Craft

Make the most of your design dexterity with the high-caliber, yet intuitive, features of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2017. Design using hand-drawn vector curves right from the get-go with the LiveSketch tool. Harness the creative possibilities of a number of real-time stylus input factors. Sketch on the fly and make quick adjustments using touch or a stylus with Tablet Mode support and the Touch workspace. Edit objects and effects more efficiently using enhanced previews, nodes, and handles that don't get lost in the background colors of your design. Quickly find fonts for any project with the enhanced font search and filtering feature. Work faster with the Knife tool that helps you split vector objects, text and bitmaps along any path. Refine your photos with the Healing Clone tool in Corel PHOTO-PAINT 2017 and correct perspective distortions in the Straighten Image dialog box.

LiveSketch tool

New in 2017

The LiveSketch tool is perfect for kick-starting a project. Great when working with a stylus or on a touch-enabled device, it combines the speed of sketching with flexible stroke-adjustment controls so you can begin your design concepts using hand-drawn vector curves right from the get-go.

If you've ever used a scanned sketch as the basis for a project, you'll quickly see the creative and time-saving possibilities that the LiveSketch tool offers. Not only does it eliminate the need to scan and trace a drawing, but it also gives you total control over how your strokes are adjusted and converted to curves. Intuitive settings let you easily fine-tune how CorelDRAW 2017 meshes with your sketching cadence.

Strokes created with the LiveSketch tool are adjusted and added to existing curves based on the time and distance between them. You can set the time it takes to activate stroke adjustment after you've stopped drawing and the distance at which strokes are automatically added to existing curves. You also have the option of combining all strokes drawn within the specified time frame into a single curve, regardless of the distance between them. If you want to extend an existing curve, simply hover over it until turns red and continue to sketch. The subsequent stroke is seamlessly added to the existing curve, allowing you to sketch, adjust and edit on the fly.

Regardless of your sketching experience, you'll be amazed how quickly you can produce impressive results. In no time, you'll be capturing an inspiration or an idea just as you had imagined it. For more information, see Sketching naturally with intelligent stroke adjustment.

The LiveSketch tool lets you capture design concepts using hand-drawn vector curves.

Stylus tilt, bearing, and rotation

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2017 makes it easier than ever to get the most out of your stylus and harness the creative possibilities of a number of real-time input factors. A redesigned UI gives instant access to relevant controls and the ability to quickly choose which stylus properties to leverage.

In CorelDRAW 2017, the new Expression mode of the Artistic Media tool lets you use pressure, tilt, and bearing to vary brushstrokes. Powerful editing flexibility makes it simple to perfect anything that you've drawn with a stylus. You can use the property bar to precisely fine-tune an existing curve, or you can use the Shape tool to adjust only a segment of the curve by dragging nodes, but still retain all the tilt and bearing values used when it was created. You can also get more out the Eraser tool by controlling the width, flatness, and rotation of the nib with your stylus. You can also dictate bearing and tilt values before using either tool to set a brush nib of fixed flatness and rotation. For more information, see Using pressure-sensitive pens and devices.

Stylus support has also been enhanced in Corel PHOTO-PAINT 2017. You can take advantage of pressure, bearing, tilt, and rotation for the touch-up tools, Effect tool, Eraser tool, and a number of brush tools. What's more, you can pump up rotation, flatness and elongation settings to get an even greater range of artistic possibilities.

Increased support for real-time input factors lets you get more out of your stylus.

Support for Real-Time Stylus (RTS)

You can use your RTS-compatible pen tablet or device to capture whatever inspires you on the fly. Support for the Windows Real-Time Stylus delivers truly responsive pressure sensitivity and tilt and gives you full control of your brushstrokes in CorelDRAW and Corel PHOTO-PAINT. What’s more, there’s no stylus driver to install, so you can get to work right away. For more information, see Using pressure-sensitive pens and devices.

Touch-friendly UI

New in 2017

Tablet Mode support makes it easy to sketch on the fly and make quick adjustments using touch or a stylus. The new Touch workspace, activated when switching to Tablet Mode, streamlines the UI to maximize the size of the drawing window by displaying only the tools and commands that you're most likely to use in the field on a tablet. All other features are still accessible in a couple of taps. And when you reattach the keyboard, the UI reverts to the default desktop setup. And if you prefer working with one of the desktop workspaces when you're in Tablet mode, you can choose whatever UI configuration works best for you. You can now also save time and work faster by panning and zooming in a single gesture. For more information, see Using touch.

