April 28, 2019Step 1 – Create a New Document Start by opening a new document. Go to: File > then click on New… (or use the keyboard shortcut CTRL+N). In the Create a New Document window, make the following changes: Now click on the Landscape icon to turn your page sideways. Our card will have two sides so we need to create a second page. In the bottom left-hand corner of the window, click on the small ‘+’ icon to create a second page. Now we have our two blank pages it’s time to start adding some text and graphics! Step 2 – Creating a colored background To create a colored background for our card, just double-click on the Rectangle tool in the Toolbox on the left-side of the screen. When we create a shape, we can fill the shape with color by left-clicking on a color in the Color Palette. To change the outline color of a shape, right-click on a color in the Color Palette instead. This ‘no-color’ swatch at the top of the Color Palette lets you remove the color from an object’s fill or outline. Now left-click on a color to fill the rectangle with blue and right-click on the no-color swatch to remove the outline. To stop our background from moving around while we’re creating our other objects, right-click on it and choose Lock Object from the context menu. Step 3 – Creating basic shapes in CorelDRAW If you take another look at the monsters at the start of this tutorial, you’ll notice that some are made of simple shapes that we can draw by using various tools from our Toolbox. And others were created by drawing ‘freehand’ in CorelDRAW. We’ll now take a look at how this works. The Green Monster Click on the Ellipse tool (F7), in the Toolbox and drag on the page to create an oval shape. Change the color of the oval by left-clicking on a color in the Color Palette. Change the outline color by right-clicking on a color. Creating the ears: Draw another oval with the Ellipse tool and using the Rectangle tool, draw a long, thin rectangle over the top. Color these the same as the larger oval shape. You should then have something like this: With the Pick tool at the top of the Toolbox, drag around the two new shapes and click on the Weld icon to weld these both together. Move the ear over to the large oval then click once more on it. The square, resizing handles will change to rotation handles. Drag on a corner handle to rotate the shape. To create the second ear, hit the ‘+’ key on your keyboard to create a copy. Drag the copy into place and use the Mirror horizontally icon in the Property bar to flip the object over. Move the second ear into the correct position. Now select all 3 green objects with the Pick tool and weld them together (If you can’t drag around objects to select them, hold down the SHIFT-key instead and click on each object. This lets also you select multiple objects). Most of the face can now be created using the Ellipse tool (F7). Just dragging this tool on the page will give you an oval shape. To draw a perfect circle, just hold down the CTRL-key while you are dragging. All of the following shapes (eyes, nose, cheeks), were created just using the Ellipse tool. Using the Artistic Media tool: The Artistic Media tool lets you draw vector shapes that look almost as if they were painted with a brush and there are many artistic media to choose from! We are now going to use the Artistic Media tool to create the Green Monster’s eyebrows. Click on the Artistic Media tool (I), in the Toolbox. On the Property bar, select the Preset icon. Choose a brush from the drop-down list. Drag the brush on the page to create the eyebrows. We are now going to use the Freehand tool (F5), in the Toolbox to sketch in the mouth. After we have added the teeth we will finish off the mouth by drawing over the top with an Artistic Media brush. Now for the teeth! The quickest way to create the teeth is by using the Polygon tool (Y). Select the Polygon tool from the Toolbox. In the Property bar, set the number of sides to 3. Draw the first triangle, fill with white color and make the outline color black. With the tooth still selected, press the ‘+’ key on your keyboard to create a copy. Move this along the mouth line and rotate if needed. You should be left with something like this: To finish off the mouth, select the Artistic Media (I), tool again from the Toolbox, choose a brush from the list of Presets in the Property bar and draw a line along the top edges of the teeth. The mouth should now look like this and our Green Monster is now finished! The Yellow Monster The yellow monster uses mainly the Artistic Media and the Freehand drawing tools. Select the Freehand tool (F5), from the toolbox and draw the shape of the monster’s head. To close the shape (so that you can fill it with color), when you arrive back to the start of the line, watch until the cursor shape changes to a cross with an arrow and click on the end of the line. Now left-click on the shape and fill with color. Create the sunglasses by creating two ellipses and filling them with black. Then use the Artistic Media tool