CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 11 Upgrade

• Platform:    Windows, Macintosh, Mac OS X
• Media: CD-ROM
• Item Quantity: 1

The CorelDraw Graphics Suite combines three heavyweight graphics tools that can be used individually or worked together. Now in version 11, the CorelDraw Suite shows Corel still has plenty of ideas on how to improve the effectiveness and ease-of-use of these major applications.

For example, in CorelDraw there are now new "three-point" tools for drawing rectangles, ellipses and curves. With each, you click to fix the first point, stretch out to define an axis or baseline and click again to complete the object. The new Polyline tool enables you to create lines and objects segment by segment, where each segment can be straight or curved. The Pen tool offers a quick way to create Bezier curves.

CorelDraw 11 introduces symbols to its repertoire, too, so you can save and reuse drawing elements in a clip-board-style library. Using symbols saves considerable file space, particularly important when drawing Web graphics.

Corel PhotoPaint 11 is to bitmap editing what CorelDraw is to vector drawing. In many ways a competitor to Adobe Photoshop, the new version of PhotoPaint includes more improvements for Web artists. You can now slice images into a number of small parts to aid quick downloads and create rollovers for buttons and image maps, so they appear differently when pointed to or clicked. The program also supports JPEG 2000 files, so you can save your images in this new high-compression format.

The Cut-out masking tool helps extract foreground images from picture files and create objects from them that you can incorporate with other pictures. While not as comprehensive as Corel's own stand-alone KnockOut product, it's a useful tool in its own right. Red-eye removal from portrait photos can be a bugbear, but the new red-eye removal tool replaces red pixels with their greyscale equivalents.

Various other effects within PhotoPaint 11 add to its usefulness--things like enhanced lens flare, improved bevels and reworked image stitching for panoramic photos.

The third part of the suite is Corel RAVE, a Macromedia Flash animation creator. This module now uses a very similar interface to CorelDraw and incorporates most of the same tools. It also offers tools and effects specific to its animation role, such as tweening of text on a path and of the program's predefined library objects, Perfect Shapes.

Export of graphics to Macromedia Flash has been improved and includes the ability to export text as text rather than curves, which saves considerable file space. --Simon Williams

Manufacturer's Description
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 11 gives you a comprehensive graphics platform for all of your creative needs. Based on extensive customer feedback and research, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 11 has been specifically designed to make your work more enjoyable. Graphic design can be a complex task and CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 11 aims to change that by giving you powerful tools to streamline the process of creating, editing, and reusing graphics. Already an industry leader in interactive tools that let you see results as you apply them, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 11 features a wide array of new features and enhancements that are designed to increase ease of use while also extending the creative possibilities available to you. CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 11 dares to do the unexpected - give designers a suite of powerful, industry-leading tools that are also intuitive and easy to use.CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 11 includes three applications: CorelDRAW 11, Corel PHOTO-PAINT 11, and Corel R.A.V.E. 2.CorelDRAW 11: CorelDRAW 11 is a graphic design and page layout application that provides powerful creativity features, a wide range of object creation tools, innovative effects, comprehensive text-handling capabilities, such as the new ability to convert paragraph text to curves, and high-quality output features. New features include symbols, Smudge and Roughen brushes, 3-point drawing tools, Polyline and Pen tools, as well as enhanced Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) support, allowing CorelDRAW 11 to set the standard for efficient, intuitive graphic design. For the designer who values a smooth workflow, CorelDRAW 11 is an invaluable tool for creating graphics, logos, layouts, and more for print and for the Web.Corel PHOTO-PAINT 11: Corel PHOTO-PAINT 11 provides complete image editing, letting you retouch and manipulate photographs quickly and easily. Featuring a new Cutout tool, new image slicing, new rollovers, enhanced image stitching, as well as enhanced effects for lighting, bevels, and lens flares, Corel PHOTO-PAINT 11 gives you high-end tools that are fast and powerful, yet remain easy to use.Corel R.A.V.E. 2: Corel R.A.V.E. 2 is a powerful program for creating Web graphics and Macromedia Flash animations. Featuring new symbols, support for sprites, enhanced behavior support, as well as the new ability to animate 3D vector extrusions, text on a path, and Perfect Shapes, Corel R.A.V.E. 2 is an ideal solution for animating graphics for Macromedia Flash movies and the Web.CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 11 also includes a number of supporting utilities. ScanSoft OmniPage SE (OPSE) allows text in scanned images to be recognized and made editable. Bitstream Font Navigator (4 for PC) allows you to manage fonts easily. Corel edition of Font Reserve for Mac OS X allows you to manage fonts easily. Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications 6.3 (Windows only) allows developers to build custom solutions using CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 11. CorelTRACE 11 allows you to trace bitmaps to convert them to vector images. Corel CAPTURE 11 (Windows only) allows you to capture on-screen computer images and record on-screen actions as animation files. Adobe Acrobat Reader 5 allows you to view PDF files. QuickTime 5.0 player allows you to view QuickTime movies and produce QT files from Corel PHOTO-PAINT and Corel R.A.V.E. 2. In addition to the new features and enhancements, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 11 continues to include user favorites such as interactive tools, extensive customization capabilities, support for more than 100 import and export filters, as well as color management tools that are both easy to use and powerful. CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 11 also features expanded documentation. In direct response to customer requests, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 11 includes illustrated and detailed user guides for the suite's applications, as well as a new lay-flat digital content manual that compiles the clipart, photographs, floating objects, and fonts found in the suite.

• Software > Digital Imaging > Art & Illustration