Graphic Design Software Review 

In the highly subjective and creative world of graphic design software there is a standard of acceptable formats and tools used in industry. What used to be drawn, manipulated and edited all by hand has in recent decades become primarily digital. The development and use of highly specialized software has increased productivity and the creative scope.

In the design industry there are two major heavyweights. In the first corner is the undisputed champion, Adobe, with its full scope of software solutions extending far beyond the needs of the average designer. In the opposite corner is the equally as formidable Corel, offering all the essentials at the best price.

These two contenders – Adobe Creative Suite 4 Standard and CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4 – provide photo editing software and retouching as well as vector illustration and page layout all combined into one suite of graphic design software. For clarity’s sake we will refer to each program by its individual name within each suite and according to the corresponding features.

Photo Editing & Retouching
Adobe steps up with the ever popular Photoshop. Able to perform any and all photo retouching and editing tasks, Photoshop shines with a clean interface and an easy, customizable workspace displaying all the color correction tools and filters right at your fingertips.

CorelPhotoPAINT scores points in this area as well, fully capable of hanging with Photoshop with most all common tasks. Both programs also offer video support, 3D effects, web support, automated batch processing and RAW file support. Photoshop does pull ahead with features such as panorama, 360 panorama, perspective-based editing and content aware scaling as noted on our side-by-side matrix of graphic design software reviews.

When testing both products head-to-head for ease of use Corel reveals itself as a bit more intuitive with palettes and workflow. Photoshop tends to outperform in most all other areas just by having a handful more features in every category. Keep in mind there can be dozens of options and ways to come up a final product and with a bit of testing a designer would be able to achieve the desired result in either program.

Vector Illustration
The next head-to-head feature category is the vector illustration software. Adobe Illustrator CS4 stands supreme with CorelDRAW not far behind, again, Adobe offers just a few more features in this category.

These two products have been in competition for some time and CorelDRAW is not to be undersold (especially price-wise) with a presence in major design institutions both professional and educational.

The tool palette on these programs are generally the same with like abilities and outcomes. Almost any vector illustration task can be easily accomplished with either program and using similar procedures. Dozens of brushes and symbols are in the arsenals of both programs.

Where Adobe rises to the top is with specialized tools such as 3D extruding and rotation. Illustrator CS4 also brings major timesavers to the table such as up to 100 individual artboards in one document, each of which can be set up with their own bleeds and exported separately. Transparent gradients are another huge plus for Adobe not offered in CorelDRAW.

Page layout
Corel doubles up the abilities of CorelDRAW by making it not only a vector illustration program but a page layout program as well. Adobe Illustrator is also a more-than-capable page layout program, but Adobe has another program in its suite with the very focused purpose of page layout and typesetting.

Adobe InDesign is now the industry standard for typesetting and layout. What was once dominated by QuarkXpess is now ruled by Adobe, offers the strong Adobe support standards, and is designed and developed for compatibility with industry standards.

Originally developed for layout of major projects such as books, magazines, and newsletters, InDesign offers vast file support, dynamic paragraph formatting, comprehensive prepress support and Master Pages that ensure the most professional layout options anywhere.

However, don't forget about CorelDRAW. While DRAW may not be as focused, it performs almost identically to InDesign. Though the processes may not be as streamlined, CorelDRAW offers a functional and capable solution to those who may not need to layout books and magazines on a regular basis. And at less than half the price…

The Verdict
After working with both sets of programs and taking into account the impressive features of both it is easy to understand how these two giants of graphic design software can end up in a dead heat for ratings.

Adobe has made every effort to streamline processes and provide tools that cut production time in half. That said, we remain most awed with the CorelDRAW Graphic Suite X4. Corel managed to package all the standard tools used in the industry into just two main programs.

Corel offers an intuitive workflow and proves in testing to be more than capable in most all tasks. Bear in mind there will be a learning curve with either suite of programs, but Corel will be easier for the new user to jump right into.

We do find Adobe's new enhancements very valuable and there is no doubt a professional designer or design-oriented business will pay for them. But this is where Corel truly shines: all the needed functionality at a fraction of the cost.

This article is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to graphic design software. Be sure to visit our expanded, individual reviews of Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Standard and CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X4.