Corel 12/X3/X4

[Brian Robison]

Hi folks,
I finally got around to trying out the trial version of X3 I've had for years. I LOVE the beveling! Is there anything else I need to "play" with while I have it on the computer?

[Lee DeRaud]

The "Smartfill" tool was new to X3 IIRC.

[Scott Shepherd]

Vote #2 for Smartfill. Not sure I could draw a fraction of what I draw without it. Well, I could, it would just take hours instead of seconds.

[Brian Robison]

OK, 14 days left!
Smart fill is nice. For doing graphics, I really like some of the options. Seems like it would work pretty nice to go from Corel to a printer plotter instead of learning photoshop, but this is all new to me. Scott, so I can go from a Corel drawing using a hairline directly to a print driver for cutting vinyl? The driver knows that the hairline is the cut line?

[Scott Shepherd]

Brian, not sure which plotter you have or are looking at, but on our graphtec, using the cutting master software it came with, which is a plugin for Corel Draw and Illustrator, it will cut a hairline or if you just have a solid color, it'll just cut the edges of the solid color. So you don't really need the hairline.

I've only used two systems, so I don't know a lot about the options, but from what I have seen, it's either based on color or layer. You can usually pick either one in the software and it sorts it all out.

[Mike Null]

I can take a Corel drawing directly to my Graphtec.

[Brian Robison]

OK, where is a good place to buy X3 or X4? Seems like someone posted a really good (cheap) place for software at one time.
Any reason to go with X4 over X3 or visa versa?
I'm guessing I can just upgrade from V12 instead of buying a full blown package.

[Dan Hintz]

Brian,

It may be worth your while to wait for X5. Disregarding any debate on whether an upgrade is worth it, if you can hang on another few months, X5 will be out. If not, I'm sure you'll be happy with X4.

[Brian Robison]

Dan I may just do that. I did find X3 on ebay super cheap but I have a bad feeling about it. Education Edition used. Wouldn't registering it screw it up for resale?

[Cliff Patrick]

If you have a child that is a student in college, you are able to purchase software at reduced pricing on various websites such as academicstore.com and journeyed.com. I was able to purchase X4 for $49.00. Of course I purchased Microsoft Office Professional along with it for 149.00. It's worth taking a look at.

[Brian Robison]

I'd have to wait 2 years for the oldest to be in college.
Can you say X6?;)

[Dan Hintz]

If you have a child that is a student in college, you are able to purchase software at reduced pricing on various websites such as academicstore.com and journeyed.com. I was able to purchase X4 for $49.00. Of course I purchased Microsoft Office Professional along with it for 149.00. It's worth taking a look at.
If you don't mind not being legal, sure, but the edu EULA specifically says they're not for use in businesses. I'll let Brian make up his own mind on that one.



Brian, the edu versions are not upgradable, or transferable (though the transferance issue is becoming less of an issue as more cases are won, such as the recent AutoCAD case), and as I mentioned above, can't (fine, shouldn't) be used in a business.

[Bill Cunningham]

If you don't mind not being legal, sure, but the edu EULA specifically says they're not for use in businesses. I'll let Brian make up his own mind on that one.



Brian, the edu versions are not upgradable, or transferable (though the transferance issue is becoming less of an issue as more cases are won, such as the recent AutoCAD case), and as I mentioned above, can't (fine, shouldn't) be used in a business.


Staples was advertising X4 last week (home and ed. use) for 50 bucks