CorelDRAW

 

Features

Several innovations to vector-based illustration originated with CorelDRAW: a node-edit tool that operates differently on different objects, fit text-to-path, stroke-before-fill, quick fill/stroke color selection palettes, perspective projections, mesh fills and complex gradient fills.

CorelDRAW differentiates itself from its competitors in a number of ways. The first is its positioning as a graphics suite, rather than just a vector graphics program. A full range of editing tools allow the user to adjust contrast, color balance, change the format from RGB to CMYK, add special effects such as vignettes and special borders to bitmaps. Bitmaps can also be edited more extensively using Corel PhotoPaint.

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite

Over time, additional components were developed or acquired and bundled with CorelDRAW. The list of bundled packages usually changes somewhat from one release to the next. There are several mainstays that have remained in the package for many releases now, however: PowerTRACE (a bitmap to vector graphic converter), PHOTO-PAINT (a bitmap graphic editor), and CAPTURE (a screen capture utility).

The current version of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite, X4 (actually version 14), contains the following packages:
  • CorelDRAW: Vector graphics editing software
  • Corel PHOTO-PAINT: Raster image creation and editing software
  • Corel CAPTURE: Enables several methods of image-capture
  • Corel PowerTRACE: Converts raster images to vector graphics (available inside the CorelDraw program).

CorelDRAW is a vector graphics editor developed and marketed by Corel Corporation of Ottawa, Canada. It is also the name of Corel's Graphics Suite. Its latest version, named X4 (actually version 14), was released in January 2008.

Supported platforms

CorelDRAW was originally developed for Microsoft Windows and currently runs on Windows XP and Windows Vista.The current version is X4 released (ver. 14.0.0.567) on 22nd of January, 2008.

Versions for Mac OS and Mac OS X were at one time available, but due to poor sales these are now discontinued. The last port for Linux was version 9 (released in 2000, it didn't run natively, instead it used a modified version of Wine to run) and the last version for OS X was version 11 (released in 2001).

 

Development history

In 1985, Dr. Michael Cowpland founded Corel to sell Intel-based desktop publishing systems.

In 1987, Corel hired software engineers Michel Bouillon and Pat Beirne to develop a vector-based illustration program to bundle with these desktop publishing systems. That program, CorelDRAW, was initially released in 1989. The program was well received, and Corel soon focused on software alone.

CorelDRAW 1.x and 2.x runs under Windows 2.x and 3.0. CorelDRAW 3.0 came into its own with Microsoft's release of Windows 3.1.

The inclusion of TrueType in Windows 3.1 transformed CorelDRAW into a serious illustration program capable of using system-installed outline fonts without requiring third party software such as Adobe Type Manager and also was the first all-in-one Graphics Suite, which combined a vector graphics software with a photo editing program (PhotoPaint), a font manager and several other pieces of software included with each version.

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