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I think you're right about X5 having serial number activation. Version X3 didn't require it. I have run into activation issues from time to time with various programs. I've had to email Corel and Astute Graphics a couple different times about activation issues. In Astute Graphics' case its...

Given there are so many makes and configurations of Windows-based PCs it would not be surprising at all to see a certain version of CorelDRAW act perfectly stable on one machine and then have problems running on another machine. I remember CorelDRAW 9 being a pretty decent version. CorelDRAW 10...

I'm tinkering around with the trial version. The Pointillism filter works pretty well. I would definitely use it for more accurate looking LED message center simulations on client sketches. The Block Shadow tool works pretty well (and fast). One nit I have to pick with it is some of the curve...

So, Corel released the "2018" upgrade to CorelDRAW. I'm not sure what to think about it at this point. We passed on the "2017" upgrade, feeling the paltry number of new improvements and features weren't worth a $199 upgrade price just 12 months after the release of CorelDRAW X8. Here we are 2...

It's the nature of the sign business that you have to police customer provided artwork, even art files sent in from other people with actual graphic design jobs. Unless the designer has actually worked in the sign industry before (or had plenty of experience exchanging art files with sign...

I definitely agree with getting a copy of the artwork in its original, native format. If it was created in Adobe Illustrator it's best to get a copy of the original .AI file (but with the fonts included or all type converted to outlines). The same goes for files created in CorelDRAW. Our shop...

The "Lens" tool in CorelDRAW can accomplish what you're asking. The trick is using the "Magnify" tool with a setting of 1.0X and checking the "frozen" option. That will create a copy of the desired artwork within the clipping shape. Then you can get rid of the larger group of objects behind it...

Opening customer provided PDFs can often be a crap shoot, even if the PDF was generated by Adobe Illustrator. There's lots of things the person creating the PDF can do to mess up things. It's no big deal at all to convert fonts embedded in a PDF to outlines. That's easy. Just place the PDF into...

Canned stock templates (Word Press, etc) have taken over much of the web design market. Adobe looks like it is going that route via its Spark platform.

I'm calling BS on that one. I've been using both CorelDRAW and Adobe Illustrator for over 20 years (currently use Corel X8 and Illustrator CC 2018). The two applications have their own unique strengths and weaknesses, so I prefer having access to the strengths of both. More important: CorelDRAW...

I don't mind having to copy an object from an existing Illustrator .AI document over into a new one for exporting purposes. It's a fast process with keyboard shortcuts to copy and paste into the new document. It's certainly faster than deleting everything else in the existing document. I prefer...

Raster-based files of things like logos, when supplied by customers, often stink. A JPEG is fine if all you need to do is print an image of it at a modest size. For many other sign-making tasks any raster-based file is a non-starter. If the customer wants channel letters made from their logo...

I've seen this typeface before, but can't recall where. TIA for any help identifying it.

There is no Mac version of CorelDRAW, not to mention a couple other applications I use at work. That's a deal breaker for me switching to the Mac platform. Corel tried releasing a Mac version about 15 years ago. It didn't sell so Corel ended that experiment. It's not necessary to run a Mac to...

Most of the time the art files I receive are from customers, not other sign people. They're going to put up with only so much from a sign guy telling them how they should use their software, what kinds of files to supply, etc. You have to walk a fine line getting the right kinds of artwork from...

Both CorelDRAW and Adobe Illustrator have serious limitations with importing artwork from their rival applications. Neither plays nicely with the other. I've been dealing with this particular issue, along with plenty of other artwork export-import issues, for over 20 years. The only real...

I'm stumped on the identity of the typeface used in the attached font sample. The customer gave me a vector-based logo, which I used to create this lettering sample. But some of the letters are set on an arc and I need to compose a couple lock-ups with new lettering set on a straight line, which...

Please check out the attached PNG image. I've seen these ornamental symbols before, I think in a symbol typeface from a text typeface family. But I'm not sure if they're from an Adobe or Corel clip art library either. Thanks in advance for any help getting an ID on this.

I started using a large 12.9" iPad Pro (512GB WiFi only 2017 model) for certain hand-drawn tasks. I'm not an Apple fan, but after comparing the stylus performance between the Wacom Cintiq, Microsoft Surface Pro/Surface Pro Studio the Apple Pencil in conjunction with the iPad Pro won out handily...

If the artwork is a native Adobe Illustrator .AI file there should be no sliced up artwork, bounding boxes and other extraneous trash -at least not when you're opening the .AI file in Adobe Illustrator. Normally the boxes and sliced artwork comes from placed PDF files, with the PDF being the...