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CorelDRAW has included extensive customization features since CorelDRAW v6.0. And I'll be the first to admit that other than moving the Status Bar to the top of the screen, I haven't used it. It isn't that I haven't wanted to change a few things, it was because my system would be different. So if I taught you how to use the product using my custom interface and shortcut keys, you'd be really lost. Rather than confuse readers, I just left it alone.
That has all changed with the addition of workspaces in CorelDRAW 8. I can now customize my interface to the way I want to work and still get back to the defaults for when I teach. Select Tools | Options to bring up the Options dialog box. If Workspace is not already selected in the list at left, then select it to get the dialog box shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1 |
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You'll notice that in the list of Workspaces is one called "Foster" that I've created. To create one of your own, simple click the New button and give it a new name. You can even choose which existing workspace to use as the basis for the new one. Also notice that there are several workspaces that Corel supplied with CorelDRAW 8. If you've just hired someone that is familiar with Adobe Illustrator or Macromedia Freehand, you can choose the appropriate workspace so that they can begin working with CorelDRAW immediately. The screen will change to mimic these other programs, menus are altered and shortcut keys as well.
To change to another workspace, select its name in the list and click the Set as current button. If you ever need to go back to the original configuration, select _default and click Set as current. If you've changed the default workspace and really want to set things back to the original configuration, you'll need to start CorelDRAW in a slightly different way. Select Start | Run. Click the Browse button to find coreldrw.exe on your system. Select it and click OK. Now add "/factory" at the end of the command without the quotes. This resets everything to the defaults.
While there are a number of things you can change, I'm going to focus on only one of them. When we're teaching, we want to make sure that everyone can easily see the buttons in the Toolbox and the various Toolbars. Changing their size is very simple. Click Customize in the list at the left side of the Options dialog box which will bring you to the dialog box shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2 |
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At the upper right, you'll see two sliders for changing the size of the buttons and the area which surrounds them. I've increased the button size from the default small to the middle size. While the buttons can be made even larger, the icons didn't look as nice as I would like. Then I decreased the border around the buttons to the minimum. By doing this the larger icons don't take up much more space than the original small icons with large borders. I really like the new look the larger buttons give me.You'll also see that you can add a text label to each button, but the text does take up a lot of space. This would be helpful to people first learning how to use CorelDRAW.
Note: This same technique of using Workspaces and increasing the size of buttons works in Corel PHOTO-PAINT 8.
As users become more proficient with CorelDRAW, they tend to use more and more shortcut keys. Corel used to supply a list of them all, but you can no longer find such an item in the manual or in our CorelDRAW 8: The Official Guide for that matter. The reason is that it is so easy to change the shortcut keys.
The good news is that you can easily print out a list whenever you want. Select Shortcut Keys in the list at the left side of the dialog box (it's just below Customize). This will bring up the dailog box shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3 |
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In this dialog, you can change your shortcut keys to your hearts content. But what I really want to show you is how easy it is to get a list of the current shortcut keys. Click the View All button highlighted in Red. This brings up the dialog box shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4 |
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Now all you've got to do is click the Print button and you'll have your very own list of shortcut keys. Or you can export them to a text file.
What I've done is created my own Workspace that I can configure as I see fit. Then when it comes time to train other users or prepare screen shots for an article, I can simply switch back to the default workspace. Finally, I can work with the interface that I want!
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CorelDRAW X6 Font List · CorelDRAW X5 Font List · CorelDRAW X4 Font List · The Terms of Adobe Photoshop and Corel PHOTO-PAINT · CorelDRAW X3 Font List · Cropping and Rotating Files in Corel PHOTO-PAINT · The Magic of Color Styles · CorelDRAW's Find and Replace Wizard · Shorten Your Design Time with Templates · CorelDRAW's Multi-Faceted Eyedropper Tool · CorelDRAW and Special Characters · The Easy Way to Create Calendars in CorelDRAW · The Wide World of Labels in CorelDRAW · Including Variable Data with Print Merge · Resaving, Resizing & Resampling Files in Corel PHOTO-PAINT · Creating Your Own Fonts in CorelDRAW · The Evils of Using JPEG Files · Speeding Up CorelDRAW 11 and Windows XP · Symbols and Imposition · The Easiest Way to Recreate Logos · A Few Guidelines to Follow · Square Corners Can Be Sticky -- Rounding Corners in CorelDRAW · Creating Complex Shapes Easily with CorelDRAW · Identifying the Mystery Font · Two Ways to Create a Split Front Design · Last Word in Font Management · Calibrating Your Printed Colors with a Color Chart · Graphics Computing in 2001 · Hottest R.A.V.E. In Town · Get the Red Out of Eyes · Secrets of Color Management · Dressing Up Your PDF Files · How Adobe Acrobat Can Make Life Simpler · Why You Want PDF in Your Workflow · Converting a Scanned Logo to Vector in CorelDRAW · Designing 360 Degrees · Customizing Your Interface in CorelDRAW 8.0 · Fitting Text to a Path · Creating Cool Graphs Without a Spreadsheet · From CorelDRAW to Macromedia Flash, A Simple Example · Getting Rid of That Darned White Box · Converting a Bitmap Logo to Vector in CorelDRAW · Finding Clipart with ROMCAT
Xara Xtreme Pro 5.0
Serif WebPlus X2
Xara Web Designer 5.0
Xara Xtreme Pro 4.1
Macromedia Flash MX 2004 Professional
Fuji FinePix 2800 Zoom Digital Camera
Procreate KnockOut 2
Hemera Photo Objects Volume I and II
Wildform SWfx
Macromedia Fontographer 4.1 and FontLab 4
Caligari iSpace v1.5
Xara X
Macromedia Fireworks 4
Web Site Design Made Easy
Alien Skin Eye Candy 4000
Swish 1.51
Macromedia Flash 5
Corel KPT 6
Dreamweaver Ultradev
1st Page 2000
Adobe Illustrator 9
Corel KnockOut v1.5
Xara 3D 4
Cool 3D 3
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