again to create the hair. Continue using the Artistic Media tool and various Preset brushes to add the eyebrows, nose, and sides of the sunglasses. Draw two lines to create the mouth. Make sure that the corners of the mouth are touching or overlapping. Now select the Smart Fill tool from the Toolbox. On the Property bar, set the Fill Color to ‘Specify’ and choose the color white. Set the Outline options to ‘No outline’. Click inside the mouth area to fill with white. The Yellow Monster is now finished! Now take the Pick tool again and drag around the yellow monster. Press CTRL+G to group all the objects. Move the monster to where you want to have him. The Purple Monster Our third monster uses all the tools we have used up until now: The Freehand tool, Polygon tool, Artistic Media tool and the Smart Fill tool. Use the Polygon tool from the toolbox and in the Property bar set the number of sides to 3. Draw a triangle and fill with a purple color. Create the mouth and teeth by drawing rectangles with the Rectangle tool (the mouth has a black fill and a red outline). In the Property bar, increase the outline width of the mouth. The teeth are white with no outline. You should now have something like this: Use the Artistic Media tool to draw the black shape. Adjust the width of the brush in the Property bar. Drag on the page to create the black shape. Use the Ellipse tool to draw the eye. Select around the black shape and the eye with the Pick tool. Click on the Group Objects icon (CTRL+G), in the Property bar to group the objects. Hit the ‘+’ key on the Property bar to create a copy. Click the Mirror horizontally icon in the Property bar to flip the object around. Place the new object in the correct position. We are now going to create a party hat for our monster. Use the Polygon tool with the number of sides set to 3 to create an orange triangle. In the Toolbox, click on the small black triangle next to the Polygon tool to open the flyout menu. Now select the Star tool. (You can change the number of points for the Star in the Property bar). Now draw a large star for the top of the party hat. Add a yellow fill and remove the outline by right-clicking on the ‘No color’ swatch in the Color Palette. The smaller stars on the hat have their fills removed by left-clicking on the ‘No color’ swatch. Select all the hat objects with the Pick tool and click on the Group Objects icon (CTRL+G), on the Property bar. Move the hat over the purple monster’s head and click once more on the hat to get the rotation handles. Rotate the hat slightly. This is what our monster should now look like: To draw the hands, grab the Freehand tool and draw some hands on the monster, but make sure the lines ‘hang over’ the edge of the body, like this: Now select the Smart Fill tool from the Toolbox and in the Property bar, set the Fill options to a pink color. Set the Outline options to No Outline. Click within the hands to create new, pink hand shapes. With the Pick tool, select and delete the black hand outlines by pressing the Delete key. You can now finish off the purple monster by using the Ellipse tool for example, to create finger nails. The Purple Monster is now done! Step 4 – Adding text to our card All that is left to do is to add text to the front of our card. Select the Text tool (F8), from the Toolbox. Click on the page and type in your invitation message. Switch back to the Pick tool, select the text and choose a font that suits your design by selecting one from the drop-down list in the Property bar. The purple text here was first selected with the Pick tool, then rotated. Step 5 – Creating the reverse side of our card Click on the Page 2 tab at the bottom of the window. Double-click on the Rectangle tool to create a rectangle the size of the page. Fill with black. Use the Text tool to create the text, then with the Pick tool, left-click on white in the Color Palette to change the text color to white. The face at the bottom was created using the Ellipse and Artistic Media tools. To create the wiry hair, select the Spiral tool from the toolbox. Select the Shape tool (F10), from the Toolbox and use this to select around the spiral. In the Property bar, click on the Elastic mode icon. Drag out from the middle of the spiral to create a spring-like shape Place the spring over the face and use the ‘+’ key on the keyboard to create copies. Click each spring again to get the rotation handles and adjust the individual springs. Step 6 – Saving your card Once your design is finished you need to save it. Go to File > Save… and in the Save window, save your file as a .CDR file if you want to edit it again in the future. If you are sending your file to a printers shop to have it printed out, you might want to save the file as a PDF file too. Go to: File > Publish to PDF in the PDF export window, choose Prepress from the PDF preset drop-down list > Click on Save. We hope you enjoyed our tutorial on creating an invitation card. Check our tutorials page again for further CorelDRAW for Kids tutorials!

