Conclusion

After one week with the new Corel Draw and several fun (and not so fun) graphics projects, I am left with mixed feelings about X4.

On the positive side, X4 is a solid improvement over X3. It is not a revolutionary departure or improvement over previous versions, but a rather evolutionary change. It still feels like CorelDraw (and that can be a good thing for many users), which means it is still the benchmark for vector graphics on the PC. Illustrator may have the creative edge, but Draw certainly enables users to create everything from postcards or invitations, to basic technical drawings and maps, business cards and logos, flyers, digital art, newsletters or even professional advertisements and newsletters in a very professional way. Its menu interface feels mature and well thought through.  

CorelDraw X4 LiveText formatting

But while X4 is an evolutionary improvement, I doubt you will find enough reasons to upgrade if you are currently using X3 – especially if you haven’t been waiting in particular for ConceptShare and depend on the best trace feature available. I can’t help but feel that the CorelDraw product manager and developers are stuck in a constant dilemma what feature to add next to an existing GUI. It’s already a bloated application at an installed size of 1.41 GB (including all other standard X4 applications) and the new features aren’t dramatic or innovative enough to blow your socks off. X4 in fact feels like CorelDraw is ready for a radical change, similar to what Microsoft did with Office 2007. It seems that Corel will have to make a choice between expanding the software into new territories, such as presentation or charting, or streamlining the GUI substantially without jeopardizing the functionality of the software.

The other possibility, of course, is that CorelDraw will stay more or less the same in the future, which I don’t hope will be the case. There ought to be a few new ideas how creating and editing vector graphics can be improved.

But I admit that, in today’s shape, CorelDraw has few weaknesses, which include the handling of the desktop (which is a bit awkward and misses a “hand” feature), certain text formatting issues (see above) and file export (TIFF export failed in this X4 Gold version with certain drawings). But there is no doubt that, as of now, CorelDraw is still the one to beat on the PC. The developers just have to make sure that CorelDraw does not lose this status in the near future.

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