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CorelDRAW Toolkit

CorelDRAW is a vector-based designing software that is used for creating logos, flexes, brochures and any other kind of vector designing based on the lining. The CorelDRAW toolkit is a powerful tool to help design your products and bolster your services.

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Getting Started with CorelDRAW

The CorelDRAW toolkit is specifically tailored for you, the awards and personalization retailers. Whether you are familiar with the CorelDRAW software or are brand new, this toolkit will serve as your guide and resource with clear actionable steps to enhance your business.

CorelDRAW Articles

Below you will find valuable articles from our Insights Magazine. These articles include how to's as well as technical support for all of your CorelDRAW needs.

Explore CorelDRAW Articles
  • How To: Master Serialization in CorelDRAW
    • Producing industrial nameplates with incremented serial numbers is hardly the most creative project to work on, but many retailers do find it extremely profitable. That's because the customers who require this type of engraving typically are interested first in quality and timely delivery and consider price a secondary or even tertiary concern. We know we can produce a quality product and we're experts at managing our schedules, so this seems like a perfect fit.
  • Order Up!
    • Where's the beef? It's in this very beefy project that, among other things, will detail a process for creating table tents with call numbers on them like those used by many fast-food locations. Large franchise operations order these by the millions at a super cheap price, but smaller, local establishments often require quantities that can be profitable for laser owners, UV printers, sublimators, and other smaller-run personalization professionals.
  • Creating a Neon Sign—Graphically
    • If you ever get the chance to watch a skilled artisan practicing their craft, you'll notice they make it look easy. With years of practice, one can make just about anything look easy. To see a neon sign-builder make his work look easy, search for "Blue Collar: Master (Bleep) Is Making Neon Signs the Old-School Way, By Hand" on YouTube to watch Jay "Dirty" Gordon hone his craft with some vintage metal-working equipment and a lot of ingenuity. Caution: salty language is included in this video.
  • Start a Sales Train
    • Today, let's stretch some of the new creative muscles found in more recent versions of CorelDRAW together. Not using the newest version? That's OK—this also will reveal some of the useful, productive, enhanced features in tools that have been hiding in older CorelDRAW versions this entire time because the procedures in this article have been tested in CorelDRAW2018, CorelDRAW2017, and X8. Working in an older version than that? You can force older versions to duplicate the end result, but I suspect that many of you will consider upgrading to the current version of CorelDRAW after getting a feel for the upgraded tools it puts at our disposal.
  • Object of Interest
    • This article revolves around a project that I hope many readers with lasers will complete: a marshmallow launcher. However, the real hero of this article is CorelDRAW's Object Manager. Laser owner or not, I hope every CorelDRAW user will download the Marshmallow Launcher.cdr file, available on the Awards and Personalization Association website at www.personalizationpros.org/InsightsMagazine/Resources.aspx, and refer to it while reading the article. And for those of you who plan to complete the project, we've also included a brief step-by-step guide showing how to assemble and use the marshmallow launcher in the digital edition of this article.
  • Be Quicker on the Draw
    • Someone recently contacted me to learn the process of converting artwork drawn on paper into something that could be cut from CorelDRAW. You may have an idea, but bear with me because what may seem like the quickest way to convert the artwork is actually the worst option in almost all cases. Let's go through the steps in the process.
  • Tutorial: Fixing Poor-Quality Artwork for Cleaner Laser Engraving
    • JDS Industries provides a CorelDRAW/Photo-Paint tutorial on how to fix poor-quality artwork for a personalized, laser-engraved product. See how a blurry, faded, handwritten recipe was altered in CorelDRAW and Photo-Paint before being lasered onto a bamboo cutting board to create a sentimental personalized gift.
  • How to Use Calculations in CorelDRAW
    • You can use basic math and calculations in CorelDRAW to work faster and more efficiently. Learn how to leverage CorelDraw to do the math for you. whether you're centering or resizing objects, building pie charts or bar graphs, or need a calculation to adjust your work.
  • 3 Trillion Photos Need to Be Fixed
    • It has been estimated that the total number of photos taken with film since film photography began is between 2 trillion and 3 trillion worldwide. That was before digital cameras and phones with built-in cameras changed everything. An estimated 3 trillion digital photos are expected to be taken or shared from a phone in the year 2017 alone.
  • Logos A Gogo? Make it Easier
    • I was recently handed a page with seven logo choices and asked to choose my favorite. Before I answered, I had a number of questions. Choosing an attractive logo is important, but there are other factors that are just as important. I'll walk you through my thought process, so you can apply the same logic when considering a new logo.
  • Save Time with Multiuse Content
    • If you have been around the graphics business for even a short time, you already know the benefit of vector artwork is that it can be resized and reused. The number of outlets for artwork is constantly growing, making it increasingly important to create designs that can be adapted easily. The following tips will make it easier for you to create reusable artwork in CorelDRAW.
  • CorelDRAW Hacks You Can Use
    • Did you know there is an easy way to open a tuna can without a can opener? Did you know that you can break open a padlock with a pair of wrenches? Have you ever wondered how many uses there are for an empty roll of toilet paper?
  • Preparing Graphics for Online Use
    • I discussed the pros and cons of JPG and PNG files in the November 2014 and January 2015 issues of Recognition Review. Now that you know the two major bitmap file formats to consider and when each is best, we're going to look at the best sizes to use when posting bitmaps online in a variety of scenarios.
  • Filling Vector Graphics from CAD
    • Members of the Awards and Personalization Association— or really anyone in the industry—who do engraving for industrial clients know that very often you'll be sent .DXF (drawing exchange file) files from AutoCAD (or other CAD [computer-aided design] programs) containing shapes that appear to be fillable but accept no fill in CorelDRAW.
  • Dodge & Burn
    • Recently I received a call from Ken and Sue, a husband-and-wife team from Tennessee who were facing a unique challenge. They needed to modify a black and white illustration of a vintage aircraft so that it could be lasered on whiskey bottles destined for a museum fundraiser. The challenge? The aircraft in the foreground of the image was in shades of gray similar to the background, making it difficult to visually separate some parts of the airplane from the background. To compound the issue, the image needed to be converted to a halftone, which further reduced the definition between the plane and the background.
  • The ABC of PNG
    • In the November issue of Recognition Review, I discussed the process for saving JPEG files from either CorelDRAW or Corel PHOTO-PAINT. If you got the impression that I'm not a big fan of JPEG, you are correct. While it is typically the best way to put a photograph on the web, it's pretty lousy for most everything else. Sadly, it is popular, and most users don't realize there is a better format.
  • The Power of Frame Recognition
    • Recently I was contacted by a CorelDRAW user who wanted to create a unique picture frame with the name of a person at the bottom. FIGURE 1 is a picture of what was desired. I'll go through the steps required to create this type of artwork in CorelDRAW so that it can be cut/etched on a laser engraver. Even if you don't have to create this type of project or even use a laser engraver, the process can be transferred to a wide variety of projects.
  • Cozy Up to Dye-Sublimated Winter Accessories
    • When it comes to fashion, my age and Midwestern roots keep me behind the trends. I rely on my wife's sense of style to help keep me in current clothing—within a decade or so. It is difficult, however, not to notice the ever-increasing trend for customized accessories. Personalized items are becoming more the rule than the exception. And when the weather turns cold, there are still sublimation options for customization!
  • Try Your Hand at a Personal Font
    • About 14 years ago, my brother-in-law paid more than $100 to have his handwriting converted into a typeface or "font." At that time, the concept was fairly new and there were few services available. I wish I knew then what I know now.
  • Weld, Combine, or Trim?
    • As a CorelDRAW expert, I teach users the ins and outs of the program through websites, one-on-one training, live seminars, and more. I led seminars at January's International Awards Market which let me interact with a lot of CorelDRAW users. One of the great things about being at a trade show is helping to solve the problems these users are having. Some of the solutions require a detailed explanation while others are quite simple.
  • When Your Customer's Artwork Isn't Up to Par
    • The projects we all tackle may be quite different, but one commonality is that we are often provided with low-quality artwork that needs to be rebuilt. Recently I worked on just such a project where a number of techniques in CorelDRAW and Corel PHOTO-PAINT were used to create the result. I'm going to go through each of those techniques in this article. You may not have the need to create a boxshot as in my project, but the techniques could be quite helpful in many of your projects.
  • Three BIG Tips to Boost Your Coreldraw Productivity
    • Rarely is there a day when I don't get a question from a CorelDRAW user wanting to solve a particular problem. This month I'm going to address three of those questions and the solutions. Keep in mind that there are often multiple solutions to any situation and sometimes the best solution may involve using other software.

