Drawing with the Mesh Tool

[sallybode]

Here is a drawing that began with the mesh tool. However, I use shadow painting and added a bit of smoothing in PhotoPaint and touch up with the sponge tool. Shadow painting as I call it is drawing a shape, assigning it a shadow, then setting the object fill to 100% transparency. This does not make the shadow transparent. The various blend modes with the new shadow tool allow for significant blending improvements, in my opinion over CD 12.

I found that in order to edit the lines I had to have "treat as filled" selected or I was not able to edit the lines drawn with the Artistic Media tool. Normally I leave treat object as filled turned off.

The method of drawing isn't as quick as using Xara, but there are nice effects that can be achieved.

[Sark]

A nice example Sally.

With regards to "Shadow painting", it's worth remembering that a macro will achieve this quickly. I've added an Effects menu which includes a "Gaussian Blur" option. This basically creates the Shadow/Blur effect to an object at a single click. And of course you can continue to node edit the original objects control path. Not quite as convenient as Xara, but it works well enough.

Sark

[Grafixman]

Too engrossed in 3D lately, but I still keep an eye on every new posts. Looks like you managed to tame the mesh fill, Sally. I tried, many times, but I think I give up on this tool. It's easier to just airbrush the colors in a bitmap program. But yes, the shadow painting trick is the one I use if I ever need to do a blurred color in draw. But as you guys said, it's no match for Xara's version. Do you know that the same thing (shadow on invisible object) can be done in PhotoImpact? I use the same trick to get an editable airbrushed shape in PI with the path tool...
Sark, a macro sounds like a good idea. Gotta try that some time. If I ever manage to do one properly....

[sallybode]

Sark, is the macro written for DRAW or for PhotoPaint? And I think you are using 9, right?

[Sark]

Sally.

I'm now using CD12. Mainly because the AI to clipboard macro didn't work in versions prior to CD10. The Gaussian Blur macro was recorded for Draw (12) and I then edited it down for efficiency, as the recorder records a lot of unneccersary lines of text. The next time I'm on line I'll post a copy.

Sark

[sallybode]

That would be so useful and sweet of you. Have missed talking with you. Did you get your dog poster published?

[Sark]

Hi Sally.

Yes, the photo printed to 20 x 16 very well and is currently on my parents wall. Have been busy lately and can only get on line occasionally. Have considered trying to get connected at home again, but Broadband isn't available in my area and the physical condition of my line made normal dial up a nightmare last time I tried. Can't even get a digital TV signal and am finally having to have a satelite dish installed. Now I'll have dozens of channels of rubbish to choose from instead of just four (LOL).

Here's the Gaussian blur macro I created. This just needs to be dumped in the Corel GMS folder. Program Files/Corel/Corel Graphics 12/Draw/GMS. It should work for versions 10 & 11 as well. You can test it by going into Tools/Visual Basic/Play where it should appear in the "Macro in" drop down list. You can also edit the VBA code from here by clicking the Edit button.

http://s45.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3...J0W2IR5YCSJ7YG

Macros can function from a shortcut key, or menu item, by going into Options/Customization/Commands. Click the dropdown list and Macros should be at the top. Select this and it will show all the installed macros. From here you can assign a shortcut key. If you want to drag the macro to a menu item, first select the Appearance tab and rename it according to how you want it to appear in the menu.

Finally, if you want a different default opacity, feathering or colour, you can edit the bottom line of the macros VBA code. The first two figures (100, 20,) represent the opacity and feathering. The four figures after "CreateCMYKColor" represent the colour using CMYK values.

There's no need to use the Drop Shadow tool button to edit. Once you apply the Drop shadow to an object you can edit its properties by clicking on the feathering, this opens the drop shadow property bar. Clicking on a solid area with the pick, or node-editing tool enables normal object editing. I'm sure you know all this, but it will help those new to CD who find this thread.

Of course Xara and Illustrator make this so much easier. It's just a shame Corel don't keep an eye on the competition, maybe we would have some useful new functions rather than the novelty additions that seem to appear with each new upgrade. How much code went into creating an Update manager that can never be truly turned off, yet was required for a total of one update for Draw 12.... Crazy.

Sark

PS…One point worth making to those new to CD. Drop Shadows are bitmaps. If you intend working with lots of these, you should go into Options/General and change Draws default resolution (300DPI) to 72DPI. If you want to output to print, or high res bitmaps, you can change it back to 300DPI when you have finished. You’ll need to scale the image by a negligible amount (0.01% is enough) to apply the change.

[sallybode]

Very nice little macro, and quite useful.

Nice description of function. It is also convenient to use the eyedropper tool and copy the attributes to the new item, if you have a similar effects you have used, you only need to create it once, then edit what you have created. Soon you have a palette of variations to choose from.

Perhaps CorelDRAW looks at function and says to themselves, that the useful addition just doesn't feel like DRAW anymore. And the old users will cry. Oh, give me a break. If they don't encorporate good changes the customers will go where the useful features are, I would.

