CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5 15

Corel Corporation introduced CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5, the newest edition of the company's award-winning package of professional graphics applications. Though Adobe dominates the graphic design industry, CorelDraw has always been the first vector drawing program that springs to most PC users minds. Graphics Suite X5 combines CorelDraw with numerous extras to offer a wide ranging set of capabilities. These include the Photo-Paint image editor, theSwish miniMax2 animation tool, and the new Corel Connect media browser. The emphasis here is on quantity: a full installation requires over 6GB of disk space and will take up a whole lunch break. CorelDraw X5 can start from an expanded set of ready-made templates or from a blank page. Even the latter shows off new features, because a suite can set the colour mode to RGB or CMYK and select ICC profiles. Yes, Corel now fully supports industry standard colour management. Even though it's something most users will never think about, this is an important step for a product on the border between enthusiast and commercial use, helping to ensure colours come out the way you and your client intended. An improved colour palette also helps easily keep track of the precise colours you've used so far. Such behind-the-scenes enhancements are this version's focus. Instead of obvious changes, like X4's revamped user interface, there are subtle improvements. The Mesh Fill tool now makes it easier to create complex colour gradients that look rich and seamless, and the ability to set the transparency of each node allows for subtle but precise effects. Tweaks to the curve tools, including more options and an alternative B-Spline drawing method, will interest illustrators, although they may not sway those who are adept with Adobe's more elegant tools. Like Adobe, Corel now supports rounded corners which preserve their proportions when objects are resized - an overdue but very welcome addition. The trial and download versions are available.