PART I Student Orientation Weekend

What is New (and Also Exciting) in CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X8!

• If You’re New to Vector Drawing Programs
• What Vector Drawing Is and Isn’t
• Your One-Stop Shop for Extra Content: CorelCONNECT
• Get Started from the Get-Go
• The CorelDRAW Application Window
• CONNECTing to Your Workspace
• From Corel Content to Your Content, “Add to Page” Style
• From Corel’s Content Server to CorelDRAW’s Tray
• So What Else Is New?
• Making Use of the New Copy Segment Feature

The Roadmap to Features and Productivity in DRAW

• The CorelDRAW Workspace
• Defining and Saving a Custom Page Size
• Can You Give Me a Hint?
• Surprises When You Right-click and Use the Wheel
• Dropping a Copy of a Selected Object
• Not to be overlooked on the Standard Bar…
• Global versus Local
• A Brief Anatomy Lesson on Dockers

Diving In to DRAW!

• Working with the Star Tool to Build a Pattern
• Making the Background: Putting the Star Tool to Work
• Reshaping a Star: Technique 1
• Reshaping a Star: Technique 2
• Creating More Stars Than a Hollywood Agent
• Rotating and Scaling to Populate the Pattern Area
• Shaping Operations and Combining Objects
• Trimming the Stars to the Background and Beyond
• An Introduction to Enveloping Objects
• Enveloping and Trimming the Welded Stars
• Adding Lighting to the Beach Ball
• Making a Cast Shadow with Blends
• A Starry Ball Sitting on a Floral Rug
• Completing the Composition with Embellishments
• Framing Your Composition

PART II Getting Started with CorelDRAW X8

Working with Single- and Multipage Documents

• Setting Up Your Document Page
• Controlling Page Size and Orientation
• Paper Type/Size
• Page Viewing Options
• Controlling Page Background Color
• Changing a Background Bitmap
• Naming Pages
• Page Commands
• Inserting Pages and Setting Options
• Deleting Pages
• Moving and Duplicating Pages
• Using the Page Sorter
• Working with Guidelines and Guide Layers
• Using Guidelines
• Working with the Guides Layer
• Making an Object a Guideline
• The New Alignment and Dynamic Guides Docker
• Alignment Properties on the Docker
• Adding Margins to the Mix
• Dynamic Guides

Creating Basic Shapes, Applying Transformations
Using the Rectangle Tool and Property Bar
Using the Ellipse Tool and Property Bar
Round 1 with the Ellipse Tool
Using Polygons and the Property Bar
Reshaping a Polygon
Using the Spiral Tool
Using the Graph Paper Tool
Power-Drawing a Grid with Graph Paper
Using the Convert Outline to Object Command

Arranging and Organizing Objects
Basic Object Selection
Pick Tool Selections
Picking and Freehand Picking
Selection Techniques
Selecting Objects by Type
Moving Objects
Transforming Objects
Off-center Object Rotation to Create a Design
Straightening Objects via Attributes
Applying Precise Transformations
Controlling the Order of Things
Working with Views of a Document’s Depth: Layers
Navigating and Mastering Layers
Working with Master Page Items

PART III Working with DRAWing Tools

Choosing (and Understanding) the Right Path Tools
Sidling Up to CorelDRAW’s Curve Tools
How to Draw in CorelDRAW
Drawing Arcs with the 3-Point Curve Tool
3-Point Curves and Closed Objects
Using the Bézier and Pen Tools
Drawing Curves and Straight Line Segments
Editing Bézier Paths
Editing Paths with the Shape Tool
Copying and Pasting Subpaths
Increasing the Number of Holes in Swiss Cheese
Controlling Freehand and Bézier Tool Behavior

Exploring Special Shapes, Connectors, and Other Office Automation Helpers
CorelDRAW’s Smart Drawing Tool
CAD: CorelDRAW-Assisted Drawing
Reshaping a Perfect Shape
Using Perfect Shape Tools
Creating Perfect Objects
Working with the Dimension Tools
Using Dimension Lines
Drawing Scale, Windows Calculator, and Dimension Lines
The Connector Tools Tables
Creating a Table Using the Proper Tool for the Job
Table Options When the Pick Tool Is Active
Table Options When the Shape Tool Is Active
Editing a Table When the Table Tool Is Active
Working with Text and Graphics in a Table
Converting a Table to Text
Converting an Existing Text to a Table

