CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6 Upgrade [Old Version]

Prompt and smooth delivery/access. As always (have used CorelDraw since version 1) it is an excellent and powerful graphics suite. Many improvement make graphics preparation and desktop publishing easier. Unfortunately, in Corels drive to make things better they change some things that make them harder to access and use. Software developers need to learn how much is enough and when to quit fiddling with a product. It is like the axiom for oil painting, "...if you work colors too much, eventually they will turn to mud." Despite this it is a great suite and I use it daily.

This software has been the bane of my existence. When I loaded old CorelDraw 12, Corel prompted me to upgrade and gave me a free 30-day trial of X6. This led me to believe I could upgrade from CorelDraw 12. I bought the X6 upgrade from Amazon. Turns iut you can onky upgrade from X5 or X4 and you better still have the serial number. Corel support basically told me "too bad." I then bought the full version of X5 with plans to load it then use the X6 upgrade. Turns out X5 doesn't work with Windows 8. I then bought Windows 7 and upgraded my desktop (where I had installed CorelDraw 12). X5 still won't load. I get a message saying that there is another installation of CorelDraw. But that was overwritten when I installed windows 7. I have mixed feelings about posting a 1-star review because, technically, it's not about how X6 is to use. CorelDraw offers a lot of features for far less than Adobe's Creative Suite. But this experience is outrageous. Over $300 later and I still have too-old-to-be-supported CorelDraw 12. Amazon won't take back the software because I opened the box and Corel tricked me into buying an upgrade version I can't use and will do nothing about it. If you feel that the review is inappropriate, please flag it.

As a user of CorelDRAW graphics suite for over 10 years, I find this new versions to be excellent; I use PhotoPaint for most of my work with photography and the new graphics suite supports most of the popular image file types. As a retired medical school professor, I tried to order Adobe Photoshop but they would not honor the reduced price for teachers and students (3 years was to long be be retired to be considered to be a teacher, they said). I had older outdated versions of CorelDraw bought as a teacher but had not upgraded in many years. Corel unlike Adobe honored my old version (many more than 3 years old) and allowed me to purchase the X6 upgrade. Thank you Corel! The new graphics suite is all that I liked before but better not to mention support for the latest Windows operating systems.

The over-all product is great. However, had a problem with some of the plug-ins not working or being on the DVD/CD. Had to contact Corel and finally got the issue resolved. The seller in not way had anything to do with the issue(s) I had. I received the product on time and would likely purchase from seller again.

I upgraded from X3. Granted, my graphics needs aren't real demanding. The X3 did all that I needed and ran fine on Windows 7. I upgraded just on general principles. But, I haven't found any new features that I have found useful that I didn't already have on X3. I'm sure that others with more sophisticated needs might use the newer features, but not me.

I ordered CorelDraw x6 upgrade to move up from CorelDraw 11. They don't tell you this in the advertisement, but you must have x4 or higher to upgrade! What a crock! Anyway, I contacted Corel and they did help me out. (I opened and tried to install the software before I knew you needed x4 or better to upgrade). Corel was pretty good about the customer service - I had to send photos of my older versions to them to prove that I had a previous version and they sent me an unlock code. I would certainly suggest that anyone who buys the upgrade just pony-up the extra $100 bucks and buy the full version - simply to avoid the BS. The product is excellent, however. [UPDATE 04/2015]: ALSO, it appears that Corel is beginning to take pages out of Adobe's scam book! For the uninitiated - Adobe, for the past several years, has required a subscription to their BS web service in order to perform all but the most basic tasks in their developer software (like Photoshop, Dreamweaver, etc.). In addition to the hardware resource-wasting nature of Adobe's software (which was one of the primary reasons that Steve Jobs hated their software so - especially Flash), it is truly expensive - almost gouged in price. And, after ponying-up $600+ for Photoshop, you are expected to pay over $100 PER YEAR for their stupid service to "unlock" the advanced features of their already overpriced software. And then, there is Corel. I have been a Corel fan since Corel Draw 3 back in the 90's. I have owned and used 3, 6, 8, 11, and now x6 (16). And, I have been very satisfied with all of them, except x6. Beyond the extortionist tactics used for the x6 upgrade (see above), there are now a couple of features that require a subscription - like Adobe PS. Not cool! However, unlike Adobe, I can STILL do in x6 what I did back in 8 and 11. However, unlike those previous versions, x6 does NOT come with clip art. You (yep! You guessed it!) need a bloody subscription. Even worse, Corel uses pop-up ads when you launch x6 (Which cost well over $250 to begin with [a bargain compared to Adobe PS, but still...]) to push their corporate greed for a steady, captive source of revenue. VideoStudio x6 ULTIMATE is also in the same boat. Thank God that Sound Forge hasn't caught on to this, yet! (Surprising, as they are owned by Sony Software, now.) This will be my very LAST Corel product until they stop this bullcrap! There is a reason I chose Corel over Adobe; and, its the same reason most of us have, I think. However, they will quickly loose their loyal 25-year customers if they keep this up. If I must, I will drop back down to Draw 11 and stay there. That version still works very well.

Got this as un upgrade and am very disappointed in it. It is extremely buiggy and crashes. They changed some things for the worse. The alignment tools are awful now. When you use to be able to hit any letter and it take it to the beginning of those files, now it tries to type out the whole thing before you can see what you want. I HATE that!! The open window has been minimized to where you can't see the file name without dragging the window futher to the right. Why did they mess with that? Overall I think this is a terrible upgrade and DO NOT recommend anyone getting it.

We use CorelDRAW for professional sign design in our sign company that has been in business for over 35 years. We run the Adobe suite side by side but find Corel to be better suited for 2 dimensional vector design. You can work 1:1 without scaling if you choose which works great with CNC machines whereas with Adobe the canvas is limited. If you are looking for design software and feel your only option is Adobe, I encourage anyone to give CorelDRAW a try. Once you learn the software you'll never go back!