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Thursday, July 29, 2010

Delete Extra Stuff to Speed Up CorelDRAW

Some users notice that CorelDRAW is much slower for them than for other users. One area in particular that can be slow is using Copy and Paste. There are some hidden problems in some files that can cause things to slow down drastically. It will take you a little while to check for these extra items and longer if you need to delete them. In the long run, things will go much faster if the files are tripped of these problematic elements. I'll list each of the problems, how to check for them and how to remove them. You might not think they are in your files, but I can pretty much guarantee that we all have some files with these problems.

Saved Views: Open up the View Manager (Window | Dockers | View Manager or Ctrl + F2). Unless you have specifically saved Views, the Docker should be blank. If it isn't, click on the first view and Shift + click on the last view. Press the - icon at the top of the Docker and they will all be deleted. I've seen files with hundreds of saved views.

Graphic and Text Styles: Open up the Graphic and Text Styles Docker (Window | Dockers | Graphic and Text Styles or Ctrl + F5). There are a handful of styles that should be there by default. Those include: Default Artistic Text, Default Graphic, Default Artistic Media and Default Paragraph Text. Those are mandatory and control defaults for each type of element. You will also see Bullet 1, 2 and 3 plus Special Bullet 1, 2 and 3. Personally I don't find those useful at all. If there are other styles listed that you haven't created, you need to delete them. Click on the first "bad" style and Shift + click on the last "bad" style. Press the Delete key. Repeat until all of the "bad" styles are gone. I've seen files with thousands of extra styles.

Color Styles: Open the Color Styles Docker (Window | Dockers | Color Styles). You'll see a folder representing each file you have open. Double-click the folder for the currently active file. If you've created color styles, you'll see them listed. Many times you will see hundreds of color styles that you didn't create. Click on the first one and hold down the Delete key until they are all gone.

Believe me, it can be a hassle to scrub your files of this extra junk. But if you take the time to clean up your files, you'll find that things run much faster.

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Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Hercules X-Stand Ergonomic Portable Natural Airflow Cooling Stand for Laptop Computers

That must be the longest title I've ever had on a blog post and yet it is for a very simple product. The Hercules X-Stand Ergonomic Portable Natural Airflow Cooling Stand For all 12-17" Laptop / Notebook Computers is very portable and yet it lifts a laptop off of the desk surface to allow for airflow. I've been carrying one in my laptop bag for around five years now and love how simple it is to use. Just fold it out and place the laptop on top of the stand. Not only does it help with cooling, it also adds a slight angle to the keyboard which makes it easier to type. If you use a laptop on a regular basis, you really should have a stand like this.

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Tuesday, July 27, 2010

CorelDRAW X5 Service Pack 1 Notes and Special Deals

Yesterday I posted that Corel has released Service Pack 1 for CorelDRAW X5. I listed all of the fixes that Corel provided to me. Many users have e-mailed me asking about things that are not on that list. "Did this fix this or that?" The short answer is that I don't know if they fixed the particular issue that is bugging you. There are hundreds of fixes included that are not on the list I posted. Many of those are issues reported by end users via Corel Technical Support or in the discussion forums. The best way to find out if something has been fixed is to download and install the service pack. I have asked Corel to provide me with a more complete list of the fixes and I will post it if I can get my hands on it. Corel is planning a second service pack to address more issues. I don't know when it will be available though you shouldn't expect it anytime soon.

Some of you have not yet upgraded to CorelDRAW X5. Maybe you haven't seen a reason to upgrade and maybe you were just waiting for the service pack to be released so you could put it on your production machines. First, let me remind you of several previous blog posts providing you with reasons to upgrade.
Once you've had a chance to read those posts about some of the reasons you should upgrade, I'll give you some extra incentive in the way of special offers. First, those of you in North America can save 10% when you purchase by using the coupon code of UNLEASHEDSUN and you can get free shipping (if the order is over $99) with the code COREL99. The coupon codes expire at the end of July 2010 so you only have a few days left. Corel has also upped the deal by including my CorelDRAW X5 Unleashed Multimedia Training DVD if you purchase before the end of July 2010. This applies to the CorelDRAW X5 upgrade as well as the CorelDRAW X5 full version. I would appreciate if you use the links provided in the last sentence as I do get a commission if you purchase through those links. That gives you a way to thank me for providing these deals and all of the other information in this blog. For those of you outside of North America, I'm sorry that these deals won't work for you. I am always asking Corel for something to offer you and I will keep asking. I just don't have anything for you now.

