Why should I upgrade?

[Bobby H]

It is not a "well documented fact" Corel is way easier to use than Illustrator. That's just your opinion, possibly coming from what you're used to using in the workplace. I've known a lot of people who were used to Illustrator or Freehand and totally despised Corel when trying to use it.

Yes, there are some areas where Corel makes it easier to get certain things done. I prefer some of the path editing methods Corel offers since one can build up certain types of objects quickly and precisely. But there are other key areas where Corel comes up short. The zooming and hand panning methods are just one example.

I use the scrollwheel method (on occaision) in CorelDRAW. That still doesn't make up for the fact Corel cannot toggle the hand pan tool on/off like you can with Illustrator and several other graphics apps using the spacebar key. And the scrollwheel method isn't very precise either on zooming.

Although you can "hot key" a number of functions, they still don't behave as they should -with the hand pan tool deficiency being a big problem.

Comparing corel draw 9,,, an old program against an updated CS adobe product is not a valid comparison

I would invite anyone using CorelDRAW 10, 11 or 12 to show me outline effect quality that equals that of what I showed from the AI CS2 screenshot (or even the Freehand 10 screenshot for that matter). From what I've seen with CorelDRAW 12 (from demos) it behaves the same way -giving you lots of control points to make up for not so great floating point capability in the code.

 

[Steve C.]

This is a somewhat "hidden" function I discovered a while back - AUTO-REDUCE CURVE. This does exactly what you are after. You can select the whole shmoo and it will auto-reduce, but sometimes too much. So be careful.

Thanks for your response Chris. I did know about this function and Bobby H is right that it is very unpredictable.
When I select the shape tool, I have a custom tool bar that allows a lot of different tools including Auto Reduce. What I have to do is select all points that need to be curved and click....Curve, Smooth, Auto Reduce. It is rare that you can select all points in an object without really getting a mess. So it is a very tedious process to go through and make sure that you don't curve the wrong points. I have gotten pretty good at node editing. Sometimes it is unnecessary, but many times objects will not export because the high number of nodes increases the file size.

I do use the mouse wheel zoom function too, and I don't find Corel all that hard the navigate, thou I have no point of comparison since I have never used Illustrator.

I think it really boils down to...We all like what we are use to. In my experience, those who use both Corel and Illustration seem to like Corel better. That don't make it so.

 

[Bobby H]

When it comes to Corel's auto reduce capability, I have typically used a more selective method. For instance, on a contour effect resulting in lots of control points (mainly lots of straight line segments joined together to simulate a curve) I would grab the node editing shape tool, select all the points on the curve, convert them to curve points and then select the smooth point button on the tool bar. I would select all those control points again, hold down the shift key and then marquee de-select points I wanted to keep. I'd hit the delete key to get rid of the extraneous points. Usually the method would work pretty well. But it is time consuming.

I just find it take a lot less time to export an EPS file over into IllustratorCS2, apply the outline effect I need, then save the result as a legacy AI version 3 file and bring it back into CorelDRAW (if that's where I'm generating the finished work).

 

[ChiknNutz]

When it comes to Corel's auto reduce capability, I have typically used a more selective method. For instance, on a contour effect resulting in lots of control points (mainly lots of straight line segments joined together to simulate a curve) I would grab the node editing shape tool, select all the points on the curve, convert them to curve points and then select the smooth point button on the tool bar. I would select all those control points again, hold down the shift key and then marquee de-select points I wanted to keep. I'd hit the delete key to get rid of the extraneous points. Usually the method would work pretty well. But it is time consuming.

I just find it take a lot less time to export an EPS file over into IllustratorCS2, apply the outline effect I need, then save the result as a legacy AI version 3 file and bring it back into CorelDRAW (if that's where I'm generating the finished work).

That's what I've found works best in many situations too. However, some nodes go nuts if you convert them to curves, so you still have to sometimes be selective with this sequence as well. I agree that Corel produces WAY too many nodes on contours, and when you zoom in close, they're sometimes really chunky looking - especially around sharply rounded parts of the object. I only used Illy a little bit and found it cumbersome - but that's just me. I can't say that I know Corel inside out, but I am very comfortable with the majority of it's features.

As far as the zoom/pan issue, I do like how the zoom works with the wheel mouse. I don't like the fact that you have to select a toolbar or menu item to get "full zoom". I have custom toolbars to aid in that, but I'll tell you what the cat's ass would be for this or any program - a Spaceball. A Spaceball is like a second mouse that you use with your other hand, but is typically used in 3D drawing apps like Unigraphics, Catia, Mechanical Desktop, SolidWorks, etc. Since I just came from a mechanical design engineer career, I know this product quite well. I actually bought one of these for when I was using SolidWorks at home. New, they are about $500, I got a new one off ebay for $200. Bummer is, it is not supported by most apps that we use in this industry. I've inquired to them about supporting Corel, Illy and others, but doesn't sound like they will be. It does work with Photoshop, but that's about all I see for apps we'd use. Anyway, here is a link to their site just as an FYI. Maybe if they had enough inquiries, they'd entertain making drivers...
http://www.3dconnexion.com/spaceball5000.htm