ID GRAPHIX DESIGNS

By ID GRAPHIX DESIGNS – April 20th, 2019 In Design, Featured

Vectors can be found all over the web.

They have always been used for graphic design and logos, but are much more commonplace with modern web techniques like responsive design. And there’s plenty of great vector software to work with: most notably Adobe Illustrator.

Yet one that’s often overlooked is CorelDRAW. This program can be a lot cheaper than Adobe’s suite and it gives you a mix of graphics editing along with full vector support.

Learning the CorelDRAW interface can be a challenge. But with these free tutorials you’ll have no trouble picking up the software and moving fast.

Just note: these are all video tutorials on YouTube so they’re best consumed alongside the software itself. Many designers learn better from visuals and that’s why I specifically organized this list with just videos and no written guides.

1. Beginner’s Intro

What kind of list would this be without a full beginner intro to the software?

Have a look at this video totaling just over 15 minutes long introducing the entire software package. You can learn CorelDRAW by tinkering around on your own. But why not have a little support along the way?

This is perhaps one of the most popular tutorials on the software totaling well over 1.3 million views as of this writing.

And it’s published on one of the best YouTube channels for digital design tutorials. Check it out if you want a whole slew of design content ranging beyond Corel software.

2. CorelDRAW for Absolute Beginners

Here’s a much longer video alternative to the intro above, and I’d say this one actually goes into much greater depth.

However with this video you’ll be sitting down watching for over an hour. Not everyone has that kinda time to learn CorelDRAW.

With that said, the video is simply incredible.

You really will learn all of the fundamentals of this program along with the major tools and interface elements. I’d argue the instructions are clearer than the previous video and would best suit complete newbies.

Just keep in mind this is really long so it may not be worth studying all in one sitting.

But if you want a real deep dive try watching both videos and spend an afternoon working through the CorelDRAW basics.

3. Laurel Wreath Logo

When you’re trying to learn a new program the absolute best way to learn is by just tackling projects.

But if you’ve never done anything before then you probably don’t have project ideas to work with. No worries friend, this tutorial has you covered with a really cool wreath logo guide.

It’s a pretty short video wrapping up around the 10 minute mark. This means you can work pretty fast even if you pause along the way to replicate the video on your own.

One minor problem here is the lack of voiceover content. This tutorial is not a guided lesson so you’re just watching someone perform steps on the screen with some music in the background.

Some designers are comfortable following along since it’s super easy to pick up the pace. But if you want more guided lessons then keep reading, they’re coming up.

4. Label Design Tut

Here’s yet another video with some BG music and a really simple non-guided tutorial.

Looking through this 8-minute guide I have to say, I really don’t miss having a voiceover. I can see why it’d be useful but if you just watch the screen you can easily replicate this effect.

Plus this video supports full 720p so jack up the quality to HD and watch every precise move in widescreen. Then replicate it on your own for a clean walkthrough. Easy peasy!

5. Mesh Fill Tool Guide

CorelDRAW has a lot of powerful tools, some of which you can find in Illustrator but some are exclusive to the Corel suite.

The mesh fill tool is certainly a more “advanced” feature, but it’s also one of the most popular options.

That’s why I want to share two tutorials here: one from YouTube and another as a written article.

For a video guide I like this one totaling just over 40 minutes long. It’s pretty detailed on the mesh fill tool and it runs at normal speed so you aren’t trying to keep up with a 2x or 3x video.

If you’re more into written content then read through this guide on TutsPlus. It’s a lengthy tutorial covering all the basic steps you should follow to master this unique tool.

