CorelDraw 9: The Official Guide

"A Creative Book for a Creative Program"

     
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type of book
 
coverTitle: CorelDraw 9: The Official Guide
Author: Foster D. Coburn III, and Peter A. McCormick
Publisher: Osborne/McGraw-Hill http://www.osborne.com
Publication Date: July 12, 1999
Pages: 873 with CD
ISBN: 0-07-211986-1
Price: $49.99

CorelDraw 9: The Official Guide gives you in-depth coverage of the product and shows you how to take full advantage of version 9's new and improved features. There are 16 pages of full-color CorelDraw-generated images to spark your imagination, as well as valuable software and utilities on the book's CD to help you take advantage of CorelDraw's features. The book helps you: learn to use and master CorelDraw's features and tools; set up page layouts; manipulate text, and shape objects; manipulate images; add layers; use extrusion tools; create extraordinary bitmap effects; take advantage of the new Preflight features that warns you if your file contains printing errors; use the IXLA Digital Camera interface; import images from the most popular digital cameras; create realistic shadows with the new Interactive Drop Shadow tool; create complex gradient fills with the new Mesh Fill tool; achieve spectacular special effects with Draw 9's filters and plug-ins; maximize the multiple on-screen color palettes; and publish on the Web using Draw 9's advanced PDF and HTML support. You can get more tips, techniques, and information from the authors' Web site: http://www.unleash.com
     
user level    
     
Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced users. This is an excellent book for the novice as well as the professional. The images on the CD will help beginners to follow along with the step-by-step tutorials. Professionals will appreciate the thoroughness of the book.
     
review
     

CorelDraw 9: The Official Guide is divided into six basic categories or parts: basics; manipulation; adding effects; input and output; advanced topics; and appendices.

Part 1: The Basics--the authors discuss: getting the most out of CorelDraw 9; menus, standard toolbar, property bar, and dialog boxes; rectangles, ellipses, polygons, stars, spirals, and graph paper; drawing lines of all shapes and sizes; creating and manipulating text; selecting and transforming objects; shaping objects; colors, models, color palettes, and uniform fills; special fills; outlining objects; and viewing, zooming, and panning.

Part 2: Manipulation--lets you delve into object ordering, layers, and the object manager; rulers, guidelines, and grids; combining, grouping, and converting to curves; weld, trim, and intersect; and align, distribute, copy, paste, and clone.

Part 3: Adding Effects--learn to work with special effects features such as enveloping, distortion, and perspective; extruding; blending, contouring, and drop shadows; lens, transparency, and powerclip; fitting text to a path; and color adjustments and bitmap effects.

Part 4: Input and Output--inputting and outputting your artwork is covered. The authors explain scanning and tracing bitmaps; importing, opening, saving, and exporting files; page setup; printing; and publishing portable document format (PDF) files.

Part 5: Advanced Topics--discusses word processing features; styles, templates, and scrapbooks; find and replace wizards; custom arrowheads, patterns, symbols, and line styles; fonts, font formats, panose, and font management; CorelDraw and the internet; setting options and customizing the user interface; and automation of CorelDraw.

Part 6: Appendices--covers what is on the CD (images for the tutorials and third-party software); production notes; and author biographies.

 
personal comments
     
CorelDraw 9: The Official Guide is a must have book for anyone serious about learning CorelDraw 9 or for users who want to brush up on the new features. Having the images to work with in the step-by-step tutorials really helps you learn faster. The authors are thorough and know their subject. It covers the basics about tools but also tells you how to use the tools artistically.
     

Graphics: CorelDraw & Adobe Photoshop
Web Page Editor: Macromedia Dreamweaver 3.0
Scanner: Hewlett Packard ScanJet 6250C Professional Series

     

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