Complete Failure of Corel Technical SupportThe attached transcripts show the complete and utter failure of CorelGraphics Suite X3 technical support. There seems to be a problemreading and understanding the English language.I have attempted to resolve this by email, and by talking with "theonly John in Technical Support" who says that he can't do anythingabout the failure of free technical support, but If I want to pay . ..I will send hard copies of this to Kevin Thornton, Senior VicePresident for Sales & Marketing, and to David C. Dobson, CEO sincethey do not seem to have any accessible email addresses.It's time to toss out Corel on all my systems and get AdobeIllustrator instead. In the meantime, it's also time for Corel to firesome of their incompetent technical support representatives.Jim WinerFirebird-JMW_REMOVE_@Comcast_DELETE_.netDear Jeremy,Please refer this matter to your supervisor. I feel that your answersare unresponsive as indicated below.>Response (Jeremy) 04/18/2008 01:42 AM>Dear Mr/ Ms WinerApparently you are unaware that "Jim" is a male name. Apparently youdid not grow up in the United States.>Please refer to this link for the error 1606>http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315352From my 4/17 answer:"Your suggestion that I try removing Corel Graphics Suite X3 manuallywith faqid=759671&p resulted in error 1606. Attempting to fix 1606according to the instructions in your KB article resulted in nothing."To recover, I had to reload my system from backups made on 4/12."I followed the instructions your web site suggested for error 1606 andit hosed my entire system. I recovered the system from backup. I nolonger have need of solving the 1606 problem and I stated it prettyclearly, but you seem to have missed it.>A file of that size will only bounce back because>our email system does not support big attachments.Here's what I sent. Compare that to what you responded:"I have the following files available if you tell me how to send themto you."Application Event Log.evt from before install to after fail"System Event Log.evt from before install to after fail"MSI6a3c.LOG MS Installer log"MSI42986.LOG MS Installer log"1306a3e.mst Corel data base"carm1.log Corel failure report"MSI6a3c.LOG MS Installer log is 11 MB. The others are short."How should I send them to you?"In short, I told you that one file was long, but that the others wereshort. These files might be useful, but instead of telling me how tosend them to you, you decided that because one file was too big, nonewere valuable? In particular, the CARM.LOG file gives completeinformation on what the program was doing at the time of failure andit is fairly short.>I noticed that you are using an Nvidia Video adapter.>Sometimes conflicts with this video card's drivers may>arise between the software.I mentioned to you on 4/16, Item 2b, that I have the latest availableNvidia drivers installed. Did you miss this?>Computers with dual core processors and newer nVidia GeForce Graphic >cards could conflict with certain versions of Corel Draw. The problem >lies with the video driver version that is currently installed.>>To resolve this problem download and install the latest driver offered >from nVidia. See the following nVidia web pages for more information >and to obtain the latest driver.<additional information from you telling me how to get the latestNvidia drivers omitted>>This solution was designed for Paint Shop Pro but may also>apply with Corel Draw.Paint Shop Pro X runs fine on this machine.>Please do not hesitate to contact us for any further questions.>>Kind regards,>>Jeremy>Corel Customer SupportPlease refer this matter to your supervisor. I feel that your answersare unresponsive as indicated above. If you reply unresponsivelyagain, I will find it necessary to post this discussion in everyavailable public forum, and will start sending copies to executives atCorel.Thank you.Jim Winer Response (Jeremy) 04/18/2008 01:42 AM Dear Mr/ Ms WinerThank you very much for your e-mail.Please refer to this link for the error 1606http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315352A file of that size will only bounce back because our email systemdoes not support big attachments.I noticed that you are using an Nvidia Video adapter.Sometimes conflicts with this video card's drivers may arise betweenthe software.Computers with dual core processors and newer nVidia GeForce Graphiccards could conflict with certain versions of Corel Draw. The problemlies with the video driver version that is currently installed.To resolve this problem download and install the latest driver offeredfrom nVidia. See the following nVidia web pages for more informationand to obtain the latest driver.Driver download and information - NOTE: Make sure to download the newdriver to your Windows Desktop (or location of your choice, makingsure that you know where to locate the downloaded file) before youremove the existing driver.Click the following link.http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.aspChoose Graphics Driver in the START HERE list.In the second list/box, choose your specific video card. For example,if you have a Geforce 6150LE, choose GeForce 6 Series. To determineyour specific video card model, open Display Properties from theControl Panel. Click On Settings tab. You will see the specific videocard model listed under the Display field.In the third list/box, choose the version of Windows you are using.Typically this will be the Windows XP/2000Click the Go! button.Click one of the download buttons to begin the download (PrimaryDownload Site should be fine). Make sure to choose to save the file.We recommend saving the file to your desktop.The Driver page will also have the following in the left pane, theseare of interest and should be viewed:Important! see Driver Installation Hints (Nvidias installinstructions).Products Supported (a list of supported video cards).At the bottom of this page click the Release Notes (vXX.XX) link fordetailed information on the latest driver.When updating video card drivers, uninstalling your current driversbefore installing new drivers is a critical step.Driver Un-installation instructions.Click the following link.http://www.nvidia.com/object/driver_installation_hints.htmlNOTE: in addition to Nvidia's supplied instructions from the abovelink, make sure you do the following:Download the new drivers installation file, saving it to your compuerbefore removing your existing driver. See the links below fordownloads. We recommend saving the driver to your computer Desktop (ora download location of your choice).In Add or Remove Programs NVIDIA Drivers will be listed. Left click onChange/Remove and the Remove NVIDIA Components window will appear.Choose to Remove only the following option.Place a checkmark in NVIDIA Display Driver (this will only remove thedisplay driver and not other drivers).After removing the existing driver, restart the computer.The Windows Hardware Wizard will install a generic windows driver torun your video card. After this your screen resolution will be set tothe default 800 x 600.Double click on the installation file you downloaded from Nvidia andchoose Run to install the latest software for your video card.This solution was designed for Paint Shop Pro but may also apply withCorel Draw.Please do not hesitate to contact us for any further questions.Kind regards,JeremyCorel Customer Support Customer (James Winer) 04/17/2008 08:15 PM Hello Jeremy,I have the following files available if you tell me how to send themto you.Application Event Log.evt from before install to after failSystem Event Log.evt from before install to after failMSI6a3c.LOG MS Installer logMSI42986.LOG MS Installer log1306a3e.mst Corel data basecarm1.log Corel failure reportMSI6a3c.LOG MS Installer log is 11 MB. The others are short.How should I send them to you?Thanks.Jim Winer Customer (James Winer) 04/17/2008 04:41 PM Hey Jeremy,Your suggestion that I try removing Corel Graphics Suite X3 manuallywith faqid=759671&p resulted in error 1606. Attempting to fix 1606according to the instructions in your KB article resulted in nothing.To recover, I had to reload my system from backups made on 4/12.So now I'm back to having CorelDRAW installed and it won't write to afile.Do you any other suggestions?If you will notice, I have already tried almost everything yourequested, and did it twice since you asked for it after I had alreadydone it, so I tried it again.It would be nice if you would review the information I have alreadyprovided before making another suggestion.If it would be any use, I can provide the MS Installer logs (I canuninstall and reinstall again to get them) since I have them turned on-- I just don't know how to make sense of any of the data.Thank you.Jim Winer Response (Jeremy) 04/16/2008 11:25 PM Dear Mr/ Ms WinerThank you very much for your e-mail.If the given solutions failed to correct the problem, try a cleanreinstall.Title: Manually Removing CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite X3 from SystemsRunning Windows® 2000 or XPURL:http://support.corel.com/scripts/rightnow.cfg/php.exe/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=759671&p_created=001149780398Please do not hesitate to contact us for any further questions.Kind regards,JeremyCorel Customer Support Customer (James Winer) 04/16/2008 11:25 AM Thank you for your response.1. I have already tried resetting the workspace to factory default.This had no effect on the problem. (Damaged or Corrupt Workspace inCorelDRAW® Graphics Suite X3, faqid=758989&p)2. I have already tried the following: (Troubleshooting CorelDRAW®Stability and Performance Issues on Microsoft® Windows® 2000 or XP,faqid=753659&p)a. Logged in as administrator.b. Most current video drivers.c. Minimum number of fonts.d. Delete temporary files.e. Default printer = networked HP8150 worked fine on CorelDRAW fromthe old machine. Latest driver.f. Virtual memory: real memory is 4GB, virtual memory is 2GB.g. XP themes: running classic windows with all interface cycle wastersturned off.h. Other peripherals: all drivers latest version.i. All patches up to date.j. Scan for viruses: Latest version of Zone Alarm Security Suite saysno viruses or spy ware. Latest version of Spybot says no spy ware.k. Application workspace reset.l. Corel memory setting: 25% = 1GBm. Backup options: auton. Reinstall the application: doesn't help.o. File: Sequence is as follows: New, draw square, save, fails.I have searched both the Microsoft knowledge base