Jeff Harrison's Daily Diversion

2010-02-09T03:17:00.003-07:00

John-Dan Key's Random Macro offers a variety of unique functions!

See the product page for another animation which shows the Random Object function a bit more.

CorelDRAW X4... are you updated?

2010-02-08T19:34:00.003-07:00

Already have X4? Ensure you're updated, there are many good fixes.

Your version from the factory MAY already have service packs applied.

Check to see the version you're running before you download the updates from this page.

How to check?

displacement map for water effect

2010-02-07T21:38:00.004-07:00

This effect in PHOTO-PAINT is achieved with this workflow...

click for larger image

Here's the displacement map I'd used:

Distribution of shapes around a circle

2010-02-07T14:21:00.003-07:00

Note that I check 2 special options for the blend (out of sight in the video):

blend along full path
rotate all objects

After fitting blend to the path, you can rotate or scale the master shapes as needed. :-)

More older older videos here

Simple Exports for web graphics

2010-01-24T14:13:00.002-07:00

Sometimes a simple thing like exporting a selected logo out from CorelDRAW can confuse people.

Yes, there are several screens of parameters to get through. But they're available for a reason, and I'd rather have these options than not.

Here's a movie to export a GIF file for cases where there are less than 256 hues.

Making a simple floor plan

2009-12-16T17:34:00.002-07:00

Many years ago, Foster had a tutorial for doing this.

I could not find it, maybe if he still has it he can post it.

Anyway;

make some thin rectangles
align them to each other using R, L, T, B Shortcut Keys
weld certain rectangles together as needed
trim into them with another rectangle slightly wider than the walls

PHOTO-PAINT over-scroll tip

2009-12-16T12:29:00.005-07:00

Here's a great tip that eluded many I suspect, including me. (Thanks Huib.)

Sometimes you'll need to zoom into the corner of an image, but there's no "breathing room" around that corner for you to use masking, paint or effects tools the way you'd like.

Try this:

load any image into PHOTO-PAINT.
maximize the image window and PHOTO-PAINT itself.
zoom into the corner.
watch the animation below to see the difference.

Art comes in many forms

2009-12-08T23:10:00.004-07:00

A Story to Tell + Sand + Fingers + Real Skill = this:

A note on creating attractive images with a Paletted bit depth

2009-11-25T19:47:00.000-07:00

Study these settings, and give them a try on your next GIF or Paletted PNG.

A few changes make a huge difference...

AM Halftone dot integrity for conversions to 1-bit monchrome

2009-11-23T19:33:00.002-07:00

A quick test I made... interesting how 3 programs convert to 1-bit. I love Photo-PAINT, but hopefully the next version will have better integrity relative to the others shown.

I intentionally used a low line screen to reveal the circle integrity.

Imposing single documents to single print stream

2009-11-11T03:04:00.000-07:00

Notice how separate documents are selected in the print engine for the print range.

click on image for a clear view:

Cut Contour lines with bleeds

2009-11-10T02:58:00.004-07:00

This will make sense to CorelDRAW users with print/cut devices.

If you seek outlined text with a bleed, have a look at these steps:

How to make an eye shape

2009-11-03T01:23:00.002-07:00

Here's an easy way to do it:

Well, 2 ways. ;-)

The first way, I go a little quickly. Here are the steps:

make 2 circles
overlap them
press the intersect icon on property bar, a new shape is made where circles overlapped
delete 2 circles

Converting to 1-bit monochrome inside CorelDraw

2009-11-02T01:51:00.000-07:00

Some industries require a coarse AM halftone dot for reproductive purposes.

Also, some designers simply like the look of the dots.

When converting to grayscale, it's important to convert with ICC off so that the solid black areas in the original art stay pure black.

Note that the conversion quality is a bit rougher than the results from GhostScript or PhotoShop for the very same conversion parameters. I'm going to need to suggest this improvement to Corel... ;-)

The Envelope Please

2009-11-01T01:43:00.002-06:00

It's possible to have a shape (or group of shapes) be enveloped by another Closed Curve.

Tip: add nodes to shapes and make all segments curve segments for easier conforming to a new shape.

I'm not using the envelope docker at all. Tip: click on the edge of the shape to have the envelope apply.

Hopefully the next version will have an apply icon on the envelope property bar for more intuitive operation.

You can also save an envelope for the future to apply to other shapes.

New Swatch Macro

2009-10-31T21:18:00.001-06:00

Color Spectrum Pro is available, for making variable CMYK swatches around a known value.

