Showing posts with label illustration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label illustration. Show all posts

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 Review

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
CorelDraw was my first foray into vector graphics back when version 3 showed up on my desk at the small "Mom and Pop" screenprinting shop i worked at. Back then, Corel came with OODLES of free fonts, clipart, manuals ... not to mention FREE technical support via a toll-free number.
i stayed with Corel exclusively until version 10 ... enduring countless patches, bugs and the dreaded "odd-numbered" curse (if you tried version 5 or 7, you feel my pain). Adobe Photoshop was always my photo-editing program of choice ... CorelPhotoPAINT just never quite "did it" for me.
Industry demands eventually delegated that i delve into Adobe Illustrator. Being already familiar with Adobe Photoshop's features, tools and "look and feel", Illustrator didn't present a huge, overbearing learning curve. In Illustrator, i found the same robust features as CorelDraw ... which wasn't what impressed me about Illustrator. Adobe's intuitive programs, and their ability to interact with one another ... seamlessly ... THAT is what won me over to Illustrator. Illustrator's ability to edit/create PDF's in their native format? WOW! Exporting LAYERED vector files to Photoshop ... with layers INTACT??? WOW!!! (i could go on)
Now, that being said ... there are STILL things that i prefer in CorelDRAW compared to Illustrator. The EXTRUDE function in corel is MUCH easier to utilize. The PowerClip function is more user friendly than Illustrator's "make clipping mask" function. The ability to customize/edit/add shortcut keys is an amazing feature. (again ... i could go on) (EDIT: i learned this IS possible in Illustrator CS2 via the EDIT/Keyboard Shortcuts, or Alt+Shift+Ctrl+K)
In regards to importing and exporting files from other applications, CorelDRAW wins, hands down. It boasts a ROBUST set of import and export filters, my favorite being the .eps import filter which lets you import an .eps while converting the fonts to curves DURING the import. This is a MUST HAVE if you work with an .eps file created on another computer whose fonts you lack. If i had a dollar for every .eps that pulls into Illustrator with fonts blown out ... i'd be independently wealthy. WHY Illustrator has never implemented this is beyond me.
So, to sum it up ... CorelDRAW is a great program ... but i can't imagine it being my ONLY vector drawing program. Just like in real life, you need a great team. This program, paired with Adobe Creative Suite, meets my needs perfectly.


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Whether they are design professionals on deadline or small business owners creating their own marketing materials, customers will enjoy a significant productivity boost from CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3. The suite simplifies the design process for projects of any scale, including logo creation, professional marketing brochures, and eye-catching signs. Customers choose CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 because it delivers a combination of superior design capabilities, speed, ease of use, and affordability that's unmatched in the graphics software industry.

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CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 Student & Teacher Edition Review

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 Student and Teacher Edition
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If you are accustomed to using other versions of CorelDraw, you may not want this version. Fact is, they have made many so-called "improvements" which I find are incompatible with other software that I have used in the past. It does not convert to encapsulated postscript (eps) files properly, and will crash programs that traditionally work well with eps figures. By contrast, CorelDraw 11 worked well. Hence the "improvement" has rendered the software a nuisance. If you are accustomed to pasting figures into other software, forget it. CorelDraw X3 will not retain the integrity of the original figure, and it will look distorted and crummy. Any prior version of CorelDraw worked well. Again, the "improvement" has made the software a nuisance. On top of that, it crashes a lot.
I contacted their "customer service" about a year ago when I first discovered these differences. I was assured that they knew about the problems and were working on them. Well, a year later, with no patches to correct these differences, I am now being told that it is everyone else's fault (software manufacturers) that CorelDraw is not compatible. I was also told that they have no intention to correct these problems because they do not consider them problems. There is an example of their customer service for you.
I have been using CorelDraw for a long time, starting with 6, then 9, then 11. This is the worst of the bunch by far. I am going back to a previous version.

