Corel Draw X3 is worth the price alone for bitmap to vector capabilities

[kerrazy]

Hay all,
Was mucking around with the new Corel Draw X3 yesterday, and wow... The Power Trace feature alone is worth the money. It really has come along way and worth having a look at. www.corel.com (http://www.corel.com)
By the way, I bought after only about ten minitues of playing with it, as it will be very useful for us here at the shop.
Dale

[wemme]

Hello Dale, That power Trace being able to convert from bitmap to vector would be quite use full.

[NSchlee (Unregistered Guest)]

I second that. I've used CorelDraw since Ver. 2, I was amazed how Trace cleaned up a jagged 72 dpi bitmap. The new features/improvements in the fillet, scallop and chamfer are a help for vector designs. They buried some of the new features in the Window/Dockers/Menus.

[rookie432]

Just ordered my copy yesterday from e-bay. Wife's a teacher so was able to buy academic version for $89. Can't wait.

Bill

[rookie432]

By the way here is the number one reason to get corel x3 for me. For designing and supplying a great looking proof . I hevn't found a piece of software yet that will give the customer a good impression of gold or guiulding on a sign until I saw this.


4249

[rookie432]

grrr!.
Why doesn't this site accept my pics no matter how low I set the resolution to 25k or less?

[rookie432]

maybe this
4250

[NSchlee (Unregistered Guest)]

Corel is making many improvements for the vinyl sign & engraving industries. They have also improved PDF support in X3. It's a great value for the $.

[bleeth]

A quick yahoo shopping search turned up an upgrade for 159 that included a bonus Wacom Tablet.

http://www.pcconnection.com/ProductDetail?sku=6330369&SourceID=k24679

Sounds like a winner

[tim_whitcher]

Bill,
Was that very time consuming to get the reflective effect? That looks great! I've always had problems conveying the look of carved signs using a "flat" vectored image as a proof.
Dave,
I just ordered the upgrade from PC Connection (with the cool tablet). Thanks for the link!!

[kivimagi]

Would anyone have time to give me a tutorial on how to trace effectively in Corel? I always end up with misshaped vectors, no matter how clean I have the image.

I am trying the new X3, and it definitely looks nicer.

I can forward a file if interested.

Regards,

[john_r]

I've been playing with X3 for a few days now and the trace function is fast and pretty accurate. You can change the type of tracing it does, logo, clip art, wire frame etc. Also the beveling and 3D effects are awesome for that reflective look. Another cool feature is it will trace the outside profile of a vector object with a mouse click.

[rookie432]

Any CorelX3 users having trouble exporting dxf files. I got my copy a few weeks ago and love the design functionality but the bottom drooped out of my enthusiasm when I saw that the export to dxf came into machining software as a mess. Seems to only export as autocad dxf. The trace function in CorelX3 is the best I have seen so far, however it's useless if I can't bring it into partwizard...vee carve wizard ..etc.
Sure would like to know if there is a fix for this.

Bill

[rookie432]

Bummer, looks like I neglected to answer Tim's question a couple of weeks ago. As far as getting the gold effect (even though the design posted isn't mine) No, the beauty of x3's fill capabilities is pretty simple and there are "gold" colors you just mix and match and use the interactive fade tool. Once you get the effect you want you just save the color fill as one of your custom colors and use it as you wish. The more I'm learning about the design features in corel x3 the more I love it (other than the dxf export at this point
.

Ryan: as far as learning how to use the features in the software I have been going through the online video tutorals at www.lynda.com (http://www.lynda.com)

I learn very easily this way and found it very helpful.

Bill

[paco]

Explore EPS export options... AI should do the trick too but save under "old" versions"... Have a look in help under export, file format, EPS, DXF, AI formats... more later if needed...

[rookie432]

Wow Paco fast response. I tried the eps and ai formats with less luck but maybe if I try to eport into a different software...hmm. I'll try.

Bill

[jsfrost]

Curious. I have had no problems using bitmap trace and then importing the resulting DFX from Corel x3 into Insignia. I'll try with PW tonight. The DXFs still need cleanup, but far less than any trace I had tried previously.

[srwtlc]

I'm currently using CD 12. DXF exporting has always been sort of flaky in CD, but exporting as a EPS has worked well with Vcarve Wizard. If I need a DXF I'll take a EPS into TurboCad and save as a DXF. Check out the various DXF export options and try to find the one that works best. Usually R14 or R11.

