I feel so stupid succumbing to all of the internet peer pressure saying that it's Illustrator or the proverbial highway...
But I've NEVER lked Illustrator's look or feel and I just now have time to settle into X3 and am wondering what I am really unable to do in X3 that Illustrator is supposedly so much better for?
I was looking at some Illustrator tutorials and they made heavy use of layers, and I think CorelD/X3 has the capability, too, but other than that, I don't see what CorelDRAW can't do that would make me want to jump ship or at least get Illustrator, too.
Any thoughts or ideas to combat this difficult peer-pressure mindset that "if it ain't Illustrator, it ain't worth doing"-type mentality on some of the design and graphics sites?
Thanks a bunch to all who read or reply,
- Paul
Hi Paul,
I never had to think of shifting to Illustrator or any other software to that matter since I started using CorelDRAW way back 1992-93. I have used it to create all and any kind of artworks for print media.
Really never had to look for anything else. Trust me, I have created about 4K designs since then.
Anand
Thanks so far for the insightful answers.
You are going to laugh, but the last version of CorelDRAW I used before X3 (which I've only just installed on my system and not used much) is...Version 3!
It's been a while and I can finally get back into art again and after trying Illustrator I'm thinking "why is this so hard?" then I tried the X3 demo a little while ago and it was like I never left!
Part of my dilemma stemmed from seeing all of the Illustrator "Wow"-type artists and being convinced that it's only with Illustrator that I could create stuff like that. I'm glad to know that it's not true!
Do CorelDRAW users tend to use Layers much? It seems to be more obvious for the ai users since it's a floating panel on the workspace
Thanks again for the replies so far and for any further input!
I'll chime in... as an artist turned graphic designer and a bit of a rebel rouser who began when Corel was just getting its feet wet - I decided on a computer platform called the Commodore Amiga, It was revolutionary at the time, especially for the price! Years later I had to make a difficult decision to change platforms (Commodore went bye bye). Financial and customization reasons just made more sense to change to the IBM side - Corel was the defacto software on this platform vs. Adobe on the Apple.
I think price has been a big factor for many freelance, sole proprietor and businesses like sign shops, where as corporations and larger businesses could justify the more expensive Apple/Adobe pairing. I know when it came to my own business I was able to get twice the bang for my money, and my system served a variety of other purposes that the Apple wasn't as flexible at then (accounting, estimating, crm, large format printing, etc).
I was able to learn Illustrator on my own after taking a subcontracting job. It was like being thrown to the lions. There were elements that I didn't feel were very elegant, but I took away from that experience the use of layers. I concluded after using this feature for six plus months that I had been missing a lot. I would highly suggest that every designer/artist learn to use the "Object Manager" in Corel, it will serve you well. So visit the gallery on this site, I think you will agree there's amazing "stuff!"
I've been using Corel DRAW since version 4 and i've also learned illustrator years ago because an agency where i worked required me to so i'm quite confortable in both programs, (this agency had both mac with illustrator and pc with corel draw) I would choose and still choose corel draw over illustrator.
To be fair though there are about 10 or so things that i prefer about illustrator which are features that either corel doesn't have like vector feathering, inner glow, live bitmap effects, chart tool, effects browser or things that i think they have a better execution of the features like much better warp tools, better brushes, mesh warp for both vectors and bitmaps, i like the layout of the layers panel better than the object manager, and a much much better mesh tool.
However, there are a ton of things i prefer about DRAW, its a list too long to mention here, well pretty much everything else.
