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Lots of people believe Corel draw is just for desk top publishing. But it also does so much more. Corel draw is a full vector based drawing product.
I really like corel draw 9. Even though i own 6, 9, 10 and 11. I also use Cocut Pro, a plug in that works with corel draw, adobe illustrator, and other software.
I have not found a single item that i cannot do in corel related to laying out a sign, and cutting a mask or cutting vinyl.
-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5278 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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Corel Draw can do much more than most signmaking programs at a fraction of the cost AND without a security key. Other than perhaps some plug-in for Corel to cut with (if needed), I would never waste my money on a signmaking program.
Steve, to answer your question, it would depend on what you want to do with the program. Are you designing just basic layouts? Digital printing?
I'm using Corel 8. I have 11, but for some reason keep using 8. It works great for everything I need it for. If you ever plan on upgrading, I would get 11 right from the start.
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If you are running a newer system go for 11. There are reasons they are putting out upgrades and that is to work with new operating systems.I am working with 11 on XP and it is very stable.
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Another disagree with Pat I use Corel Draw 9 I highly recommend it and you could pick up a copy for next to nothing but if you have too you can buy version 11. I also have signlab 5 and it is good but not anywhere as good as corel I just use it to cut from all my design work is done in Draw. Now I will tell you this I have been using CorelDraw and all the programs that come with it since 1995 for about 8 hours a day and I beleive I could not of produced anywhere as good or as much work as I have with CorelDraw. Buy Corel take the time to do the tutorial find someone to show you how to work in it and you will not be sad. If you have any more questions about CorelDraw e-mail me and I might be able to help you out.
-------------------- Steve Eisenreich Dezine Signs PO BOX 6052 Stn Forces Cold Lake, Alberta T9M 2C5 Posts: 774 | From: Cold Lake | Registered: Mar 2000
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My sign program sucks. It came with my plotter and I only use it to drive the plotter.
I have Corel 8 and 10. I almost always use 8 because 10 is a lot different and I haven't had time to mess with it. I just export as .ai files and import into the "SIGN" software.
You can find older versions on Ebay pretty cheap. But if you are just starting I would go with the latest and greatest. Like Doug said, they come out with new versions for a reason.
I had to get a new system due to a lightning strike and I now have XP. Corel 8 runs on it fine but my print dialog box is all screwed up!!
Good luck.
-------------------- Amy Brown Life Skills 101 Private Address Posts: 3502 | From: Lake Helen, FL, USA | Registered: Feb 2001
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Amy, have you installed all the upgrades for XP? When I first got XP, any time I tried to go to my print properties, my computer would crash. After upgrading a couple times, everything works great.
The best version is the one that would work best on your system. If you are running Corel 11 on Windows XP,cool. I don't reccomend it on Win 98, 95, or 2000.
I know I'm stating the obvious to a lot of smart folks here, but some people new to computer sign making would do well to look at that closer. Updated software comes out all the time, but if you are running an older version of Windows, less processor speed or just don't have enough memory, the latest and greatest from any software company is liable not to work right. Ocaasionally, there are exceptions to the rule, but don't plan for it. Fortunately, older versions of Corel work well with Windows XP, so lower cost can be a consideration. And, as always, software designed for your specific needs is really what you should look for. No sense in getting a program with a ton of bells and whistles yopu'll never use. I run Corel 8 on a WinXP system and it flies along nicely.
Rapid
-------------------- Ray Rheaume Rapidfire Design 543 Brushwood Road North Haverhill, NH 03774 rapidfiredesign@hotmail.com 603-787-6803
I like my paint shaken, not stirred. Posts: 5648 | From: North Haverhill, New Hampshire | Registered: Apr 2003
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well....everybody who paid dearly for gerber, got told there is nothing as good or that will do the job.....oh well....live and learn. i have been working with computer since 93 and i started with corel 3!!!!! when i did get a plotter it came with LETTERART 6.0. now this was really crap compared to corel, but corel 3 would only cut to my roland up to 30 inchs long. same with corel 4.0. i bought 5....only to find out that corel had leased its plotter engine(code)to a company called CO-CUT/EURO-CUT. i sold it then next day!!!!! 6 was also with out the plotter engine. corel 7.467 is the last of the true corel programs, the most stable. it was the 1st to have 150 feet x 150 feet work area.. corel 8 and above are all corel 7....with additions from another company called XARA!!!!! i still use 7 and cut straight to plotter. if you are computer savvy enough you can get almost any vector program to cut to the plotter. ILLISTRATOR, FREEHAND, AUTOCAD, ARTS & LETTERS. also if you really look at most SIGN programs....they are all sorta "corelish"......
