posted
Hello, Several folks on Letterhead Chat recommended I pick up Corel Draw 8 (cheap) as my first sign-making computer program.
A search on ebay revealed several copies of Corel Draw 8 containing 2 CDs, for under $20. But another person is selling a version of Corel Draw 8 with THREE CDs, which he says is the "real" version, not the "academic" version which only contains 2 CDs.This one is fifty bucks.
In addition to everything in the 2-CD version, the 3-CD version also offers 4 printed manuals,tech support and 8 other Corel Draw applications, including Font Navigator 3.0.
posted
Hi, Peter. If it were me, I would go for the 3cd version. For the $30 plus or minus difference you get everything you need to get you going, 'specially the manuals. I have Corel 4,5,and 8 on my setup, and trust me, without manuals, 8 can be a bear to learn. 4 and 5 weren't too bad. There is a book called CorelDRAW 8 Bible by Deborah Miller put out by IDG Books that is about 2 inches thick that is as good as a manual. Found that at Waldenbooks a couple of years ago. Might be hard to find now. I don't use Corel much these days, having gone to Signlab5. This is not to knock Corel, it is just that my plotter wont cut from Corel directly. One other thought occured to me after posting. You would be buying a second-hand copy. If it was registered with Corel by the original purchaser, you might have a hard time getting tech support. If registration can be transferred, or the copy re-registered, then you should be OK on tech support. Good luck, whatever you decide.
------------------ Bill Preston Fly Creek, N.Y. USA wpreston2@stny.rr.com
[This message has been edited by Bill Preston (edited August 16, 2001).]
Posts: 943 | From: Fly Creek, N.Y. USA | Registered: Jan 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
Peter...As Bill pointed out the extra $30 is worth it just to get the manuals. The actual user manual is OK but the online help in the program is just as good. The Clipart/Fonts manual is what is REALLY worth the extra money. Go for the complete setup!
------------------ Dave Grundy 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
Go with 9! If you'll be scanning and tracing customer-suppied artwork (read: be in the sign business), good tracing is a must. A CD with 100,000 clipart images you'll never use is of far lesser value ... IMHO.
Corel 8 and earlier have terrible tracing. 9 and 10 are great.
We demonstrate how the tracing in 9 works at http://www.summadirect.com/tips/tip7.html . Plus, I've seen 9 being sold at Tiger Direct for around 30 bucks. At that price, and if you have any doubts, you could easily buy both 8 and 9.
Regards,
------------------ Jim Doggett Vice President Summa, Inc.
Seattle, WA USA jim@summusa.com
Posts: 500 | From: Sherman, TX USA | Registered: Mar 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
Jim..I agree that ver 9 trace is better. But I have to add that the "contour" feature in Version 9 sux badly. Thinking about it, I probably use the contour feature 5 times as much as I do the trace program.
------------------ Dave Grundy 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
posted
Don't be confused. Academic software for Corel 8 has 3 CD's. No manuals are included. This is the norm. The software package is, however, a full version.
posted
Santo, I try not to be confused but that seems to go hand-in-hand with working with computers. Bill, the software is new, in a sealed box, so I would be able to register it and get updates. I know what Jim means by "tracing" but I don't know what Dave mean by "contour"...
posted
Hi, Peter, "Contour" is a form of outlining a letter or object.This is tough to describe the difference between contour and outline, but I'll try. Outline is just that, you could lift out the letter and what you have left is the outline. Tough to register to the letter you are outlining. Contour is more of a thickening of a letter or object, and you don't get the letter or object as part of the cut. If you cut registration marks on both the letter/object and the contour cut, they are way easier to align, and you wont get any gaps showing. As we speak, er write, I am trying to contour cut some letters for a fire truck, and some of the letters are not showing the "inside" cut. I'll get it eventually. Hope this helps answer your question.
------------------ Bill Preston Fly Creek, N.Y. USA wpreston2@stny.rr.com
Posts: 943 | From: Fly Creek, N.Y. USA | Registered: Jan 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
Peter, if you are going to cut directly from Corel, the contour feature is used for outlines, Corel's outline feature will not work with a plotter and Dave is right I use the contour feature on almost every job, I might have to trace something on every thirtieth job or so.
------------------ George Perkins Millington,TN. goatwell@ionictech.com
"I started out with nothing and still have most of it left"
posted
Peter//here is a picture of the contour feature being used.
1: type in the letter 2: Contour the letter 3: break the contour apart from the letter 4 Now you have a letter that is cuttable and a contour that is cuttable, just lay the letter over the contour and you have a letter that is outlined in a different color.
Contour and Weld are probably the most used features in Corel for Signmakers.
------------------ Dave Grundy 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
Also, since I use CoCut Pro, pen outlines are converted to cuttable vectors for me, automatically. I only need to separate the outlines (contours) when I wish to apply additional effects, such as gradient or bitmap fills, extrusion effects, etc. (which are mostly for digital printing ... so cuttable is no longer an issue).
Welding in 9 is great. Moreover, in 10 I've gone back to using the contour tool since it finally contours groups of objects. So far 10 seems to have corrected the contour problem that cropped up in 9. Prior to 10, I contoured my grouped objects (and bitmaps) in CoCut Pro, then drag and dropped the contour back into CorelDRAW.
In short, I find that the poor contouring in 9 is overcome in seconds (actually I'm faster with the ouline tool). But, bad tracing takes minutes (many) to correct when I'm using earlier versions of Corel Trace. Besides, it's gotten so affordable, having 8 and 9 is within anyone's reach ... just my opinion.
Best Regards,
Jim
------------------ Jim Doggett Vice President Summa, Inc.
Seattle, WA USA jim@summusa.com
Posts: 500 | From: Sherman, TX USA | Registered: Mar 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
$50 for Corel 8 is just like stealing. You're getting the best graphics program in the world for that price...plus ....a whole slew of fonts....plus a library of clipart. Jump on it!!
------------------ Louis A. Lazarus Milt's Sign Service, Inc. 20 So. Linden Ave. #5B 650-588-0490 fontking1a@aol.com
Posts: 560 | From: El Granada, CA | Registered: Apr 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
not to sound like an idiot here, but you folks do know you can buy the manuals, which are on the CD's themselves as PDFs, straight from Corel?
Forget the manuals. They are worthless IMHO. Using the HELP menu and Tutors will get you rolling faster. Corel is far and away the most user friendly and powerful vector graphics program, period.
The only book you really need or want is the clipart catalog, which goes for $35 from Corel (corel.com).
But, you really dont have to have it - you can use Extensis Portfolio to catalog the CD, as well as Kudo Catalog. Portfolio is a WONDERFUL program that reads and thumbnails a slew of formats. The only trouble with it and the Corel clipart cd, is TIME and space. You'll need a fast PC, a couple of hundred MB's of space and a few test runs to make a complete Portfolio file of the Corel CD. The book is the best option.
Be forewarned though - unless you're a sign printer versus a sign cutter - 90-95% of the clipart in that book is useless to you.
------------------ Robb Lowe Hub City Graphics Spartanburg, SC
Printer-friendly view of this topic