DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY NEWS

Corel Introduces CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite X3

New Suite Delivers a Higher Standard of Ease of Use and Graphics Power for Design Professionals and Business Users

January 17, 2006 -- Ottawa, ON -- Corel Corporation today unveiled the latest version of its award-winning graphics suite, CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite X3. With more than 40 new and enhanced features, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 will be available for purchase to customers around the world in English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese in February 2006.

Whether they are design professionals on deadline or small business owners creating their own marketing materials, customers will enjoy a significant productivity boost from CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3. The suite simplifies the design process for projects of any scale, including logo creation, professional marketing brochures, and eye-catching signs. Customers choose CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 because it delivers a combination of superior design capabilities, speed, ease of use, and affordability that's unmatched in the graphics software industry.

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 has been designed with an unprecedented level of customer interaction and input. Corel product team members work closely with customers from various industries, gathering their feedback and spending days at their deskside to watch how they work. As a result, the latest version of the suite addresses customer needs better than ever before. Graphics professionals and business users will find new enhancements and features that will have a dramatic impact on their day-to-day productivity.

"Corel products are created with a commitment to a single overarching mission – to provide powerful and easy-to-use tools that deliver outstanding results and value. The latest version of our award-winning suite is solid proof of the positive impact this philosophy has on our customers," said Nick Davies, General Manager Graphics for Corel. "We've deepened our customer interaction, taking our understanding of users' needs to a whole new level. CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 has raised the standard for ease of use and productivity across the graphics industry."

With more than 40 new enhancements, top highlights in CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 include:

• New Corel® PowerTRACE – Integrated into CorelDRAW X3, Corel® PowerTRACE enables users to quickly and easily convert bitmaps into editable vector graphics. For control and flexibility, Corel PowerTRACE generates a color palette, enabling users to easily pick which colors appear in the traced result and quickly convert them to the appropriate color mode (including spot colors).
  
  
• New Image Adjustment Lab – Accessible from both Corel PHOTO-PAINT® and CorelDRAW, the Image Adjustment Lab makes it simple to work with images that have poor color balance and contrast by offering manual and automatic controls for common color and tone corrections. Users can create snapshots of their adjustments to easily compare each snapshot against the original and choose the best result.
  
  
• New Hints docker – The new Hints docker provides context-sensitive information on the currently selected tool. The hints docker makes it easier than ever to learn to use the tools in the toolbox and also gives longtime users helpful tips that they might not have previously discovered.
  
  
• Enhanced Interactive Fit Text to Path – It's never been easier to attach text to a path with precision. With a dramatically improved user interface, the interactive Fit Text to Path tool lets users simply select text, move their pointer along a path, choose an offset distance if desired, and then click to set the text's position.
  
  
• New Text Enhancements and Features – Significant improvements make it easier for users to select, edit, and format text. New enhancements include: controls for alignment, drop caps, tabs, bullets, and columns; text size can be displayed in inches; and hyperlinks can be created for specific characters. Users can visually control the flow of text in their designs by choosing from em dash, em space, en dash, en space, 1/4 em space, optional hyphen, non-breaking hyphen, nonbreaking space, and column/frame break.
  
  
• Enhanced Cutout Lab – Built on the power of Corel KnockOut™, the enhanced Cutout Lab includes new controls to simplify the process of cutting out image areas and improving accuracy. Enhancements include the new Add Detail and Remove Detail brushes that make it easy to refine the cutout area, Undo and Redo buttons to quickly correct mistakes, and background modes that make it easier to see results.
  
  
• New Bevel effect – The new Bevel effect docker dramatically reduces the time required to apply bevel effects to graphic or text objects and gives users quick access to Bevel styles and controls.
  
  
• Enhanced Interactive Contour tool – With the enhanced Interactive Contour tool, users can quickly and easily contour objects with optimal curve results. The latest version dramatically reduces the nodes created – sometimes as much as 80 percent.
  
  
• New Smart Fill tool – The Smart Fill tool enables users to apply a fill to any enclosed area.
  
  
• New Crop tool – A significant time-saver, the new Crop tool quickly lets users remove unwanted areas in objects and imported graphics — whether they are working with bitmap or vector graphics.
  
