Introduction to
CorelDRAW 12 Part I
Pat Gibson, Certified CorelDRAW Instructor
To take this class, you must own a copy of CorelDRAW
12 and have it installed on your computer. If you have worked in DRAW
already, you will need to reset the machine to the factory defaults.
- Open CorelDRAW.
- Go to the Tools menu then the Options dialog box
(Ctrl+J) and click on the Workspace tab.
- Switch to the v12 default Workspace.
- Click OK and close the dialog window.
- Close the program.
- Reopen the program while holding down the F8
key.
- When the dialog box appears, press the Yes
button. This will return your program to the factory defaults.
Note:
You can take the class while using an earlier version but you must
contact me for new copies of the class files or a class for that
version of the program. Versions 8 - 11 are available.
How this class is set up
This
class has a series of exercises which you will do in CorelDRAW 12. These
exercises are contained in files that you must down load from this server.
Click here to down load the zipped file.
If you do not have WinZip,
click here to download an evaluation copy of the program. Create a folder
on your hard drive and unzip the files to that folder.
You
may start at any point in the program but I recommend you do the exercises
in order. Some build upon the ones before. Also, even if you have experience
with the program, no one, including your instructor, know everything about
the program. When we teach ourselves, or don't use part of the program
very often, we forget what it can do or we don't learn short cuts that
would make our work much easier.
Introduction
CorelDRAW is a vector illustration program. Images are displayed on the
computer screen as pixels. How the program treats the pixels is determined
by whether the image is defined as a vector or a bitmap. A bitmap file
defines the position, color and size of each pixel. A vector program defines
a line of pixels and treats them as a single object. To change an object
in a bitmap, you must change all the pixels, so if a red box on a blue
background needs to be smaller, you have to re-create a smaller red box
and change the pixels where the box was to the blue background. When you
have a vector image, you redefine the size and location of the lines.
Each object is independent of the others and can be manipulated as needed.
To make your work easier, Corel Corporation has added a few bitmap manipulation
tools in DRAW and includes its bitmap manipulation program, CorelPhotoPaint,
when you purchase CorelDRAW.
CorelDRAW is one of the most powerful and versatile illustration programs
on the market today, on any platform. In this class, I cannot teach you
all you can do with this program. I can only show you how to use the tools
and effects included in the program. What you do with CorelDRAW is limited
only by your imagination, time, and budget. In my personal experience,
I have seen projects ranging from fine art frescoes to silk-screened T-shirts
to laser engraved stainless steel parts. Your use may be as ordinary as
a flyer for a garage sale or as complex as the annual report for a Fortune
500 company. From desktop publishing to fine art, CorelDRAW gives you
the tools. I can only teach you the skills to use them. The talent, inspiration
and effort come from you.
Please post your general CorelDRAW questions in the class discussion area
at my web site, http://sulfurcreek.com/phpBB2/index.php.
You will need to register to post a message. Or you can email me directly.
Each
exercise consists of numbered steps. Read all the steps before you begin
an exercise. Occasionally, more information will be provided about the
step in san
serif type under the exercise. It may be an explanation, an alternate
way of doing the step, or a warning. Throughout the lessons are Tips,
Hints, Notes and Warnings to help you. When
you see a command inside parenthesis, like this (Ctrl+A), it is the key
short cut to the instructions just given. When you see a series of instructions
with an arrow like this 
it means select the menu options in series. In other words, open the Windows
menu, then the Dockers Options, then choose a docker.
Material
used in this class is taken in part from Learning CorelDRAW 8:
Basic Skills published by Instrux, Inc. of Houston, Texas. To
purchase a copy of that manual, call
1-800-681-6488 or visit their web site at www.instrux.com.
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