe...Since Elaine posted the same feature a couple of weeks ago I have been using it a lot. Like you say, much cleaner outlines!

Tony...I have Corel 8 on my second puter and no it can't be done in 8. There is no dropdown menu item for it and hitting ctrl/shift/Q doesn't work either.

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Dave Grundy shop#340
AKA "applicator" on mIRC
"stickin' sticky stuff to valuable vessels and vehicles!"
in Granton, Ontario, Canada
1-519-225-2634
dave.grundy@quadro.net
www.quadro.net/~shirley
"A PROUD $ supporter of the website"

[This message has been edited by Dave Grundy (edited July 06, 2000).]

Posted by Tony McDonald (Member # 1158) on :

Thanks Dave,
Didn't think "convert outlines to curves" was in Draw 8 anywhere but wasn't sure. I feel comfortable enough with the outline tool and then separating it to give the outline a certain fill. I've got the hang of Draw 8 pretty well and hate to upgrade to 9 or anything else unless there is a big difference.

------------------
When good things happen...that must be a sign!!
Tony McDonald
DBA-Ace Graphics & Printing
P.O. Box 91
Camdenton, MO. USA
(573) 346-6696
<daddyo@advertisnet.com>

Posted by Dave Grundy (Member # 103) on :

Tony...Get Corel 9!!... basically the same feel...a few minor relocations of tools..BUT a LOT more features...the interactive node reduction is GREAT!. contour(if you still want to use it after finding out about "convert outline to curves") results in far fewer nodes. The Artistic Media Tool is great. The fact that it "remembers" the angle of rotation on an object, even after saving, is a plus. There are so many improvements, little ones but so convenient!!...

Go for it!!

Posted by Doug Downey (Member # 829) on :

I will be doing the designing with Corel course in Boise if any are interested. Also in the fall we will be offering courses here in the Stratford area. I will post on this board when they will happen.

Doug Downey www.freshink.net

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Freshink Creative Design Group
376 Romeo, Street
Stratford, ON N5A 4T9

Posted by Mike Pipes (Member # 1573) on :

Man.. Illustrator has had that for years.. =)

I guess Corel decided to snitch the idea, good move though. I use Corel 8 now, but I think I'll wait until 10 comes out to upgrade. ANything Corel cant do (which isnt much) Illustrator does do..

Just wish Corel had the same "Gradient Mesh" command that Illustrator does.. great for putting highlights on fakie 3-D art

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Mike Pipes
Digital Illusion Custom Graphics
Lake Havasu City, AZ
http://www.stickerpimp.com

Posted by Don Coplen (Member # 127) on :

Mike...ya beat me to the draw...i was just thinking, is this a NEW feature for corel users? i use illustrator and don't remember when that WASN'T a feature.

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Don Coplen aka "SaintPete"
Coplen Designs
St.Petersburg, FL dcoplen@mindspring.com

Posted by Donna in BC (Member # 130) on :

Well then, hurray for corel for waking up and giving us this feature! Any chance that signlab also does this?

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Graphic Impact
located in BC Canada
gisigns@sprint.ca

Posted by Elliot Fishbein (Member # 137) on :

Yes Donna, Signlab has this feature,only it's better than Corel.

Assign an outline to an object greater than hairline width. Now use the weld command. Bingo, you have added a cuttable outline.

You can also do this with a line or curve. Again, assign an thick outline width and then weld the line, you will now have a fillable object

Signlab's outline/inline feature is so good that it is never necessary to use the first option, but welding a thick outline on a curve is a good trick to remember.

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Elliot in Maine

Posted by Bob Darnell (Member # 27) on :

Mike, CorelDraw does have the gradient mesh tool. Both v8 and v9 have it I believe... although I've never found much use for it. I've always found it easier achieving those effects with other tools.

As for CorelDraw scooping it from Illustrator... maybe, but if you look at the new Illustrator 9, you'll see quite a few "new" features than have been in CorelDraw's arsenal for years as well. It seems to always be like this between software companies...

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Bob Darnell
London, Ontario, Canada
_______________________
bob.darnell@home.com
Online Portfolio available at: www.members.home.net/bob.darnell

Posted by Mike Pipes (Member # 1573) on :

Bob,

Corel has gradient fills (fountain fill), but nowhere is a gradient MESH to be seen.. at least not in Corel 8.

I use both Corel and Illustrator extensively. Neither one has all the features I need and like, so I use both and am happy that Corel can open Illustrator files without mishap.

When a company adds features to its software, it's because their customers demanded the features. Usually because another program had it first. =)

I havent had the chance to check out Illustrator 9 yet.

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Mike Pipes
Digital Illusion Custom Graphics
Lake Havasu City, AZ
http://www.stickerpimp.com

Posted by Bob Darnell (Member # 27) on :

Mike,

I just checked. You're right v8 doesn't have it, but v9 does.

I have made up my mind to learn Illustrator over the next year. I haven't found much to like about it yet just toying around with it, but hopefully I will be pleasantly surprised. I just find that the interface is clunky and not real productive. Maybe I just need to spend some serious time with it to get used to it.

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Bob Darnell
London, Ontario, Canada
_______________________
bob.darnell@home.com
Online Portfolio available at: www.members.home.net/bob.darnell

Posted by Sarah Clark (Member # 413) on :

This option is new in the latest Corel. Incidently both Freehand and Illustrator have had this feature for quite some time.

There is a script for earlier versions of Corel that will do this however.

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S. Clark
Clark Signs (retired)
Compton, Arkansas
sasc@alltel.net
http://www.fortunecity.com/business/notebook/1172/
http://members.xoom.com/sclark/
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Gallery/6412/

[This message has been edited by Sarah (edited July 09, 2000).]

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