Live Fillet update

2009-10-05T20:18:00.002-06:00

NEW! You can now operate on selected nodes with this amazing new update.
It now comes with a toolbar icon, and also a bit larger spinner buttons.
Live Fillet... it's awesome!

Auto Size macro updated

2009-09-28T15:13:00.001-06:00

Shelby's Autosize now supports document scaling.

It also has these new features:

Single Undo
Form Remembers Location (saved upon pressing Apply)
No Sizing applied (If left blank or 0 entered)
Straighten Horizontal or Vertical
Added Accelerator Keys
Delete line option
Save Settings button

Showing real projects done with CorelDRAW

2009-09-17T01:09:00.002-06:00

I found this exchange in a email from 2005. Yes, trying to clean house a little. LOL

On this point your position is inarguably correct. For promotional purposes, Corel must present images that are far beyond the comprehension of the average graphic artist.

To me, that often translates to attempts at photo-realism in Draw. But not always... things like maps, product labels/packaging, embroidery, vinyl signage, yellow page ads - all of these are done in Draw too. And can each be impressive in their own right. They just need to look like - or be - real billable work. If someone can project themselves into the future creating these things (and making a living), it's a compelling reason to plop down the cash on Draw.

As you'd said - it's more practical to just take a photo of a car (or maybe build in 3D in the first place for repurposing) than to make one static angle in Draw. Much of the photo realistic stuff in Draw is for the artist's amusement/challenge, not for commercial work.

The most effective approach would be to the people who buy the art and design. Create practical examples of real-world graphics that the customer can take to his supplier and say, "I want this. Can you do this? It very important that I have this because my competitors will have it soon."

I have a massive collection of commercial work that if I spread it on a table, an art director will probably give a thumbs up to most of it. But a sales manager would get even more excited, because he's looking past the paper and ink and seeing a big stack of clients and their money. If Draw is my weapon of choice, he won't argue with that, if I feel twice as productive with it.

Designing effective sales materials doesn't always have to push the envelope of what Draw can do, it just needs to be effective at communicating and produce results for clients.

People thinking about buying Draw for "meat and potatoes" work should see stuff along those lines. There's plenty of room on servers. :-) Whatever someone wants to do, they CAN do it in Draw.

Jeff

Converting Spot colors to the CMYK color model

2009-09-13T22:09:00.002-06:00

Someone mentioned in the newsgroups that by tinting a Spot color towards a CMYK hue, the color model will change to CMYK.

IMO, it's better to change with:

color dialog
the find and replace function
a macro that will convert many colors at once

Here's why:

Straightening images in in PHOTO-PAINT X3

2009-09-13T00:13:00.000-06:00

Here's a tiny movie showing X4 straighten tool for the curious X3 users, and also how to straighten in X3.

Adventures in Prepress

2009-09-08T01:33:00.002-06:00

Once in awhile I come across a good case example. Today, there are no Corel products involved – at all – in what I want to show.

A job came in as a PDF, I printed using Adobe Reader to a PS3 device (Xerox DC-240). Notice the anomalies on the scanned press sheet relative to the "pure" look of the art in Adobe Reader. The overall hue isn't the issue as much as the discolored blocks where there are drop shadows nearby.

Someone told this budding designer to design in Pantone colors. The same had happened to me once too, for a job to be output on a CMYK device. LOL.

Anyway... during the conversion of drop shadows with spot colors these anomalies appeared on the press sheet.

So... this post shows that 100% Adobe-land has problems also, and that if you struggle with CorelDRAW and are tempted to jump the fence? You still have to mow the lawn, and there are new weeds to pull.

Click image for a larger version

Tough cases

2009-09-07T20:00:00.002-06:00

If you're a production artist, chances are you've seen some very rough artwork come your way. Here's one of my "gems" that I've had to deal with. :-)

Patching an area between 2 objects

2009-09-07T19:50:00.004-06:00

The rectangle in this image represents a 1/8" thick area that was a technical requirement. The goal was to join the shapes and have the lines smooth everywhere.

Select similar colors using the magic wand

2009-09-05T12:53:00.004-06:00

In Photoshop, there is an option for wand tool to be "contiguous" - or not. This means when you select an area with wand, it's possible to have other disconnected areas of same hue selected. (It's like using the Color Mask, but without having to open color mask dialog)

I wanted same type of thing in PHOTO-PAINT. You can do it this way: