Highlighting New Features in CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite X3

You now have a simple way to identify the features that were new in earlier versions of CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite — from versions 9 through 12. You can highlight all menu commands and tools that were new for a specific version of CorelDRAW® or Corel PHOTO-PAINT®. This feature is especially useful if you are upgrading from an earlier version of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite.

To highlight what's new in CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite

1. Launch CorelDRAW X3 or Corel PHOTO-PAINT X3.
   
   
2. Click Help > Highlight What's New, and click one of the following commands:
   
   
   • Since Version 12 — highlights menu commands and tools introduced in version X3
     
     
   • Since Version 11 — highlights menu commands and tools introduced in versions 12 and X3
     
     
   • Since Version 10 — highlights menu commands and tools introduced in versions 11, 12, and X3
     
     
   • Since Version 9 — highlights menu commands and tools introduced in versions 10, 11, 12, and X3
   
   

   

   
   
   Any new tool or menu command is highlighted in orange.

To turn off the highlighting, click Help > Highlight What's New > No Highlight.

Source: Corel.com

Learning from the experts with CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite X3

Have you ever looked at a professional design created with CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite and wondered how the design was created? Which of the many powerful tools did the designer use to create an impressive visual effect? Insights from the Experts, a series of tutorials included with CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3, gives you a chance to learn from experts in graphic design.

The international team of authors who contributed to Insights from the Experts come from different corners of the graphic design world, representing areas as diverse as engraving and cartooning. What they have in common is that they all use CorelDRAW Graphic Suite to create their designs. In their tutorials, the authors deconstruct their own designs to share with you their ideas, tips, methods, and techniques, showing you how you can benefit from the powerful tools and features of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite.

Accessing Insights from the Experts

Insights from the Experts is available as a printed publication and in PDF format. The printed publication, CorelDRAW Handbook: Insights from the Experts, is included in the boxed version of the product. It is an exquisite 80-page book with full-color illustrations. The PDF version of the tutorials can be accessed from CorelDRAW® and Corel® PHOTO-PAINT® by clicking Help > Insights from the Experts.

The printed publication

Taking a closer look at a tutorial

Let's take a closer look at one of the tutorials, "Producing a realistic drawing with CorelDRAW," to see how you can benefit from Insights from the Experts. In this tutorial, Hugo Hansen of Denmark, an educator, author, and graphic designer, shows you how to approach an illustration project and create realistic objects, three-dimensional forms, and metallic surfaces.

In his tutorial, Hugo Hansen discusses how
he used CorelDRAW to create this realistic drawing.

You will get ideas about how to prepare a sketch for an illustration project by combining elements of photos. You will also learn how to organize the elements of a complex illustration by using layers. Each element in Hugo Hansen's illustration is on a separate, logically named layer. Hugo Hansen shows you how he used several tools from the CorelDRAW toolbox to create two parts of the drawing: the brake disk and the man's boot. You will learn how to use the Ellipse, Smart Fill, and Interactive Fill tools to create the effect of a metal surface.

The brake disk consists of many ellipses created with the Ellipse tool.
Rotated conical fills, created with the Interactive Fill tool, were used to add
a metallic, three-dimensional look. The holes were created with the Smart Fill tool.

The boot consists of many shapes, all of which were drawn with the Bézier tool. Hugo Hansen used the Interactive Blend tool to give the boot its realistic leather look. He shows you step by step how he used blends to create the highlights in the upper part of the boot.

Blends were used to create the effect of shining leather.

The tutorial offers other useful tips and techniques. You'll learn how to use the Interactive Extrude tool to create three-dimensional effects, and how to use the Interactive Transparency tool to create shadows. Click here to view the tutorial.

Source: Corel.com

PowerClip™ vs. the Crop tool in CorelDRAW® X3

CorelDRAW® X3 gives you two ways to crop vector objects or bitmap images. You can quickly remove unwanted areas in objects and imported graphics by using the Crop tool. You can also place vector objects and bitmaps, such as photos, inside other objects or containers by using the PowerClip™ feature. The object placed inside the container takes the shape of the container.

Using the Crop tool
When cropping objects, you define a rectangular area (cropping area) that you want to keep. Object portions outside the cropping area are removed. You can specify the exact position and size of the cropping area, and you can rotate and resize it. You can also remove the cropping area.

To crop objects by using the Crop tool

1. Select the objects that you want to crop.
   
   If no objects on the drawing page are selected, all objects are cropped.
   
   
2. Open the Crop tool flyout , and click the Crop tool .
   
   
3. Drag to define a cropping area.
   
   To rotate the cropping area, click in the cropping area, and move a corner rotation handle .
   
   
4. Double-click inside the cropping area.

The Crop tool lets you crop rectangular areas.

Using PowerClip™

A container in CorelDRAW can be any object — for example, artistic text or a rectangle. When you place an object into a container that is larger than the container, the object, called the content, is cropped to fit the form of the container. This creates a PowerClip object.

To create a PowerClip™ object

1. Select an object.
2. Click Effects > PowerClip > Place inside container.
3. Click the object you want to use as the container.