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With this comprehensive graphics suite, students and teachers can confidently deliver graphically rich school projects, personalizing their work and transforming ideas into professional results -- fast! CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 delivers the ultimate combination of design capabilities, ease-of-use, speed, and affordability that cannot be matched by any other graphics software.
Included Applications
CorelDRAW X3: An intuitive graphic design and page layout application that meets the demands of today's busy design professionals and occasional business users. It delivers results fast, whether you're creating a company logo or working toward demanding production schedules.
Corel Photo-Paint X3: A professional image-editing application that lets users quickly and easily retouch and enhance photos. It is specifically designed for use as part of a graphic workflow.
Corel PowerTRACE X3: Professional designers often receive poor-quality bitmap images from clients and face the challenge of turning these into high-quality vector images for business cards, brochures, promotional items, or signs. The new Corel PowerTRACE solves this problem by letting users quickly and accurately convert bitmaps into editable vector graphics.
Corel Capture X3: A one-click screen capture utility that lets users capture images from their computer screen.
Pixmantec RawShooter essentials: This raw workflow tool provides the highest-quality output and fastest conversion time of any raw converter on the market today. It gives designers and business users excellent results with minimum effort.
Content: More than 10,000 clipart and digital images individually selected to meet the needs of design professionals and business users; 1,000 OpenType fonts, plus 35 Windows Glyph List 4 (WGL4) fonts; and 100 creative templates.
Quality Layout Results CorelDRAW X3 provides significant improvements to text handling that make it easier for users to select, edit,and format text. New controls have been added for alignment, drop caps, tabs, bullets, and columns. For more flexibility and accuracy in design, users can now specify text size in inches and create hyperlinks for specific characters. In addition, the application works better with text from other sources.
The new Character Formatting docker makes formatting artistic and paragraph text easier than ever before. Thisconvenient new docker includes easy-to-use controls for adjusting kerning, changing the angle of selected characters, and applying character effects, such as Underline, Strike-Through, Uppercase. Meanwhile, an enhanced Interactive Fit Text to Path tool now makes it easier than ever to attach text to a path with precision. A common effect for creating logos and signs, this new tool lets you interactively control text placement in order to get your desired results.
New Tools for Illustration With CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3, designers can take advantage of tons of new tools and features that increase their productivity without compromising on their creativity and flexibility. For instance, the new Star tool lets users quickly and easily draw perfect stars, while the new Complex Star tool makes it easy to create complex stars that have intersecting sides and produce unique results with an applied fill. You can also specify the number of points and can sharpen the points of a complex star.
A significant time-saver, the new Crop tool quickly lets you remove unwanted areas in objects and imported graphics -- both bitmap and vector. This handy addition to the CorelDRAW X3 toolbox eliminates the need to ungroup objects, break linked groups apart, or convert objects to curves. Meanwhile, the unique, new Smart Fill tool lets you apply a fill to any enclosed area by creating a new object from an enclosed area. Unlike conventional fill tools that fill only objects, the Smart Fill tool detects the edges of an area and creates a closed path so that the area can be filled. For example, the Smart Fill tool can fill the loops of a freehand line that crosses over itself. The Smart Fill tool creates a path around the area, so the filled object can be moved, copied, or edited.
Powerful, Accurate Tracing CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 provides a more streamlined, integrated tracing solution that delivers accurate and optimized bitmap-to-vector tracing results.
Integrated with CorelDRAW X3, the new Corel PowerTRACE allows users to quickly and easily convert bitmaps into editable vector graphics. Design professionals typically face the challenge of turning bitmap images into high-quality vector images to create logos for business cards, brochures, signs, and promotional items. For control and flexibility, Corel PowerTRACE generates a color palette that lets you easily pick which colors appear in the traced result and quickly convert them to the appropriate color mode, including spot colors. You can also choose from several preset tracing styles, color modes, and background options. With three different preview modes -- Before and After, Large Preview, and Wireframe Overlay -- Corel PowerTRACE makes it easy to analyze the result and adjust the settings used to trace your image.
Efficient Photo Editing CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 puts the focus on providing design professionals with more efficient, intuitive, and accurate photo editing.
Corel Photo-Paint X3 is now significantly faster when working with large images and applying photo effects, resulting in better real-time feedback and improving overall workflow efficiency. Improved object handling gives designers more precise control in rotating, skewing, or distorting objects. For large images, improved use of image cache provides significantly increased response time for previewing most effects and for manipulating objects.
The new, integrated Image Adjustment Lab saves designers valuable time and is accessible from both Corel Photo-Paint and CorelDRAW. Design professionals often work with files that have poor color balance and contrast, and they need to use multiple tools to make adjustments. The Image Adjustment Lab addresses this problem by uniting a number of manual and automatic controls for common color and tone corrections, providing an intuitive and fast way to achieve professional image adjustments. The Image Adjustment Lab also lets users create snapshots of their adjustments with just one click. The snapshots appear below the working preview, which lets users easily compare each snapshot against the original and choose the best result.
Built on the power of Corel KnockOut, the enhanced Cutout Lab includes new controls to simplify the process of cutting out image areas and to improve accuracy. The new Add Detail and Remove Detail tools make it easy to refine the cutout area. For easy reference when defining the cutout area, users can preview their cutout against the original image, or transparent, white, gray, or black backgrounds. For maximum flexibility, users can choose to save the cutout object and discard the original image, save the cutout object and keep the original image, or save the cutout object as a clip mask added to the original image. In addition, the Cutout Lab includes Undo and Redo buttons to quickly correct any mistakes.
Enhanced Compatibility CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 provides enhanced compatibility for more than 100 commonly used file formats, including Adobe Illustrator, Photocells, Corel Paint Shop Pro, Microsoft Office, JPEG, and PDF. Users can now seamlessly edit and exchange files in those formats. Outstanding support for spot colors has been added for Adobe Illustrator, PhotoShop, and PDF.
Student and Teacher Edition Purchase Information To purchase education versions of shrink-wrapped software, purchasers must be: accredited schools, faculties, full- or part-time registered students, academic supervisory organizations, hospitals, libraries, museums, and nonprofit charitable and religious organizations.

