what do you hate about your software?

[saktrnch]

Illustrator needs a"zoom all" button like Corel... or any other drawing program on the planet. (oops... that was a bit snarky, wasn't it.)

It's a royal pain in the a$$ zooming out to see all objects in Illustrator.

I have a PC, so not sure what the corresponding key is on a Mac, just hold down the Alt key and roll the wheel on your mouse to zoom in and out. Press the Ctrl key and roll the wheel on your mouse to go left and right to get to where you need to be.

 

[Joe Diaz]

Corel makes auto backups, which is great. but if you force corel to close or it crashes and you restart Corel, it will attempt to open all of those autobackups. It asks you if you would like to open them, but they no longer have a specific name. Instead it's "Graphic 1" "Graphic 2", etc.. I think it would be great if the autobackups also retained the file name so you know what file you are agreeing to open.

 

[The Vector Doctor]

*Actually, I'll give $10 to anyone who can give me an elegant way to switch between the eyedropper and text tools using a command combo or function key.

How about the escape key and then the shortcut for eyedropper (I)?

 

[Tim Kingston]

Wait! I double clicked the icon with the little hand on it and it worked like Wayne said it would. (only to the artboard though... still no zoom to all objects)Wayne is better than Illy help! (so is my dog)

What about "ctrl + 0" , or do you mean you don't want to select any objects first?

 

[garisimo]

How about the escape key and then the shortcut for eyedropper (I)?

The problem with that method is that of the function needed -- try this example:

- select a word or phrase in a paragraph with the text tool (let's say it is Times, Bold, 14 pt)
- choose the eyedropper from the tool bar, and then click on some other, differently styled text (let's say it is Helvetica, Heavy Condensed, 24 pt).
- the highlighted text will change from Times... to Helvetica...

if you were to hit the Escape key the text after selecting the Times text as above the text would not remain highlighted.

-g-

 

[signmeup]

What about "ctrl + 0" , or do you mean you don't want to select any objects first?

Nope. I want a button. In Corel I click a button and it zooms out until all objects are shown. It's common in cad software and useful for finding "orphans" before you send out a file to print or whatever. Especially if the orphan is a shape with no outline or fill. Wouldn't cost Adobe much to add one.
It would be like deleting the "show desktop" button in Windows. You can minimize all the open windows yourself but it sure is handy to have that button.

 

[Locals Find!]

Nope. I want a button. In Corel I click a button and it zooms out until all objects are shown. It's common in cad software and useful for finding "orphans" before you send out a file to print or whatever. Especially if the orphan is a shape with no outline or fill. Wouldn't cost Adobe much to add one.
It would be like deleting the "show desktop" button in Windows. You can minimize all the open windows yourself but it sure is handy to have that button.

zoom out by holding the ctrl key and using the minus Key (-) to zoom out then hit ctrl - A for select all. If its their it will be selected. I do this all the time for exactly the reason you stated above.

 

[SignManiac]

corel makes auto backups, which is great. But if you force corel to close or it crashes and you restart corel, it will attempt to open all of those autobackups. It asks you if you would like to open them, but they no longer have a specific name. Instead it's "graphic 1" "graphic 2", etc.. I think it would be great if the autobackups also retained the file name so you know what file you are agreeing to open.

+11111111

 

[signmeup]

Corel makes auto backups, which is great. but if you force corel to close or it crashes and you restart Corel, it will attempt to open all of those auto backups. It asks you if you would like to open them, but they no longer have a specific name. Instead it's "Graphic 1" "Graphic 2", etc.. I think it would be great if the auto backups also retained the file name so you know what file you are agreeing to open.

It does not do this to me. If it crashes, it tries to save whatever file I was working on but it's in an obscure place that I can never remember how to find and has a funny name. But just the one file.

I tried to get Corel to make those auto save files in a separate drive once... and it did, until I closed the program and opened it again. Then it went back to saving it in the same old folder in Corel. Anyone know how to do this?

Autosave uses the same file name I assigned but adds "backup of" in front of it.

 

[TyrantDesigner]

what do i hate about my software ... hmm ...