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Enveloping, Distortion and Perspective in CorelDRAW X5

Now that the first service pack for CorelDRAW X5 has been released, it is time for many users to put it onto their production machines. To get the most out of CorelDRAW X5, you'll want to learn all of the ins and outs of the software. I don't think you'll find a better way to do that than my CorelDRAW X5 Unleashed ebook or our CorelDRAW Unleashed Training Boot Camps. For those who only want to get a small chunk of training on a specific subject, I'm making the individual lessons from CorelDRAW X5 Unleashed available.

This week I am featuring Lesson 25 on Enveloping, Distortion and Perspective. These features are largely unchanged in the past few versions of CorelDRAW, so this lesson can also be helpful to those who haven't yet upgraded to CorelDRAW X5. That doesn't mean I didn't make some major changes to this lesson from previous versions of my book. Each of the major topics had new projects added for tasks common to a production art shop. You'll get a 14-page PDF file, 19 minutes of tutorial videos and the sample files used in the lesson. The best deal is to order the entire ebook, but you can also order just this lesson. Check it out!

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Monday, July 26, 2010

CorelDRAW X5 Service Pack 1 Now Available

Corel has posted the first service pack for CorelDRAW X5. You can get all the details on what it includes as well as links for downloading on our CorelDRAW X5 Graphics Suite Service Pack 1 page.

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Macro Developers Come to Cave Creek

I had a chance to have dinner with two of the most prolific macro developers for CorelDRAW. It was very cool to talk about some of the projects they had done and some of the ideas they have for future projects. First, let me introduce each of them to you.

Even avid users of macros might not recognize the name Steve Blosser and yet he was one of the first developers to extend CorelDRAW and he has developed some of the most complex solutions. I first met Steve more than ten years ago on a trip to Kansas. That's where I grew up and where he and his business were located at the time. For those who aren't familiar with him, you might be familiar with the Smart Designer add-on for CorelDRAW. Steve is the developer behind Smart Designer as well as some of the other add-ons from Digital Art Solutions. While Steve's name may not be as familiar as other macro and add-on developers, he has probably created as many solutions as anyone.

Shelby Moore also joined us for dinner and it was the first time he and I had met. His wife is from Kansas so the three of us had that Kansas connection in common. Shelby created the Resources Docker for Graphics Unleashed and he has developed other macros for MacroMonster.com. In his daytime job, Shelby creates solutions for the monument industry using CorelDRAW.

I can't tell you about some of the future products they have on their plates just yet, but I know they are working on some really cool stuff. As those solutions become available, I'll definitely tell you all about them. It was just great to be able to spend some time with them and hear about what they've been doing. Of course we didn't talk shop the whole time, we also shared some funny stories.

Thanks to Steve and Shelby for a fun evening. I'm looking forward to seeing the results of your new projects and telling the readers all about them.

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Sunday, July 25, 2010

Sports and Mascots Volume 2

Can you believe that it is almost time for kids to start heading back to school? It just seems like summer this year has been much shorter than normal. For those of you producing artwork with CorelDRAW, back to school can also mean an influx of business. When the kids get back to school, they will need sports-related artwork for their school.

The Sports and Mascots Volume 2 collection gives you thousands of images to help make the job of creating that artwork much easier. It includes sports and mascot related artwork, design templates, product blanks, proposal pages and a collection of fonts perfect for sports-related products. All of the artwork is production-ready for garment printing, screen printing, embroidery, vinyl cutting, engraving and more.

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Saturday, July 24, 2010

Kaleidoscope Plug-In

If you have been using the CorelDRAW Graphics Suite for many versions, you might remember the Terrazzo plug-in that used to be included. It was great for creating really cool tile-able patterns from any image. Unfortunately it is gone so I went looking for a plug-in that could do something similar. I found Kaleidoscope and I think you'll really like it. It doesn't have all of the same patterns that Terrazzo offered, but it does have its own unique patterns that give great results. Of course I think you'll also like price as it is free.

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Friday, July 23, 2010

Chopin Script Font

When I was a kid, I spent numerous hours taking piano lessons. I never was very good, but I remember that one of the songs I played often was from Chopin. As I was searching for today's font, I came across Chopin Script and the name just jumped out at me. It is a very elegant looking script font that would look great on something formal.

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