WildWestDesigns said:
This applies to opening up Corel files as well.
One cannot or should not expect a proprietary file format to be opened up by another program with 100% success rate. It's just not logical to expect that. Now, I'm a strong believer, as I have said numerous times, of having everything outlined or finalized to the upmost that one can still do and still have as much perks of it being vector as one can.
I have certain run into some issues bringing CorelDRAW-generated artwork into Adobe Illustrator. For porting to Illustrator I get the best results by exporting the artwork from Corel as Illustrator CS6 files (exported via CorelDRAW 2018). Illustrator won't open/place recent version CorelDRAW files and I've had very serious issues trying to open older CDR files directly in Illustrator. One SNAFU I experienced when attempting to open a CDR file directly in Illustrator involved completely uninstalling and reinstalling all Adobe software on my PC (as well as running Adobe's cleaner tool) to get Illustrator working again. Certain Corel-based effects, such as square fountain fills, are not supported in Adobe Illustrator. Corel doesn't support a bunch of Illustrator-based effects either.
For many years I've practiced the policy of expanding, flattening or finalizing as many effects in a design as possible once I was happy with the looks of it. Illustrator's art and pattern brush effects for line strokes are fantastic. But those effects do not port well at all outside of Illustrator. Gotta expand it into editable outlines. The same goes for things like text on path effects. Hell, when I'm done with a design I don't even leave any fonts "live." They're all converted to curves/outlines. Just from the perspective of using CorelDRAW exclusively leaving something like a text on path effect active is a hazard. I've opened 20 year old CDR files with still active text on path effects in recent versions of CorelDRAW. The results are as wacky as any CDR import attempt in a rival software application.
Adding to that, I make very detailed shop drawings/client sketches. Worst case scenario is losing the original art files in some unforeseen circumstance. Having at least a printed sketch with well detailed specs, dimensional call-outs, etc will provide a good formula to at least re-build straight-forward
sign designs from scratch accurately.
Some effects leave the user no choice but to keep the effect live. That goes for things like non-symmetrical gradient fills, such as elliptical gradients. Illustrator has supported that for a very long time. CorelDRAW only adopted that recently. Same for transparency on gradients or even full OpenType support.
In the end CorelDRAW is at a disadvantage to Illustrator because much of the advertising industry does not create or trade their brand assets in Corel's format. It's all Adobe. And like you said, you can't really trust a rival application to open a given graphics file in a proprietary format with 100% accuracy. At some point you end up having to just cave (and buy) to start using that specific software. I feel like Adobe is a near-monopoly over the situation.
WildWestDesigns said:
Ironically, even you were complaining about a particular type of lack of control when it comes to the Mac version of Corel.
That's in a different context. The problem with the Mac version of CorelDRAW is the program not meeting user expectations. Corel wasn't winning over a bunch of new defectors from Adobe (even though that is what they desire). Just about all the people buying the Mac version of CorelDRAW were existing CorelDRAW users who were running the
Windows version of CorelDRAW on their Macs in a
Windows shell. These people were already accustomed to how CorelDRAW worked in a
Windows environment. The radical and arguably backward changes to comply with Apple's OS ideology got many of them upset. Add the problem of slow performance to the mix and that made them downright angry. If Corel doesn't at least fix the slow performance problems ASAP we won't see another Mac version of CorelDRAW for another 15 or so years, if ever.
WildWestDesigns said:
I think one of the most popular closed source alternatives that has a good reputation is Affinity Designer. Now, down the road, still have to worry about Adobe (especially) buying it out and more then likely "killing" it (Freehand anyone?), but I'm speculating there. Or even they go the subscription route eventually. They may not, but that's just a possibility that exists.
I like what Serif is trying to do with Affinity Designer (as well as their Photo & Publisher apps). You can buy the full version for Mac/PC for $49.99 or the
iPad version for $19.99. Currently they have a 20% off special making the prices $39.99 and $15.99 respectively. You buy once and get all the following upgrades for free. That sounds like a fantastic deal. Here's what makes me wonder: Affinity Designer is a new, upstart program. It was first released in October of 2014. Adobe Illustrator was first released in March of 1987, 32 years ago. CorelDRAW was first released in January of 1989, 30 years ago. Can Serif's business model for Affinity Designer be stretched out to 30 years? It's not like Affinity Designer is without low cost challengers either. Inkscape's legacy goes back 15 years, and is a formidable rival on desktop computers. Affinity Designer has an
iPad version. But it's challenged there by several low cost applications, like Autodesk Graphic and Vectornator Pro. In the case of Vectornator, you can now grab that from Apple's App Store for free.
Regarding the angle of Adobe buying the Serif company just to kill Affinity Designer, I don't see that happening. On one point there doesn't appear to be anything unique Adobe could gain from acquiring Serif other than to just kill their products. Adobe bought out Macromedia to gain ownership of Flash and other IP Macromedia owned (and wasn't managing well). Apple bought Final Cut Pro from Macromedia. What does Serif have that Adobe doesn't already duplicate in Illustrator or Photoshop to some degree? Another issue is Serif is based in the UK. The UK as well as the EU might be inclined to block any attempts by Adobe to buy out that company, particularly if their only real goal is to eliminate some low cost, upstart competition. The folks over in Europe have to pay considerably more to subscribe to Adobe's software or buy/subscribe to Corel.