CorelDraw X8 on a Surface Pro 4 Part 1

This article uses CorelDraw X8 Home and Student on the Surface Pro 4 with Intel Core i5, 4 GB of RAM, and 128 SSD. The SP4 runs on Windows 10 Pro and tests were also made using a Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch (4x6), and a Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 3500.

Note: Apart from professional features like barcode creation, templates, and more royalty-free images and fonts, the Home and Student version is the same as the full CorelDraw X8 release.

The CorelDraw Suite has historically been an alternative to Adobes range of products. Ive been using CorelDraw since version 10 (2000) for various personal projects. Although Ive occasionally used Adobe InDesign and Illustrator professionally over the years, I find CorelDraw easier (and more fun) to use. Having used CorelDraw X5 for years now, I purchased the boxed version of CorelDraw X8 Home and Student for my Surface Pro 4. Unlike Adobes subscription model for their products, a boxed set is really yours and only requires regular Internet access to verify your license unobtrusively and occasionally in the background (as expected, some consumers who purchased the boxed set from Amazon dont understand how license keys work and made incredibly ignorant remarks in the reviews).

Corel Photo-Paint X8 on the Surface Pro 4

CorelDraw and Corel Photo-Paint as Desktop applications

Younger users probably have a hard time understanding the difference between "apps" and "desktop applications" because they grew up with tablets and smartphones. CorelDraw and Corel Photo-Paint are strictly desktop applications, which means they are best used on a PC with a large display and a keyboard. There are keyboard shortcuts and tricks that veteran Corel users have grown accustomed to for years. The original workspace and UI of CorelDraw were created during a time when users were accustomed to multi-tasking with a keyboard and mouse, rather than a touchscreen with 10-finger gesture support.

Note: Its important to note that I really like the CorelDraw Graphics Suite and that Im comfortable with Corel Photo-Paint and CorelDraw, because the article might sound somewhat brutal as a whole.

CorelDraw X8 Graphics Suite isnt optimized for touch screens, nor was it designed for the 2736 x 1824/12.3" display of the Surface Pro 4 . For one thing, some of the dialog boxes are visibly pixelated on the SP4s screen. This doesnt make the suite any less useful or efficient for designing but it is distracting. For more details about using the suite with the SP4s touch screen, refer to Part 2 of this series.

Most of the dialog boxes and settings look fine, but some windows in CorelDraw and Corel Photo-Paint, such as the Export window, are pixelated on the SP4.

If youre accustomed to a mouse, keyboard, or an old school Wacom digitizer (using the word tablet confuses people these days), you can get started really quickly with Corels improved tools. In fac t, the UI hasnt changed from earlier releases of CorelDraw. You can get around using the Navigator and Magnifier as before and use the shortcut keys and mouse when needed. On the other hand, both Photo-Paint and CorelDraw wont recognize your finger for panning the workspace or document. You would still need to switch to the Pan or Magnify tool. This wont bother users who are accustomed to Corels working methods, but would confuse newer designers who have been trained with a touch screen.

As a desktop application, however, CorelDraw X8 is as good as ever, particularly if youre a Corel or vector designer. I opened my old .cdr and .cpt files on CorelDraw and Corel Photo-Paint on the Surface Pro 4 and performed tasks like vector-editing, color changes, bitmap conversions, and exporting to different formats including PDF. The Surface Type keyboard felt luxurious compared to stock Logitech wireless keyboards and initially felt weird to use with CorelDraw, but performance was excellent. As I worked with my old Microsoft Mobile Mouse 3500, the experience convinced me X8 as a design software deserves a future review here at Unsolicited But Offered.

If youre using CorelDraw on a Surface Pro 4 as a desktop application with a mouse and the Surface Type keyboard, the user experience is indistinguishable to using the application on a desktop PC.

The bottom line is that users who are comfortable with mouse and keyboard will be happy with CorelDraw and Corel Photo-Paint because it hasnt changed much as a desktop application. I use the w ord "desktop" in the sense that its not a "mobile app", so I mean to say the suite works brilliantly on todays Windows laptops. In fact, todays processors and RAM are so efficient, all the vector and bitmap tasks will fly along on any recent ultraportable without any lag whatsoever. SP4 users who purchased the 4 GB version will be happy to know 4 GB is more than enough to perform tasks even on complex vector projects on CorelDraw X8.

Continued in CorelDraw X8 on a Surface Pro 4 Part 2