[ August 28, 2003, 02:07 PM: Message edited by: old paint ]
-------------------- joe pribish-A SIGN MINT 2811 longleaf Dr. pensacola, fl 32526 850-637-1519 BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND Posts: 11582 | From: pensacola, fl. usa | Registered: Nov 1998
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I was a Gerber Baby then went to Flexi (hesistant). I now LOVE FLEXI! The same time I was taking the Flexi Learning Curve, I was also learning Corel 8. I later picked up 9 and then the company I worked for picked up Corel 10. Out of all, I dislike Corel 10 the most, love Corel 9 the most and 8 is also just fine. There is soooooo much more that Corel has to offer non-sign people and it kind of confuses some of us to think that we only know a little about Corel (vector, copy, paste, cut) but, we're just sign people, not a huge design firm or advertising agency making the big bucks but, that's a different topic. Corel is good and helps sell a job (when people find out you have and know Corel, they silently say to themselves, "cool" "he knows what the same format as the local newspaper asks for, the embroidery place asks for and the business card place as well".
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OK, This is interesting....I have two licences for Omega 2.0. I also own Corel 9, and Adobe 9 as well as Flexi Plus 5.8. I only use Corel to open Corel files so I can use them somewhere else. We use Adobe & Omega almost exclusively, and seem to do well. Corel vs Adobe is like PC vs Mac...I guess it's what you were trained on and what you're used to. However, I will agree that sign software is way overpriced compared to Corel & Adobe. I just can't grasp the idea that I wasted that much money.
""Good judgment comes from experience; and a lot of that comes from bad judgment" - Will Rogers Posts: 3507 | From: Beautiful Newaygo, Michigan | Registered: Mar 2003
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at my shop CorelDRAW 6 is still regularly used for it's *.DXF import into some of our old sign software. any version is a good buy, but if you have newer computer go with a more current version. i have had 6, 7, 9, and now 11. sure, with each version upgrade there are changes that take time to adjust to, but usually it's a better or easier way. you can always save as older versions. the import/export is as robust as any graphics program out there. it includes a vector program (Draw), a raster program (Paint), lots of clip art and fonts, OCR scan trace, a basic vector 3D program, and on and on and on...
it works real good with most "sign" programs no matter what format you choose to work with. a good "tool" for your "toolbox".
-------------------- Scott Pagan Admark Graphic Systems Admark Motorsports Graphics 9700 Metromont Ind Blvd Charlotte, NC 28269 www.admarkgraphics.com Posts: 325 | From: Charlotte, NC | Registered: Nov 2001
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As far as sign making programs, I like the Scanvec/Amiable stuff the best.
I've used Corel 9 the most, it is simply a smooth design program. You can download updates for it to run on Win2K & XP.
10 & 11 cost a bit more, are XP ready & come with some stuff you may not need.
9 has everything you do: Draw, Photopaint, Trace, and Bitstream Font Manager; and nothing you don't!
A while back, they came out with CorelDraw Essentials which was basically 9 repackaged for XP machines, but w/o Trace & Bitstream included. It was only $99 retail!
I bought that and hacked Trace & Bitsteam from my work machine to my home machine (I'm a baaad baaad boy ).
9 has a few major improvements from 8 in going from dockers to interactive sliders. I HATE pallets & dockers, thats why I hate Adobe Illustrator & I always will. It really sucks that I HAVE to use it where I work (oh well, always good to know another prog.). I would venture to say that 10 isn't that much different from 9,... but I'm not sure & I have no idea about 11.
