Corel Corporation, headquartered in Ottawa, offers the CorelDRAW Graphics Suite, a graphic design studio and library of tools.
$249
per year
Vellum
Score 6.0 out of 10
N/A
Vellum is a publishing tool by 180g, that enables users to create ebooks for every platform: Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books, etc. Each specialized file can guide readers to buy the writer's next book in their favorite store. Vellum is currently available for Mac.
It is a perfect suite of applications to finish presentations and create beautiful layouts for design. It is very useful both for graphic design and for architecture design when you want to draw a realistic idea of a project without being a rendering or when you need to present both images and vectorial drawings.
Vellum is perfect for novels, novellas, short fiction anthologies, and any lightly illustrated fiction. It’s excellent for most non-fiction. It’s great for e-Books and Paperbacks. I haven’t tried using the file for hardcover but it is likely good for that as well. Vellum wouldn’t be the right tool for coffee-table art books, picture books or children’s illustrated books.
Ease of use is a major factor in our choice for the CorelDRAW Graphics Suite. With intuitive interface terminologies, users are able to jump right into the applications with ease and confidence.
The ability to customize the Suite to fit your particular needs is a major strength of the CorelDRAW Graphics Suite. CorelDRAW customization abilities are endless and can turn the default Graphics Suite into a fully customized powerhouse application catered to a designer's specific wants and needs.
Could improve ability to change the look of a design element like Ornamental Break.
Doesn’t currently output in Smashwords .doc format (but does EPUB).
Spell Check is rudimentary but accurate - still, it’s much better to use Word or Grammarly.
If style uses initial drop cap, it doesn’t handle one-letter words well (I, A, O) - repeats letter in sentence. This may be standard practice, not sure.
There are a couple dozen styles. I would gladly pay for a “Style Pack” to add on additional styles.
Just like any design program or suite, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who doesn't do graphic design professionally. If you're not adept at learning a program or experience, it isn't a program you can just pick up and start using easily. Outside of the learning curve, it's a nice program with a decent user interface.
Overall, CorelDRAW meets all my needs as a researcher and allows me to create beautiful and clear graphics to illustrate the main ideas for publications. It does not lack any functionality for my needs; however, it has some bugs that impact productivity, such as the color drag and drop that sometimes stops working and needs restarting, and crashes, especially when working with large bitmaps.
I feel Corel is just as powerful as the Adobe suite. I started using Corel back when I worked for a government organization that was PC based (and at the time, you couldn't get the Adobe suite on PC). I found that Corel was just as powerful. Over time, you can now get the Adobe Suite for PC but Corel is a better price - which for a non-profit is very important. Of course, I am more comfortable with Corel because I have used it for so many years as well.
Up until purchasing Vellum, I’ve used Smashwords Meat Grinder template and Kindle’s PC-Only software. I had to buy a PC just to publish to Kindle - very expensive investment with modest return. Vellum is only for Mac. In fact, it would have been cool if it worked with a PC. But Mac is my ecosystem for writing, and the PC is a pain. I ultimately chose Vellum because it works with my MacBook.
Ease of use reflects on less time to train new users, a positive impact in investment and productivity.
The practicality to make new designs results in less time needed to do them, again a positive impact.
The integration with other graphic programs could be better if needed to finish a rendering using the design made in Corel Draw it's needed to export in formats that don't carry all information and the process is not that simple.
