Flipping objects in place

Flip objects in place by pressing CTRL+SHIFT and moving the adjustment handles as shown:

CorelDRAW macro that reveals the length of a curve

This macro will reveal the length of a single selected curve. You can choose either inches or centimeters. If the curve has subpaths, they will be included in the total measurement.

image rescue again

Here's an image of a doctor that I improved upon a few years ago. There were no other photos available, I just had to make it work. :-)

You might notice some main things such as removing shadow behind head, and skin tone adjustment. The final result has a bit of a painterly look to it after my processing...

Click on the image for larger version, to see what I was given... :-p

Image rescue

Here was a pic that needed some repair. The original provided was at left, my repair attempt at right.

click on image for more detail....

Opening PDF's for editing in Draw

A user asked:

I am attempting to import a PDF file into Corel so I can do some editing. When I copied and pasted the file into Corel the quality was extremely bad, so I tried to import the file and got a bunch of crazy symbols where the text was supposed to be. The pictures looked fine. Any tips you guys can give me?

Opening PDF files in any program for editing is a coin-toss. They are intended as a final format for viewing, printing, or "placing" only.

Sometimes you'll get lucky and the anomalies will be limited - this depends on the complexity of the PDF file, and how it was generated by the author.

If a PDF is opened for editing in any program, it is being reverse engineered. That's why surprises can often happen.

That said, there are techniques designers in the trenches use every day, to try and get their jobs done.

1. if art is one page and you know the designer, ask for all fonts to be converted to curves/outlines. This takes font headaches out of the equation. otherwise...

2. convert the text in the PDF file to curves/outlines yourself, with one of these:

A. acrobat pro 7+

B. http://www.pstill.com/

C. http://www.intellipdf.com/curves.htm

Dealing with this issue is one of the most common things designers do all day. After the font stuff is dealt with, then the file should open in Draw OK, preserving spacing and type styles since they're all curves now.

Be honest with yourself...

Do you struggle with rebuilding logos and drawing shapes in general? All vector artists stumble around in the dark for far too long. I was one too...

Check out a few comments below from very satisfied customers:

Customer Comment received on Oct. 7, 2008:

Jeff, I've been using X3 for about half a year now for silk screening and vinyl cutting. I downloaded your tutorial after reading about it on coreldraw.com a couple of weeks ago. Finally got around to watching it last night.

I have to say this is the single best tutorial I have ever seen. Within 5 minutes of watching your video, I was successfully using your techniques on customer logos and saving hours of time and frustration!

Thanks a million!
Nick F.

Customer Comment received on Aug. 27, 2008:

"Brilliant video - wipes the floor with the tutorials on lynda.com which I recently viewed."

Thanks,
Mike

Customer Comment received on Feb 26, 2008:

" Jeff, I can't believe how great this method is!

I just started using X3 after my last foray with CorelDRAW was on V3 over 15 years ago and I have to say that you accomplished a lot in getting rid of my nervousness and anxiety at how quickly I could learn to get my skills up along the likes of a professional level.

Until I found your site and the coreldraw.com forum, I was seriously thinking of giving up and going over to Illustrator just because of the abundance of training material. But with the combination of your method, and some other training, I think I can accomplish pro level work in a matter of days rather than weeks or months on my own or even in an "official" college class.

You've got me feeling a little smug, especially for a Corel (sorta) newbie. Yesterday I just got the xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.com vector training and wouldn't you think I'd expect to see that technique done there?

Nope, to both my surprise and chagrin he is mostly tracing all lines by clicking nodes and setting control points. Not to suggest he's a bad artist by any means, but after looking at your method, I think I'd have the guy beat five times fast and that's just because I'm a newbie. Ten times once I get it down pat. ;)

I just wanted to say thanks again for a super tutorial - I don't see how I could have lived without it!

Thanks again for supporting us DRAW users and helping us to become the best artists we can be!

- Paul G.

Ready to learn more?

This tutorial makes drawing a breeze.

X4 layer macro updated

Brian updated his X4 layer macro to allow for printability.

Making border rectangles with macros

Brian Davies Rectangle Creator is here!

Arching a rectangle

A CorelDRAW user wrote:

"Honestly, I can't believe I can't figure this out, but all I want to do is arc a rectangle halfway around a circle. I tried the envelope tool but it's not giving me the desired look I need. "

I'd try a different way, for a more accurate shape:




"Jeff, what if I want to bend the rectangle at arbitrary angle rather than 1/2 or 1/4 circle?"

for complex angles, here's how I'd do it. one line is 60 deg, the other 120 deg.