Corel Draw "tip of the day" thread

[Hugh Potter]

ok,

things i’ve recently learned, and some i used every day which are useful…….

1), Colour Fill,
when you click and hold down on a colour in the pallet, you see the whole range of tones for that colour (ok, i knew that), but it can be a pain to try and match that colour if you don’t keep a careful eye on which of the 100 odd tones you choose.

so, once you’ve used the colour once, select it and then look on the bottom right task bar, the colour will show as a block, now, click and hold on this colour and drag it onto the next shape you wish to fill with that colour, drop it and it will auto fill with that colour, saving you a potential headache when trying to remember which shade of which colour you originally used!

2) to duplicate and image without copy/paste…
simply left click and drag the object you wish to duplicate, when it’s where you want it, right click and let go of left click, your item is duplicated,

if you want to make a block of duplicated items, do the above and drop exactly where you want it, being sure to make the xy measurements level, now hit ctrl+d and it will duplicate the exact object as many times as you want to, when you have your horizontal row of bjects simply select it and duplicate the whole line above, then again ctrl+d and it will begin to build the rows vertically.

Hugh

[Chris Wool]

quote :

on the bottom right task bar, the colour will show as a block, now, click and hold on this colour and drag it onto the next shape

thanks hugh

[Alan Drury]

Tip of the Day is good or maybe get people to post their particular need for others to answer. Corel has so many bits in it, to list them all as tips would take forever.
I am constantly learning new bits and of course Corel can do many thing in several different ways.
Alan D

[Robert Lambie]

i understand and agree with Alan, but i am happy enough to let a "Tip of the Day" thread to run and i will have a think how we can properly Index the tips. if Tip threads are succesful i think it would be good to run Signlab, Flexi and the like, "Short tip threads" and again, have them properly indexed with credits to the poster.
anyway, i don’t want to turn Hugh’s tip thread into a discussion, so feel free to add tips or replies for now and i will split the thread into two later today.
and thanks Hugh for the idea.

[David Rowland]

We got "Snippets" on the front of forum…. add them in there

[Ian Jenkin]

cracking idea. Ive got dozens more helpful and some probable un-helpful, shortcuts and tips for Corel 12-14.

[Robert Lambie]

quote Dave Rowland:

We got “Snippets” on the front of forum…. add them in there

your right dave and that was my first thought mate as i plan to move the snipets to a secondary page as they are now a bit dated. i did make a list of updates for it but found that i could only use very short/brief snippets of it went for miles down the page throwing the site template all off…
anyway… i have sussed a way to do it since my last post and that is to use the scrolling text bar on the homepage that i have removed the suppliers index from on the arrival of the "sign tool bar".
in short, if i have at least 30-40 Corel, Signlab, Flexisign or even sign making snippets to load then i will put this together. it isnt hard to do as we already have the facilities in place. however, if its more of a demo than a snippet, then it will have to be loaded in the demo section of the site but if the demo is done in the proper fashion, it will be featured on the home page of uksb like all the others with its own intro.
so in short, if anyone has a snippet of any sort they wish to add to hughs thread then please feel free. if you have a demo of any sort, please feel free to email it to me at rob@uksignboards.com and i will get back to you a.s.a.p. on it. as i said, snippets and demos will be credited in the usual way. profile picture, persons name, company, country and region.
thank you in advance for any submissions.

[Neil Speirs]

Thanks Hugh, never new any of those tricks and I’ve been using corel for 3/4 years 😳 More of a photoshop man.

[Glenn Sharp]

an alternative to Hugh’s fill tip (which I wasn’t aware of , cheers Hugh)….using the eye dropper you can click on the already selected colour, which allows you to easily copy the fill and the outline colour to a new shape

[Alan Drury]

Rob, how much of this will go in a paid for section?
Alan D

[Glenn Sharp]

If you launch trace from within Corel………….once you have completed the trace you don’t need to muck about saving & giving it a name etc and then having to import it into Draw…….just shut trace down using the X…it will ask you if you want to save so say yes and it shuts down trace and super imposes your new traced image on top of the original bitmap in Draw

[Ian Muir]

quote Alan Drury:

Rob, how much of this will go in a paid for section?
Alan D

Was wondering same, pity if it does cos I got Corel and it’s an interesting thread.