 

Recorded CorelDRAW Sessions from the International Expo

The International Personalization Expo is a great place to network, gain inspiration and learn new tips and tricks. Below you will find CorelDRAW specific education sessions from the last 5 years. View the recordings of industy professionals sharing their ideas.

View CorelDRAW recordings
  • 2020 Expo Session: CorelDRAW Advanced Features
  • 2020 Expo Session: Beginners' Guide to CorelDRAW 2019
  • 2020 Expo Session: Step Up Your CorelDraw Game
  • 2020 Expo Session: CorelDRAW for the Wood Worker
  • 2020 Expo Session: CorelDraw 2019 for the Laser
  • 2019 Expo Session: CorelDRAW 2018 Features & Fundamentals
  • 2019 Expo Session: CorelDRAW for the Beginner
  • 2018 Expo Session: Use and Make CorelDRAW Macros
  • 2018 Expo Session: CorelDRAW for Beginner Laser Engravers (Part 2)
  • 2018 Expo Session: CorelDRAW for Beginner Laser Engravers (Part 1)
  • 2018 Expo Session: CorelDRAW: Find and Use Graphic Design Resources
  • 2018 Expo Session: What's New in CorelDRAW 2017?
  • 2017 Expo Session: What's New in CorelDraw X8 and More!
  • 2017 Expo Session: CorelDRAW for the Beginnner Laser Engraver
  • 2016 Expo Session: CorelDRAW Solutions
  • 2016 Expo Session: Take Your CorelDRAW Designs to the Next Level
  • 2016 Expo Session: Working with Templates in CorelDRAW
  • 2015 Expo Session: CorelDRAW Advanced Topics
  • 2015 Expo Session: Create Creatively: A CorelDRAW Tutorial

 

CorelDRAW Webinars

Education has always been the most sought-after member benefit of the association. Below you will find webinar recordings of CorelDRAW specific sessions. Everything from the ins and outs of the newest updgrade to how to optimize your artwork within the software.

View CorelDRAW webinars

CorelDRAW Resources

Association members receive additional cost savings when using CorelDRAW.

  • 15% Discount on CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2020
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