Copy link to clipboard
Copied
hello forumers.
im an illustrator freak, but my annoying boss wants me to learn corel ;-( ,i need some facts why illustrator is better than corel so i can shove his face in it if possible.
VIVA illi
thank you very much.
[This discussion is from Feb 17, 2010 9:58 AM and is more than eight years old. It is now locked. Please start a new thread, as both products have changed.]
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Corel had its hayday back in the mid-late 90's. I used CorelDraw 5 when I
was starting to learn vector illustration and continued using it
exclusively through version 8, but I reached a point where I grew out of
it and moved on to Illustrator.
It has been a long time since I've used anything from Corel so I probably
couldn't fairly assess their strengths and weaknesses nowadays. Last time
I even saw their interface, it was CorelDraw 10. It seemed just "okay" to
me, but I still preferred Illustrator.
I don't think your boss should be the one to decide which software is best
for you if he is not having to use it himself everyday. That would be like
me going to the mechanic and telling him which tools he had to use to
repair my vehicle.
-JM
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
hello junk.
your absolute right about what program im comfortable with,but i need the pros and cons of the programs. to outline to him why illustrator is better.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
inquestflash,
Do not, I repeat do not, ask James or Scott or Hans.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
hello jacob
who are they? 😕
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
inquestflash wrote:
hello jacob
who are they? 😕
They are James, Scott and of course Hans!
One Corel is PC only there venture into the Mac world was less than a pleasant experience.
then their priority file format brings with it some limitations and is not used s much as Illustrator and it is integrated with Adobe 's other apps
and I am not certain it is with Quark as well
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
inquestflash,
When you see a guy on a motorbike, an unshaven guy, and a guy under a Jolly Roger, you will know. But then it will be too late.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Wow, that was cryptic!
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Hello inquestflash,
I have a little experience with illustrator and I use it for my work. I cannot tell you anything about CorelDraw, because I do not use it.
However, I can give you my honest opinion of Adobe Illustrator.
Illustrator have great tools and I love that you can place photoshop files, modify the photoshop file and will update when you go back to Illustrator file. As a graphic designer I think this is very useful (InDesign and Quark are limited on this), and I love the pen tool.
The problem with Illustrator is that you DO NOT GET UPDATES. So whatever bugs comes with the version is what you have to work with. Adobe does not care to fix anything.
CS4 version have critical bugs that seriously will affect your professional work:
Font Bug: Even if you have used a font with old versions of illustrator, if the CS4 version considered as a corrupted font, the program can crash, refuse to open file, etc.
Memory Bug: This bug was reported few week after the program came out (but like I said before: NO UPDATES) and you can be doing something simple and the program will tell you "Not Enough Memory"
Color Bug: As a graphic designer, I can tell you that this is a really big issue (Adobe refuse to fix). The CS4 color system is no accurate. And that can cost a lot of money depending how big is the job.
Text Box Bug: Justifying the text using the Area Type tool is bad. This bug came with the CS versions and Adobe has not fix it.
Crop Tool Bug: A lot of user have complaint about this tool becoming useless in CS4. And no Updates!
PDF Bug, Grid Bug, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc.,
But you will hear a lot of excuse why the program is not working properly, but at the end of name calling, insults, and excuses, no one here can tell you where is the CS4 update, how to fix these Critical CS4 Bugs. Instead Adobe will sell you the new version CS5 with new and old bugs that wont care to fix.
Feel free to explore all this links of bugs, and you will see that non of them have an answer on how to fix it (just excuses):
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/570723?tstart=0
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/513558?tstart=0
http://forums.adobe.com/message/2358318#2358318
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/568439?tstart=0
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/432976?tstart=990
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/488095?tstart=660
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/477259?tstart=960
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/458237?tstart=0
http://forums.adobe.com/message/1256865#1256865
http://forums.adobe.com/message/1255002#1255002
http://forums.adobe.com/message/1253297#1253297
http://forums.adobe.com/message/2088297#2088297
http://forums.adobe.com/message/2014275#2014275
http://forums.adobe.com/message/2317200#2317200
http://forums.adobe.com/message/2180704#2180704
http://forums.adobe.com/message/2180704#2180704
To make it simple, just ask when was the last time Adobe Illustrator provided an update?
