Internet Explorer, How Do I Hate Thee?

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the problems that Internet Explorer caused with form filling. Today there is yet another incompatibility. Several people have reported a large white area at the top of pages when they print. This white area covers content and it extremely annoying.

This white area is where the Flash drop-down menus on our site would appear if they were dropped down. Unfortunately Internet Explorer is just flat out misinterpreting the data when it prints! If any other browser is used to view and print the site, the error doesn't occur.

Since Microsoft has the largest market share (and shrinking) for browsers, they have made their own rules for Web site coding. Unfortunately there are standards and Microsoft doesn't follow them. So incompatibilities like this are inevitable.

This is why I beg users to use a different browser. My suggestion is Firefox. It is faster, safer and has more features than Internet Explorer. You can still have Internet Explorer on your system. Firefox is free. Your "favorites" can be transferred. So there are absolutely no downsides. Please take the five minutes it takes to install Firefox if you don't already have it installed. You will certainly enjoy your browsing experience more than you do now!

Corel to Get New CEO

David Dobson, Corel's current CEO, is leaving to take an executive position with a Fortune 500 company. He will remain on the board of directors through June. Kris Hagerman has been named the interim CEO. Hagerman was formerly a group president with Symantec. Hagerman will start on Thursday, May 8.

So what does this all mean? At this point there are no answers. I'm guessing it is related to the stock buyout offer announced in March. If I learn anything new, I'll keep you updated. As far as the short term, it should have little to no effect on Corel's products.

LCD Monitors and Native Resolution

Many users have moved from a traditional tube-based monitor to LCD monitors in the past couple of years. This can include desktop LCD monitors as well as laptops. There is also the move from monitors with a 4:3 aspect ratio to "widescreen" 16:9 monitors. From reading various questions posed in the support forums, there seems to be a misunderstanding of how an LCD monitor should be run. There are two major issues that I'll discuss in this post. If you want the best results, make sure to have your monitor specifications handy as we'll need them.

The first issue that users have is that they'll draw a square in CorelDRAW and it will be stretched horizontally. This is a classic indication that the user has the aspect ratio set incorrectly on their display. I'll use my laptop as an example. Its native resolution is 1920 x 1200 pixels, a "widescreen" aspect ratio. When I'm using the laptop for day-to-day work, I love all the extra resolution. Unfortunately most data projectors have a maximum native resolution of 1024 x 768, a non-widescreen. This means when I project, I have to set Windows to a resolution of 1024 x 768. When I draw squares, they look distorted on my laptop display. Since the people in my training are looking at the image created by the projector, they see a square.

Now let's say that you went out and bought a new LCD for your desktop. It has a native resolution of 1680 x 1050 (a fairly common resolution). But you've always used Windows at 1024 x 768 (an extremely common resolution) so that is what you set on your computer. Everything you draw will appear distorted because you are using the wrong aspect ratio on your monitor. Something like 1280 x 720 would at least keep squares looking square.

The other issue is that people complain their display is "fuzzy". This is a classic symptom of running an LCD at a non-native resolution. If you have a monitor whose native resolution is 1680 x 1050, the only way to get a clear image is to run that monitor at 1680 x 1050! That is because an LCD monitor has discrete pixels on it. So if you run at any other resolution, the monitor has to stretch your display resolution to fill the entire screen. If you've set it at 1024 x 768, each pixel in that resolution is stretched to fill 1.64 pixels horizontally and 1.37 pixels vertically. Oops, you can't have anything but whole numbers and now the math gets really funny. Running the monitor at 1280 x 720 would be stretching 1.31 pixels horizontally and 1.46 vertically. Still funny math.

There are typically two reasons users give for not running their LCD at its native resolution. One excuse is that things are "too small" on screen for my eyes. You'll just need to adjust your screen elements a bit. You can use different font sizes for menus and dialog boxes. Often your programs let you choose different icon sizes. Windows definitely allows you to choose bigger icons if you want. The other excuse is that the video card in the computer doesn't support the needed resolution. In that case, you need to upgrade your video card. It will cost probably less than $100 to get a card to support the new resolution and it will also be faster than what you have.

Hopefully now you understand the issues you face when running an LCD monitor at the wrong resolution. When you are shopping for a new monitor, it is important to know what size (in inches or cm) you need as well as what resolution is required. This will tell you if the elements are going to be too small to be seen. Also check the resolutions your video card supports. If you don't want to have to buy a new video card, make sure to buy an LCD monitor that is supported by your current card.

I will give one other suggestion. Think big! About a year ago my old monitor gave out. I gave out and purchased a 30" LCD running at 2560 x 1600 pixels. The first day it arrived, it seemed huge. Even better, I could fit all kinds of running programs on the same screen. Now that a year has passed, I'm considering getting a second monitor so I have even more screen real estate. Now you won't find monitors like this on sale for $199. But for less than $1500, you can have a big, beautiful monitor. Since you aren't constantly re-arranging your programs, you can be a lot more productive. For a graphics professional, it is worth every single penny. Certainly it is investment you should consider.

Taxes and Training

If you are in the US, hopefully you got your tax return filed a few weeks ago. Those of you getting a refund have probably already received it. Even better, your "stimulus check" should be coming any day now. These stimulus checks are being sent to help stimulate the economy and can be as much as $600 for a single person and $1200 for a married couple.

I'd like you to consider using your stimulus check to invest in the future of your business. Wouldn't it be great if you could double or triple your investment within a year's time? That's exactly what you can get if you can improve your skills on tasks important to your business. Even better, your investment is most likely tax deductible so you can save money on next year's taxes.

You use CorelDRAW in your business, right? Most of you do and that's why you're here. No matter your current knowledge level of CorelDRAW, you don't know everything. Nobody does, not even the experts. Which means that you can certainly learn something new that will save you time every day. That's why I'm going to encourage you to "invest" in your future and join us at the CorelDRAW Unleashed User Conference!

We will have something for all levels of users. If you are just getting started, we have crash courses on the first day to get you up-to-speed quickly. Industry specific sessions will be taught on screen printing, sublimation, embroidery, engraving, sign making, digital photography and much more. There will be something on CorelDRAW and something on Corel PHOTO-PAINT in every timeframe. So no matter what you do with CorelDRAW, you will find sessions that give you valuable information for boosting your productivity and creativity.

The instructors leading the sessions have been carefully chosen for their expertise with the software and most of them make their living doing production work with the software and thus you will get lots of practical information. We brought them in from all over the world to share their expertise with you. And when they aren't leading sessions, they will be in the 1:1 Expert Bar. This is the area where you can sit down in front of a computer with one of the experts and ask questions. Or have them help you with a tricky design problem. Where else will you have then chance to work one-on-one with one of the top CorelDRAW experts in the world?

You might ask how Corel Corporation is involved. The man behind the development of CorelDRAW, Tony Severenuk, will be giving our opening keynote and sharing with you the top new features in CorelDRAW X4. He'll also be leading sessions later in the conference where he will share tons of great tips for boosting your productivity. Of course you'll always find him carrying a notebook so he can write down your concerns, your wishlist of new features and anything else that will help shape future versions of CorelDRAW. John Falsetto will also be joining us from Corel and giving a keynote address on the Wide World of CorelDRAW. If you want to talk directly with the people behind the software, this is your opportunity.

Some users have told me that it is too far to travel. Tell that to the attendee who is joining us from New Zealand. There is no other event like this anywhere else in the world and we truly will have the world getting together to join us in learning to get the most out of CorelDRAW. I want to encourage you to invest in your future and join us for four days of incredible training!

Design Studio Packages Loaded with Apparel Templates

There are many CorelDRAW users creating graphics for apparel. Two new packages have been released that are loaded with high-quality graphics to be used for apparel. Design Studio packages can be bought individually or get both volumes for a discounted price. They are loaded with graphics, templates, fonts, distress overlays and a full color book loaded with examples.

This is a great collection for anyone doing screen printer, garment printing, embroidery and more. And for those using Decostudio, it gives you the multi-decoration artwork that will really show off the capabilities of Decostudio.

Check out the sample images from this collection and you'll find that it can bring even more creativity to the products you are creating.

CoCut Cutting Add-On Released for CorelDRAW X4

The CoCut add-on for CorelDRAW, Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Freehand and AutoCAD has been updated to work with the latest versions of the supported software including CorelDRAW X4. It is available in two versions. The regular version of CoCut provides a driver that works with Allen Datagraph, Anagraph, Gerber, Graphtec, Ioline, Mimaki, Mutoh, Roland, Summagraphics, Wild, Zund and more cutters. For users looking for more control over their output, CoCut Pro adds even more features. With CoCut, you can turn CorelDRAW into full-blown cutting software. Use the graphics tools you know and output to your favorite cutter.

Mystical Painter Bundle Provides Great Value

The folks at Auto FX have put together a special bundle of products at an unbelievable price. The Mystical Painter Bundle is comprised of six separate software and training products valued at $900. With this special bundle, you can get them for only $349 until August 31, 2008.

Corel Painter X is the centerpiece of the suite. By itself, Corel Painter X has a list price of $429 and sells for $379.99 at Amazon. Even if all you want is Corel Painter X, the bundle is saving you $30! The next piece of the bundle is the Mystical Lighting plug-in from Auto FX. It has a price of $179. You also get the Mystical Tint Tone and Color plug-in from Auto FX. It also has a price of $179. Add to that a training video from Jeremy Sutton on using Corel Painter which sells for $65. There are also training videos for both Mystical Lighting and Mystical Tint Tone and Color. Each of those series is $29 each when purchased separately.

For those who are looking for a way to unleash their inner artist, this special bundle gives you the software and the training you need to "paint" on your computer. Remember, the special expires on August 31, 2008 so don't miss out!