An error occurred. Please try later.An error occurred. Please try later.An error occurred. Please try later. The ultimate CorelDRAW X3 and Corel PHOTO-PAINT X3 learning experience! Get CorelDRAW X3 Unleashed Boot Camp details! 750 page multimedia ebook for getting the most from CorelDRAW X3! Get CorelDRAW X3 Unleashed!

Finding Clip Art with ROMCat

© 1997-2008 by Foster D. Coburn III. All Rights Reserved.

ROMCat was designed to catalog the directories and collect keyword information for CorelDRAW's Clipart CD's and display thumbnails from CorelDRAW files. ROMCat will work using all versions of CorelDRAW including CorelDRAW X4.

To install ROMCat simply download the program from our Web site. This will download the file ROMCAT60.ZIP to your system. Unzip the file to it's own folder and you're ready to go (If you don't have a Zip program, we recommend WinZip which is available at winzip.com). There really isn't an install program as it's simply a utility. To run the utility, double click on the ROMCAT.EXE file or create a shortcut and place it on the desktop or in your Start menu. Note that a catalog is not included with this zip file, you'll need to download that separately.

We highly recommend that you download the pre-build catalogs for the version(s) of CorelDRAW that you have. This is a must for users of CorelDRAW 11-X3 as there is no way to build a catalog from the supplied clipart disk. A feature added in ROMCat v5.0 is that you can store the clipart anywhere on your hard drive and you can tell ROMCat where it is located. Select Configure | Set File Locations to tell ROMCat where the clipart is located.

Note: if you download the pre-built catalogs, they will need to be unzipped in order to be loaded into ROMCat. ROMCat will not be able to build catalogs from CorelDRAW 11-X3 as Corel no longer includes keywords in the clipart files. Keywords have been included in the CorelDRAW X4 clip art in multiple languages.

When you run ROMCat, select File | Open Catalog. Choose the name of the catalog for the clipart you want to search. Now type a keyword in the Find text box. After typing in a keyword, a list of matching thumbnails will automatically appear at the right of the screen as shown at right. Note that ROMCat must be able to access the clipart files to see the thumbnails. This either means you will have had to put the clipart on your hard drive or inserted the appropriate CD-ROM. When you find the file you want to use, double click on its file name. If you already have a file open in CorelDRAW, the clipart will be imported into that file. If CorelDRAW is not open, ROMCat will open CorelDRAW displaying your selected clipart. Right-clicking on the thumbnail gives you even more options. As you hover over a thumbnail, information about the file will be displayed included all of the keywords in the file and any notes in the file.

ROMCat can also be used to catalog your own CorelDRAW files. In order for this to work properly, you need to save your files with keywords and/or notes. I highly suggest you include the month, year, client name and project name as keywords in every file. Then add other words that are relevant to the file. You can also use the Notes field of the Save dialog box in CorelDRAW as ROMCat will also catalog anything included there.

To build a catalog from scratch, open ROMCat and select File | Build New Catalog. The Select Source Drive dialog box will open as shown at right. Point at the base folder that you want to have cataloged. If you point at the root of a drive, the entire drive will be cataloged. Depending on the number of files and keywords, this process could take a little while. Once the catalog has been built, save the catalog to disk and you can simply open it the next time you want to use it.

Select the drive letter of your CD ROM drive in the tree list at the top of the dialog box. If you choose the drive letter, all folders on that drive will be included in the catalog. ROMCat will begin to build a new catalog which could take a half hour or so on slower machines (and/or slow CD-ROM drives). After the new catalog has been generated, you are asked to name it.

There is simply no better way to find clipart than to use ROMCat. And the best part about using it is the cost, FREE! Note that while it is free, the author will gladly accept donations. Select Help | Donate to ROMCat's Author to show your appreciation for his hard work. We here at Unleashed will also accept donations to help offset the bandwidth costs for distributing ROMCat.

If you select Help | Manual, you will find much more detailed information on using ROMCat and its history.

ROMCat is free! Just fill out this quick form!

Graphics Unleashed Privacy Policy

Please give us some information about yourself. This information will not be shared with anyone! After filling out this form, you will receive an e-mail with links to download ROMCat and its catalogs.

The download information for ROMCat will be e-mailed to the address you provide. Make sure that your filters have orders@unleash.com whitelisted so that the e-mail can get to you. If you do not provide a valid e-mail address, you will not receive the download information.

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

Press the Subscribe button at right to receive our free CorelDRAW Unleashed emagazine! Each issue is full of top notch tutorials from the leading CorelDRAW experts worldwide. It will definitely increase your productivity.

Get magazine details!

CorelDRAW X3 Unleashed

Get Conference details! Get CorelDRAW Unleashed Boot Camp details!