I am thinking of buying Xara Xtreme (http://site.xara.com/gallery/) which provides updates, to stop using illustrator. The bad news is that this program is only for PC.
But if you really want to make research on Adobe Illustrator visit other user forums away from Adobe Forum. The users are a lot more vocal about Adobe Illustrator.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
wow dude that was a dynamic response to my question,you seem disapointed with adobe products,and that bug thing is a major issue.what can i say,some times i get that memory thing saying not enough memory error detected =108 and im like what da funk?!??in any case i think illustrator is a great vector app and that it can be evolved into a major vector program with great features,i hope that adobe can take things into serious matters,and ive been reading on the net they should fix the bug problems rather than putting out a new suite.
cheers mate.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
what about freehand as compare to illustrator i thing freehand was outstanding application no doubt is there was any color issue like u said in illustrator its to danger
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
I think Freehand and Illustrator have their own good things. And a lot people will tell you that Freehand is better, while others will tell you that Illustrator is better. But at the end when a company does not dress major issue like colors bug, fonts bug, memory bug, etc. it does not matter how cool the application looks or the amount of features, it is just bad software to use for professionals.
Now if Adobe fixes these critical bugs and constantly provide updates (in a reasonable matter - not to much, not to little). Then the question becomes from Which one is better?, to Which one you feel more comfortable with?
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Do not, I repeat do not, ask James or Scott or Hans.
Indeed.
Only ask Jacob, who is still using a four-version out-of-date copy of Illustrator and who tries to personify it as a female idol.
If the comparison is to be "fair" (which it clearly will not be, at least from your perspective), it should compare Corel Draw X4 to Illustrator CS3 or CS4. Release dates being what they were, X4 would more legitimately be considered Draw's answer to CS3; since it long predates CS4.
Talking about earlier versions of either program is not very meaningful, except in the sense of history of development. When I compare the release histories of Draw, FreeHand, Canvas, and Illustrator, Illustrator comes in an often-embarrassing last in terms of features long taken-for-granted in other programs.
im an illustrator freak,but my annoying boss wants me to learn corel...i need some facts [that] I can shove his face..
Shove in your boss's face? For presenting you an opportunity to escape fearful dependency upon a single software?
i need the pros and cons...to outline to him why illustrator is better...
Why don't you simply welcome this opportunity to actually know something about that which you claim a completely bogus "preference"?
Were you at all interested in gaining input that would help you help your boss reach a rational and objective decision, you would at least describe something about the kind of work your boss pays you to do. What kind of business employs you? Is the Macintosh platform even relevant to your boss's business market? How large a workgroup is affected by the software choice? What kind of artwork does that workgroup produce? How is it delivered? What are its initial content sources? Who are the end-users of the artwork? In how many different ways is it delivered, and in what formats?
Yet here you are, soliciting predisposed "why Illustrator is 'better' than Draw" advice from a handful of users who, so far, admit themselves having either no, or practically no, experience with Draw! If that's not blind-leading-the-blind, I don't know what is.
You are by admission predisposed toward Illustrator, even though you are not at all equipped to say why. Reason is pointless with so irrational a mindset. Since no one responding yet seems to actually know anything about Draw, I will instead offer some ammunition I hope your boss uses to see if you are even objective enough to consider it.
The following is a just-off-the-top list. Should you actually try to counter it, you should be prepared for more:
General:
Lower cost, both initially and in upgrades
Better support for non-current versions
Faster performance
Better support for several vertical-market industries (signage, embroidery, engineering-related)
More robust CAD and more business-centric import/export formats
Better multiple page implementation
Better-organized interface
Highly-customizable workspace
Features:
User-defined drawing scales
Reliable snaps
Dimension tools
Callout tools
Connector lines
Flowchart Tools
No-nonsense, 2D vector face extrusion
Live shape primitives
Smart Drawing tools (freehand shape recognition)
Virtual Segment tool
Ability to properly cut/crop vector and raster content
Contour tool (multiple parallels)
Export selection only
Barcodes
Print Merge
Bundle for Output Bureau
Scan directly into Draw
Trim (not merely mask) vector artwork to any path
Fit Text To Path
Text stats
Export artwork as Type 1 font.
