CorelDRAW

[Rooted]

My daughter wants to get into graphic design and we are considering buying CorelDRAW Suite. Does anyone have experience with this software and have any opinion about it, either good or bad?

I've never used Illustrator, only Macromedia Freehand, so I don't have a good reference for comparison. It seems much better than FH.

 

[briman1970]

How old is she? Does she want to end up going to college for GD? Is she considering doing it professionally?

 

[Rooted]

She is 17 and will probably get into it professionally someday. I'm sure she'll take some classes over the next couple years, even if she doesn't go out and get a degree in design.

 

[briman1970]

Adobe Illustrator is the best choice. CorelDraw is not widely respected in the field even though I use it for most of my design work. Just look in the newspaper want-ads and see how many graphic design jobs require Illustrator and Photoshop experience versus any other software.

Brian

 

[Zombie]

i agree with briman. Im a graphic designer myself (for print) and ive never came across anybody in the industry who uses CoralDRAW professionally. Its all Illustrator, photoshop and QuarkXpress, even Freehand. If she's going to go to college those are the programmes she will be using there, so it will be best if she has them at home too. I say this from a design for print prospective, if thats what shes interested in.

If you're going to buy all them it will end up being very pricey. having said that, I noticed somewhere on the internet that people with a registered copy of freehand can download CoralDraw for only $99. So if money is an issue, that might be an option.

I will try and find the link for you

 

[Tech2]

I agree with Zombie most of the way-but not with QuarkXpress. I own Both QuarkXpress 6 and Adobe indesign, if you are into layout design for magazines, other print items then Indesign CS or CS 2 is the way to go. Pretty much adobe is dominant in the professional digital world. What does QuarkXpress have to do with vector based design anyway? You may mean the html function Quark put in place-it's useless for such a program-which is why Adobe is quickly becoming #1 in the print world.
If you can afford it, I would recommend getting her Adobe CS or Adobe CS 2 the whole package (Premium is best) if she is a student then you could get it for her at a really nice price (Creative Suite Premium 2 MSRP: $1199.00 Our Price: $378.95 at http://www.campustech.com/c/campust/store.html?mv_arg=Adobe&mv_pc=google1 )

I paid $1,200 for mine and it's worth the price tag.

I would also recommend Adobe CS Bible for the programs she is interested in-they really help with the beginner and even pro.

 

[Zombie]

I agree about InDesign and the CS suite, especially at that price

But i still reckon quark is used more so within the industry than InDesign at the moment. That may very well change in the next few years.

What do you mean vectors in quark?

 

[jamx551]

Hi Tim,

While I use Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator in my design work, Im also a big fan of CorelDRAW :D ..perhaps its because CD was the first vector-base graphic tool I learned way back in 1996.

Though I agree with the guys that Adobe and marcomedia products lead the design industry esp. in printing, but I do find CorelDRAW very easy to use.. In fact I do my initial work esp for logos, icons and cartoon chartacters in CorelDRAW and then enhance them using Photoshop... Moreso its vector files are very much compatible with Illustrator, Photoshop and other graphic softwares :D ...I would not trade it with any other tool..

So I encourage you to use and learn it.. Its even more affordable than other leading design tools...

Good Luck!

 

[applegirl]

I M The Corel Big Fan

And I Think Corel Is Easier For Learners.

 

[Rooted]

If you're going to buy all them it will end up being very pricey. having said that, I noticed somewhere on the internet that people with a registered copy of freehand can download CoralDraw for only $99. So if money is an issue, that might be an option.

I will try and find the link for you

That offer was the main reason we were considering this software. I didn't want her wasting a hundred bucks if she was going to have to turn around, right away, and purchase Illustrator too. Since that offer is about to expire, she decided she better go ahead and get it. I figure that if she has it and has access to my copy of Freehand, it shouldn't be too difficult to take what she learned with those and transfer it to Illustrator when she buys it, in a year or two.

I appreciate everyone offering such helpful input. Ya'll rock!

 

[dotwave]

Adobe illustrator / Photoshop is the best choice. Go here: www.lynda.com and get her a account. It's about $25 a month of unlimited video tutorials. She can learn everything from there.

 

[briman1970]

I learned CorelDraw when Version 2 was just out. I'm up to Version 12 and have been using it for years. About a year ago I tried to learn Illustrator and Freehand. I have discovered that I now have A LOT of difficulty learning these programs since I am so familiar with CorelDraw. I'd much rather create everything in Corel and then export it to Illustrator or Freehand files rather than try to accomplish the same tasks on those programs. I wish that I had learned Illustrator long ago because I couldn't find anyone who would hire me based on my CorelDraw experience, even though I could do anything with the program.

It will be good for her to get a feel for vector graphics programs by learning Corel, but I'd invest in an academic version of Illustrator and Photoshop while she's still in school and before she develops a preference for CorelDraw. Academic versions usually run about a third of what these programs cost full price.

Just IMHO,
Brian

 

[Tech2]

I agree with briman1970-if you use the link supplied you could get her the $1,200 adobe cs 2 premium for la little more than the price of Illustrator by itself.
The adobe cs suite would be great for her, if she plans to do graphic design.

 

[Rooted]

Ya'll were a big help, thanx much!