[Stefano]

Hello,
I'm not an artist, but wanted an industry standard program that could integrate special effects text with simple graphics. I want to produce plastisol transfers or cut vinyl with the output.

I was looking at Corel Draw X6, which was running between $400 and $500 at different sellers. After tracking it on Amazon for several weeks, the price just dropped tp $282. Pretty hard to pass up a deal like that!

 

[charles95405]

Corel is a great program. Prices are dropping all over the place. Wonder if corel x7 is just around the corner.

 

[Pak sherm]

Corel is a great program. Prices are dropping all over the place. Wonder if corel x7 is just around the corner.

Very possible. I have subscription so when a new release is debuted I get upgrade free.
Beyond that it is nice to "own" the program an not pay monthly or yearly rental fee from Adobe.

 

[royster13]

Very possible. I have subscription so when a new release is debuted I get upgrade free.

If you have a "subscription" what do you own?.....

As far as Adobe, the suite has "great value" to me and I have no problem paying 30.00 a month for....I am a big fan of Adobe, however, I still keep up to date with Corel Draw as both are needed my workflow.....

 

[Pak sherm]

My subscription is a 'premium subscription' which unlocks certain features and content. $99 year also gives me free update when a new version is released.
But one of the reasons I like Corel at this point is that I can continue using the software as long as I want.
I think Adobe is probably a superior product, I just don't like having to pay for it in perpetuity to use it.

 

[mfatty500]

Corel is a great program. Prices are dropping all over the place. Wonder if corel x7 is just around the corner.

I was watching a Corel tut the other night and the guy doing the tut said maybe the spring of '14, the video was a couple of years old.

 

[Ruimpress]

Here is a preview CorelDRAW X7 - A nova versão promete novidades: http://youtu.be/BsKTIXc6fHw

Sent from my SPH-L710 using T-Shirt Forums

 

[Stefano]

Corel is a great program. Prices are dropping all over the place. Wonder if corel x7 is just around the corner.

That's probably what's going on X7 will be released soon. Today, I see Amazon's price dropped almost $25 to $259!

 

[superD70]

My subscription is a 'premium subscription' which unlocks certain features and content. $99 year also gives me free update when a new version is released.
But one of the reasons I like Corel at this point is that I can continue using the software as long as I want.
I think Adobe is probably a superior product, I just don't like having to pay for it in perpetuity to use it.

I think you are mistaken, if you don't pay your yearly fee you will have no access to Corel, as mentioned above, if on a subscription you are merely renting it, you don't own anything

 

[Ruimpress]

I think you are mistaken, if you don't pay your yearly fee you will have no access to Corel, as mentioned above, if on a subscription you are merely renting it, you don't own anything

Actually the subscription is after you buy corel, you can still using corel without the subscription but certain futures won't be available

 

[superD70]

Actually the subscription is after you buy corel, you can still using corel without the subscription but certain futures won't be available

That makes more sense but if you already own the current version of Corel updates are free anyway, and the price to update to next current version is usually not that expensive.
I don't see the value in it personally

 

[Ruimpress]

That makes more sense but if you already own the current version of Corel updates are free anyway, and the price to update to next current version is usually not that expensive.
I don't see the value in it personally

Not really, for example 6.1 update was free but 6.4 wasn't. It was only available with subscription

 

[sben763]

Not really, for example 6.1 update was free but 6.4 wasn't. It was only available with subscription

Wrong, I have 6.4 and don't have the subscription. The subscription is mostly for the other features. It has nothing to do with the updates and you wont get X7 when released.

The subscription does have some artwork, fonts and other content.

Unless X7 is greatly improved I wouldn't touch it with a 10 Ft pole. I have a developers Beta and it is strictly crap. Crashing continually, old macro wont work or complete correctly even though they are suppose to. Don't think they have released a updated beta.

 

[ETA]

Sean,
Are you sure you don't get the X7 update when it is released? From my understanding that was the huge plus of buying the premium subscription. I think I even read one of the developer's blogs where they talked about it and how they were attempting to come up with ways to keep people from abusing the system for the updates (buying premium subscription right before new version is released and cancelling it after the upgrade).

I guess I could be wrong but I was under the impression that it worked like that...I will have to see if I can dig up that post.

 

[WallyHawk]

In my experience Corel is not worth half of what they charge for it. Adobe all the way. Sadly I am stuck with Corel draw for talking to my vinyl cutter, I use it just for that and everything else is Adobe.

My reasoning: Corel seems to be very memory intensive on my computer and makes it run slow all the time. It also has absurd upgrade standards where eventually they will try and milk more and more money out of you to stay current. If you just try to keep the version you have the program practically degenerates. X5 constantly gives me run time errors, crashes programs, locks up the computer. The computer I have Corel on is identical to the machine I run adobe on but 1 year newer. The adobe machine has never had an issue where the corel machine can't go 4 days without a Corel related problem. Their customer support is a joke. They've tried to charge me for calls and when they don't their only solution is to buy the newest version from their online shop.

In short, get Adobe products if you have a choice. (I do not work for Adobe, haha)

 

[ETA]

Adam,

I totally get where you're coming from. Personally, I like Corel more than Illustrator, but that's probably just because it is what I am used to. I also don't like Adobe's new "Creative Cloud" software, as I don't like having to pay a subscription fee for my software. I agree that Corel is crazy for trying to charge for support calls and such, however, and in many ways it is a very memory intensive program. I have been trying to use more open source programs whenever possible, Inkscape, GIMP, and Krita have been my saviors recently!

Also, here is the blog post I referred to earlier where it says Corel Draw premium subscribers get the next update...

Premium Membership includes the upgrade to the next major release - Gérard on Graphics - CorelDRAW.com

 

[sben763]

Oh the same way Adobe is now milking its customers for a monthly subscription with no chance to buy the product out right.

X5 was suppose to have some bugs but the only time I had it have a problem was with the Adobe files. X6 is rock solid. Of course Adobe has never crashed opening a Corel file because it can't.

Not sure why these threads tend to become a Adobe/Corel thread. I personally use both but ever since Adobe took out some major features for screen printing I have used Corel as my primary graphic program.

 

[WallyHawk]

I also don't like Adobe's new "Creative Cloud" software, as I don't like having to pay a subscription fee for my software.

I have been trying to use more open source programs whenever possible, Inkscape, GIMP, and Krita have been my saviors recently!

Couldn't agree more about the subscription. I thought it was a cool option at first for people who want the newest version every time but they put restraints on it. Better to buy it flat out since older versions still work fine. I even have CS 3 on my laptop I still use when I travel, CS 5.5 is my daily.

The free software can be good options too. Bit of a learning curve but if you are just testing the waters on the business it's better than shelling out a couple grand on software.

 

[sben763]

Nick seems they changed the premium membership. But it seems if you quit they are trying to make it a cloud base product like Adobe. As for now they are still offering the product for sale and not just rental. I had the premium membership with X5 and still had to purchase X6. If I could pay $99 to get the update then cancel everyone will be doing it. Could save $100 on the upgrade.

I'm going to call Corel to find out wha the deal is. According to the info its says some features will be available to only premium members on the updates that will only come to standard user so major updates.

 

[ETA]

Sean, I know they said a while back that they intend to always keep a non-subscription option for Corel...however, I do understand that this doesn't mean they won't make more and more features "Premium only" features, rendering the standard program fairly useless after a while.

I seriously hope they don't take their business model in that direction. Definitely let us know if you can get any good info out of them...