Ian :lol1:

[Robert Lambie]

quote Ian Muir:

quote Alan Drury:

Rob, how much of this will go in a paid for section?
Alan D

Was wondering same, pity if it does cos I got Corel and it’s an interesting thread.

Ian :lol1:

thought i had already explained earlier in the thread.
I would be interested in your concerns?

[David Rowland]

i would just stick to a image

"SIGNMAKING TIP OF THE DAY" not specific to Corel
Then fill up a JPG and click it through to a forum page.

Those horizontal scrollers are barely readable on the front page and just need binning.

[Hugh Potter]

i think it should be specific to corel, and there’s no harm in having one for the other major players (adobe, signlab etc). it would be better to have it on some kind of thread that can be simply added to when you find something new, and can easily be scrolled through, perhaps some kind of index on the starter thread. maybe.

if it takes some of the load off Rob, i’m happy to try and help compile it as an index linked to post numbers within the thread.

Hugh

[Glenn Sharp]

a sticky in the corel forum would do me

[Jason Davies]

I don’t use Corel but I think this should go in the paid for section, almost everyone has a copy of this package (no offence) but it’s pretty cheap and cheerful and easily accessible by all, we continue to not help and tear our hair out at visitors who ask one question after spending £200 on a brand new plotter and expect to be fully fledged signmakers within days, your just giving them the ammunition here.

You might as well go and work for them at the end of this.

Jason

[Nicola McIntosh]

im with jason on this one 😀

nik

[Glenn Sharp]

surely then we would be alienating the one person who could offer the most advice?

[Jason Davies]

Or you could also alienate the one person who is prepared to share their full commercial experience. I for one ‘hate’ sharing information in detail in a public forum. I think there is a greater chance of members having the depth and breadth of knowledge????

Jason

[Glenn Sharp]

Jason,

I’m not sure if we’re on the same wavelength or not but I was talking specifically about Alan Drury who doesn’t appear to be a paying member but has always given great advice with anything to do with corel

I personally don’t think we should be looking at alienating members who have given so much over the years

I do see your point but surely most of the advice that would be given on here would be freely available over the internet anyway?

[Nicola McIntosh]

if someone is really serious with their business & wanting to learn coreldraw or any other programme, i cant see a problem with them joining the boards and paying the relevant fee to view the content 😕

nik

[David Rowland]

So do i, i reframe from posting information that i rather not fall into the wrong hands, but tips isn’t really too much of a big deal. To make it specific about one program really doesn’t do it for me. Last few days I been learning Illustrator and the LiveFilling and all that is rather interesting! Again TIP of the day could be done with that. I beleive that membership makes this site work, so bronze should be the minimum to read them.

Thing is, if it is "per day", we need 365 tips please lol

[Jason Davies]

Hi Glenn, I understand what you are saying however there is a choice here, if you want to take part and contribute to promoting skills then become a full member, as it stands you are diluting the skills that signmakers have built up, I hasten to add I do not use Corel, I don’t even think it’s fit for purpose so I am not biased on that point, just the fact that you are opening the door for many people to enter the profession.

It will be a shame if this is allowed to continue for ALL to use.

Jason

[Glenn Sharp]

so are you suggesting Alan has to pay in order to give us his knowledge?

(I hope I’m not missing something here am I 😳 ….Alan isn’t a paying member)

[Peter Normington]

Corel tips are freely availabe from many sources on the web, as are illustrator tips and techniques.
I dont think putting them on here for free consumption would do any harm.

Peter

[Ian Muir]

quote Robert Lambie:

quote Ian Muir:

quote Alan Drury:

Rob, how much of this will go in a paid for section?
Alan D

Was wondering same, pity if it does cos I got Corel and it’s an interesting thread.

Ian :lol1:

thought i had already explained earlier in the thread.
I would be interested in your concerns?

Maybe I got it wrong Rob, but I thought you said any demos to be placed in Demo section – which I can’t access and other stuff placed on scrolling bars – which I also can’t access (apart from the one selling you stuff).
Nothing personal in it at all, just as I’ve said before, my own opinion is that protectionism doesn’t work generally on the web and I don’t like subscribing to forums on the web, don’t believe it should work like that.

