Tools and dialogue boxes are similar no matter which program of the suite is in use. Over the years, Corel has been polishing and improving the idiosyncratic look and feel of the graphics suite, and Draw 10 is the most intuitive of the entire line. In contrast, the competing Adobe Web Suite (PhotoShop 6, Illustrator 9, LiveMotion 1) sells for about $1,800, but Adobe also throws in its excellent Web-page creation and management software, GoLive 5. Hence the Draw 10 Graphics Suite - which includes a vector-graphics program (Corel Draw), a bitmap image-editing program (Corel PhotoPaint), a graphics-animation application that produces products compatible with Macromedia's Flash animator (Real Animated Vector Effects, or R.A.V.E.) and a bunch of other goodies - retails in Canada for about $825. Draw 10 is a first-rate package, but whatever qualities it has have been largely drowned out in the fuss surrounding Corel's recent financial struggles.Ĭorel's strategy of competing with Adobe products has taken two directions: Throw more features and toys into the package, and undercut Adobe's price. Corel's other major product, Corel Draw, takes on another software powerhouse, Adobe Systems, which has a stranglehold on high-end graphics and image-processing software.īut if Corel's corporate convulsions have grabbed more headlines than its software, an examination of one new product - Corel Draw 10 Graphics Suite - shows how tough it can be to compete with the giants. Department of Justice is trying to intervene.

Its WordPerfect Office Suite and Linux operating system have been geared to compete with the Redmond behemoth, whose Microsoft Office and the Windows operating system own so much market share that the U.S.

There has always been something suicidal about the way Ottawa-based Corel has marketed its software.

Corel draw 10 screen capture