Corel Draw:
-I hate how converting the outline is sometimes a chore of PAIN. ... such a decent program that does the basics so easily ... but making that stupid outline can make broken paths, lock the program and crash the file ... STUPID.
-I hate how it has a ton of bitmap effects you can do (and be able to combine and edit it all in one package) ... BUT ... simple things for vector distortions and the like ... NON EXISTANT. I end up taking my designs ... throwing them into illustrator distorting and doing all the effects I want ... then throwing them BACK into corel so I can clean them up from the horribly point inducing illustrator effects.

Illustrator:
-WHY can't you do the most simple of things without about 10 more steps than corel. I swear ... the amount of time it takes to create and refine shapes is about twice as long as it takes in corel ... you work great for things that are complex (distortions, custom art strokes, 3d effects, etc) ... but the rest of you is about as accurate for an illustrator to use as sticking a paintbrush up my nose and telling me I can learn to paint realism effectively ... might happen ... just will take a long time to do so.
-oh, and I hate that most "designers" files for graphics in CUT vinyl are never cut ready. explaining that to one is impossible.
-illustrator ... your vectorizing script sucks. Inkscape is 6 times the raster to vector god that you are attempting to be.

flexi:
-hate you. hate almost every inch of you for design EXCEPT the following:
.. your effects menu. clean concise ... like it.
.. your cut menu. Easy to navigate no matter what version.
.. that is it.
-the colors are horrid, it's rendering is jaggy at best, doesn't know how to export to a jpg without the jaggies, great for text but that is all. cleaning up points is a chore in pain. eff the rest of it.

 

[signmeup]

Huh?
"I swear ... the amount of time it takes to create and refine shapes is about twice as long as it takes in corel"

"... simple things for vector distortions and the like ... NON EXISTANT."(in Corel)

uhhhh.... which is it? Or am I misunderstanding you?
I can distort the crap out of shapes in Corel. Don't have a clue how to in Illustrator.

 

[TyrantDesigner]

I can distort the crap out of shapes in Corel. Don't have a clue how to in Illustrator.

Illustrator has effects that warp and distort (good for arc effects, bubble effects and even fake perspective) ... filters for the most part in illustrator ... same stuff that is in the distortion option under menu in photoshop.
corel is fantastic at point manipulation and manual distorting of points and objects .. but try to do a fake perspective of some text travelling to a distant point on a plain ... nigh to impossible. ... might be different in x3 or x5 ... but in corel 12 ... nothing like that.

 

[signmeup]

Illustrator has effects that warp and distort (good for arc effects, bubble effects and even fake perspective) ... filters for the most part in illustrator ... same stuff that is in the distortion option under menu in photoshop.
corel is fantastic at point manipulation and manual distorting of points and objects .. but try to do a fake perspective of some text travelling to a distant point on a plain ... nigh to impossible. ... might be different in x3 or x5 ... but in corel 12 ... nothing like that.

X4 does just fine with it. I don't remember 12.

 

[Joe Diaz]

It does not do this to me. If it crashes, it tries to save whatever file I was working on but it's in an obscure place that I can never remember how to find and has a funny name. But just the one file.

I tried to get Corel to make those auto save files in a separate drive once... and it did, until I closed the program and opened it again. Then it went back to saving it in the same old folder in Corel. Anyone know how to do this?

Autosave uses the same file name I assigned but adds "backup of" in front of it.

Yeah there seems to be two different types of backups. The one you speak of that is "backup of whatever" and is saved along side my other files. These are apparently one save behind the normal file. So if I design something and save it as "job1", then make a few more changes and save it again as "job1", then open up "backup_of_job1" it would be identical to my first save.

Where as these auto backups are a little different. They backup ever 5 or 10 minutes (I think you can adjust how often) and they save in some weird temp folder. Since I usually have multiple files opened at once, if corel were to crash and I were to restart it, it prompts me and lets me know that I have files that can be restored. I would be able to recover every file that was opened when it crashed, without losing too much work, maybe 5 or 10 minutes. Which is soo awesome. I wish my other programs did that. The problem is, it doesn't name those backups. So you have to wait to open all those backed up files, when you may only want to save one or two. I don't know if that makes sense.

But the way I see it, is if it can backup all that information and artwork, why can't something as simple as the name of the file carry over?