and the Corelknowledge base. The only thing applicable is the problem with ISUP notregistering correctly. I get two warnings in Application Event Logwhenever I start a Corel product.Detection of product '{1A15507A-8551-4626-915D-3D5FA095CC1B}', feature'_ISUS', component '{ACD935F6-53F3-469B-842F-2CE17B80840C}' failed.The resource 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Corel\AutoUpdate\{1A15507A-8551-4626-915D-3D5FA095CC1B}\Interval' does notexist.Detection of product '{1A15507A-8551-4626-915D-3D5FA095CC1B}', feature'_ISUS' failed during request for component'{D2D7B4BF-6CCA-11D5-8B3F-00105A9846E9}'I also get error 1642 from MsInstall indicating thatProduct: CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 - Update'{1C7E5871-8BCD-42D8-A0C2-B440A7AD7B63}' could not be installed. Errorcode 1642. Windows Installer can create logs to help troubleshootissues with installing software packages. Use the following link forinstructions on turning on logging support:http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=23127I have not yet turned on the logs.Nothing interesting in any of the other Event Logs.Thank you.Jim Winer Response (Jeremy) 04/16/2008 02:36 AM Dear Mr/ Ms WinerThank you very much for your e-mail.Try to reset the workspace as it must have gotten corrupted.Title: Damaged or Corrupt Workspace in CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite X3URL:http://support.corel.com/scripts/rightnow.cfg/php.exe/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=758989&p_created=001136833127Likewise, you might as well check this out.Title: Troubleshooting CorelDRAW® Stability and Performance Issues onMicrosoft® Windows® 2000 or XPURL:http://support.corel.com/scripts/rightnow.cfg/php.exe/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=753659&p_created=001068163834Please do not hesitate to contact us for any further questions.Kind regards,JeremyCorel Customer Support Auto-Response (Jeremy) 04/16/2008 12:50 AM Title: 'Error 1304' or 'Error 1305' error message when you try toinstall your softwareLink:http://support.corel.com/scripts/rightnow.cfg/php.exe/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=759260&p_created=1138746606Title: Why do I get a blank page when trying to activate a trialversion?Link:http://support.corel.com/scripts/rightnow.cfg/php.exe/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=759509&p_created=1143063403Title: Release Notes For CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 Service Pack 2Link:http://support.corel.com/scripts/rightnow.cfg/php.exe/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=760233&p_created=1169818542Title: Corel Graphics Suite X3 SP1 Full/Upgrade - Release NotesLink:http://support.corel.com/scripts/rightnow.cfg/php.exe/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=759911&p_created=1152889172Title: Creating Transparent Bitmaps in CorelDRAW® and CorelPHOTO-PAINT®Link:http://support.corel.com/scripts/rightnow.cfg/php.exe/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=756152&p_created=1084823419 Customer (James Winer) 04/16/2008 12:50 AM I have just upgraded from an 800 MHz PIII to a Quad Q6600 2.4 gHz, andfrom Win2K SP4 to WinXP SP2. geForce 8800GT graphics card.I reinstalled Corel X3 from the original CDs and did the onlineupdates. SP1 does not install. SP2 installs even though it saysit needs SP1 first. However, the problem happens immediately evenwhen no SPs are installed. (I've been through this more than once.)Some of the Corel KB articles say there are problems with multi-coreand nVidia graphics cards. All drivers and updates to XP have beenapplied.When I open Corel Draw X3, everything works until I attempt to save orexport. Then I get the Corel A.R.M. failure report thing and nooutput. (This happens with 10.00 as well as 10.02.)I've already tried to repair with the original CDs.I've made sure permissions are okay and files are not read-only (whenusing an existing .CDR file).1. New (blank page).2. Put a square on it.3. Save - CARM again.So makes no difference whether old files or new.I have also tried Photo-Paint and the same thing happens, so it lookslike a common dll may be missing.Paint Shop Pro (also Corel, formerly Jasc) works. fine.There does not seem to be a problem with any other program.Nvidia drivers are the latest available.All Microsoft updates to XP have been applied.I have already completely uninstalled and reinstall.I've done a lot more experimenting, and its only the two Corelapplications, CorelDRAW and Corel Photo-Paint that have the problem,and it's the same problem -- no write to a file -- causes a programexception with the all zeros data in the Application Event Log.I have some strange symptoms of file locking when moving or erasingfiles over a gigabyte or so, but I don't think it's related.I'll go back to the KB at corel.com and see if I can't think up someother way to search for an appropriate article. I finally found onethat told me the InstallShield Update Program doesn't registercorrectly so you get error messages in the Application Event Log everytime, but they don't hurt anything. (Just annoying.)TIAJim
Feel free to give Adobe technical support a whirl. When you get thoroughly frustrated there feel free to return to this forum.