Artistic text and a bitmap before becoming a PowerClip object.

In the PowerClip object, the artistic text is the container, and the bitmap forms the contents. The bitmap is shaped to the letters of the artistic text.

Source: Corel.com

Importing Adobe® Illustrator®(AI) and Portable Document Format (PDF) files in CorelDRAW® X3

CorelDRAW® X3 provides enhanced support for Adobe® Illustrator® (AI) and Portable Document Format (PDF) files. It is now even easier to open, import, and edit files in these formats. Some important enhancements include:

• improved support for Adobe Illustrator CS and CS 2 files
• improved ability to import text in PDF files
• support for PDF files secured by a password

You can open AI and PDF files by using the File > Open command as you would any CorelDRAW file, or you can import them. When you open AI and PDF files, they are opened as CorelDRAW files. When you import AI and PDF files, they are imported as grouped objects and can be placed anywhere within your current drawing.

To import an Adobe Illustrator (AI) file

You can import all AI files including Adobe Illustrator CS 2 files. For files saved in Adobe Illustrator CS or higher, text can be imported as text or curves if the files are PDF-compatible. If a file is not PDF-compatible, you first need to convert all text to outlines by using the Type > Create Outlines command in Adobe Illustrator for text to be imported.

1. Click File > Import.
   
   
2. Locate the folder in which the file is stored.
   
   
3. Choose AI - Adobe Illustrator from the Files of type list box.
   
   
4. Click the filename, and click Import.
   
   If you are importing a PDF-compatible file containing text, the Import PDF dialog box appears. In the Import text as area, enable the Text or Curves option. If you are not sure which option to choose, see To import a PDF file.
   
   When you are importing text as text, the Font substitution for missing fonts dialog box appears if you don't have all the fonts used in the file installed. Choose the settings you want, and click OK.
   
   
5. When the import cursor appears, do one of the following:
   
   
   • Click the drawing page to maintain original file and position top-left corner where you click.
     
     
   • Click and drag on the drawing page to resize the file. The import cursor displays the dimensions of the resized file as you drag on the
     drawing page.
     
     
   • Press Enter to center the file on the drawing page.
   
   

The import cursor shows you the filename and
dimensions of the file you are about to import.

Adobe Illustrator graphics are imported into the program as a group of objects. Click Arrange > Ungroup to manipulate objects in the imported graphic.

To import a PDF file

You can now get the best possible results for text in your PDF documents by choosing to import the text as text or as curves. The following pointers will help you make the right choice:

• When text is imported as text, the font and text are preserved, and the text is fully editable as artistic or paragraph text. However, some effects and formatting may be lost. This option is recommended if you have a PDF file that contains large blocks of text, such as a newsletter, and you want to reformat the text or add text content.
  
  
• When text is imported as curves, the appearance of the text, including all effects applied to it, are preserved, and each letter is converted to a curve object. With this option, the text formatting features can no longer be used to edit the text. If you have a PDF file that contains a small amount of text that does not require editing, or if you do not have the fonts used in the PDF file, you should import the text as curves.

1. Press Ctrl + I.
   
   
2. Locate the folder in which the file is stored.
   
   
3. Choose PDF - Adobe Portable Document Format from the Files of type list box.
   
   
4. Click the filename, and click Import.
   
   If the file is protected by a password, type a valid password in the Password box.
   
5. In the Import PDF dialog box, choose one of the following options in the Import text as area:
   
   
   • Text - lets you edit and reformat the text from the PDF file. If any of the fonts used in the PDF file are missing, choose the settings you want in the Font substitution for missing fonts dialog box, and click OK.
     
     
   • Curves - converts text to curves, letting you maintain the appearance of the original text
   
   

The Import PDF dialog box

If you are importing a multipage document, select the pages you want to import, and click OK.

When you are importing a multipage PDF, the Import PDF dialog box expands to let you choose what pages to import.

7. When the import cursor appears, click the drawing page.
   
   You can also click and drag to resize the file, or press Enter to place the file in the center of the document.

Source: Corel.com

Using the 3-point curve tool in CorelDRAW® 12

The 3-point curve tool lets you draw smooth, precise curves quickly and easily, eliminating the need to worry about nodes and node-editing. You can also use this tool to trace bitmaps.

Each of these curves was created with two clicks of the 3-point curve tool.

To draw a curve with the 3-point curve tool, simply specify the start point, end point, and middle point (apex) of the curve. You can preview the curve and adjust its shape while drawing.

To draw a curve with the 3-point curve tool

1. Open the Curve flyout, and click the 3-point curve tool.

The 3 point curve tool is located in the toolbox, on the Curve flyout.

2. Click where you want to start the curve, drag to where you want the curve to end, and release the mouse button.
   
   
3. Move the pointer to where you want the apex of the curve to be. A dynamic preview of the curve appears, helping you make adjustments on the fly. Click when the curve is the shape you want.
   The resulting curve contains only two nodes - a start node and an end node.

Drawing a 3-point curve

Source: Corel.com