Illustrator vs Corel Draw

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Welcome To Cora’s Corner, where every month I am going to help you with your artwork issues. This month’s discussion is;

Adobe Illustrator and Corel Draw are both vector-based illustration software used for graphics designing. These software’s are mainly created to deliver fast results, and meet the demands of design professionals and graphic artists.

Adobe Illustrator was created by Adobe Systems, way back in 1986, as a Font Development Software and Postscript file format. Later in 1988, the second version, called Illustrator 88, was released and introduced with many new tools and features. The latest version is AI CC.

Corel Draw was developed by the Corel Corporation in Ottawa, Canada, in 1987. The first version was initially released in 1989. It was the first Graphics Suite with combined vector graphics software, and the Photo Paint program, font manager, and other common features found in all of the versions. Its latest version, is X6.

Many designers and illustrators ask about the difference between both of these software’s. Let’s start by looking at some universal truths

  • Neither emerges as the absolute market winner
  • Use of either depends on your requirements, features, nature of art work, required look and feel
  • It is very hard to change “Brand Loyalty”
  • It’s usually “the first thing” you learn, (I learned Illustrator first, so always feel at home with Illustrator)

Now let’s have some comparison so you can decide according to your mental filters and required parameters.

Adobe’s CC suite targets the high-end business graphics markets. Adobe offers Creative Cloud, a subscription base service. Adobe offers videos and community support online. Adobe being a subscription service offers more software updates and more software for the price. My only wish is Illustrator would partner with 3rd party developers to add productivity plugins.  IN my opinion, the tools, user interface and color management (especially color blends) seem easier and friendly in Illustrator.

Corel X6 suite accommodates the professional market as well and offers tutorials, tips, and templates for amateurs. Its latest suite also includes more file formats and better color control than previous versions. CorelDraw seems to handle font manipulation better than Illustrator. I like how Corel supports 3rd party plugins. This can make designing multiple versions of a design easier. The only down fall is Corel no longer supports Mac computers. I think that is a big mistake.

Many garments printers prefer CorelDraw over Adobe Illustrator because of cost of software and computers.  However with a monthly fee and a pc version of Adobe Illustrator that is minimized. Adobe Photoshop has always been more popular than Corel’s Photo-Paint for manipulating raster graphics. CorelDraw also has a loyal following from when it dominated the vector-graphics market tied to print drivers and machine software compatibility even though Adobe currently has cornered a bigger share of the market.

Both software brands offer trial versions. If you are new to graphic design try them both and design which tools and features serve you best.

I would also like to hear from you about your most pressing issues about artwork. Your question may be used in a future issue of this newsletter. If you have questions, please email me at cora@qdigitizing.com. And please reference this newsletter.

Looking forward to sharing an exciting journey of discovery into the world of Art.

Cora Kromer
Qdigitizing.com
cora@qdigitizing.com
877-733-4390