If you've missed it, check out this post, this will get you up to speed on custom tools.

In this post I'll describe how to create a tool that allows you to draw a curve that zig zags along the path. You'll learn how to set up a new tool, modify the code to create a curve, set up custom application preferences, and bind those preferences to UI in property bar.

Step 1 - Backup your workspace:

Navigate t…

Hi again!

If you're into creating macros or addons for CorelDRAW, I'm about to blow your mind! New to CorelDRAW X7 Update 1 is the ability to create your own tools in VBA, C# or C++. We now expose a new interface that anyone can implement -- ToolState. We've also implemented many new functions and classes that are specifically geared towards creating tools.

While you can implement new tools in any language…

Hi all, I'm excited about fountain fills, and I hope you are too!

You may have noticed, there is a lot going on in CorelDRAW X7's new fountain fills (and Photo-Paint). Let's go through the features together:

It's easy to see what is going on here.  'Pad' is X6's fountain fill. 'Repeat and Mirror' repeats the fountain fill, flipping the gradient on every repeat.…

I uploaded a new version of FontTesterPlus to my Gallery : http://community.coreldraw.com/media/g/claudep/default.aspx

- In the Miscellaneous docker, I changed the OpenTypeFeatures mode in such a way that it now list all the OpenType tables in the drop down next to the mode drop down.

- Selecting an item in that Drop down will render a visual representation of the rules (lookups) that are used to implement the…

My first post suggested 1 way to do this.

There is another alternative, again, with FontTesterPlus (http://community.coreldraw.com/media/g/claudep/default.aspx).

You can build a "database" of all installed fonts' OpenType features. Here is how :

1) Run the "Tool->Dump installed font info..." command.

2) Depending on how many fonts you have installed, this will take a while and there is no…

Hello guys, one common problem that arise often is finding what fonts you might have installed on your system that an OpenType feature you might want to use.

For example, you might want to use the "fraction" feature but you don't know what fonts you might have that supports it.

We have not addressed this use case yet in CorelDRAW but FontTesterPlus allows you to do this. Here is how :

1) Install it from…

I uploaded a new version of FontTesterPlus to my Gallery : http://community.coreldraw.com/media/g/claudep/default.aspx

- Added character names

- Added glyph window character name filter (lets you find characters by name based on a regular expression!)

I uploaded a new version of FontTesterPlus to my Gallery : http://community.coreldraw.com/media/g/claudep/default.aspx

- Added Digit substitution support to the Uniscribe OpenType and Direct Write Window.

- Reworked my Language support. Now the language of your string is no longer defined by the OpenType Language field. Instead, it is defined by a new field in the "Font Selector->More Properties" section. That field…

FontTesterPlus is a tool that allows you to browse and explore the fonts installed on your system. It also allows you to test your fonts with various typography technologies such as GDI, GDI+, OpenType, Uniscribe, DirectWrite and WPF Typography. At its roots, it is made by software developers for software developers but can also be used by font designers to test their fonts and end users to test and explore their fonts…

For those of us in the northern hemisphere, it's getting cold, and for many, the snow has arrived, so I thought I'd share a technique to create snowflakes with Draw.  First, lets take a look at some real snowflakes (public domain image by Wilson Bentley courtesy of Wikipedia):

The first thing you may notice is that all of the snowflakes have six points, and that each point is symmetric.  This is called hexagonal…

Every version, there are a few features which don't make it to the back of the box, and because of this, you may never know they exist.  I'll go through a few of the lesser known features here.

Node Size

These days, High DPI monitors are becoming more and more popular and as a result it may be harder to select nodes when using the shape tool (really, it's the monitor, not my eyes).  Well, in X5 you can now…

Background

Color palettes in CorelDRAW are implemented using external files that hold all the color information for the palette. Prior to version X5 these files were stored in a proprietary binary format with a .cpl extension. In X5 they were changed to an XML format so that they are more readable and extensible. While you can create a palette entirely through the user interface of CorelDRAW or Corel PHOTO-PAINT, there…

Creating Patterns like Escher: Part 2 builds on Creating Patterns like Escher.  This time we demonstrate how to set up several square grid configurations including the one Escher used to create the following pattern:

Before we start

This article will build on what was discussed in Part 1, so if you haven't checked it out yet, you may want to do so now.  As with part 1, all grids are formed with cloned line segments, snapping is heavily used and duplicating is key to setting up the grids quickly.

Triangle Grid

In the first part, we discussed two configurations for creating interlocking patterns based on the triangular grid.  

Please check out Creating Patterns like Escher for a technique to create interesting interlocking patterns in CorelDRAW.

Before we start:

The method described in this article involves a lot of duplicating and arranging of shapes.  I want to highlight the method I use to do this quickly.

1. Identify the shape we want to arrange into a pattern
2. With snapping on, grab the shape from the corner
3. Snap the shape to itself.  Press the right mouse button once to put the move in duplicate mode (the cursor will have a '+' box under it)…

I recently started creating a web page where I needed a rating control similar to the one you see at the top of this page.  I found this great tutorial at KomodoMedia which demonstrates the html and css code behind this type of control.  I decided to base my rating control on this, but I wanted to change the look of the stars a bit, enter CorelDRAW.  

The KomodoMedia star control requires an image with 3 stars stacked on…

Here's some updated  information to help port dockers from X4 to X5 or create new dockers in X5:

http://community.coreldraw.com/blogs/insider/pages/x5-custom-add-ons-and-dockers-in-coreldraw-what-has-changed.aspx

There have been some minor changes to how CorelDRAW and Photopaint handle custom add-ons.  This article highlights the differences between X4 and X5.   I recommend first reading  Custom add-ons and dockers in CorelDRAW if you are interested in creating a custom docker.

Location, location, location

This first difference between X4's and X5's add-on management is the location of the add-ons.  The location has been moved…

This article describes how to do it, step by step:

Custom Outline Enhanced Pattern styles

Have fun!

Introduction

As part of the development team for Corel DESIGNER® 12, I and my colleagues restored the Outline Enhanced Pattern style from version 9 of the software. Although the current implementation does not allow this style to be customized from within the application, a dedicated user can manually create a custom enhanced pattern and format. This article describes how to do this, step by step.

Getting Starte…

This article covers a topic of creating custom add-ons and dockers with CorelDRAW X4.

Enjoy...

Custom add-ons and dockers in CorelDRAW

Update: For differences in X5 please see this

Introduction

As you know, CorelDRAW is a very extensible and customizable application.  With X4 a new feature was added that makes it even more so—the "Addons" folder.  In this tutorial, we'll discuss creating an addon, customizing UI and creating custom HTML dockers.  For example, a table preset docker (link to the addon and source found at the bottom of the…

Using Corel Query Language (CQL) to search for objects in CorelDRAW documents

Searching for objects with certain properties is a common task while writing macros for CorelDRAW. Normally, if you need to search for objects of specific size, or fill, you need to loop through all the shapes on the page, inspect each shape's properties and determine if it meets the criteria or not.

For example, to delete all objects…