CorelDraw 8

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On: 2018-10-23 17:07:27
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What is CorelDraw 8?

Corel 8 Suite (EN): CorelDraw - vector graphics, Corel PhotoPaint - raster graphics, Corel Trace - path tracing from bitmap to vector format.

A classic vector graphics tool (at least on x86 back in the day), it had a not really known release for Mac OS 9 PPC machines.

Install does not ask for serial.

An ever-changing interface, PostScript problems, and Windows-esque features plagued previous versions of CorelDraw for the Mac. In the face of these problems, the company’s tenacious commitment to offering Mac graphics pros an alternative to Adobe is admirable. With the latest version, Corel has come tantalizingly close to offering Mac artists a viable option, but a few missteps keep it from grasping the brass ring.

The three programs that make up the CorelDraw 8 package — CorelDraw 8, PhotoPaint 8, and CorelTrace 8 — attempt to combine the best of Illustrator, FreeHand, Photoshop, ImageReady, Streamline, and even a touch of Premiere in one integrated experience, and for considerably less money than the total cost of those applications. The fact that CorelDraw by and large works — and was easy for even a dedicated Adobe-head like myself to use — is a tribute to the interface team’s effort to make this version of Corel the most Mac-like to date.

Regrettably, the team didn’t go far enough. Corel needs to rewrite the application from the ground up for Mac, a la Office 98. CorelDraw’s support for AppleScript, Apple Guide, and ColorSync is superb, and its ease of use is much improved. But if this were a true Mac application, I wouldn’t have encountered crashes when the program couldn’t find the “registry” or problems when I was adjusting the “properties” of objects (both are Windows terms), not to mention Windows-style icons for Open File and Print commands and the confusing reversal of the Shift and Command keys in addition and subtraction functions.

Another shortcoming of version 8 is its RAM requirements. Photo-Paint and CorelTrace recommend 20MB of RAM to run each program; CorelDraw wants 30MB to itself. Indeed, the installer will not even start without at least 32MB of physical memory on your target machine. As these RAM requirements are at least double what the Adobe programs ask for, should you want to run more than one application concurrently you’ll need a lot of SIMMs or DIMMs for the privilege.

The suite also takes up a whopping 200MB of space on your hard drive, but for once this is warranted. Corel has generously stuffed the discs with a large font library, clip art, a third CD full of stock photos, third-party plug-ins such as DigiMarc and Photo/Graphic Edges, Xao’s Paint Alchemy brushes, Cumulus image management, and Diamondsoft’s Font Reserve. Add to that a well-written (if sparsely illustrated) manual, a complete printed guide to the various clip libraries, a guide to commercial printing, and a thorough tutorial in both print and Apple Guide versions. Cord has delivered a comprehensive and extraordinary value.

Several factors smooth over the transition from Adobe products: customizable work-spaces that allow the suite to act more like Illustrator, FreeHand, and Photoshop; full compatibility with Photoshop- and Illustrator- native files (layers and blends included); and the ability to import and export a huge variety of PC and Mac graphics formats (including QuickTime). Within the suite, you can manip- ulate text, photos, and bitmaps; animate GIFs; touch up QuickTime VR panoramas or digital video sequences; even put together whole Web pages — and save all of them into almost any format you desire. CorelDraw 8 also features full import and export abilities for previous versions of the program.

A detailed, clear glossary explains each function of Photoshop, Illustrator, and Freehand, and exactly how to accomplish the same things in CorelDraw or Photo-Paint. Once you get past a couple of minor idiosyncrasies, you can start incorporating your old habits into the new program pretty quickly. Within a couple of hours you’ll feel as thought you’ve been using Corel for years.

Service bureaus, which have long shunned Corel products because of their PC-centric history — that is, poor color management, lack of consistency, and error-prone PostScript — can finally risk installing a copy. My tests with outputting to film and to PostScript files succeeded with flying colors, thanks mainly to the program’s addition of strong ColorSync support and more Mac-specific PostScript interpretation.

So who might want to use Corel? Students or starving graphic artists should find the $695 price a bit easier to swallow than the $1,500 or more they’d spend for an equivalent range of functionalities in other programs. Graphic artists working at home can invest in CorelDraw 8 with the confidence that when they convert their files to Illustrator’s or Photoshop’s format for exchange with print-shop Macs, their work will translate with a minimum of trouble. The advanced feature sets of CorelDraw and Photo-Paint also allow exploration of other types of graphics, such as animated GIFs. Moreover, CorelDraw 8 is a great tool for PC-using graphics artists who are migrating to Mac publishing (and discovering its glory). Printshops that deal with PC clients can use Corel’s powerful translation abilities to touch up and ready Windows files for the big-time presses.

On the other hand, the program has a number of annoying bugs and Mac OS conflicts to resolve. The manuals say nothing at all about installation procedures (for example, required extensions and known conflicts). The application responds quite slowly (even more so than Photoshop) to any processor with a rating of less than 180MHz.

Corel really wants to make a dent in the Mac graphics industry, and it has already won half the battle. For value, features, and compatibility, CorelDraw 8 wins the day. If Corel would follow in Microsoft’s footsteps and rewrite this suite of Mac software so it’s completely free of Windows code, Adobe and Macromedia would truly have something to worry about, and Mac users would have their favorite thing — a choice.


Martin, Charles. (November 1998). CorelDraw 8. MacAddict. (pgs. 54-55).


Download CorelDraw 8 for Mac

(411.59 MiB / 431.58 MB)
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Architecture


IBM PowerPC



System Requirements

From Mac OS 7.6 up to Mac OS 9.2





Compatibility notes

Minimum Requirements

  • PowerPC processor
  • 32 MB RAM with Virtual Memory enabled
  • CD-ROM drive
  • Mac OS 7.6.1


Emulating this? It could probably run under: SheepShaver





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