Now, i don't know if my collegues here would agree but Photo-paint deserves some much needed love, its been practically abandoned, at one point PP was a progressive image editing tool that was the envy of Photo-shop however, at least in my opinion, its fallen way behind. Personally, i would love to see Photo-paint finally receive some attention to bring it up to speed, in fact i'd be willing to pay more for the suite if it was. But, for now as sad as i am after 13 years of strict CorelDRAW GS loyalty i've been moving over to PS for a lot of my bitmap work. Its a sad day. [:'(]
First: I work daily as an illustrator professionally, and I have heard all that crap from people a lot before. They also used to say I couldnt work professionally if I used a PC. They have said so many stupid things, its absolutly increadible how peoples lack of knowledge gets them to tell their "truths", that are actually false. And imense lack of knowledge. And if you would start working with the Object Manager as earlier said, you will see how you can work with layers and sublayers in the object manager. Second: my girlfriend teaches DTP, and the whole Adobe suite, and Multimedia here in Sweden, and do freelance work from time to time. And she have seen that their is NO REASON AT ALL to shift to illustrator if you have CorelDRAW.If you take a look on these three sites. The gallery on this very sight. Fosters www.unleash.com and Tom Knights www.advancedartist.com you will see that there is no lack of power in CorelDRAW vs. Illustrator.
As Foster said: its totally bias from illustrator users.
I could say about Photo-Paint that as an illustrator its an absolutly great program.There are tons of brushes and I can do basically anything illustrators using photoshop does.
I agree with you Stefan, PP and DRAW are amazing but PhotoShop has kept developing version after version while PP has pretty much been neglected. That is the point i was trying to make and unfortunatly its really made PP lose its competitive edge. There are still areas where PP is even better than PS but overall i think PS has taken the lead by far. Albeit, PS costs $1000 for the full app and $349 for the upgrade while PP comes bundled with CorelDRAW GS. As i said though, i'd love to see PP receive some attention even if it meant raising the price of the Suite, i mean $199 upgrade is really decent price and it makes sense why its been neglected in order to offer more emphasize to DRAW. But personally i would pay double that for the upgrade if PP received some upgrading too. (Other than 2-3 minor features). I just got my copy of PS CS3 and i must say i'm very pleased with it (except for the price, OUCH!!!) I didn't want to do it but I use it at work and I just had to get my own copy, it hurt it really did, i love PP and we've had a long love affair.
It definitely appears Draw has had the share of new features focus. With each upgraded version, one of my greatest interest has been the export/import compatibility between Draw/Illustrator, Photo-Paint/Photoshop. This isn't nearly as important if you are designing for the end user who will go direct to print, or as an artist that produces your own work, but when you need to provide another designer or business with design editing capabilities, it seems to lead to complications. My reservation for the moment, while I explore the relationship between CS and X4.
It's all about branding, and converting! There will always be plenty of bias, most of that comes from lack of knowledge. I think it was Foster who mentioned in another post that Corel is the defacto software being taught in Russia... now if we could inject that into many of the design courses around the world!
Been using Draw since 1993. I've always felt DRAW is better than Illustrator, but Photoshop is better than Paint. Photoshop has been on top for so long it has become a verb! How many times people ask me to Photoshop a picture, or "Is that picture photoshopped?"
Hey Foster,
Have you ever considered making an in-depth course for Photo-paint as video tutorials similar to those from Lynda.com but for PP. I find this to be a great way to learn. Its much better than books and this way PP users could learn all the features in a quick way.
Hey Barnes 2000,
I completly agree with your comment, that is why i think PP should get some much deserved attention.
Just to put in my $.02 there is nothing that can be produced from illustrator that cannot be produced from Draw.
You my go about it in a subtally different way in both packages. For some projects one may be fractionally quicker to do than the other. It may be easier to do a couple of things in illustrator, but from the feedback I hear it's a whole lot easier and intuative to do a host of other things in Draw, especially from a 'standing start'.
To get decent results from illustrator you probably would need some training, but you can just dive in to Draw/PP and get decent results straight away. Actually, I think that this may be source of some of the bias towards illustrator - an "educated" person thinking that they know more and can do better than a "self-taught" person: Since the CorelDraw is very easy to be "self-taught", they feel superior; even if you've been to Unleashed bootcamp's or qualified from Val's courses or any other training available. (IMHO of course;)