  
• Enhanced spot color support – Drop shadow, transparency, and mesh and fountain fills now support spot colors. Import and export filters also provide improved spot color support for Adobe® Illustrator® (AI), PDF, encapsulated PostScript® (EPS), and Photoshop® (PSD) files. Spot color effects are preserved when files are sent to a printer that supports spot colors, or exported to PDF, EPS, PSD, and AI.
  
  
• New Preview overprints – The new Enhanced With Overprints viewing mode simulates the color of areas where overlapping objects were set to overprint, enabling users to output projects with confidence.
  
  
• New PDF Support for password-protected PDF files – Users can now set security options to protect their PDF output – controlling whether and to what extent a PDF file can be accessed, edited, and reproduced. In addition, PDF functionality now includes full transparency and spot color support.

"CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 is an exciting update for our industry. Powerful features like the enhanced Contour and the new PowerTRACE make the latest version a must have upgrade for design professionals who need to get the job done right every time," said Richard Reilly, owner of Fluid Designs, a design firm that specializes in the imprinted apparel market.

"CorelDRAW Graphics Suite has been the backbone of our company since day one. Now with enhanced spot color support and the new spectacular PowerTRACE, the latest version is going to have a huge impact on our business and our industry. CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 is an essential update for anyone producing specialty graphics, whether they are seasoned pros or new users," said Steve Blosser, owner of Total Promotions Incorporated, a design firm that specializes in specialty graphics services including digital printing, embroidery, screen printing, and engraving.

Like previous versions of this award-winning suite, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 builds on the product's reputation for offering customers tremendous value. The latest version of the suite includes the following applications and content:

• CorelDRAW® X3 – Now including Corel PowerTRACE, this intuitive graphic design, page layout, illustration, and tracing application meets the demands of today's busy design professionals and business users.
  
  
• Corel PHOTO-PAINT® X3 – This professional image-editing application lets users quickly and easily retouch and enhance photos. It is specifically designed for use in a graphic design workflow and supports professional color separations and output.
  
  
• Pixmantec® RawShooter™ essentials – This raw workflow tool provides high-quality output and fast conversion times.
  
  
• Corel CAPTURE™ X3 – This one-click utility enables users capture images from their computer screen.
  
  
• CorelDRAW® Handbook – Insight from the Experts – This new book provides insights from CorelDRAW experts and showcases practical, real-world examples of accomplished designs.
  
  
• More than 10,000 individually selected quality clipart and digital images; 1,000 OpenType fonts, plus 35 Windows® Glyph List 4 (WGL4); 100 creative templates; printed User Guide; training videos by lynda.com; Digital Content Guide; and a Quick Reference Card.

Pricing and Availability
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 will be available in English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese in February 2006. North American suggested retail pricing is $399 US, $489 CDN for the full product, $179 US, $229 CDN for upgrade, and $99 US, $119 CDN for the student and teacher edition.

In the United States, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 will be available from leading resellers including Amazon, ASAP, CDW, CompUSA, Fry's, Microcenter, Office Depot, PC Connection, PC Mall, and SHI. In Canada, resellers include Amazon, CDW Canada, Office Depot, PC Mall, Softchoice, STAPLES Business Depot, and The Source by Circuit City. CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3, including licensing, may also be purchased directly from Corel at www.corel.com/cdgsx3.

For more information about CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 or to download a full-featured, free trial version, please visit www.corel.com/cdgsx3.

Corel News
Corel today also announced the release of the new Corel WordPerfect® Office X3 family of productivity tools. Providing increased compatibility, feature richness, ease of use, and value, English versions of the new office suite are now available worldwide. The suggested retail price of Corel WordPerfect Office X3 – Home Edition is $79 US, $89 CDN after a $20 US/$30 CDN mail in rebate. Suggested retail pricing for Corel WordPerfect Office X3 – Standard Edition starts at $159.99 US, $199.99 CDN. For more information, please visit www.wordperfect.com.

HOT DEALS

 

Rocketfish 65" Carbon Fiber Tripod with 3-Way Pan Head & QR Plate

Epson Workforce 500 Inkjet All-In-One

Canon EOS Rebel T1i DSLR with 18-55mm IS Lens (1080p HD Video)

Canon EOS 7D Digital SLR Camera Body Outfit

Olympus PEN E-P2 with 17mm or 14-42mm Lens & Viewfinder

Canon VIXIA HV40 miniSD HD Camcorder

Holga 120N Medium Format Camera with Built-in Lens

Canon Powershot SD780 IS Digital Camera