To the others, so you get Corel tips from members (paid or not) and then profit from them by encouraging people to subscribe…. how do you then reward these ‘tipsters’ with a share of the profits (assuming they might want rewarding).

Ian :lol1:

[Jason Davies]

Alan can still share his knowledge but it should be removed and placed in the correct forum, not trying to be pedantic here.

I think it’s just common sense, Corel is probably the most used programme by non specialists and you are just opening the flood gates, especially when you start to build an indexed archive.

[David Rowland]

Alan has paid in the past, perhaps he’s chosen not to any more, his decision to be honest. To be honest it should not just be about Corel, it should be about Flexi, Shiraz, Wasatch, Corel, Illustrator, SignLab etc etc or the whole sign making subject… anyway im off.

[Jason Davies]

Tips are available but you tend to have to search around and they rarely reference sign making which has it’s own peculiarities, most of us are on this forum to contribute to the industry, there is plenty of info freely available.

I wouldn’t get hung up on profits from membership, if it wasn’t for Rob we wouldn’t have this area to communicate, I wouldn’t want to do this for the amount that is charged.

In my opinion access to any part of this site should be given to paid members only.

[Hugh Potter]

quote Dave Rowland:

Alan has paid in the past, perhaps he’s chosen not to any more, his decision to be honest. To be honest it should not just be about Corel, it should be about Flexi, Shiraz, Wasatch, Corel, Illustrator, SignLab etc etc or the whole sign making subject… anyway im off.

i think if you have a ‘tip of the day’ per sé then yes, cover all major progams, however, i was thinking more along the lines of a tips section specific to each of the main programs listed and one for "other", though i can see it’s now becoming a contentious suggestion!

Jason,
no disrespect mate, but what difference does it make if i/we/some choose to use corel. you say it’s not fit for purpose and specialist signmakers wouldn’t use it, i think you’re wrong. I have produced (what i think, and what others have said are..) some pretty good drawings and signs using only corel12, I also know many on this forum, including paid up members who use corel, does that make them "not specialist" signmakers?

do you have any experience using corel ?(long term, not just a trial version for a week), if so, why do you think it’s not fit for purpose? it does 99% of what signlab does for signs, and may well do a whole lot more that signlab doesn’t do (using signlab as an example only). so a dedicated sign program might make some tasks a little quicker, but since i use corel for everything from sign making to print design and layout, it suits me fine.

Hugh

[Jason Davies]

Hi Hugh, I have been using Corel Draw since 1992 and I think I am reasonably proficient at using this software, however it has always been marketed and developed for the masses, yes you can make signs with it, but as a respected sign package that can also work seamlessly with other areas of business such as digital print, litho etc it doesn’t begin to meet the standard we expect.

It was quirky back in 1992 and was worth buying for some of the clipart that was bundled with it, I am biased because I don’t like the interface and that it was a fairly easy piece of software for people to copy and use, thus again undermining our industry.

I like the idea of a tips page and if the majority want to keep this open to the public then lets let everyone who fancied making stickers for their race bikes or small business with a spare £200 buy a cutter and start making signs, it doesn’t really affect me, I’m just putting a point across that if you are serious about this industry and you do not want to lose your livelihood to someone who is just browsing and thinks "wow that looks easy I’ll just whip the software off the net" hit flee**y and off I’ll go" then just think again

Everyone who contributes to these boards regularly does so with the best intentions, would you so readily share your hints and tips if a competitor set up shop two doors away and knocked on your door for advice on how to use Corel after undercutting you on a recent job???

[Glenn Sharp]

Jason,

I agree with the sentiment of your point but I’m not sure that having to pay a nominal amount each year would put off the people you are describing from doing so anyway…

For £14.99 a year you are entitled to ask other members for vectored files or artwork…………….£15.00 a year isn’t going to put off any prospective cowboy from forking out to gain unlimited amounts of finished artwork.

I was a non paying member for the best part of 6 years on here and have only payed for full membership in the last year……there are a number of people I didn’t know existed until I had become a UKSG member because they don’t contribute to the general banter of the site, they just ask for help in the out of limits sections.

As I say, I get the sentiment of your point but I don’t think that £75 a year is going to put off the people you are talking about.

