CorelDRAW

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(Redirected from Corel Draw)

CorelDRAW is a vector graphics editor developed and marketed by Corel Corporation of Ottawa, Canada.

1 Supported platforms
2 Development history
3 Characteristic features
4 CorelDRAW Graphics Suite
5 See also
6 External links

Supported platforms

CorelDRAW was originally developed for Microsoft Windows and currently runs only on Windows. The current version is X3 (actually version 13), released in January 2006.

Versions for Macintosh and Linux were at one time available, but these are now discontinued. The last version for Linux was version 9, released in 2000. The last version for Macintosh was version 11, released in 2001.

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Development history

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

In 1987, Corel hired software engineers Michel Boullion 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 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 quality typography.

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).

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Characteristic 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, 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. Second, the package consistently includes a large collection of fonts and clip art.

CorelDRAW's chief competitor is Adobe Illustrator. Although they are both vector-based illustration programs, the user experience differs greatly between the two. For instance, CorelDRAW can work with multi-page documents; Illustrator only offers a single-page layout view, but it will allow you to divide that large layout in the print options so that it prints on multiple pages. Also, while Illustrator will read CorelDRAW's native file type and vice versa, the translation is almost never perfect. These facts make it difficult for users to move freely between these programs.

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