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Adobe Illustrator CS2 Review

Adobe Illustrator CS2
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If you're one of those people like me, who hang on to an older version of the application waiting for the right time, now is the time to upgrade. You won't be disappointed. Just ask the editors of both PC Magazine and C|Net which awarded this version their Editor's Choice Award.
Once again Adobe has listened to its loyal customer base. The proof is in the new version of Illustrator. Many of our requests were answered with the latest version including some that we didn't even think of. I was happy to find out that even with the new features, Adobe has not altered Illustrator's previous palettes or keyboard commands. There's nothing worse than having a shortcut or command memorized for years and then it gets changed with a new version. No fear here!
First of all, I want to say that I am really impressed with the Live Trace and Live Paint features, especially when used together. We all know that sometimes ideas hit us when we least expect it and are away from our beloved computer. We end up drawing it out on a napkin, paper towel or the unused envelope from our glove compartment. Normally, once you get back to your computer you have to try to redraw your graphic using Illustrator which takes both time and effort---not any more.
Take your napkin masterpiece to your scanner and scan it in. Once the image has been scanned, then the fun begins. Once the image has been scanned in and brought into Illustrator CS2, use the Live Trace feature to actually trace your drawing. This feature actually turns to drawing into a Live Trace object for easy manipulation. After applying some blurring as needed, your traced image is cleared up. Then, convert your Live Trace object into a Live Paint object using the new Control Palette. I like the Live Paint tool also because it reminds me of working in Photoshop.
Once you've converted to the Live Paint object, you can easily use the pen and other tools to modify any points to your liking. Live Paint also has a feature called Gap Detector which can prevents paint from going over into other sections because of a break in a line. This is a handy feature that keeps you from having to fix overspill later. When the object outlines are finalized, use the Live Paint feature to easily fill any region with color. Voila! You are done. Go from napkin to art in a matter of minutes.
A concern of many of us for years was the fact that while Illustrator keep getting better and newer features, it also mean more and more palettes. Sometimes it became a little unmanageable. However, the pros at Adobe recognized this problem and applied a solution - the Control palette. This new palette sits at the top of the screen. First, it acts as a an object inspector providing information. Secondly, (and more importantly), the Control palette provides easy access to fill and stroke dropdown menus, brush shape, opacity, and style. No longer do you have to fumble through your palette to get at these frequently used features. If you are fans of Adobe's other Creative Suite 2 software, you will be pleased to learn that the Control Palette is apart of their new makeover too.
Here are some more new additions and changes to Illustrator:
*Like Photoshop, Illustrator CS2 now supports custom workspaces. You can display only the palettes you need at any time. You are also able to access or save any workspace at any time or use workspace templates.
*Adobe has improved the Swatch and color integration. Now, working with the other Creative Suite 2 programs is seamless.
*Isolation Mode is a feature that allows you to double-click a group move and edit internal objects without having to search through the Layers Palette.
*CS2 now supports all of the latest Wacom tablets. It now provides brush support for the new Wacom 6D Art Pen and adds a new dimension Illustrator's Calligraphic and Scatter brushes
*Adobe Bridge integration is now a part of Illustrator CS2. Bridge allows you to easily manage images through thumbnails for better workflow.
*Macromedia Flash exports are now available. You can export both text and objects as Flash files which result in smaller file size and easier incorporation into web projects.
*You can now open Photoshop files with layer comps within Illustrator. This new feature allows you to view many versions of a layout at one time, just as you do in Photoshop
*Custom stroke placement is a new addition to Illustrator. You can now place strokes on the outside, inside or center of a path.
*Underline and Strikethrough are two of over 170 new type enhancements.
*These are a few of the new features!
The $169 upgrade cost is well worth the money, just for the Live Trace and Live Paint features alone. However, you get so much more in the new Illustrator CS2. Upgrade now and be completely satisfied. If you haven't purchased a vector graphics program, get Illustrator, especially if you are already an owner of a version of Photoshop. This new version of Illustrator even looks more like the familiar Photoshop layout.
Loren Elks
Group Manager, D-MAG.org