Editing Objects, Rearranging Paths, and Using Boolean Ops
Shaping and Reshaping Object Shapes
Working Examples of Object Shaping
Reshaping Objects With the Shape Tool
Editing Shapes via Their Nodes and Control Points
PowerClips
PowerClipping a Design Onto an Object
The Knife Tool
Using the Eraser Tool
Power Erasing
Using the Virtual Segment Delete Tool
Cropping an Illustration

PART IV Working with Text in Composition

Paragraph Text, Artistic Text, and When (and How) to Use Them
CorelDRAW’s Text Tool
Entering and Editing Artistic Text
Options for Formatting Characters
Use the Property Bar to Change Characters
Using Object Styles with Paragraph Text
Creating Linked Paragraph Text Frames
Wrapping Text Around Other Shapes
Text Along a Curve
Embedding Objects into Text
Creating, Saving, and Using Symbols
CorelDRAW’s Font Playground: Take a Ride!

Intermediate Desktop Publishing and Proofing Tools
A Few Paragraphs Covering Advanced Paragraph Features
The Text Bar and Special Paragraph Formatting
Creating a Bullet Motif
Formatting Paragraph Text
Paragraph Alignment
Spacing
Paragraph and Line Spacing
Language, Character, and Word Spacing
Indentation and Margins of Paragraph Text
Formatting Tabs
Adding, Moving, and Deleting Tabs from the Dialog
Formatting Tab Leaders from the Dialog
Using the Ruler to Set Tabs
Take Me to Your Leader
Spelling and Grammar
Using CorelDRAW’s Writing Tools
Using Word Lists
Using Grammatik
Using the Thesaurus
Finding and Replacing Text and Special Characters

PART V Attributes for Objects and Lines

Options for Filling Objects
Examining the Fill Types
Using the Color Palette
From Uniform to Non-Uniform Object Filling
Editing a Fountain Fill In-Place
Uniform Color Fill Options on the Property Bar
Applying Pattern Fills
Customizing a Pattern Fill
Applying Texture Fills
Applying PostScript Fills
Working with Mesh Fills
Sampling Fills
Dropping a Property

Applying Strokes to Paths
Applying Outline Pen Properties
Going Long and Wide
Exploring the Outline Pen Features
Drawing, Saving, and Editing an Arrowhead Style
Turning an Outline into an Object
Using the Artistic Media Tool
Painting with a Drawing Program
Drawing with Brushes
Applying the Sprayer
Calligraphy Pens and Applying Media
Defining and Applying Calligraphic Brushstrokes

Using Blends and Contours
Blend and Contour Effects: Similarities with Distinctions
Blending as Illustration Shading
The Interactive Blend Tool and Property Bar
Creating a Simple Blend Effect
A Basic Blend Between Very Different Shapes
Looking at the Components of a Blend
Editing Blend Effects
Setting Blend Options
Creating Extraordinary, Complex Blend Effects
Assigning a Blend Path
Blending Objects Along a Path
Tapping into Contour Effects
Exploring CorelDRAW’s Contour Effects
Creating Expensive Stationery
Using the Contour Tool and Property Bar
Applying a Contour Effect
Editing Contours Interactively
Choosing Contour Direction
Setting Contour Colors
Creating Special Effects With Contours
Controlling Contour Acceleration
Using the Contour Docker

Mixing and Matching with Digital Color Models
Digital Color Terms and Definitions
Subtractive and Additive Color Models
LAB Color
YIQ
Grayscale
Registration
Using Color-Related Dockers
Dyeing a Pair of Shoes
Using the Color Palette Manager Docker
Using Fixed and Custom Palettes
Using the Color Styles Docker
Making a Color Style and Changing It
Introducing the New Color Harmony
Changing the Color Harmonies of a Monochrome Drawing
Recoloring a Logo with Color Styles
Adjusting and Transforming Color

