Let me begin by saying, if you are a fan of X3, by all means treat this as a rant and pay it no heed. Hey, if it works for you -- enjoy. I am a professional graphic artist. I have been working in advertising/marketing as a designer for about 25 years. Currently I am the Chief Creative Director at such a firm. I predate computer design. I started when things were still done by hand on drawing boards and light tables. The first graphic design software I ever used was CorelDraw! It's been so long ago, that I don't even remember the version number, but I think it was either 2 or 3.
As computer graphics caught on and professional standards began to be established, certain names such as Adobe Illustrator and Quark Xpress took the lead among printers and designers. Over the years I have remained a staunch Corel user. I have consistantly held that it is superior to Illustrator in many ways. However, in more recent years, it has become harder and harder for me to defend this position. CorelDRAW really hit its stride around version 7. Either 7 or 8 is by far the best version of CorelDRAW ever marketed. After that the software designers started changing things that did not need changing, tweaking things that needed no tweaks, and fixing stuff that was not broken -- all the while ignoring some of the more egregious design flaws and technical issues.
To this day, I still use version 8 whenever I can get away with it. The problem with 8 is that it has some fatal bugs when running on XP or Vista. Because of these flaws, I have been forced to purchase upgrades in the hopes that the problems had been corrected. Trouble is, the newer versions screwed with the interface, tools, shortcuts, everything! I am now using X3 on my current workstation and it just flat out SUX! I have never used a less intuitive, more infuriating piece of software in my entire life! The only reason I am using it at all is because my version 8 is unstable on this particular XP platform.
I am just thankful that by some miracle 8 works without a hitch on my laptap, also running XP. Sadly, I must also get some work done on the studio workstations where I am forced to endure X3. The horror of it all is that I have long considered myself to be an enlightened opponent of the pathetic herd of Illustrator designers who had no clue about the wonders of CorelDRAW! Now, because of X3, I have actually been driven to using Illustrator more and more, just to maintain my sanity. I'm actually beginning to... (gag).. appreciate... (cringe)... Illustrator. It is a sad day for me because I think my days as an avid CorelDRAW designer may finally be coming to an end.
Sorry to be a hater... but this needed to be said. If you don't agree, I'm happy for you. But for me, 13 just blows.
The interface has not changed much for a very long time. What are you trying to do that you are having issues with?
Look, I'm really not trying to start a debate here about the virtues of X3 or lack thereof. I've got almost 15 years of user experience with CorelDRAW -- have designed award-winning pieces with it. I can't vouch for versions 11 and 12, because I upgraded from 10 to 13. But for me, X3 has changed some of the most intuitive and basic functions of the software, such as the way the color-tool works; the way certain tools and palettes function and interact; the ability to order your workspace; some of the keyboard shortcuts. Version 8 was so much cleaner and far less clumsy. Frankly, the latest CorelDRAW makes Illustrator look rather appealing and easy-to-learn by comparison.
I'm not a designer I'm a color management output professional providing professional output for Corel users since version 4. What I'm looking for is ( such as the way the color-tool works) What color tool do you mean? Of course an explanation of the difference in how it worked between 10 and X3.
Hey Rolf,
Can we see a sample of your work? Award winning would be great... Or maybe a comparison of what you've pulled off Illy vs. DRAW. I'm not doubting your graphic design credibility, it would just be interesting to see. I could never go back to using version 8 after using 12 and X3. I know that in latter versions of DRAW, some objects would have a hard time refreshing when working anything higher than a thousand layers/shapes. How do you get around that?