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Adobe Illustrator CS2 lets you realize your ideas quickly and powerfully. Instantly convert bitmaps to vector artwork and paint more intuitively. Save time with intelligent palettes and optimized workspaces. Take your graphics to the printed page, Web sites, video, mobile devices, and virtually everywhere you want to go. See for yourself how vector graphics have been reinvented -- and rediscover what you love about illustration.Use Adobe Bridge to browse and preview your creative assets, run automation scripts, access Adobe Stock Photos, and more Adobe Photoshop layer comp support - control open Photoshop files within Illustrator CS2 PDF/X support creates reliable, press-ready layouts

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CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4 Upgrade Review

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4 Upgrade
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I come from the sign industry and a lot of sign shops use CorelDRAW. However, it would be NICE if Corel realized that they have such a following in that niche and would optimize DRAW for vinyl cutting. Phew! I've always wanted to get that off my chest.
Having said that it was worthwhile upgrading from version 12. I'm not sure that upgrading from X3 would have been worthwhile.
CorelDRAW's interface, particularly in editing bezier curves, has always made it my choice. I used Illustrator every single day at work but I have yet to figure out curve editing on it. :-P
Corel still does not match Adobe in the colour management area. They need to take this a little more seriously!
Corel needs to stop buying up companies and trying to market their products. Why did they buy Paintshop? They should have just continued to update Photopaint. Paintshop is just a drag on their developement resources and takes their programing team away from their core products.
Also, Corel is not taking website design integration seriously. They need something to compete with Dreamweaver. "Get with it guys! It is not just a print world anymore!" Also, why the devil did they stop developement of RAVE??? It disappeared a couple incarnations ago and doesn't look like it'll return.
Having said all that CorelDRAW X4 is a great vector illustration program and I can still do professional raster image editing with Photopaint. Their bitmap to vector tracing module can't be beat. All for much less than Adobe products.

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CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4 lets you tackle creative graphics and design projects withconfidence. New tools make it easier and quicker than ever to deliver any creative project, fromlayout and photo editing, to illustration and bitmap-to-vector tracing. Powerful text and layoutenhancements give you the look you want plus market-leading file compatibility makescollaboration easy. Updated high-quality content, a step-by-step Hints Docker and new tutorialswritten by experts get you started fast. Professional and aspiring designers along with anyonewho needs to express creative ideas will be able to turn their ideas into professional results: fromdistinctive logos and signs, to striking marketing materials and eye-catching web graphics.

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CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4 Education Edition Review

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4 Education Edition
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I use Corel as a replacement for AutoCAD. It can open and work on .dwg and .dxf files. It's easy to learn and you can do so many different things! PhotoPaint is included and it's capable of almost everything that Photoshop can do.