6. Custom Lettering Effects

You may be surprised to learn that CorelDRAW actually has their own channel with a few tutorials and introductory guides covering new software updates.

This channel is exclusive just to their DRAW software so it doesn’t feature any other Corel programs. Which means you know exactly what to expect from their content.

For a specific recommendation have a look at this tutorial to get a sense of their quality.

In my opinion this content is really clean and super detailed. The biggest problem to me is the audio voiceover: it’s just too quiet. You have to really turn up your volume to just barely hear what the tutor is saying.

Still, for an official Corel video guide this one is well worth adding into your watch list.

7. Sticker Text Effect

A related YouTube channel CorelMaster also features a bunch of high-quality tutorial videos.

These are not exclusively endorsed by Corel but they do cover a huge range of Corel content, all of which deserves some attention from budding designers.

In regards to CorelDRAW I specifically recommend this video on designing a sticker text effect with the software. It totals just over 18 minutes long and the end result is pretty darn impressive.

Along the way you’ll learn how to create repeating patterns, how to emboss text, and how to design text vector elements that can easily be resized without losing the work you’ve done.

8. Neon Sign

Many logo designers use CorelDRAW for custom text effects and mascots. That’s why you’ll find so many typographic tutorials in this list.

But many of these techniques can apply to all graphics which makes them well worth following.

Much like this 7-minute video guiding you through the process of designing a neon text sign.

This should feel incredibly simple to follow even if you’re a total beginner. Not to mention the tools you’ll use to create the glowing effect will apply to so many other projects.

I wouldn’t say that there’s many places where neon text fits perfectly. Yet if you could learn a few new techniques from this process I’d say it’s well worth the time.

9. 3D Logo

Ah, 3D design. One of the most complicated styles to pull off as a beginner.

Have a look into this tutorial if you’re itching to craft a perfect 3D letter effect. The final piece actually looks pretty darn good and it’s a surprisingly gentle intro to 3D work in CorelDRAW.

Totaling just over 20 minutes long, this is a fairly lengthy tutorial so you’ll be at it for a little while.

But the end result is a much better understanding of how 3D works in the software and what you can use it for.

10. Realistic 3D Bottle

You may think of CorelDRAW as just as vector suite for creating icons and text effects. But it can also render full objects as 3D designs too.

Take for example this video showing you how to design realistic 3D bottles from scratch.

These could be used in a promotional flyer or a banner ad. Or these graphics could be useful as a presentation tool when showing off a brand redesign.

If you know how to design a bottle then you can learn to design almost any 3D shape with a little practice. That’s the true value of this tutorial.

11. Biscuit Wrapper

In a similar style as the tutorial above we also have this one teaching you to design a branded cookie biscuit wrapper.

People don’t often think about who designs their cereal boxes, snack wrappers, and similar food containers. But most of those designs are created as vectors to be scaled and printed on many different materials.

This free design tutorial is incredibly powerful and will help improve your overall knowledge of CorelDRAW.

You can apply many similar lessons into Adobe Illustrator and even use this technique to create a portfolio piece to show off your branding skills.

12. Print Flyer Design

Some designers argue that print is dead. Others say it’s still going strong.

Regardless of your stance I’d still argue that print design will be around in various forms for decades. So learning to work with print content is a must if you’re getting into graphic design.

With this simple tutorial you can learn how to design a burger flyer in just 6 minutes with CorelDRAW.

The final project looks great and it’s surprisingly easy to pick up. Just know that it’s not really the most practical tutorial when it comes to digital work, so use this more to supplement your CorelDRAW knowledge.

13. Creating A Cupcake Label

Another awesome food design tutorial with a small branding/identity twist.

With this 8-minute tutorial you can quickly learn how to design a realistic cupcake brand from scratch. This includes an icon, some ribbons, and some neat text effects all merged together.

The concept of brand identity is not new. But it has only recently become more mainstream among digital designers working on the web and on tech projects.

If you can develop a solid understanding of UI, branding, and general graphics work, you’ll be a powerhouse in the design space with project work lined up for months.

