If you read my blog, receive emails from Corel, or follow us on Facebook, you may have heard about our new CorelDRAW Membership and Subscription programs in the last six months. As many companies in the software industry move to solely cloud-based distribution and even stop selling physical products for some, we’ve chosen to expand the different ways that you can purchase and use CorelDRAW. By offering more options to you our users, we’re giving you the flexibility to choose how you want to experience CorelDRAW.

We will continue to sell the box version of CorelDRAW in stores, through online partners and on our website – www.corel.com. You can also purchase a full download version through our website and through selected channel partners. Both the box and the download version are perpetual licenses, e.g. they will never expire and you can keep using them forever (we do not commit to compatibility with future operating systems or hardware though). Alternatively, if you’re looking for a cost effective or short-term solution, you can subscribe to CorelDRAW on an annual or monthly basis.

With the latest version, current X6 users are entitled to a Standard Membership at no additional cost. As a Standard Member, you’ll receive product updates as well as online access to digital content during the life of the product. If you want to expand your design experience and always be up-to-date with the latest features, you can become a Premium Member, which gives you access to exclusive content, use of exclusive new features and an upgrade to the next major version of CorelDRAW when it’s available at no extra cost. Yes, that’s right, if you purchase a (perpetual) box or download version now and sign-up for a Premium Membership (yearly fee required), you will get the next Major version at no extra cost (if you premium membership is active at that point). And for those of you who decide to subscribe to CorelDRAW Graphics Suite, the Premium Membership is included in that monthly or yearly price.

I did post more information about the CorelDRAW Memberships & Subscriptions in previous entries on my blog – here, here and here.

What You Can Expect From the Latest CorelDRAW Update for Premium Members

Today, we’ve added more cloud-based content and more new features available exclusively to Premium Members with the X6.3 update. Now you can create customizable QR codes in CorelDRAW that incorporate colors, text and images. Once you’ve finished designing the code, you can also validate it to ensure that it can be read on most major smartphones and scanning apps. With this update, we’ve also added integration with Microsoft SkyDrive. Using Corel CONNECT, you can sync trays with SkyDrive, so that you can access the contents on other computers. For PHOTO-PAINT users, you can apply new special effects to your photos including bokeh blur, time machine, colorize and sepia toning. These are just a few of the new features that Premium Members can exclusively use through this update. To find out more about X6.3 and other features available through the X6.1 and X6.2 updates, visit corel.com/coreldraw-membership.

As we continue to develop our Membership Program and offer more choices to extend the CorelDRAW experience, we always like to hear your feedback. Are you a Premium Member or are you thinking about upgrading your Membership?

  • One more thing. You can find more answers regarding what happens when the premium membership expires in my previously posted FAQ available here: coreldraw.com/.../more-details-regarding-coreldraw-memberships.aspx

  • Arthur, Rtist,

    to make my answer short, yes, when X7 comes out and you have an active Premium Membership at that time, you will be able to download and use a perpetual version of X7.

    What will happen if you do not renew your premium membership with X7 is that you will loose access to all the Premium Features and Benefits (from both X6 and X7 if you started your premium membership with X6), and you will revert back to a standard membership level. As we continue to deliver regular updates through the X7 cycle, you won't be able to benefit from them at that point if you are not on an active Premium Membership.

    Finally, we will keep a close eye to people who try to "game the system", e.g. turning Premium on and off just to get access to the next major releases at a cheaper rate... We strongly believe in offering you, the CorelDRAW customers, with the best way to access the latest and greatest at the lowest possible cost, if you don't try to game the system.

  • I do hope Corel would make a better looking packaging and identity system for the next CorelDraw. Comparing it to its closest competitor, Corel seems a bit dated and could be improved even further. I keep hearing jokes that artists who do not use Adobe must be an angry MSPaint user. I know it's funny, but I feel bad that they aren't even aware of Corel. (MSPaint more popular than Corel??). This I feel should be the next challenge of CorelDraw as a brand, not just a product.

  • Thanks Gerard ! even i had a doubt similar as Arthur. i have my own X5 currently [won in International Design Contest 2011']. Now If i buy X6 get myself premium membership, can i get X7 without cost? will it be registered with serial no.? had never bought versions as upto X4 mine were unregistered versions that my local technician had installed. Later i got X5, so no question of buying occured again. I don't have xperience of buying a version, so please guide.  

  • I have a question. I am an owner of CorelDRAW X6. For example I will subscribe to 1 year Premium membership, next I will get the upgrade option to CorelDRAW X7 when it will be released, so does it mean that I will become an owner  of X7 version, even if my Premium membership someday will expire? In case if my computer crashes (with installed CorelDRAW X7 upgraded from X6) and I have to reinstall CorelDRAW from scratch, but my Premium membership is expired, will I be able to install and use CorelDRAW X7 again?

    Sincerely, Arthur