Lens Fills (live details)
Live Perspective
Object Data (spreadsheet-formatted database of user-defined object data fields)
Fillet / Chamfer / Scallop
User-defined Arrowheads
Shared Features Better Implemented in Draw:
Mesh Grads
Dynamic Guides (with increment snaps)
Independent control over Snaps for Guides, Grid, Objects, Dynamic Grids
Property Bar (far more sensible and useable than AI's poorly-designed and buggy Control Panel)
Status Bar with context-sensitive instructions
Elastic Mode (vs. AI's Reshape tool)
Add/remove/line/curve/cusp/symmetrical curve commands properly implemented for all nodes (points) in a selected path
Logarithmic and Symmetrical spirals
Macro Recording (vs. AI Actions)
Envelopes (retract envelope handles without wrecking artwork)
Old-Saw Arguements Based on Overstatement, if not Myths:
Adobe's cross-app "integration" is more hype than substantive advantage.
Illustrator's text handing is worst among Adobe apps and worst-of-class among its direct competitors.
Draw opens and creates PDFs just fine.
Claims of AI superiority regarding importing of raster images is practically immaterial. In fact, Corel Draw's interaction with Corel PhotoPaint is at least as "smooth and seamless" as AI/PS, if not more so.
Using vector artwork created in Draw (or any other mainstream Bezier drawing program) in page-layout programs is no more difficult than using AI. This stuff has been being done for decades.
Again, this is just a beginning. You do yourself a huge disservice by declaring (let alone attempting to defend) a "preference" to the only choice with which you have experience (and evidently only beginning experience at that). That's true regardless of which program you claim to "favor." How can one, with any trace of intellectual honesty, claim to have a "favorite" of anything--when one has no exposure to any of the considered alternatives?
Since you already have Illustrator, you should absolutely welcome your Boss's willingness to provide you a current copy of Corel Draw. Here's an opportunity for you--at no personal cost--to actually learn something about another program; to potentially have some clue as to what you're talking about when you claim to "prefer" one over the other; to benefit from knowing more than one particular tool, and to overcome the fear of learning your way around more than one offering among similar programs. For all you know, you may be arguing against the program you would actually end up preferring.
I could also build a bullet list of better-than-Draw AI features. It would not be as long as its opposite. Nor would the AI-favoring listings be as broadly practical.
Fact is, anyone can build a bullet list to favor any of them. (Just look at the sides of the boxes, or each vendor's self-serving "competitive comparisons" on their respective websites.) Fact is, all of them are really rather mediocre; mostly 20+ years-old technology.
You really should have no axe to grind in this, unless you can state something specific to your work that strongly favors the relatively few functional advantages of AI.
JET
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
James, how come we don't see you at the CD forums?
http://coreldraw.com/forums/246.aspx
I know CD users would love your indepth explanations on the machinations of CD.
Regards,
Chris
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
I often lurk in the newsgroup.
JET
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Lurking ahhh
You should chime in!!
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
inquestflash,
Now you know why I warned you: the assurance implied in the OP would not remain unscathed; and now it is too late, with just two out of three.
JETalmage wrote:
Do not, I repeat do not, ask James or Scott or Hans.
Indeed.Only ask Jacob, who is still using a four-version out-of-date copy of Illustrator and who tries to personify it as a female idol.
There would be no point at all in asking Jacob, who would never dream of claiming the superiority or faultlessness of Illy, or even enter any such discussions.
Tries to?
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
lol ppl pls relax and kick back we are here ot solve our problems.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
CorelDraw x6 vs Illustrator cs6?
