CorelDraw Graphics Suite X3 (full version)

9 out of 10 - Spectacular
Best Version Yet
I may be biased since I have been a staunch CorelDraw user since I started with Version 3 many many ...
I may be biased since I have been a staunch CorelDraw user since I started with Version 3 many many years ago. I have used every version of Corel Draw eversince. Due to the nature of my work I also use and I have used all of the competitors programs as well, but I seem to always revert back to my Corel Draw, because I have everything that I need to do the job in one package, unlike all the competitors, especially the big 'A', where you have to use several of their packages to do the same job that you can do in Corel. The Biggest Plus however is the cost of this complete product and there it Wins Hands Down over the competition. Read more
by Larry Hubbert (see profile) - March 14, 2006

3 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
2 comments posted to this opinion

4 out of 10 - Mediocre
Slow and inconsistant
The CorelDraw Graphics Suite is best suited for one-person, one-project at a time operations - the minute you send something ...
The CorelDraw Graphics Suite is best suited for one-person, one-project at a time operations - the minute you send something out to a third party, problems will begin. It is unsuitable for professional quality printing or layout work due to its poor style sheet execution, and other erratic behavior.

Draw actually embeds bitmaps in the documents it generates, causing them to bloat in size, from less than 1 mb to 50 mb in size if you are not careful. While Draw can do multi-page documents, they are not stable after fifty or so pages.

Paint, the bitmap editor, isn't much better. It lacks a degree of precision and accuracy needed to quickly edit photos.

In short, the only reason that this is the best alternative to the rock-solid performance of the Adobe suites - is because it is the ONLY alternative. And it isn't a very good one either. Read more
by solitare_pax (see profile) - May 12, 2008

9 out of 10 - Spectacular
Just awesome
This interface is very easy to use, although, it still takes a while to understand, but doesn't take anywhere ...
This interface is very easy to use, although, it still takes a while to understand, but doesn't take anywhere near as long to figure out as photoshop does. And this suite does just about everything photoshop does, for half the price...

...A whole graphics suite that costs less than just photoshop, and does the same stuff and more?
Sold. Read more
by mrsimms (see profile) - December 14, 2007

9 out of 10 - Spectacular
Genius But Still a Bit Unstable
I've been buying the CorelDRAW Graphics Suite since version 3 and they have made some excellent improvements! I remember ...
I've been buying the CorelDRAW Graphics Suite since version 3 and they have made some excellent improvements! I remember emailing them a request to use a specific type of binding on their clipart book (the pages would fall apart) and they came out with my request in the next version. They LISTEN to their customers!

Compared to Adobe products, I've always felt Corel is more intuitive, easier to use, can do things in one-fourth the steps, and SO much more valuable! You get your bang for the buck here. It's like buying a Lexus.

I showed an Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator fan my Corel products over Thanksgiving and he just about cried. He was so amazed at the things I could do in so few steps!

Only thing is the stability. Ever since version 3 they have been really weak in their stability. It loves to crash on me when I've made some good progress. Or I'll try to undo a couple steps and something gets buggy and I can never really get back to where I want.

The masking tool is the best! The wineglass tool for transparency saves SO MUCH time! The tracing feature is thebomb.com. I don't understand why anyone uses Adobe Photoshop any more! Oh... it might be more stable. But that's all they have on Corel! That's it!

I love Corel. Read more
by jedhunsaker (see profile) - December 2, 2007