I was honored to participate in this week’s Microsoft Surface Pro launch event in Shanghai! Corel was invited to showcase a technology preview of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite introducing an on-screen experience for the Surface Dial and support for the new Surface Pen.

Everyone at Corel is truly inspired by the creativity our users around the world demonstrate every day. Your amazing designs, art, movies and photographs fuel our passion to give you the tools you need to bring your vision to life. And we’re always looking for new ways to leverage the latest hardware developments to make sure you have the most powerful creative environment at your fingertips. Our goal is to enable you to focus on your design while technology fades into the background.

With the latest generations of pen & touch based Windows computers like the new Surface Pro, we’re re-thinking how graphic artists create so we can help them transform their ideas into impactful designs. The new CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2017 dramatically expanded designers’ toolkits with a ground-breaking new Artificial Intelligence based tool called LiveSketch. For the first time, LiveSketch makes it as natural and easy to create vector curves on a computer as it is with pen and paper!

The neural network behind LiveSketch understands all the different sketching styles used by artists – from “chicken scratches” to folded lines – and seamlessly converts them into vector curves. As ZDNet said in their review, "If you've found working with vector graphics challenging before, LiveSketch is a revelation."

With CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2017, we also enhanced support for multi-touch with a natural pan & zoom functionality. Plus, we introduced a new tablet-optimized workspace with expanded pen support. CorelDRAW 2017 and Corel PHOTO-PAINT 2017 respond not only to your pressure, but also to tilt and bearing / azimuth. Even more, the expressive qualities and creative intent of your drawn curves are saved and retained for future editing. This powerful technology makes it possible to convey the full creative expression of your designs.

We’re also thrilled to have partnered with Microsoft on a new video that highlights the amazing creative possibilities of CorelDRAW 2017 on the Surface Pro. A special thank you to Jetz, an inspiring CorelDRAW designer whose art beautifully showcases this powerful duo!