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CorelDraw Graphics Suite X5

by Mike McNamee

The CorelDraw Graphics suite is a group of applications which perform a variety of vector and pixel image tasks, including text handling. Corel Photo-Paint, included in the package, is Photoshop-like and specifically designed for manipulating raster images (ie photographs!). Version X5 is not new, having been launched in February 2010, but it is timely to look at it because it ties in with the feature on Painter.

We always have CorelDraw mounted on the office workstation, indeed we used it to decorate the pages of Dave Newman's feature in this issue. Therein lies one of the key features of CorelDraw, it comes with an abundance of resources which includes:More than 2,000 vehicle templates, more than 350 professionally designed templates, a collection of more than 10,000 high-quality clipart and digital images, and more than 1,000 OpenType fonts, (including 75 Windows Glyph List 4 (WGL4) fonts). At the price, this is not to be sniffed at, we almost invariably find what we need amongst that little lot!

As with Painter, CorelDraw comes with a hard-backed, documentation booklet in full-colour, although the days of massive reference books of clipart are long gone. We still have a much-thumbed copy of Corel 6 documentation; it is almost two inches thick. We retain all copies of the software resource DVDs/CDs because Corel move stuff in and out - the medical illustration section of version 6 has never been surpassed! Today you have to use CorelConnect to browse the clip art which is reasonably speedy but still requires navigating through a family tree of folders.

Although CorelDraw files are often regarded with suspicion by in-onpaper printers the software is used worldwide for print projects, you just need to take care if you try to mix content from Adobe and Corel applications, you might get surprises!

Overall we did not see any of the colour management issues with CorelDraw that occurred with Painter- the grouse's eye combs remained full red this time. Corel Photo-Paint even managed to open Epson Scan through the Acquire driver, something that no longer works on our CS5 Photoshop. RAW files could be opened into Corel Photo-Paint with a slightly simpler interface than Adobe ACR; for example, the Detail slider is a single one, with none of the masking sophistication of ACR. The thumbnails of RAW files do not show in Connect.

The ability of Corel to 'break open' more than 60 types of files has always been one of its strengths and is usually our first port of call if a tricky piece of graphics turns up. It is not always free of issues, as our screen grab shows, but sometimes you are grateful for any steps forward with an obscure file that comes across the desk - it's rare, but when it happens a solution is gratefully received!

Overall then, as mainline, Adobe users, we cannot use CorelDraw for much more than its resources and occasional file-breaking. At £399 it is good value in that regard.

Applications

• CorelDRAW X5: Vector illustration and page-layout application.
• Corel PHOTO-PAINT X5: Image-editing application.
• Corel PowerTRACE™ X5: This utility lets you quickly and accurately convert bitmaps into editable vector graphics.
• Corel CAPTURE™ X5: This one-click screen capture utility lets you capture images from your computer screen.
• Corel CONNECT: This full-screen browser lets you peruse the suite's digital content and search your computer or local network to find content. Fully integrated, it is also available as a docker in both CorelDRAW and Corel PHOTO-PAINT.

Supporting applications

• Barcode wizard: The Barcode wizard lets you generate bar codes in a wide range of industry standard formats.
• Duplexing wizard: The Duplexing wizard helps you optimiseyour work for printing two-sided documents.
• Bitstream Font Navigator: The Bitstream Font lets you manage, find, install and preview fonts.
• SWiSH miniMax: This utility lets you quickly and easily create stunning interactive animations, banners and more.
• PhotoZoom Pro: This plug-in lets you enlarge digital images and export them from Corel PHOTO-PAINT X5.



Updated 27/04/2026 16:44:22 Last Modified: Monday, 27 April 2026