The once and future CorelDRAW?

[Gary David Bouton]

24 March 2003--Vector Capital bought Corel Corp. stock after Microsoft sold off their holdings at a $110 million dollar loss. It's expected that Vector Capital will buy out Corel.

So I'd buy CorelDRAW soon, if anyone has any interest in it.

[Gary David Bouton]

24 March 2003--Vector Capital bought Corel Corp. stock after Microsoft sold off their holdings at a $110 million dollar loss. It's expected that Vector Capital will buy out Corel.

So I'd buy CorelDRAW soon, if anyone has any interest in it.

[jens g.r. benthien]

...even faster these days, as well as ownerships and stocks.

Nope, I run PhotoPaint 7 with an awful lot of plug-ins, and it's great for everything I need at this moment. In addition I'm working with Xara X - do I need anything else? 10 MB on a hard drive is enough, I don't need 100 or 400 MB for the 'same thing in green' as we say.

Let's face it: the economical slump will drive many companies out of biz. That might be sad, but on the other hand it will offer new chances. Example: apps with smaller footprints on the hard drive. Apps that come in modules, so you - the user - can decide what to add and pay for.

Exampel: I would be happy to pay for a plug-in for XARA X to handle and convert DXF files.

I think we will see more 'open' products if this process will continue. The users don't need (and most of them don't want) the ninehundredfiftysixth feature, they want a STABLE app to WORK with.

just my single cent ;-}

jens

jens g.r. benthien
designer
http://www.sacalobra.de

----------//--
If you don't know how to dream you'll never be a designer.
----------//--

[RAMWolff44]

and another user was commenting on how sluggish CorelDraw 11 was, I was under the impression that it was greatly improved and speedier. Guess not. She's got a good system and I think runs Adobe's graphics products as well so you know she's got a good system. So that's a sorry thing and then to hear this news. Oh well.

UPDATE: Here is a bit of the news column, which explains things better. Corel is not going away!

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>“We are excited about this unique opportunity to acquire a significant stake in Corel,� remarked Alex Slusky, Vector Capital’s Managing Partner. “While we realize that Corel has faced many challenges in recent years, at its core is a solid foundation of advanced products, dedicated and talented employees, and loyal customers. We look forward to working with the Corel team to leverage these strengths.�

"We welcome this significant investment in Corel by Vector," said Derek Burney, President and CEO of Corel Corporation. "By becoming the company's largest shareholder, Vector is demonstrating its confidence in Corel's strong business fundamentals and potential for growth. Corel remains focused on achieving profitability in 2003, and we believe that having Vector as a major shareholder will add positive value to our organization."<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Richard

---Wolff On The Prowl---

[Gary David Bouton]

...and then again I remember Aldus PageMaker.



Jens, there's three important reasons, as I see it, for owning a version, any version of CorelDRAW.

1.)No other application in existance does enveloping like DRAW. I'd guess that 90 to 100% of all the fancy logos you see where text swoops and angles was done in DRAW.
2.)It's a real quick way to make Illustrator-valid 3D objects. The Extrude command is a very fast avenue to making extruded text. I realize that there are plug-ins for this, and (obviously) every modeling program, but modeling programs don't return a vector-format extrude.
3.)TrueType export. If you want vectors to remain as vectors in for example Photoshop, then toy need to create a typeface out of your design(s). And DRAW exports to TrueType font format. The other way to do this is with FontLab or Fontographer, and by the time you buy one of these suckers, you're halfway to buying the DRAw suite.

Do not get me wrong. I think Cowpland mismanaged Corel Corp. to the brink of extinction and also under his direction, User Support was snippy and arrogant. I really hated what the company had become by 1996. But DRAW is not so much a product of arrogant management as it is a product of engineers. And yeah, 11 is slower than 9, and DRAW 10 is a distaster (only odd versions of DRAW seem to be good!)

I own it because I use it. It's not the smartest spending of money, but then again,. I was a smoker also for 22 years! (I quit five years ago and never felt better or richer!)

My Best,
-g-

[This message was edited by Gary David Bouton on March 25, 2003 at 14:18.]

[jens g.r. benthien]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>but modeling programs don't return a vector-format extrude.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I agreee, however the above statement doesn't apply to all apps. C4D and Rhino do export *.ai formats, and Rhino exports WMF as well. Sure, no shading or colors, but it's a snap to add colors in Xara X.

Corel is great, but I prefer Xara X because it's faster and more intuitive - this is my personal opinion. I grew up with Corel from version 1 - I've been the first one in Germany to use it because I imported it from Hong Kong. But as soon as Corel Xara hit the market I switched completely.

And yes, I'm still using PageMaker from time to time. A very robust tool in my box. Even though it is an Adobe product I like it <grin>.

jens

jens g.r. benthien
designer
http://www.sacalobra.de

----------//--
If you don't know how to dream you'll never be a designer.
----------//--

[Gary David Bouton]

Hi Jens...

Actually, Deneba Canvas can write an extrude or a revolved 3D shape to vector, but I do not think there are that many numbers of users.

My intention was to state that given these 3 niceties with any version of DRAW, they together make a semi-compelling reason to have DRAW around.

Apparently, if you go to XARA.com, I'm a "Master of XARA"...and I, like you, switched when XARA came out from DRAW. But today, I see no reason to totally shun using a product i already have and am expienced with. You got a year on me, Jens: I didn't start using DRAW until version 2.


My Best,
-g-