[SOFTWARE] Has anyone used Corel products?

[SOLIDKREATE]

I used to have CorelDraw way, way back in 2001. I am now on the 'hamster wheel' at Adobe shelling out money monthly. I'd rather own my license. I do have a CS6 Master Collection license but I bought third party on EBay (boxed retail OEM) and they said they can't help me. All I need are the installers. I have my license.  I found a free DDS Converter tool that can do all the DTX5 ARGB, Mipmaps stuff like Photoshop Does. So, Does anyone here that skins use Corel products?  I really want to jump off the wheel.

 

Anyway I was looking at CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2019. It runs for $500.00 USD and comes with:

 

Main Applications

• CorelDRAW® 2019 – Vector illustration and page layout
• Corel PHOTO-PAINT® 2019 – Image editing
• Corel Font Manager™ 2019 – Font Exploration and management tool
• PowerTRACE™ 2019 – Bitmap-to-vector tracing (included as part of CorelDRAW 2019 application)
• CONNECT™ 2019 – Content finder (included as part of CorelDRAW 2019 application)
• CAPTURE™ 2019 – Screen capture tool
• CorelDRAW.app™ – online graphic design via web browser
• AfterShot™ 3 HDR* – RAW photo editor
• BenVISTA PhotoZoom Pro 4* – Plug-in for enlarging digital images

Content*

• 7,000 clipart, digital images, and vehicle wrap templates
• 1,000 high-resolution digital photos
• Over 1,000 TrueType and/or OpenType fonts
• 150 professionally designed templates
• Over 600 fountain, vector and bitmap fills

Documentation*

• Quick Start Guide
• Quick Reference Card
• Online Help files

Supporting Applications

• Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications – Task automation
• Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for Applications – Task automation and advanced macro projects
• Barcode Wizard – Generator of bar codes in industry-standard formats
• Duplexing Wizard – Guide for two-sided printing
• GPL Ghostscript (ZIP) – Enhanced import of EPS and PS files

Training*

• Online training videos, including "What's New" video tours
• Online video hints and Insights from the Experts
• "Hints" docker
• New Discovery files accessible through “Get Started” in the Welcome screen

 

 

 

[616Sqn_Tyggz]

Hi Spek, I've been using Corel PaintShop Pro for some time now going into the previous decade back when the software was associated with Jasc. Today I'm using it for IL-2 skins and texturing my own models.

I'd recommend giving it a go, I get a tonne of use out of it over Photoshop and do almost all of my 2D work in it.

 

 

It's also compatible with NVIDIA's Photoshop plugins for DDS and normal map conversions.

[Thad]

Yes, I've had and used an old version of Paintshop Pro for years. I use it for basic graphic manipulation only. 

Edited July 3, 2019 by Thad

[SOLIDKREATE]

Thanks guys, yeah I just downloaded the trials. And since I own CorelDRAW 12.0 Graphics Suite from a while back, I get the whole new one for just $183.

 

 

 

 

Oh what do you use for .DDS export? I found a free tool but it does not look official.

 

 

 

- Isaac

Edited July 4, 2019 by 325TH_SPEKTRE76

[HappyHaddock]

I'd  add my vote of confidence for paintshop pro -  Started with it way back before Corel got involved with Jasc version 3.

 

It offers all the features of Adobe that are useful and none of the clutter that makes it cumbersome, plus because paintshop evolved from an art package rather than a photo editing package, as an artist by trade I find everything far more intuitive and user friendly... plus the majority of plug-ins for adobe are compatible with paintshop.

 

Obviously everyone has their own preferences but I can't honestly see why anyone would pay out on monthly subscriptions or pay hundreds for graphics software when paintshop pro is available for a very modest one off payment.  I have about eight different graphics packages installed  on my PC, including an old version of Adobe but about 98% of all my work is done through paintshop pro.

 

HH

[entropy46]

3 hours ago, HappyHaddock said:

I have about eight different graphics packages installed  on my PC, including an old version of Adobe but about 98% of all my work is done through paintshop pro.

HH

I am very impressed with your work, and would like to ask which version of Paintshop Pro you use?  The reason I ask is I just discovered that mods have been added to BOX - until recently, I would only visit the IL2 website occasionally.  I've been modding an old sim using old software, so now I am investigating upgrades to mod BOX but find negative comments about CorelDRAW 2019 on the Corel forums.  Within reason, I don't mind spending money but don't want to get stuck with buggy software that is not supported.  

 

Examples of work using CS2 and Max9 (click to enlarge).

Edited July 4, 2019 by entropy46

[HappyHaddock]

I started out with jasc paintshop back in the early/mid 1990's, when Corel took over they lost their way for a short while as they tried too hard to become photo editing software so I stuck with Jasc v9.0 for a good while.

 

The first Corel version of paintshop I really liked was the 2012 version which offered all the photo editing I wanted/needed but at heart was still a good art package. Currently I'm running the 2018 64bit Ultimate version of Corel's paintshop. About the only minor annoyance with it is that although the nvidia dds plugin technically works with this I find it unreliably troublesome and so do all the creative work in paintshop and then simply use an old copy of Adobe as a dds conversion tool.

 

if anyone has any tips for getting the dds plugin to work reliably I'd be pleased to hear about it, the normal maps part of the plugin works fine and the various dialogue boxes for the dds plugin "shows up" but when I try to open dds or "save-as" the plugin  comes back with an error message saying it can''t read the format.

 

HH

Edited July 4, 2019 by HappyHaddock

[entropy46]

2 hours ago, HappyHaddock said:

I started out with jasc paintshop back in the early/mid 1990's, when Corel took over they lost their way for a short while as they tried too hard to become photo editing software so I stuck with Jasc v9.0 for a good while.

 

 

Thank you!!!