Dan
REF: Terremoto's post
How is doing what you suggest going to get Corel to then become a responsible company, catering to ALL the needs of its customers? It's not like they don't have the billions of dollars to afford hiring and training english-speaking people who actually know the products!!!
They have been and are currently failing miserably. I've asked on every one of their various "user" forums that I could find about a specific, simple, technical issue, but have never once received a reply (in over a 2 month period)! Corel representatives NEVER EVEN VISIT OR REPLY ON THOSE FORUMS!!!
Are you suggesting that Corel should follow the lead of other companies that fail miserably with their pitiful support?
Years ago, Corel did much better than it has lately. It's not the same Corel company that I remember from years ago.
Here's a link to everybody who seems to be getting their salaries without producing adequate results.
http://www.corel.com/corel/pages/index.jsp?pgid=800269
Stephan, my older version of Corel Paint DOES create transparent tifs, just not ones that the RotoPen tool uses. And, not even Corel's latest versions of its software can create those specific image types.
As far as adding images, the filesize (and width, etc) on your forum are too small unless I crop my image to a point where its visual intent is lost. 1920x1080 should not be too difficult to accomodate, since its bandwidth for a .jpg image is minimal.
I understand that this is not the Video Studio forum! But, I cannot get any answers from that forum. Even its administrators are baffled and cannot find out from Corel why Corel products cannot produce transparent TIF images of the type required for use with the COREL PRODUCT.
I came here asking not so much about Corel Video Studio but more about why none of Corel's graphic products -cannot- produce the same kind of transparent TIF's that a Corel product uses!!!! Adobe creates them just fine. That's the delimma. NOBODY WILL ANSWER THAT QUESTION FOR ME!
dsignr said:Stephan, my older version of Corel Paint DOES create transparent tifs, just not ones that the RotoPen tool uses. And, not even Corel's latest versions of its software can create those specific image types.
dsignr said:on your forum
dsignr said: came here asking not so much about Corel Video Studio but more about why none of Corel's graphic products -cannot- produce the same kind of transparent TIF's that a Corel product uses!!!! Adobe creates them just fine. That's the delimma. NOBODY WILL ANSWER THAT QUESTION FOR ME!
Stephan, I don't why you are defending Corel over this issue since THEY are the ones who incorporated the RotoPen tool, sold it to me and many others, and are therefore somewhat, if not fully, responsible for the product they took money from users for! Corel has an obligation to at least be honest enough to explain why the product they sold us is limited in its useage, or else explain how we can get our money's worth for the product they profited by.
Certainly Corel knows whether or not the TIF images used by its own product (which IS the Corel Video Studio X5 PRO Ultimate with the ProDAD RotoPen plugin) can be created with its own Corel software! Corel OWNS that RotoPen plugin because they sold it included within Video Studio! They are responsible, or at somewhat responsible because they accepted money for it. At least, it's up to them to contact ProDAD with these issues, and not us users.
I do not speak German. The company "ProDAD" is a German company and they NEVER ANSWER e-mails! Waste of time, and it shouldn't be a users responsibilty to track this kind of information down from whomever Corel has affiliated themselves with. Corel should know whether or not their own graphics programs can produce images compatible with the same software they are charging their customers for. Do they just want to take the money and run? Why no support?