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CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4 Education Edition (Not for Commercial Use) lets you tackle creative graphics and design projects withconfidence. New tools make it easier and quicker than ever to deliver any creative project, fromlayout and photo editing, to illustration and bitmap-to-vector tracing. Powerful text and layoutenhancements give you the look you want plus market-leading file compatibility makescollaboration easy. Updated high-quality content, a step-by-step Hints Docker and new tutorialswritten by experts get you started fast. Professional and aspiring designers along with anyonewho needs to express creative ideas will be able to turn their ideas into professional results: fromdistinctive logos and signs, to striking marketing materials and eye-catching web graphics.

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CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4 Review

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4
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The Corel line of graphics software has always carried the burden of being the second choice and often the second experience of Adobe software users. Those who encounter the software after experience with the main Adobe-produced rivals (Illustrator and Photoshop) will experience it very differently than those who are looking to learn professional graphics from the start with Corel.
Though I am a very experienced user of Adobe products, I tried to experience Corel Draw (the vector graphics portion) and Photo Paint (the bitmap graphics portion) with an eye toward evaluating it as someone who wasn't already comfortable with a different interface, but who was interested in a professional level graphics package, as well as someone who may decide to transition away from the pricier Adobe products. I will offer my perspective from both of these viewpoints:
As a newcomer to pro graphics:
There is a lot of power and flexibility. Photo Paint offers alpha channels, lighting effects, masking, and a good selection of filters for those who want to "play" with images. It is able to open and save to a variety of file formats and can rasterize vector images. A lot of functions are quite intuitive (e.g., image straightening, filter effects), though programs with the breadth and depth of a professional program have a great many levels and no one who is new to them can grasp them immediately or without underlying knowledge of what all the terms mean. It's important not to mistake this graphics package as one designed for the hobbyist or person looking to modestly tweak images for web pages. The complex functionality it possesses is to allow folks working in industries that need finer work to get it done and it certainly allows for that and more.
In terms of how easy it is to understand the programs, CorelDraw is definitely a lot tougher to grasp, but that is the nature of vector graphics programs. However, I do believe that the way in which points (which are called "nodes" in Draw) are edited when working with Bezier curves could be more intuitive. Having to select each node and change its type by clicking a button in order to alter the way in which the control handles work is tedious. It'd be much better to have a modifier key to "break" curves where desired.
The help files and tutorials are excellent and I had not trouble tracking down information to help me do what I wanted to do. However, an absolute beginner will likely need to do the video training for more hand-holding than I required. It's hard to get your head around the way computer graphics work, but Corel certainly provides the tools to try if the user is willing to take the time to learn. The software can only take you so far when it comes to something this complex.
Corel also provides a huge variety of templates, clip art and fonts which Adobe does not. This makes the entire package more appealing to folks who work in publishing but do not create custom content and mainly want to tweak clip art or stock images.
As an experienced Adobe user:
One immediately resists every part of the interface which does not conform to what one is used to in Photoshop and Illustrator. This is much more troublesome in CorelDraw since drawing works best when one can use the tools effortlessly to gain the desired result. If you're looking to make the change to break free of Adobe's higher prices, the first thing you have to do is be patient with the interface differences. Some gritting of teeth may be involved. You'll likely find, on the whole, that some things are better in Corel's interface and some are worse compared to Adobe's, though Adobe's interface has a more professional and polished feel. The filters in particular sometimes have a cheesy and clunky feel to them, though they are easy enough to use.
The second thing you have to do is make sure that all of your native file format files (.ai and .psd) have been saved into more universally accessible formats (EPS, TIFF) as neither PhotoPaint nor Draw will reliably open all Adobe native format files. In my tests, native Photoshop files always opened but sometimes with missing layers. When I attempted to open an Illustrator native file, I was told the file was compressed (though it was not) and that it needed to be re-saved in an uncompressed state. Resaving as an EPS file fixed the problem.
Conclusions:
* If I wanted to prepare myself for work in the graphics industry and wanted something less expensive than the Adobe CS package, I'd not hesitate to buy this suite to learn the ins and outs of professional graphics, particularly if I were planning on working freelance. However, I'd keep in mind that most publishers will work in Adobe software and I may need to learn their software eventually if I were to pursue office work.
* If I were working in a publishing industry which did small amounts of editing of vector and bitmap images and needed to do color adjustments for professional printing, I'd seriously consider the Corel Suite though I'd investigate how effective the color separations worked for my particular needs. However, I would not rely on it for layout work (nor would I rely on Illustrator or Photoshop for layout) unless I only worked with flyers, brochures, posters, or other very short documents.
* If I were an Adobe user looking to break free of the expensive shackles of Adobe software, I'd have to think long and hard before making the change as there would be some productivity loss getting acclimated to the interface and some differences in functionality that I may not want to accept.