I compared to both extremely closly. Ive used illustator for 10 years and watched 8+ hours of lynda.com coreldraw tutorials and done alot of research about it. During the videos when ever they did something cool or in a better or faster way id pause the video. I would open illustrator and see how it compared and most of the time illustrator could do it but differently. Some times corel won and some times illustator on doing the same things. With some the same toosl could be as easy as say right click and with an other you would have to open it through a drop down menu at the top of the program. I was skeptical of coreldraw and my bet was on illustrator but I wanted to be sure and reafirm that illustrator is the vetor drawing king. Then when people start saying what alternatives to illustrater there are I could honestly say there are none as good. Here are my findings. Please note this does not include ever single tool/fucntion for both but only the ones that stood out or key ones.
Both have:
movable windows for most everything
rotate
pen tool
custom shapes
many color options
line view mode
layers
heavy text editing tools, kern, track, lead, text styles
clipping masks
live trace/paint
a way to merge, seperate and recombine objects aka pathfinder tool
photo shop like tools for vectors as smear, pinch and more
3d rendering
both come normally with a sharing/organizing program, bridge and connect for corel
Illustrator advantages:
Industry standard
multiple art boards each with easy to change different sizes. This is very rare I need ever board different.
photo shop filters but honestly that should stay in photoshop and they are impossible to work with because every time you move the object it has to recalculate and can crash the program/computer
easier one stop shopping for text editing, adobes text editing floating window is very handy and has almost everything you would need for even advanced text editing in 1 spot
one stop shopping floating windows for several function as text that are some what easier
3d perspective tool, ive used it a few times and quite handy
CorelDraw x6 Suite advantages:
Corel can do master pages and facing pages, columns, margins and a few other bells and whistles for text so corel wins on text, first edition with text heavy tools so i expect next wil be a very viable replacement to indesign
sheer and rotate are both visable on an object at the same time, illustator it is a new tool
copy/paste, the copy pastes in the exact spot it was coppied from which saves tops of time in repositioning where with adobe you have no idea where it will appear
repeat, in adobe this repeats the last action, such as movement, scale change, rotation ect but in corel it can track the last few things dont to an object and say "ok i see a pattern each square is 50% further away than the last not just 1/2 in" and reappear complex commands like that
take a select several objects and place a effect, change or say gradient on them all with out "grouping" or a clipping mask! Time saver
cheaper, 500$ full price for CorelDraw x6 suite, only comes as package deal, price if it were possible for just draw would be about 150$
can import/export to illustator, photoshop, pdf and many more so no major comparability issues
product release every 2 years and last was in 2012 of march so next is due for 5 or so months and will upgrades to compete with illustrator
illustrator has seen no significant upgrades since cs 6 even with the cc to release them as they come
customizable floating windows, what is on them, orientation, and a few more things
buying options, perpetual lisence standard buy model cd/download, standard + premium cloud or subsciption cloud only
connect beats bridge as it can pull from more than your files but from social media, web sites and search engines and just works smoother
Web creator program included, similar to muse but wont go into it here
Photo-Paint program included, its a merger of photoshop elements and illustrator, but wont go into here
Overall im very disappointed in illustrator considering according to wikipedia adobe rakes in x15 as much $ revinue as corel. With all that $ for R&D illustrator should kick the pants off of anything anyone has to offer but because adobe has stopped focusing on core functions other programs are catching up and quick. After about cs 3 it stopped focusing on vector drawing and increasing work speed and instead just became bloat ware. Adobe stopped focusing on normal functions for each program and started tossing in tools/features from other programs that had no business being there. Such as how photoshop can edit video and illustrator can do filters but both are sad compared to the real function in the program they ripped it from. They just got bored and decided to throw them in... for some reason. Its as though the designers could not come up with anything good so just started bloating. Illustrator is still great dont get me wrong. I say corel has an edge on illustrator and indesign and if adobe is not very careful corelsdraw x7 will be a replacement for both illustrator and indesign and for 60% of the cost of just 1 program with cs 6 price models! If photo shop elements is not careful CorelDraw x7 suite will outright replace photshop elements. Draw was by every thing I saw just more intuitive and user friendly and many of the functions just worked more smoothly and gave a better user experience. That is why im leaning to get corel but i need to try the trial version first.