14. Vector Tut

It is actually possible to create drawings with CorelDRAW. Granted the software is not the best for artists: for that I’d more recommend Corel Painter.

But it’s still much easier to create scalable vector drawings if you’re using CorelDRAW.

So that’s exactly what this video teaches in a total of 20 minutes. You’ll learn how to trace and draw a full vector woman from scratch with just the tools found in this software.

Note it does help if you have a little bit of an artistic background before tackling this. Certainly not required but it’s a little different than other basic design tuts.

15. Bottle-Shaped Text

Here’s a tutorial that really shows off the tools in this software, rather than creating a practical end result.

You may find yourself looking to match text into a shape since that’s a very common technique. Thankfully what you’ll learn in this guide has everything you’ll need to replicate this for all design projects.

And this is one of the many tutorials that has no voice over guide, only music and some on-screen instructions. But since this is only 10 minutes long I don’t think it’s impossible to follow.

All of the commands are easily visible on screen and you could even try doing a split window effect to watch and follow along with ease.

16. Coffee House Logo

Now here’s a much more practical tutorial on logo design.

Specifically a logo design for a coffee house or cafe. Seems pretty cliché, but it definitely works.

In this video you’ll follow along creating a complete coffee house logo with a bean graphic and some warped ribbons. The final effect could apply to pretty much any business and it’s absolutely stunning from a designer’s standpoint.

17. Modern Logo Design

To get a little more technical and modern we have this logo design tutorial for CorelDRAW.

It focuses a lot more on shapes and custom text effects to create a very unique branding that jumps off the page. Everything is designed using vectors so it can scale larger or smaller without any quality loss.

One thing to note is that this uses a lot of anchor points and direction changes with the pen tool when drawing & editing line segments.

This means you’ll want to gain some familiarity with the pen tool before attempting the final design.

18. Basic Line Art

Here’s one more artsy-styled tutorial for all you natural artists.

Specifically this is a custom line art video tutorial and it goes pretty in-depth with the content. You’ll learn how to trace a drawing and create your own line art from scratch. Not to mention the final piece which looks incredible for a vector object.

It’s a fairly long video with just over 17 minutes of content. And there’s no voice over so you’ll have to follow along from the screen to copy the same techniques on your own.

Still a fun guide to learning digital art and vector design in this design software.

19. BMW Logo Design

Working with copyrighted logos can be tough on final projects. But with a simple practice project it’s a lot more fun to design around well-known brands.

Have a look at this video which teaches you how to design a full BMW logo plate from scratch.

This not only has you design the logo in CorelDRAW, but also teaches you how to create scalable gradients that fit the logo perfectly.

You could probably take these techniques and apply them to any other large brand with a simple logo such as McDonald’s or Amazon.

20. Tracing A Logo

And nearing the end of the list we come to this fairly technical tutorial on how to design and trace a custom logo.

The final result looks like a tech company’s logo or something that you’d find on a consulting firm’s website. It’s geometrically complex yet it still catches the eye.

If you’re somewhat comfortable working with shapes in Corel then this tutorial will take your skills up a notch.

But really all of these videos are worth checking out if you’re interested in learning and mastering the CorelDRAW software.

I hope ID GRAPHIX DEGISNS just gave you a good lesson?

CorelDRAW has numerous tools you can use to create an effective and professional logo to suit your unique business needs. Enhance your brand recognition by creating an attractive logo design!

In this tutorial, you will learn how to:

• Align and position objects using shortcut keys.
• Use the Smart Fill tool.
• Use the Rectangle tool.
• Use the Shape tool.
• Work with artistic text.

Check out some cool logo examples below!

Course Menu

View the Written Tutorial

Thanks for watching! We hope you found this tutorial helpful and we would love to hear your feedback in the Comments section below. And don’t forget to visit our social media pages and show us what you’ve learned by sharing your photos, videos and creative projects with us.

