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CorelDRAW 8
Product: CorelDRAW 8.0
From: Corel
Price: about $700 (educational version available for US$118).
(Version 9 for Linux is freely downloadable from www.corel.com)
Pros: improved interface. Good PostScript importer. Some new tools, including a "Squizz" plugin that also works in Adobe Photoshop.
Cons: Intellihance and KPT special edition are no longer included. Version 7 included 50 Photo/edges; version 8 reduces this number to 10.
Corel has continued to pursue an aggressive development program for most of the 1990s, cranking out updates to its flagship graphics program almost yearly. These have not all been successful products, though. It is commonly said that Corel's odd numbered releases have been the stable ones. The even-numbered releases so far have been trouble. Well, here we are at version 8.0? Should you upgrade, or be happy with version 7.0? In this article (still in progress), we'll try to answer that question.
So, what's new? Well, not much of the manual. In fact, Nearly all of the manual for the CorelDRAW 8 graphics library is a straight reprint of the CorelDRAW 7 manual-- the only exception is the photo gallery section. It is the only new art provided in CorelDRAW 8.
We were shocked -- and pleasantly surprised -- to discover that CorelDraw 8 could successfully import a PostScript file created with PowerPoint 97 that Adobe's own Photoshop 4.0 could not. While this doesn't say much for Microsoft's printer drivers, it does suggest that CorelDraw could be a lifesaver in a production environment.
Corel integrates Adobe PDF Technology
A licensing agreement with Adobe Systems Inc. allowed Corel to integrate Adobe's Acrobat Placed PDF Library into Corel's graphics and desktop publishing products.an update to the program, adding PDF functionality to CorelDRAW 8, Corel VENTURA 8 and the company's upcoming release of CorelDRAW 8 for Power Macintosh.. Announced in June 1998, the free enhancement is now available to current users of CorelDRAW 8 for download from Corel's FTP site at http://www.corel.com/support/ftpsite/pub/coreldraw/draw8suite/index.htm.
With the update, users of CorelDRAW 8 and Corel VENTURA 8 will be able to place pages from any Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) file into their native Corel documents with a high-resolution preview. When printed to a PostScript device, the company says the placed PDF page will look exactly as it originated. Additionally, users can place multiple PDF and EPS pages within a document and use Corel's powerful built-in layout and imposition tools to design n-up and other professional signatures, preview them on-screen, and print them to an imagesetter or any other device.
Both Corel VENTURA 8 and CorelDRAW 8 for Power Macintosh, also include this feature. (Note, however, that CorelDRAW 8 for the Mac does not come with CorelDream 3D, Corel Texture and Corel Capture.)
"We recognize PDF as the emerging publishing industry standard,* said Dr. Michael Cowpland, president and chief executive officer of Corel Corporation. *PDF eliminates some of the inconsistencies of PostScript and lays the foundation for a production workflow that offers consistent, predictable results. We believe that standards are an important part of the software industry and we are pleased to be able to add strong PDF support to our award-winning professional graphics and desktop publishing products."
Corel says it plans to develop full-scale PDF publishing for the next generation of its graphics and desktop publishing products.
We welcome your questions on CorelDRAW and other PC graphics-related topics.
For Further Reading:
- Corel Draw_3.0
- Corel DRAW 4.0
- CorelDraw 5.0
- CorelDRAW 6 - What's New
- CorelDraw 6 for Macintosh
- CorelDraw 7 - review
- Draw Pardner! - comparison
- Corel_Counterpoint - commentary
- Freehand_v._Corel - comparison
- Mac Central's Review of CorelDRAW 8.0 for Power Macintosh
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