The jury is still out for a few months to see what corel and adobe both cook up in the next 6 months before I get my BFA in graphic design. I still have hopes for adobe but they are fading by the week. If i end up hating the trial ill go for cs 6. There is no way id go to cc, cash cow, crazy cloud, or crazy contaminent as the 38million users had their information compromised this month and found out about yesterday. They could cut the cc price to 30/month for the whole suite, allow buy out at 3 years and have a middle buy option of like your favorite 3 programs for 20/month and still no way id use it. By the way i talked to my college about cc. They as a college are not going to update for sure any faster 1 time every 4 months but more likely 2 times a year becaus its a pain to upgrade even 1 lab of 25 computers forget upgradeing several hundred for tiny upgrades and thats between semester also they dont have access to any cloud features so they are getting the bad deal.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
You just encourage me more to get Corel Draw.
As much as I love Adobe Illustrator, I am getting tired of dealing with this issue with Adobe Creative Cloud app.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Learn both, use both.....you will be bettor off in life at work
Use the right tool for the job at hand; it could be either or both CorelDraw/Illustrator.
Try a third best program as a backup....you will be better than others that are limited by their tool.
Doug.S
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Lol, and you expect cons on a Adobe forum?:))
And I am a Corel freak , arround 15 years, familiar with illustrator also. If we talk about vectors then Corel is by far the best, it is straight and clean on what you have to do, with what you need to do, I'm just roaring when I must finish something in illustrator, their team it's so mind twisted about tools and ergonomics, every time I want to scream and beat somebody:)). I can assure you that you finish twice as fast in Corel, illustrator is more about creativity not for productivity, also you can paste directly in photoshop as smart object witch is the best feature of all times:), anyway, you must play with what you know better.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
You can always cherry pick whatever perceived advantage that one piece of software has over another. The fact is, every single piece of software has something that it does better than another. Even Illustrator is not best at everything. But frankly, I think the comments from MyCoalescense above are just incredibly wrong.
I don't know if Adobe is doing enough, but I feel extremely strongly that Corel is not. How do we explain the disaster that is the undeveloped, forgotten, abandoned since the late 90's, eternally, extremely buggy Photo-Paint? That's the only other "major" program in Corel's idea of a "suite". It's a joke. How does Photo-Paint compare to. Photoshop. I don't think they both belong in the same sentence or even in the same thread. The difference is greater than night and day in every conceivable way. Quality, scope, modernization, you name it. Photo-Paint's only use is to help to call CorelDraw a suite. If you take that dinosaur out of the box, is it still a suite? With just the other throwaway items in the box? Antique Font Navigator? Crummy Corel Connect. And a web editor that mostly Corel fans say don't bother to install? Is that a suite?
I'm not here to really defend Adobe. I detest the notion of renting their products forever, but I can't deny the fact that they are absolutely making the highest quality product ever. And I appreciate their extreme reliability and quality.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Don't know why I'm wading into this old thread, but...
I receive somewhere between 10 and 20 customer files per day. The overwhelming majority of them were produced using some version of Adobe software. Unless you want to live on an island, you use Adobe. I don't care if its the "best" or not. The fact is it has become the defacto standard.
So, if all you are doing is personal, and you will never be communicating with anyone else, pick whatever you want. Makes no difference. But if you are going to be communicating your work (ie, sending comps to your web programmer or sending PDF's to your commercial printer or whatever) you can be confident that if you send them files created with Adobe stuff, they'll be able to work with it. Send them something else and you take your chances.
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
In what industry? in the publishing business, probably, but In the engraving business, Corel is the standard. You do not run engraving machines with AI. Just that simple. Every business that sends files uses PDF or AI files for submission, yet not one of these submissions are rarely usable without a lot of rework. Nobody understands the concept of single layered engraving. Artwork is now flashy and sadly, just lazy.