Please, I don't want to enter a debate about how Corel has more file formats than Adobe. That cannot be a true statement because Corel products CANNOT CREATE TIF IMAGES THAT WORK WITH THE COREL PRODUCT (ProDAD's RotoPen tool), yet Adobe CAN create them! Enough said.
Corel sold it to me.... and I'm simply asking why Corel software cannot create the same kind of TIF images required for use with the product Corel sold to me and countless other unsuspecting buyers.
Hi Larry,
dsignr said:Stephan, I don't why you are defending Corel over this issue since THEY are the ones who incorporated the RotoPen tool, sold it to me and many others, and are therefore somewhat, if not fully, responsible for the product they took money from users for! Corel has an obligation to at least be honest enough to explain why the product they sold us is limited in its useage, or else explain how we can get our money's worth for the product they profited by.
I will attempt to answer your question about making tifs in Corel product that will work with rotopen.
You say " explain how we can get our money's worth for the product they profited by " On a side note I purchased Video Studio x5 on sale last week for $49.00us and that is one of the reasons I purchased it, a cheap toy to play with, it's worth more than twice that price. I find it is pretty cool and very easy to use. Actually many times I spent more than this on dinner out. I was thinking a great utility for web videos, one can use it without the heavy learning curve in the pro video editors like Sony, Avid, etc. I have some great web coders here that know nothing about video editing. Here, purchasing one small custom made video for your web site would cost more than the program. A 20 or 30 second network spot runs into the thousands. I would think one project would more than pay for this program? If you simply want to make family videos, etc. this is a very cool program for that.
For point of reference one of the things that caught my eye was the features in this product for the price. I use Sony Vegas with many plug ins and all together my video bundle (sony with all the plug ins) cost thousands of dollars. Look at the prices in ProDad link, now look here http://www.borisfx.com/ and price this http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/vegaspro I find it hard to accept Corel ripped anyone off selling this considering the values here. Yes, you should be able to make assets for the "Corel" product in a Corel product and maybe you can, we shall see today.
This program is very cool for basic stuff. The plug ins are watered down and the features are easy but limited in control. For the price it could be the best value around. I really like it for what it is. I notice they also offer upgraded plug ins for additional cost.
I will attempt to make some tifs in PP and see what happens. In the alternative did you try to make these with other than tifs? I mean if a different format is doable whats the big deal with tifs? The fact this program uses tifs for this indicates to me it's an old plug in and that could explain why you cannot find it anywhere else.
So my first goal is to see if I can make a tif in PP that works, second goal is to find another format that will work and can be made in Corel product if the tif fails.
I understand why folks here defend Corel, it's a great company with great products. What is going on here is simply a minor frustration that I am sure has an answer.
On a professional level Draw Suite rocks big time, second to none.
SUCCESS!!!
I made a transparent tif in Photopaint X6.2, and it works just fine.
In Photopaint open a new file with "no background". Put whatever on the object and save as tif. On save say yes to merge objects. You can put this in any folder on your machine, you do not have to put it in the folder per your path, it can be in any folder.
Customize filter, second step click symbols then "load image" and navigate to where you saved your tif. Works great.
I have attached the transparent tif that I made in Corel Photopaint. I had to change the extension from tif to jpg to upload here so when you download my Corel made transparent tif change the extension back from jpg to .tif It is simply an X on a transparent background
I see you cannot download my image here so if you send me an email to "operations at pamspress.com" I will email you the image.
Flying x
Bob, you are a friggin' genious! You've done what I've been asking for. I just don't know exactly the steps you took in creating it.
I loaded your tff "Flying X" into my RotoPen, applied it to a background jpg in VS, removed the "trail" so that the only thing moving across the screen was the "X", added a little music ------ and it worked perfectly! I made a small test movie (.wmv).
Now, how did you do it? HA HA
dsignr said:You've done what I've been asking for.
The first thing to understand is that this is a bit of a screwup.
You create an image with a transparent background and export it from Photo-PAINT as a TIF and it says to merge the objects with the background but it does not merge the background. If you reopen the tiff file into Photo-PAINT you'll see that it's still transparent. This creates a transparent tif file whch is what you need so you're happy. As far as using it in Visual Studio pto Ultimate I'm at a loss as I only have Pro.