The Touch workspace offers a touch-friendly environment with access to all the essentials.

Microsoft Surface Dial support

New in 2017

If a Microsoft Surface Dial is part of your workflow, CorelDRAW 2017 offers native support to give you a greater range of ways to create and interact with technology.

Enhanced vector previews, nodes, and handles

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2017 simplifies shaping curves and objects with redesigned nodes and handles that are easier to see and manipulate. Enhanced vector previews help you edit more efficiently by ensuring nodes and curves stand out against background colors in your design.

Enhanced previews, nodes, and handles don't get lost in background colors.

Prominent interactive sliders

It's easier than ever to work with object fills, transparencies, blends, extrusions, drop shadows and more thanks to enhanced interactive sliders that are more visible.

Prominent interactive sliders simplify working with object fills, transparencies, and more.

Hide and display objects

CorelDRAW 2017 lets you hide objects and groups of objects so that only the sections you want or need to see in a project are displayed. When working with complex designs, the ability to hide a particular element in your drawing can be a great time-saver. It ensures that you don’t inadvertently select and edit an object that you hadn’t intended to work on, and it lets you experiment with your designs more easily. For more information, see Hiding and displaying objects.

Split objects

With the Knife tool, you can split vector objects, text and bitmaps along straight, freehand or Bézier lines. You can create a gap between the split objects or have them overlap. You can also choose whether to convert outlines into curve objects that can be manipulated or keep them as outlines. And if you’re unsure, CorelDRAW can eliminate any guesswork by automatically choosing the option that best preserves outline appearance. For more information, see Splitting objects.

Splitting objects with the enhanced Knife tool

Font list box

Finding the right font for your project is easy in CorelDRAW and Corel PHOTO-PAINT. Using the Font list box, you can quickly view, filter, and find the specific font you need. You can also sort fonts based on weight, width, supported scripts, and more. Font-searching capabilities have also been enhanced, allowing you to use keywords to locate fonts. For more information, see Filtering fonts and Searching for fonts.

Select adjacent nodes

CorelDRAW 2017 offers node selection that simplifies working with complex shapes. You can select adjacent nodes on curves by using the Shape tool while holding down Shift. You can also change the direction in which the nodes are selected.

Selecting adjacent nodes

Copy curve segments

Another time-saver in CorelDRAW 2017 is ability to copy or cut a specific part of a curve segment. You can then paste it as an object, making it easy to create new adjacent shapes with similar contours. For more information, see Copying and cutting segments.

Copying curve segment

Drop shadows with Gaussian Blur feathering

Drop shadows are a great way to enhance elements in your designs. In CorelDRAW 2017, you can create more realistic drop shadows that have natural-looking feathered edges in an instant thanks to the Feathering direction button on the property bar. For more information, see Creating drop shadows.

A drop shadow with Gaussian Blur feathering

Healing Clone

It’s easy to ensure that your photo subjects always look their best thanks to the Healing Clone tool. It discreetly removes unwanted spots and imperfections from an image by painting with sampled texture and matching it to the color of the area that you’re retouching. In a few clicks, you can seamlessly repair and blend a blemish or scar into the rest of the photo.

Correct perspective distortions

With the Straighten Image dialog box in CorelDRAW and Corel PHOTO-PAINT, you can correct perspective distortions in photos that have straight lines and flat surfaces. In a few clicks, you can easily fix photos of buildings, landmarks, or objects that appear in the wrong perspective or that were taken from an angle other than directly in front. For more information, see Correcting perspective distortions.

Gaussian Blur lens

The Gaussian Blur special effect in Corel PHOTO-PAINT is available as a lens, so you can blur images without overwriting the original image. When you create a lens, the changes you make are non-destructive, so any edits are displayed on the screen through the lens rather than applied to the image pixels. The lens is created as a separate object on a layer above the image background so you can edit the lens and the background image separately, maintaining the original’s data and quality.

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