PART VI Creating the Illusion of 3D Composition

The Perspective and Extrude Effects
The Perspective Effect: What Perspective Does to an Object
Experiments in Perspective
Creating Two-Point Perspective
Creating a 3D Ground Plane
Perspective Scenes via Copying
Pre-visualizing a Design on a Product
Extruding Objects: How Extrude Works
Going Deep with the Extrude Tool
Using the Extrude Tool and Property Bar
Setting Extrude Depth
Setting Vanishing Point Properties
Setting 3D Rotation Using the Rotation Tools
Adding Lights
Working with Extrude Light Options
Using the Extrude Docker
Assembly Instructions for a Kid’s Toy
Tinkering Around.cdr and a Beginning Point
Concluding Touches to the Construction
Cleaning Up After Assembling an Extrude Composition

Using the Envelope Tool, Lens Effects, and Bevels
What Does an Envelope Do?
Creating Envelope Effects
The Envelope, Please
Using the Envelope Docker
Choosing an Envelope Mode
Choosing Envelope Mapping Options
Creating a Text Envelope
What’s Behind a Lens Effect
Using the Lens Docker
Working with a Lens Effect
Exploring the Lens Effects
Changing Object Size with the Fish Eye Lens
Using the Bevel Effect

PART VII Special Effects in CorelDRAW

The Shape Editing Tools and Distortions
The Shape Edit Tool Group
Adding the Smear to Your Artistic Career
Creating a Stylized Sun
Repelling a Polygon Object
Roughing Out a Pumpkin’s Smilie
Mastering Distortion Effects
Using the Distort Tool and the Property Bar
Choosing Distortion Modes
Push and Pull Distortion
Zipper Distortion
Twister Distortion
Getting Hands On with the Distortion Tool Markers
Using Distortion Presets

Transparencies and Shadows
The Importance of Objects Interacting with the Scene
Clearing Things Up with the Transparency Tool
Using the Transparency Tool and Property Bar
Creating a Dimensional Drawing Through Transparency
Setting Transparency Properties
New Controls and Locations for Transparency Options
Creating a Reflection on a Shiny Surface
Filtering a Bitmap Copy
Additional Fountain Transparency Types
Using Transparency Operations (Merge Modes)
Creating Multistage Transparencies
Pattern Transparencies
Using Transparency Freeze
Using the Drop Shadow Effect
Working the Property Bar and Shadow-Making Markers

PART VIII Bitmaps and Photos

Understanding and Working with Pixel-Based Images
Cropping a Placed Photograph
Nondestructive Cropping
Using the Shape Tool to Crop
Masking Through Nondestructive Cropping
Background Removal, Technique 1
Background Removal, Technique 2
Composing a Design Using Vector and Image Shapes
Working with Alpha Channels and Image Transparency
Creating a Photorealistic Glass Effect
Creating a Transition Between Two Images
Bitmaps to Vector Art: Using PowerTRACE
PowerTRACE Options
Making New Text Along a Curve
Digi-tooning

Common Image-Editing Techniques Using PHOTO-PAINT
The Building Block of Digital Photos: The Pixel
Pixels and Resolution
Image Resolution
Resolution, Pixel Count, and Printing
Resizing a Photograph
Resampling and Resizing Photos
Making a Thumbnail Image Suitable for Printing
Automation: Recording Your Cropping and Resampling
Recording Your Edits
Fun and Fantastic Image-Retouching
Bye-bye, Red Eye
Selecting a Face
Getting A Head with PHOTO-PAINT
Erasing and Liquefying the Subject

PART IX Motion Graphics and Halting Thoughts

Creating Animations in PHOTO-PAINT
Creating an Animated GIF
Adding Text and Exporting a CorelDRAW Drawing
Building a GIF Animation: Part 1
Building a GIF Animation: Part 2
Exporting an Animation
Movie Animations
Capturing and Saving Video Frames
Hold On to That Cat!