CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5 is the crown jewel in the Corel lineup of graphic design software and is used by a wide variety of people, from hobbyists to industry-leading schools and agencies.

Corel has had a presence in the design industry and at one time likely held the top spot in the area of vector illustration software. Even in the design job market, it is still common to see CorelDRAW graphic design software experience as a requirement. Corel has successfully listened to the masses and made great strides to provide industry standard solutions for all three major areas involved in the professional design world.

The suite includesCorelDRAW® X5 (Vector Illustration and Page Layout), Corel® PHOTO-PAINT™ X5 (Photo Editing), Corel® PowerTRACE™ X5 (Bitmap-to-Vector Tracing Tool), Corel CAPTURE™ X5 (One-Click Screen-Capture Tool), Corel® CONNECT (Built-In Content Organizer), SWiSH miniMax™ 2* (Web Graphics Animation Tool) and PhotoZoom Pro 2*: PHOTO-PAINT (Plug-In to Enlarge Digital Images).

Standout Features

• Vector illustration, raster effects and layout all in the same suite of programs
• Drop shadow tool
• Dynamic gradients

Photo Editing Features: 

Included in the CorelDRAW Graphics Suite is the PHOTO-PAINT X5. This raster-based program offers a fully capable and more than adequate solution for editing photos. Industry standard tools such as layers and color management, as well as a full menu of filters and effects ensure quality editing and retouching. There are also a number of other notable tools such as 3D tools and heavy support for movies as well.

The entire Corel suite shares a clean, user-friendly interface with dozens of options right at your fingertips to assist in timely work-flow, a few of which include the ability to adjust the layout and size of your canvas right from the toolbar. PHOTO-PAINT also offers support for most all image formats including RAW camera support. Be sure to visit our Online Image Editing review site for a comprehensive look at image editing software that stands on its own.

The Default Color Management Settings dialog box allows you to achieve accurate color representation through setting application color policies.  You can adjust color settings that apply to the current image you're working on or a series of images.  Color matching is more accurate than ever before.  Graphic design expertise is no longer required to get your colors matched up.  The eye dropper tool works when you still have the Uniform Fill dialog box open as well. All of your color proof settings are within a single docker, which gives you the option to save presents and efficiently prepare artwork for various output devices. 

Find the perfect complement for your design with the Corel CONNECT content browser.  Search your computer or the suite's digital content to find what your project needs.  The Objects docker has been approved to increase efficiency and make commonly used features more accessible.  The Color Palette Manager docker includes new, more accurate colors.  It's also easier to hide or show both custom and default color palettes, organize and create.  PHOTO-PAINT's digital content library has been expanded to bring you more fonts, customizable templates, artistic media presents and nibs, bitmap and full-color fills and clipart.

Users can choose whether to create round, scalloped or chamfered corners using the Rectangle tool.  They can also add Photo Filter, Grayscale and Vibrance to the list of effects in their design arsenal.  Converting images to grayscale is made simpler because the program gives you tight control over the range of colors used in the conversion.  Colors can be chosen by inputting their hexidecimal value. 

Vector Illustration Features: 

Vector illustration is an absolute necessity in the design world and any designer who tries to skate by without the use of vector illustration often has a less-than-stellar portfolio. The namesake of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5, CorelDRAW, is a vector-based drawing program that kills two birds with one stone by offering vector illustration and page layout capabilities.

Like PHOTO-PAINT, Corel Draw offers a very clean and usable interface. All the standard tools are available for the creation of sleek, smooth and colorful graphics including logos, cartoons and interface designs. CorelDRAW also offers raster-based effects without having to open a separate raster-based program.

There are some features that stood out with CorelDRAW, the first of which, simple as it may be, is the drop shadow tool that lets you attach a shadow to any side of an object and then the shadow can be skewed in whatever direction you like giving the effect of a cast shadow. Other tools keep up with new trends such as dynamic gradients that can be fully edited directly on the object and bushes that produce solid vector shapes rather than strokes. Font identification and specialized fonts also enhance the user experience with a myriad of options.

Page Layout Features: 

Page layout has been and likely always will be an essential process for graphic design software. Placing and formatting text into columns and around images for magazine, newspapers, and newsletters is commonly referred to as typesetting.

With far more features and professional elements in hand, CorelDRAW offers a designer the ability to layout high quality pages with precision. Offering far more than any word processing program such as Microsoft word, CorelDRAW stands as a notable alternative to more costly programs, and because executing page layout takes place in CorelDRAW you retain access to all the vector-based options not commonly available in other page layout software.

A large library of templates set to industry specs and laid out by design professionals are also available for use. The font tools mentioned above are also at your disposal along with smooth paragraph formatting allowing for further freedom to exercise your creativity. CorelDRAW graphic design software will allow you to import text sources form most all major document formats including Microsoft Word and Excel.

Summary:

Corel brings some real solutions for the designer to the table and they should not be taken lightly. While this suite is indeed used professionally, it also fits the amateur and hobby user quite well. There is a learning curve, but Corel offers training materials in amounts that put others to shame. Tutorials, video tutorials, hints and other programs like Corel-Tutor stand as viable and valuable resources.

The only real lack of CorelDRAW is that it's not available for Mac computers.

Whether a graphic design professional or hobbyist, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4 provides the design interface and full array of tools at prices that are unmatched for software of this caliber. Also check out the other graphic design suite we reviewed, Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Standard.