Learn how to convert bitmaps to vector images using the PowerTrace feature in CorelDRAW. Say someone hands you a printed logo but what you really need is a digital vector file – preferably in CorelDRAW (CDR) format. If you’ve run into this scenario before, you may already know how time consuming the manual vectorization process can be. Adapting images from the physical world into the digital vector realm often requires hours of work and a mastery of drawing tools. If you own CorelDRAW Graphics Suite, you’ve got a powerful tool to help with the heavy lifting! In this tutorial, you’ll discover how easy it is to convert pixels in raster, jpg, or bitmap to vector shapes with Corel PowerTRACE.

Course Menu

Written Tutorial

How to Convert Bitmaps to Vector

This tutorial has been written for CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X7. While some features might be available in previous releases, the tutorial will be fully applicable to CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X7 and higher.

In this tutorial we’ll take you step-by-step through the process to convert bitmaps to vector images, demonstrating a bitmap-tracing project that will enable you to quickly produce an accurate two-color vector version of a logo design without the need of a vector converter. Along the way, you’ll learn how to use many of the powerful features engineered into PowerTRACE that make the process fast and efficient.

A Primer on Vectorization with PowerTRACE

If this is your first tracing experience, some advance orientation may help demystify the tools involved. With a bitmap selected in CorelDRAW, PowerTRACE becomes available through the Trace Bitmap command on the property bar.

You can instantly trace a selected bitmap and use the default settings by choosing Quick Trace from the Trace Bitmap list box, which applies the trace without opening the PowerTRACE dialog box. Alternatively, you can adjust the settings in the PowerTRACE dialog box (shown below). There are six modes that you can choose from, depending on your tracing requirements. The dialog box is divided into two areas. The left side displays a preview of your trace results, while the right side features two option areas.

Across the top of the dialog box are viewing and zooming tools, and across the bottom are the Undo, Redo, and Reset buttons.

If you have previous experience applying bitmap filter effects in CorelDRAW or Corel PHOTO-PAINT, the PowerTRACE tools will seem like familiar territory. The Settings tab is divided into several key areas, including trace controls and trace options. The Trace result details area (shown below) provides critical information as you adjust the tracing options. The Colors tab includes controls that let you manipulate the color space of the traced results. Follow the tutorial steps below to explore how easily these settings can be applied and modified to produce exactly the tracing results you need.

Before you convert bitmaps to vector images

The bitmap images that you are vectorizing will very likely come from one of two sources: a file that is prepared in a drawing or bitmap-editing application and exported to one of the many available bitmap formats, or a file acquired via an image-capturing device such as a scanner or digital camera.

The source of your bitmap image can significantly influence its inherent quality. Software-generated bitmaps are the best to work with, while scanned images often require some refinement before they can be accurately traced. In the steps that follow, we’ll look at both scenarios.

We’ll be tracing two bitmaps. Both are CMYK images that have a resolution of 200 dpi and depict the same logo. The first version was exported from a drawing program (CorelDRAW), while the second version was scanned by using a consumer-brand flatbed scanner. Our goal is to produce a usable vector version of the logo prepared in two PANTONE® spot ink colors.

Tracing an exported bitmap to vector

1. In a new CorelDRAW document, import the first bitmap (shown below). By default, the imported bitmap is selected with the Pick tool.

2. Click the Trace Bitmap button on the property bar, and choose Outline Trace > Logo. The PowerTRACE dialog box opens and produces a preliminary trace of the bitmap.

3. The Smoothing and Detail sliders at the top of the Settings tab are automatically set. The preview window displays a split-screen preview of the Before and After results (as shown below), and the Trace result details area indicates that there are 14 curves comprised of 238 nodes and 3 colors

4. Since the background of our logo is white, PowerTRACE automatically detects and eliminates the surrounding background color. To remove the white area in the interior of the bitmap, enable the Remove color from entire image check box (shown below). Notice that the Trace result details area now indicates that only 8 curves are detected.

