Corel is releasing CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2019 today, and it comes with a few surprises, including a full-featured version for the Mac and a new web app called CorelDRAW.app.
“Celebrating 30 years of graphics excellence, our CorelDRAW team continues to innovate with new products that promise to dramatically change the design software landscape,” Corel executive vice president Gérard Métrailler notes in a prepared statement. “With our recent Parallels acquisition and now the all-new CorelDRAW Graphics Suite for Mac, we’ve solidified Corel’s position as a provider of exceptional software that meets the needs of modern knowledge workers across specialties, skill levels, and platforms.”
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Corel has been quietly building a Windows software empire over the years, with familiar products and brands like CorelDRAW, Painter, PaintShop Pro, WinZip, WordPerfect, and others. But the firm is also branching out into new categories, and with products like CorelCAD, its recent acquisition of Parallels, and this week’s announcement about a Mac version of CorelDRAW, the firm is moving cross-platform too.
Of course, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite remains its flagship offering, with a broad set of tools that includes CorelDRAW (vector graphic design, illustration, and page layout). Corel PHOTO-PAINT (photo editing), Corel Font Manager (font library management), and AfterShot 3 HDR (RAW photo processing). And the latest version expands on the capabilities of its predecessor in big ways.
Some key new features include:
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2019 for Mac. Written from the ground up as truly native Mac apps, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2019 arrives on the Mac with support for modern Mac features like macOS Mojave’s Dark mode and TouchBar support for recent MacBook Pro models.
CorelDRAW.app. This new online-only web app allows users to access CorelDRAW files stored in popular cloud storage services (including SharePoint) so that they can add annotations or new design elements, or start new projects. CorelDRAW.app comes free with the Windows and Mac versions of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2019, but Corel also offers a subscription upgrade that provides more functionality.
LiveSketch. This new vector drawing tool uses a neural network to intelligently interpret and adjust pen-drawn lines into smooth vector curves while providing a natural, pen and paper-like user experience.
Objects Docker. Completely redesigned for 2019, the new Objects Docker offers fine-grained control over all of the objects and components in a document.
Non-destructive effects. It’s now possible to apply or modify any number of effects in both vector and bitmap images without altering the source object or image.
Pixel-perfect workflow. For the first time, it’s possible to apply pixel-level edits to vector images so that they can be output to the web correctly.
Corel also offers a choice of licensing models and, unlike Microsoft, it doesn’t punish customers that prefer to own the product by reducing functionality. Corel’s perpetual license ($499 for new users or $199 for upgraders) allows customers to purchase the product outright and use it for as long as they’d like with no additional monthly or annual costs. Or you can choose a subscription license for $198 per year and benefit from free version upgrades while the subscription is active.
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2019 and CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2019 for Mac are both available in English, German, Italian, French, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Czech, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Turkish, and Japanese.
I will be examining CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2019 in more detail soon.