I encountered my first real headache today with X3. Our largest press that we run all the time is condidered a landscape press, based upon when it is running 8.5 x 11, that then this page is landscape, as the gripper is on the landscape edge. It is still considered landscape despite when it runs tabloid and it now pulling from the portrait edge. CD 12 understood this nuance of printer's logic (though it is completely illogical), but X3 does not. And you can't change your portrait and landscape designations or lie to it and force the width to be greater than the height. Consequently when the work wen to the plate maker, I couldn't get it to turn for the platemaker until I rotated the page to portrait, then it sent landscape. Of course it really isn't that much trouble, I just ctrl-A, ctrl-G, transform at -90 degrees and print, but it is a bit annoying. However, it makes great .pdfs and it takes less time to make a .pdf and leave my setup correct than to rotate it and have the risk that something I don't want saved gets saved by my office full of do-gooders.

There are also some display issues on zoom that I haven't quite figured out. But I can import duotones I made in Photoshop and use the great vector text in CD any color I want, any drop color shadow I want with tranparency, so there are some cool things. I just wonder who shakes this stuff down before they burn all the discs. You'd think with the prevalence of AB Dick out there, that CD would want to be 100% compatible?

Still is quicker for me to trouble shoot it than to use other programs. So I am better off, just have to steer clear of the shortfalls.

[Sark]

I forgot about the Eyedropper tools versatility in CD12. I used CD9 for so long I’m still only really aware of the more obvious additions to 12.

Whilst I’m a strong critic of Draw, this is the app I choose to use. In general use it offers so much more than everything else I’ve tried. It’s certainly a big install. But CD12 is as stable as CD9 on my system now, so I’m not too bothered about how much space it takes up.

The problem with Draw is you sometimes wonder if Corel make decisions just to frustrate its users. Take the anti-aliasing issue. If this was how it had always worked it would still be wrong, but it worked just fine up to CD9 after which they changed it for the worse, why?

I’m not going to list all the issues because we both already know what they are. I certainly would not want to be using Draw in a pro environment for fear of what issues would surface that are currently not relevant to me. Having said that, you clearly are doing this quite successfully. I suspect this is partly because you are a problem solver, and are happy to use work arounds.

For now Draw is the best app for my needs, so I’ll continue to use it and just accept the issues. Ultimately it’s still a great program, it could just be so much better.

Sark

[sallybode]

I guess it is this way, once a company is established, it becomes concervative, doesn't want to take risks. And just like with AutoCAD, there are many who like things as they always have been and don't see any reason to change. That's where the black box at the bottom with the DOS commands comes from, the old DOS, of course, still often useful, however if you can understand it.

So when I need more than DRAW does or can do I use Photoshop and I just encorporate Xara into my workflow when I need DRAW to do what it can't. Xara is much better and faster at drawing with italic lines. DRAW's tool for this bog down, but there are so many keyboard shortcuts I use, and ways to export on .pdf's that I find much clearer than on any other program. I use Illustrator to check my .pdfs to be sure that there are no RGB elements. Mine I don't check this way, unless I have a question on color management.

I know how to solve the problems. So I guess I am a bit of a stick in the mud. And that's all the creativity that a deadline will allow.

The new X3 does have its share of little bugs, however, so I am not doing anything except color separations in it at work that can't be handled in CD 12. Besides, I have to teach the others how to use something new and the bosses daughter hates learning to use something different. She is finally convinced to let me set up Bitstream on her computer for her fonts.

Gripper margin for presses is an important point for our work and at least DRAW gives me a clear view of how much to expect on the plate output so I can make adjustments when needed.

A little while ago, there were many questions asked about crop marks. And one reason I often draw my own are because of press offset issues for gripper. We order stock specifically for certain jobs, so there is minimal trim and the big press doesn't have the same offset as the other presses. It has 3/8" instead of 1/4". And they forget that when ordering the paper. Consequently I can lie to the platemaker and make the plate longer which will make the image centered after the gripper edge or I can not do my publication to its final trim size, but lay it out on the paper size and then add my own trim marks and bullets. The pressman wants the most ink coverage closest to the gripper and this makes the plate rotation important. On .pdf with X3 the set to overprint is well supported on .pdf and also doesn't drop out like it did in 12 when printing directly out of DRAW.

So with cropmarks, I do them all by the numbers so I end up with all the marks dead on, can't rely on the snap being accurate enough to show exactly the trim. If they trim it wrong it can throw off the fold, etc. So accuracy is a big issue. For folds I double-click the rectangle tool and then divide the horizontal axis by 3 to get my front cover and middle fold. This works pretty well, and then I delete these guides. Once grouped and dragging from the middle, Dynamic Guides with Snap to Objects is very useful to go from on up imposition to what ever number the page will accomodate.

Had a conversation recently with the quality controlman at one of our service bureaus because someone had furnished me an RGB .pdf. The client did use DRAW, just didn't make her .pdf setting correctly and did not check her .pdf before sending it. The man told me artists are all Bohemians. I said, well I don't approach it that way. "Yes," he said "but you are a scientist who has learned to employ art to the science of printing to achieve the desired results. Others look at the output and don't know how much planning it all took." Blown away, not used to getting compliments actually. Because the buck stops at my desk, I have to figure out how to fix it.

The challenge of DRAW is, knowing how to get the most of it, don't check your brain by the door when you start.