[Jason Davies]

Hi Glenn, completely agree with you, but it does show some commitment and perhaps members who are UKSB experts have access to certain areas as well, that’s up to Rob.

As I said I am happy to help in the closed sections and via email with any member when I can.

Jason

[Tim Painter]

I’ve used Corel since version 3, I’m only on 12 now but will be upgrading very soon. I’m self taught and have to disagree about it being fit for purpose.

NO it’s not a dedicated sign package!

I have ouput artwork for spot colour litho, 4 colour litho, small format digital, large format digital, cut vinyl, mechanical drawings the list goes on.

I still don’t know all it is capable of and learn things new each day.

Half of the battle with artwork is creating it correct for the output method.

Just my 2p’s worth but it work for me!

Tim.

[Robert Lambie]

As I mentioned earlier in this thread. For something like “Quick tips of the day” to work, it MUST be indexed properly on the site or it’s a waste of time.
Simply making a thread with corel tips is fine, but will slowly die off and fall into back pages of the site making it very difficult to be found.

The scrolling text at the top middle of the site is the only way I see this becoming a painless exercise as the setup is already in place.

I have added one of hughs tips to this section as I see it should be listed.
You can see it on the homepage “just now”, when you click on the scrolling text it takes you to Quick Tip of the Day “Forum” where there should be an ongoing list of entries to choose from which will be Indexed in alphabetical order.

The forum would also be featured on the “main forum index page” so entry to it can be done in two ways.

As I said though, there has to be allot of entries or there isn’t really much point in dedicating a whole forum to a couple of dozen short posts. If you see what I mean?
With this in mind, and to help populate the tips forum, then I think it should be open to all software or maybe even all sign related “quick tips”.

I did think about glens suggestion of making “sticky” posts in each of the software forums but this would not work. I think each tip should be allowed to be replied to.
So having a single “sticky” tips thread would mean lots of tips amongst ongoing replies based on different tips, so the whole thing would get messy.
Having individual “sticky” posts per entry will mean each forum with a large list of sticky posts before getting to current posts, again looking messy.

Using the snippets section wont work as I said, the tips would then be restricted to very short tips. i.e. 50 words.
Creating teasers to be clicked on using the snippets section is fine and would work. But that would require me coming up with every entry wording, then an image to suit the entry with a link. So could be allot of work and Only to be clicked on and to land on what possibly could be a single line/sentence tip!

No Ian you do have it wrong.
I said “Quick Tips” will go in the old “suppliers Index” forum
With its entries scrolling across the top of Homepage. [see temp entry I have in place now]
This section/forum has always been free to enter by anyone and will stay that way.
However, I also said if someone has more of a demo rather than a “quick tip” they would like to submit, then that too should be loaded in the proper fashion and in the proper forum and if anyone wished to submit one they can contact me via email to discuss.
I hope this helps clear up your concerns over royalties for others. :lol1:

I do also agree with Jason on various comments and I am sure many members do too because it is a topic that raises its head more and more.

[Glenn Sharp]

Rob…..sorry if this is a bit thick 😳

where do we actually post the tips if we have them?

[David Rowland]

oh i see.. that might not be so bad

[Robert Lambie]

quote Glenn Sharp:

where do we actually post the tips if we have them?

just by adding to this thread hugh started mate.
i mentioned earlier ide split this thread in two but thought ide leave it till maybe tomorrow to clear everything up on this topic.

[Alan Drury]

Dave, I have never paid and it is unlikely I ever will. It doesn’t make me less of a serious signmaker I just choose not to join the club and I can live without PM and other facilities.
As my name has been mentioned my stance is this – if the Corel tips go into a paid for section, a section I cannot access I won’t post any tips, simple.
Most Corel tips can be found readily on the web or in the book for that matter, I do have access to other sources and those that can go in the public domain I (and others) put there as and when.
Judging by the way this thread is going I think I personally would prefer it if specific questions were answered rather than indexed tips I can see it being less hassle. If Rob decided to index the answers after they have been (and remain) in the free section it is up to him.
Obviously I can’t agree that Corel isn’t fit for purpose, just my opinion I often say tongue in cheek – Illustrator is good I just don’t want to be at a disadvantage by using it.
Alan D