Corel X7 issues

[Mike Null]

After nearly 20 years of using CorelDraw, I'm finding X7 to be easily the worst piece of software I've had the displeasure of using. I bought it a few months back but just installed it about 10 days ago in the hopes that importing dxf files would be improved. They weren't and not much else works well either including photopaint. Many crashes and stalls. I ran the upgrades or service packs but still no real improvement.

I'm using it on Win 7 Pro.

[Bob WrightNC]

My experience is exactly the same on Win Pro 7 with X7. Still using X4 for everything and checking back after updates to see if anything changes.

[Brian Lamb]

I have no prior experience with other version of Corel, but I'm running X7 on Windows Pro 7 and have the computer hang up, crash and loose files when I've been in the midst of heavy modifications. I had assumed that it had to do with manipulating rather large files with only 4gb of memory, but now it sounds like it might be a Corel issue....

[Mike Null]

I was seriously considering the subscription plan but I'm going to hold off or forget that idea altogether.

[David Somers]

Just curious. When you guys are referring to hang ups and crashes are you referring to all of Windows or just Corel?
I had quite a few months when Win10 was misery codified. Win 7 was pretty well behaved. Win8 made Win10 looked well behaved. Win10 has since settled down following untold updates and lots of tweaking. Corel 7 started poorly under Win10 but has settled down to merely annoying over the same time frame so I am not sure if it was Win10 causing issues, Corel, or the combo. I am running on an I7 Quad core, 16GB RAM, and a 1TB SSD drive and find Win10 and Corel to be slower than molasses.

[Brian Lamb]

Can't say 100%, but I recall having to shut down the computer, so I'd say locking up everything.

[Mike Null]

Dave

I'm using Win 7 Pro and it seems to be ok other than Corel X7 Suite. I did a repair and keep checking for updates but it's buggy.

This is my primary machine so I do Quickbooks, email, Office stuff, several printers, etc. on it and they seem to be ok. I'm squeamish every time I get an MS update, though.

I'm running a core i5 with 8gb of ram. My speed is ok.

I also have a dedicated UPS pc that has been giving me fits and that is issues with World Ship and Windows 7 Pro. The old XP Pro that I use for my mechanical engraver just keeps plugging along.

[Dave Stevens-Vegas]

I've used X6 and X7 for quite a while, a few years or so and switched to X8 a month or so ago. All of them import anything well. The current computer on the machine is Win 7 Pro, i3, 8GB ssd and moderate video in a mini itx enclosure. I use X8 on a virtual machine on the Macs we use for everything else.

Most of what I cut is either dxf or dwg and except for a bunch of nodes from dodgy source files or scans I haven't had an issue.

What about importing isn't working for you?

[Mike Null]

Dave

It is generally importing anything I've tried so far but it enlarges dxf files by many times. I opened a file a couple of weeks ago in preparation for a cutting job. I called my customer and advised him that he hadn't provided enough material for the job and that's when we discovered the import problem. He sent some dimensions and I was able to scale it properly but I view that as an issue.

[Brian Lamb]

If the enlargement was 25.4 times, then you have a metric to inch conversion issue.... ran into that a few times over the years.

[Mike Null]

In this case it was all inches. I also can't open the help files which are cloud based.

[Dave Stevens-Vegas]

A dxf stores dims in "units" not specific measurements. The units can be mm, in, ft, m, miles, yards or others where 1 unit equals that amount of measurement. Depending on the program that created the original file or the way they used the default units there may be issues in the file that will force you to manually convert it or open it in a CAD program and resave it in the appropriate units. It's almost certainly a file unit conversion issue and likely not the sole fault of Draw.

Draw wants to see either mm or in as the import measurement scale (it's on the dialog when you open or import a dxf) and instead of using the default choice of "automatic" I choose what I know (or think) the drawing units are. If that doesn't work the next thing I do is open the file in AutoCAD (though FreeCAD should work as well). I make sure I save the file in the CAD program in the measurement unit I'm using then open or import it into Corel. I've not yet had a dxf I couldn't import.

As for the docs online, welcome to the brave new world... Printed docs/manual are going away and in many cases are not longer available except as for pay books or ebooks. My wife still enjoys analog and for her we have the Mc Graw-Hill Corel book. I now primarily use my phone (sometimes a tablet) with a variety of formats. The online help forums on Corel and the knowledge base seem to be pretty good.

[Mike Null]

The customer saved them to a PDF and they came in just fine.

[Dave Stevens-Vegas]

A dxf is a text file that is translated to a representation of the drawing. Many programs don't fully populate the variables in the file when they create it for other programs to be able to accurately interpret the file. That's what's happening in this case. When in doubt save the file as a R14 version dxf (an older format) and that should make it more compatible cross application.

[Mike Null]

Dave

Thanks for that info.