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CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4 lets you tackle creative graphics and design projects withconfidence. New tools make it easier and quicker than ever to deliver any creative project, fromlayout and photo editing, to illustration and bitmap-to-vector tracing. Powerful text and layoutenhancements give you the look you want plus market-leading file compatibility makescollaboration easy. Updated high-quality content, a step-by-step Hints Docker and new tutorialswritten by experts get you started fast. Professional and aspiring designers along with anyonewho needs to express creative ideas will be able to turn their ideas into professional results: fromdistinctive logos and signs, to striking marketing materials and eye-catching web graphics.

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FLOW CHARTS AND MORE Review

FLOW CHARTS AND MORE
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FOUND PROGRAM TO BE VERY UNSTABLE AND CRASHED LOSING ALL DATA.

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MyLogo Maker Review

MyLogo Maker
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Incredible product for the price!! Pay little attention to the previously written review about how poor the product's functionality is. The reviewer claims there are no drawing features, no cropping features, and that you are limited to the templates given. This is completely untrue. After five minutes on the program I was able to design logos from scratch, have COMPLETE layer control, and use cropping features. I have very little experience designing logos (about 10 hrs behind adobe photoshop cs3), and I was able to design excellent logos. The program also comes with business card designing software which I have yet to use. Incredible program for $20. I felt compelled to write a review after being mislead by another review! Good buy.

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CorelDRAW Suite X5: Home and Student Review

CorelDRAW Suite X5: Home and Student
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Beware! The CorelDraw X5 Home & Student version is missing features found in the regular version. A feature I used in CorelDraw X3 is the Print function for guttering, fold marks, and crop marks for card making. These are missing from the H & S version. The Help feature does not account for this and asks you to use features that do not exist in H & S. I did not explore what else is missing. Corel should fess up and provide a feature comparison sheet to show what features are not available in the H & S and Educational versions.

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When it comes to illustration, layout, tracing, photo editing and web graphics, CorelDRAW Home & Student Suite X5 brings out the best in any budding designer. This professional-quality graphics suite is loaded with tools for creating everything from web graphics and T-shirt designs, to logos, cards and flyers. A built-in search tool finds content fast, while helpful tutorials speed up the learning process. Best of all, this pro-quality graphics suite comes at a home and student price!
CorelDRAW Home & Student Suite X5 brings out the best in any budding designer.

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Norman Rockwell: A Life (Modern Library Paperbacks) Review