[paco]

From CDX3, ArtCAM work better with AI v8 and earlier while VETRIC VCW seem to prefer EPS (this might be worth reporting and investigating since VETRIC is MUCH more receptive to such request; generaly, VETRIC "welcome" about it all... even some PDF)... DXF should work with both... fonts sometime get strange from DXF export (convert prior to export for better results).

COREL says in the help that DXF should be used for plotter and CAM oriented softwares export...

[donchapman]

I used eps to export successfully from CD9 to VCarve Wizard for several files a couple of months ago. I now have CDX3 and have been able to export dxf from it into VCarve Wizard without major problems although I often have to join some open vectors within the VCarve Wizard after I get there.

Several months ago I had no success importing new AutoCAD dxf files into PartsWizard until the sender went all the way back to version 11 as the dxf export.

I strongly suspect that some of the dxf import problems into PartsWizard are at the PW end. Last week I could import emailed dxf files from TurboCAD into VCarve Wizard just fine, but the same files imported into PartsWizard with a change in dimension and distortion of curves.

[rookie432]

These are the same problem I am having. Eps seems to work well into VCW and o.k. into PW. Still a little flaky. Dxf doesn't go into Delcam products well at all. The drawing is there.. but the open vectors are abundant and the shapes are quite skewed. I was happy to get a decent EPS out into my camm software after my re-attempt. at least I will get to see some benefit of Corel's new trace capabilities

[jeff_guinn]

I use CD9,export as AI3,which is a "no frills" file format accepted by most Cad/Cam programs.Go to File-Export-AI-Enter & a box should appear allowing you to select the version & several other parameters. I know this works well in VCarve Wizard because Brian implemented it on my request.
Give it a try & good luck!

[paco]

VETRIC is currently having a look at the AIs from CDX3 (what did I tell ya!)... while ArtCAM won't bother to update their filter unless they loose sales... sorry for that; just plain me!

All this export import is more complex than what should be and it is... Some EPS will never get to ArtCAM while other will at first glance. I get DXF (from outside) that open correctly while some don't... AI generally are good candidates as long as they are export in a not too recent version...

I'd say, when you got a way that work just keep on using it rather than struggling to get any files to open/import from any source. It's a lot of trial but I have got new customers from being able to manage the most file format as possible. COREL is, I believe, one of the best to manage the most format possible and get them to other packages. RHINO is another VERY flexible one AND it handle 3Ds too.

[donchapman]

I share your opinion, Paco. Vectric seems to be working hard to quickly respond to user input on how to make its products better. I've used ArtCAM's Part Wizard 2 much less since I got Vectric's VCarve Wizard, which even allows me to export dxf. I have a half finished project in Part Wizard that I wish I could export in dxf and clean up and finish in another program, but I apparently can't.

[jlawren6]

Another link for anyone interested in buying X3. I purchased it from www.VioSoftware.com (http://www.VioSoftware.com) yesterday for $86.60. Free shipping and it shipped the same day via first class mail. I haven't actually received it yet, but the site gets excellent reviews so I don't expect any issues.

That price was for the full student and teacher version. However, they didn't ask for proof of academic or non-profit status prior to shipping like I expected.

That's the best price that I've come up with online and something for those interested to look into.

Jon

[bill_l]

Just upgraded to Corel X3 (PC Connection for $159.00 and a wacom tablet to boot)and gave the trace feature a run. I imported some geometric patterns from a Pepin Press CD and the results were stunning. Bounced them out as EPS and tooled them in VCarve Wizard within seconds and with equally stunning results.

What a combination!

[cedarknight]

Bill, where did you find your deal at?

[cedarknight]

Never mind I found it, after I reread your post. Thanks for passing those deals along guys. Something I was looking at getting.

[jemmyell]

There is a new tool for CorelDraw 12 / X3 which produces perfect DXF exports for CNC use. Please see www.candcnc.com (http://www.candcnc.com) for a free demo

-James Leonard

[donchapman]

From CorelDraw X3 I export drawings as eps instead of dxf and they open and work just fine in V-carve Pro, where I check for duplicate and open vectors which can be easily deleted or closed.

[harryball]

I got Corel X3... nice, very nice. Good tools, lots of options for aligning, distributing, fitting text to curves and so forth... very nice indeed.

Robert