I'm going to get 11 for my new machine one of these days though (actually, theres probably 12 coming out soon!).... but I'm a BIG Corel fan.
Anybody here tried Xara? It's another Illustration program Corel makes. I've seen some really cool stuff done with it.
-------------------- Glenn S. Harris
....back in the sign trade full time. Posts: 293 | From: Baton Rouge, LA, USA | Registered: Jul 2001
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I completely agree with Garbage in,Garbage out To quote Glenn Taylor:"Design is Everything" Until they come out with a program that THINKS for itself,it is ALL manipulation of 28 letters. This Ain't Star Trek,where you can say....Computer make me a sign! Come back to Reality everyone. If you are charging your customers for JUST pushing buttons while depending on the newest program gizmo. Sounds kinda DISHONEST to me
-------------------- PKing is Pat King The Professor of SIGNOLOGY Posts: 3113 | From: Pompano Beach, FL. USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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The only software that my Roland PC-60 has ever seen is Corel Draw 9. We have even designed buses and have cut the 16'+ graphics for it thru Corel.
[ August 30, 2003, 12:33 AM: Message edited by: Laura Butler ]
-------------------- Laura Butler Vision Graphics & Sign 4479 Welch Rd Attica, Mi 48412 Posts: 2855 | From: Attica, Mi, USA | Registered: Nov 2000
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ive had the XARA programs 1, 2, 2.5 and now XARA X. they are good little destop publishing programs,good for all the blends and shading and fast but no corel! the things that were original to XARA corel picked up the english company, sold them a story on what corel would do for their company. in the end all corel did was to get controll of their program, take all the neat stuff and fast speed of XARA codes, embed it into corel 7 and then sold it as corel 8, 9, and then dropped XARA like a hot potato.
-------------------- joe pribish-A SIGN MINT 2811 longleaf Dr. pensacola, fl 32526 850-637-1519 BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND Posts: 11582 | From: pensacola, fl. usa | Registered: Nov 1998
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Ditto to the "garbage in garbage out" remark. Design IS eveything. People will pay for a well designed sign. Sometimes I find that when I lost a job, I was just out-designed. But, other times my lead times were too long. Other times it was just old fashioned price checkers.
Regardless, you have to use whatever software you can learn and afford.
""Good judgment comes from experience; and a lot of that comes from bad judgment" - Will Rogers Posts: 3507 | From: Beautiful Newaygo, Michigan | Registered: Mar 2003
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I Started with Corel 4 just because it was for sale for $50 and within a year bought the upgrade to 8 and now have 9. cut to a roland. bought sign tools 3 because i could get the roland to cut from 9 on my newer computer with XP but it didn't work.
Corel can be so helpful with the trace section and the photo section.
-------------------- Miles Cullinane, Cork, Ireland.
From the sometimes sunny south of Ireland, Posts: 914 | From: Cork, Ireland | Registered: Jul 1999
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When it comes to software, I think it depends on what you are used to and what you expect.
I love Corel Draw. I've been using it since version 1.1 (anyone remember Corel's Waldo?)
I also have Illustrator 10, Freehand 10, Omega 2.0 and SignLab 6.1. I've also had LetterArt and a few others.
None of them have everything. Corel 9 and later have really screwed up some of the text manipulation abilities. Try stretching some text and then fit it to a circle and you'll see what I mean.
Outlining (contour) still isn't as good as it should be.
I agree with Pat that Corel is more of an illustration program than a signmaking program. There are just some things that signmaking software does better just as Corel does some things better than signmaking software.
If there were just some way to merge Corel, Omega & SignLab together into a single program, then you'd have something. But, until that happens, you should really look at each program's strengths and weaknesses and compare them to what you do.
*On edit:
Refering to the price of software, I've always maintained that it doesn't matter what it cost. But rather, how much money you make with it.
[ August 31, 2003, 09:53 AM: Message edited by: Glenn Taylor ]
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