Norman Rockwell: A Life (Modern Library Paperbacks)
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I've been an illustrator for 40 years. My mentor was a contemporary of Rockwell, also an illustrator and portrait painter who was at the Art Student's League at about the same time as NR. I was all set to like this book after viewing the attractive and articulate author on BookNotes. It turned out to be a chore to read. I'm surprised that Random didn't do more fact checking or editing. It is not so much narrative as it is cut-and-paste word processing. Consider this line for example on page 394: "But at least one son, Jarvis -- who, on finding that he had did not fit particularly well into the Air Force ...." Where are the copy editors when you need them?
Then there are the significant errors, as in the following: [page 209] "First, he recalled briefly the beauty contest he had judged a few years before with Clare Briggs the cartoonist and Nell Brinkley the actress." A simple search on Google will confirm that Nell Brinkley (1886-1944) was also famous as a cartoonist who drew pretty young things for the New York Evening Journal, and not an actress.
On page 300, the author describes a painting of Willie Gillis in church: "In the three pews, shown, only Willie's torso and face are visible; the shoulder of a man in front, and the arm of a man behind, their respective officer and upper enlisted stripes prominent...." This is a curious description coming from someone who taught at the Naval Academy. There is no man shown in front, just the shoulder boards of a US Navy commander. As for the upper enlisted stripes, she should have said hash marks and the distinctive stripes of a First Sergeant (three stripes, two rockers, and a diamond).
The author continually refers to Rockwell's clients as patrons, a term I have never heard used by illustrators or other so-called commercial artists. She also goes to great length to chastise NR for continually accepting more work than he had time to do. This has always been common practice. Some clients bail out after reviewing sketches or comprehensives, or for purely business reasons, which is why kill-fees are used to protect freelancers from spinning their wheels. Anyone who has ever engaged carpenters or other tradesmen knows that they, too, overbook. People who work for themselves have to overbook, if they expect to survive.
The author, as academic, devotes much of the book to psychobabble and pronouncements from on high, making it seem that the Golden Age of Illustration had passed Rockwell by. She refers to the obvious giants such as Pyle, Wyeth, Parrish, and others, who rode in on the waves of four-color process printing as it was first perfected for print production. But consider that Rockwell was the most famous illustrator ever, with an enormous following, and this added years to the Golden Age of Illustration as technical advances continued. It also added many more excellent illustrators, Rockwell's fellow instructors at the Famous Artists School to name a few.
NR's buddies in Arlington, Vermont -- Mead Schaeffer, and John Atherton -- are mentioned often in that period of Rockwell's life, but they are never adequately fleshed out as individuals, Then, we are told that they left Arlington without explaining why.
There are no examples of their work. There are two signatures of photo reproductions reduced to sizes too small to be of much pictorial value. One would really need Arthur Guptill's book on Rockwell, or another compilation of NR's work to understand what the author is talking about as she describes paintings that are either too small to be studied, or do not appear at all.
I wish the text had been cut by a third, elimating all those distant cousins, who add little, or nothing, to the story, and two signatures of full page 4/c process illustrations added, even if it would mean an increase to the cover price.

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50 Norman Rockwell Favorites Review

50 Norman Rockwell Favorites
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I have to agree with the previous reviewer that this book represents exceptional value. If you just want to look at the book then these prints are more than large enough for clear and detailed viewing. If you wanted to take the book apart and use them as wall prints they are also large enough for that. I am going to laminate them for use in my US History class.
Two complaints: This is one of those art books that won't work well on a shelf. It's very tall and a little thin, so if there isn't good support it's going to get folded. The other thing is only a problem if you want to use them as posters. The picture information is printed on the left hand page of each print. If you want to look at it as a book that works out perfect. If you want to use them as posters it means that what is printed on the back of each print is information that belongs to another print. I'm pretty sure the publishers weren't worried about people tearing the pages up.

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Norman Rockwell: Artist and Illustrator Review

Norman Rockwell: Artist and Illustrator
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My family is artsy, and when I was little, my dad or my uncle (I was too young to notice) gave this book to Grandpa for Christmas. It was the BIG GIFT that year. We all ooohed and aaahed over it. Grandpa and Grandma handled it so reverently. Whenever I would visit Grandpa and Grandma, I loved to sit down and look at every picture. (I had to wash my hands first.) This is a big book, like a coffee table book, with many, many pictures in full color, and big enough to see all the details. I could see how he painted each picture, how he handled the light, the expressions on the faces, how he made each person seem like someone you knew (or yourself), and how he make each story in the paintings reveal itself. The pictures are not shrunken down, black-and-white half-tones. They are reproduced like fresh Post Covers. I would sit there for a long time absorbing every page. I don't know if it has EVERY post cover, but it seems to, as well as other things like calendar pictures. When I grew up, I wanted that book so badly, so I went to a used book store (before the Internet) and bought it for $80, which was a lot for a young adult, but worth it. If you can get it for less, more power to you. This has more Norman Rockwell pictures than another Norman Rockwell book that I have ever seen. So if you only get one Norman Rockwell book, this is the one to get(except for his autobiography, which is hilarious.)

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A study of the artist and illustrator, Norman Rockwell, which reproduces 600 of his best illustrations, providing a panorama of nearly 60 years of American social history.

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Best of Norman Rockwell Review

Best of Norman Rockwell
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I recently received a copy of this book and found the quality of the prints very poor indeed. Printed in China, they are grainy, at times out of focus and with limited colors on some at least. A few plates are convincing but not many. This a book reminiscent of the art books printed in the sixties and seventies with analogue printing technology. Given the quantum leaps in digital printing techniques during the last ten years, this is just unforgivable. Disappointed that Tom Rockwell let this pass as a book on his father's wonderful work.

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