5. To check the tracing accuracy, choose Wireframe Overlay from the Preview list box. Use single left-clicks to zoom in and single right-clicks to zoom out to examine the accuracy of the traced paths. If needed, use the Transparency slider to adjust the visibility of the original bitmap. A close look at the upper-left corner (shown below) reveals that the bitmap edges have been accurately traced.

6. Click the Colors tab to examine the color results of the trace, and choose CMYK from the Color Mode list box. Notice that three CMYK colors are listed at the top (as shown next). Our next step will be to specify these colors as PANTONE spot ink colors.

7. Click the turquoise color in the list, and then click Edit to open the Select Color dialog box. Click the Palettes tab, and choose PANTONE solid coated from the Palette list box. Notice that the PANTONE ink color equivalent of the CMYK value is automatically selected — in this case, PANTONE 7710 C.

8. Click OK to close the dialog box and apply PANTONE 7710 C as the new color. Notice that the color list (shown below) and the trace preview are updated to indicate the ink color you applied.

9. Click the dark blue color in the list, and repeat the previous steps to change the CMYK values of this color to a PANTONE color. You are now ready to accept the trace results.

10 .Click OK in the PowerTRACE dialog box to return to your CorelDRAW page. By default, PowerTRACE places the traced objects as a group directly on top of your original bitmap. Drag the group to one side to see both the original bitmap and the traced objects (as shown below). The vector version of your two-color logo is now complete. If you wish, delete the bitmap version from the CorelDRAW page.

Tracing a scanned bitmap to vector

In the previous steps, we traced a bitmap that originated from a drawing or bitmap-editing application. Next, we’ll examine how to convert bitmaps to vector using the same logo but a version scanned from a hard copy and saved in the same bitmap format.

1. To begin the vectorization process, import the logo into a new CorelDRAW document, and choose Detailed logo from the Trace Bitmap flyout on the property bar. The PowerTRACE dialog box opens, and a preliminary trace is immediately produced. Now the Trace result details area shows that 113 curves, 7707 nodes, and 15 colors are detected (as shown below). At this point you could move the Smoothing and Detail sliders to adjust the trace results and likely produce an excellent trace, but here’s a chance for you to learn an alternate strategy. Close the PowerTRACE dialog box and return to the bitmap on your page.

2. To refine the scanned image and improve the trace results, we’re going to apply a bitmap filter. As you can see, this version of the logo includes scanning imperfections from the hard copy (see below). Eliminating these anomalies will drastically improve the tracing results.

3.  Choose Bitmaps > Blur > Smart Blur to open the Smart Blur dialog box (shown below). Set the slider to 60, and click OK to apply the effect. This operation will eliminate most — but not all — of the image’s imperfections.

4. Choose Bitmaps > Noise > Remove Noise to open the Remove Noise dialog box (shown below). Leave the Auto check box enabled, and click OK to apply the filter. This will eliminate virtually all of the remaining imperfections.

5. With the image selected, choose Detailed Logo from the Trace Bitmap flyout on the property bar.

6. PowerTRACE opens and displays the trace results. Once again, the Smoothing and Detail sliders settings are optimized. With Detailed Logo selected, the Trace result details area now displays 11 curves, 236 nodes, and 9 colors detected (as shown below).

7. Click the Colors tab to view the colors detected in the traced image. Hold down Ctrl, and click on each of the turquoise colors in the list to select all three colors (as shown below). Click Merge to combine these colors into a single color. With the single color still selected, click Edit to open the Select Color dialog box, and change this color to PANTONE 318 C as you did in the previous steps.

8. Repeat the previous step for the navy blue colors in the list, changing them to a single color. Change the leftover color to PANTONE 274 C, and merge the remaining white colors in the list.

9. Return to the Settings tab, and enable the Remove color from entire image check box to eliminate the interior background shapes. Notice that the curve count is reduced. You are now ready to accept the trace results.

10. Click OK to close the PowerTRACE dialog box and return to the CorelDRAW document. Drag the grouped traced objects to the right of the original bitmap and examine the results (shown below). Your tracing task is complete. If you wish, delete the bitmap version from your CorelDRAW page.