Another thing I wish Core did was have the ability to do things like elliptical
(or oval shaped) gradients It can do radial, linear, conical and square, and it does those very well, but if you wanted gradient for an oval, you would have to either use the mesh fill tool, which blows for doing that, or what I do is make a radial fill, convert it to a bitmap then squash or stretch it to fit the shape I want.

Anyway I use flash more then the other adobe products, and it has the ability to do this, so I'm assuming the rest of the adobe software suite has it too. But that is one of the rare things that adobe has that I wish corel did too.

 

[The Vector Doctor]

Yeah there seems to be two different types of backups. The one you speak of that is "backup of whatever" and is saved along side my other files. These are apparently one save behind the normal file. So if I design something and save it as "job1", then make a few more changes and save it again as "job1", then open up "backup_of_job1" it would be identical to my first save.

Where as these auto backups are a little different. They backup ever 5 or 10 minutes (I think you can adjust how often) and they save in some weird temp folder. Since I usually have multiple files opened at once, if corel were to crash and I were to restart it, it prompts me and lets me know that I have files that can be restored. I would be able to recover every file that was opened when it crashed, without losing too much work, maybe 5 or 10 minutes. Which is soo awesome. I wish my other programs did that. The problem is, it doesn't name those backups. So you have to wait to open all those backed up files, when you may only want to save one or two. I don't know if that makes sense.

But the way I see it, is if it can backup all that information and artwork, why can't something as simple as the name of the file carry over?


Another thing I wish Core did was have the ability to do things like elliptical
(or oval shaped) gradients It can do radial, linear, conical and square, and it does those very well, but if you wanted gradient for an oval, you would have to either use the mesh fill tool, which blows for doing that, or what I do is make a radial fill, convert it to a bitmap then squash or stretch it to fit the shape I want.

Anyway I use flash more then the other adobe products, and it has the ability to do this, so I'm assuming the rest of the adobe software suite has it too. But that is one of the rare things that adobe has that I wish corel did too.

I think oval gradients were not added until cs4 or cs5. The way I have had to do it on cs3 and older is draw a circle and fill with the radial gradient. Then squish the circle down to the oval shape and the gradient distorts as well

 

[Joe Diaz]

Illustrator has effects that warp and distort (good for arc effects, bubble effects and even fake perspective) ... filters for the most part in illustrator ... same stuff that is in the distortion option under menu in photoshop.
corel is fantastic at point manipulation and manual distorting of points and objects .. but try to do a fake perspective of some text travelling to a distant point on a plain ... nigh to impossible. ... might be different in x3 or x5 ... but in corel 12 ... nothing like that.

Yeah Corel has "add perspective" under "effects" I'm almost positive it IS in 12, which would do exactly what you are talking about, then it also has the envelope tool that isn't true perspective, but does allow you to distort vector shapes and text.

Then, if you use the extrude tool you can also add 3d effects and even rotate the vanish point on text and other vector shapes.

 

[Joe Diaz]

I think oval gradients were not added until cs4 or cs5. The way I have had to do it on cs3 and older is draw a circle and fill with the radial gradient. Then squish the circle down to the oval shape and the gradient distorts as well

They must have borrowed that when the bought Flash and Freehand then. Flash had it back in the Macromedia days. It's a great tool.

 

[GAC05]

Can't you just select from the menu object>rasterize and select the resolution there?

You can but the it limits you to about 6500 pixels in either direction.
At least that is what it looks like to me using CS5 on a pc.
Draw's raster limit is 30,000 pixels (I think).

wayne k
guam usa

 

[GAC05]

The fillet a single corner function is in Corel X4 under window/dockers/fillet/scallop/chamfer
It's a little primitive but it's there and it works.

This is/was in X3 as well. To do singles you select the points you want to fillet with the node tool then click apply. If the whole object is selected it will try to do all the points on the path.

wayne k
guam usa

 

[TyrantDesigner]

Yeah Corel has "add perspective" under "effects" I'm almost positive it IS in 12, which would do exactly what you are talking about, then it also has the envelope tool that isn't true perspective, but does allow you to distort vector shapes and text.

Then, if you use the extrude tool you can also add 3d effects and even rotate the vanish point on text and other vector shapes.

you know what ... color me purple ... i can do perspective ... alright scratch that ... still can't do arc curves or boolean warps ... that is flexi and illustrator still. ... makes me happy though. one less negative for corel.