DSF

logobear;123215 wrote:if buying, be wary of microsoftstore.org.uk

I am looking at buying Corel Draw and saw microsoftstore.org.uk - something didn't feel right about them so decided not to buy from them ........ obviously a good decision on my part. I still haven't purchased. I'm looking for either X6/X7/X8 as told either of these will work well for my requirements and spending money on newer editions is an unnecessary expense???

wilde-one;131266 wrote:I am looking at buying Corel Draw and saw microsoftstore.org.uk - something didn't feel right about them so decided not to buy from them ........ obviously a good decision on my part. I still haven't purchased. I'm looking for either X6/X7/X8 as told either of these will work well for my requirements and spending money on newer editions is an unnecessary expense???

You can use coreldraw on a monthly paid for basis direct from them, no long term contract, thats what we did initially before a used copy of X6 came up to buy which was too good to refuse.

This might have been mentioned before - Coreldraw X6 is not compatible with Windows 10

I have no need for vector drawing software. I do all of my designing in Photoshop and, should I need vectorisation for vinyl or print & cut jobs, I simply black out my design and paste it into the excellent VectorMagic software. Couple of clicks with the mouse is all that's usually needed.

If any tweaking of a vector is required (shifting nodes, reducing complexity, etc) then the free Inkscape is a very capable editor, although, personally, I do these things in my cutter software, SCAL4.

I guess it will depend on your requirements. Cut and print seems best served by starting out with the quality that vector delivers but this maybe more than you need if say your only designing and printing mugs.

I have the subscription to Coreldraw suite 2018. It all depends what you have used and what you are requiring it to do. I use it as I do a lot of signage for vehicles so the vector side is important to me.

Ive recently up graded to X8 which is included in the latest Wilcom upgrade. ( E4).
My favourite though is X4 . For me , and probably most of us on here the X4 version is good enough.
X8 has a few new bells and whistles but nothing that we really need. Maybe the newer version has better colour management but as Im a vector user and not printer I dont need the extra stuff.

I plumped for X8 but just as Earl states above, I also prefer X4 for most tasks. X8 supports my cutting software which is brilliant and my reason for buying the version. If I'm just doing a quick job I load up X4 most of the time though

I must spend more time on X8 though!

With regard to cutting, do you want a great cutting program that also supports vector design and editing, or do you want a great vector design and editing program that also supports cutters (ie. CorelDraw or Illustrator)?

For me, it was the first choice. I use Sure Cuts A Lot 4 and, for only £50, it does everything I need. I also design stuff in Photoshop for Print & Cut which I black-out and convert to SVG format in VectorMagic for import to SCAL4.

I'm a Corel Draw man but a couple of programes worthy of note if your needs or budget don't warrant the expense are Inkscape (mentioned earlier) which is free, a little clonky to use but perfectly good for most basic stuff and also Affinity Draw (previously versions were known as Serif Draw Plus) Providing your cutting utility software which came with the plotter supports AI, EPS and possible pdf/svg import it could well be a viable answer for many. For more sophisticated work at larger sizes Corel Draw is still difficult to beat and even earlier versions do alot.