Although each bitmap may require its own special treatment, you can see how powerful and easy-to-use the PowerTRACE features are. In only a few short steps, you’ve learned how to use PowerTRACE to convert bitmaps to vector, producing an accurately traced version of a complex logo using only a low-resolution bitmap as the source. Keep in mind that jpg to vector and other raster to vector conversions are equally straightforward.

We hope you found this tutorial helpful and we would love to hear your feedback in the Comments section below. And don’t forget to visit our social media pages and show us what you’ve learned by sharing your photos, videos and creative projects with us.

ID GRAPHIX DESIGNS

By ID GRAPHIX DESIGNS – April 20th, 2019 In Design, Featured

Vectors can be found all over the web.

They have always been used for graphic design and logos, but are much more commonplace with modern web techniques like responsive design. And there’s plenty of great vector software to work with: most notably Adobe Illustrator.

Yet one that’s often overlooked is CorelDRAW. This program can be a lot cheaper than Adobe’s suite and it gives you a mix of graphics editing along with full vector support.

Learning the CorelDRAW interface can be a challenge. But with these free tutorials you’ll have no trouble picking up the software and moving fast.

Just note: these are all video tutorials on YouTube so they’re best consumed alongside the software itself. Many designers learn better from visuals and that’s why I specifically organized this list with just videos and no written guides.

1. Beginner’s Intro

What kind of list would this be without a full beginner intro to the software?

Have a look at this video totaling just over 15 minutes long introducing the entire software package. You can learn CorelDRAW by tinkering around on your own. But why not have a little support along the way?

This is perhaps one of the most popular tutorials on the software totaling well over 1.3 million views as of this writing.

And it’s published on one of the best YouTube channels for digital design tutorials. Check it out if you want a whole slew of design content ranging beyond Corel software.

2. CorelDRAW for Absolute Beginners

Here’s a much longer video alternative to the intro above, and I’d say this one actually goes into much greater depth.

However with this video you’ll be sitting down watching for over an hour. Not everyone has that kinda time to learn CorelDRAW.

With that said, the video is simply incredible.

You really will learn all of the fundamentals of this program along with the major tools and interface elements. I’d argue the instructions are clearer than the previous video and would best suit complete newbies.

Just keep in mind this is really long so it may not be worth studying all in one sitting.

But if you want a real deep dive try watching both videos and spend an afternoon working through the CorelDRAW basics.

3. Laurel Wreath Logo

When you’re trying to learn a new program the absolute best way to learn is by just tackling projects.

But if you’ve never done anything before then you probably don’t have project ideas to work with. No worries friend, this tutorial has you covered with a really cool wreath logo guide.

It’s a pretty short video wrapping up around the 10 minute mark. This means you can work pretty fast even if you pause along the way to replicate the video on your own.

One minor problem here is the lack of voiceover content. This tutorial is not a guided lesson so you’re just watching someone perform steps on the screen with some music in the background.

Some designers are comfortable following along since it’s super easy to pick up the pace. But if you want more guided lessons then keep reading, they’re coming up.

4. Label Design Tut

Here’s yet another video with some BG music and a really simple non-guided tutorial.

Looking through this 8-minute guide I have to say, I really don’t miss having a voiceover. I can see why it’d be useful but if you just watch the screen you can easily replicate this effect.

Plus this video supports full 720p so jack up the quality to HD and watch every precise move in widescreen. Then replicate it on your own for a clean walkthrough. Easy peasy!

5. Mesh Fill Tool Guide

CorelDRAW has a lot of powerful tools, some of which you can find in Illustrator but some are exclusive to the Corel suite.

The mesh fill tool is certainly a more “advanced” feature, but it’s also one of the most popular options.

That’s why I want to share two tutorials here: one from YouTube and another as a written article.

For a video guide I like this one totaling just over 40 minutes long. It’s pretty detailed on the mesh fill tool and it runs at normal speed so you aren’t trying to keep up with a 2x or 3x video.

If you’re more into written content then read through this guide on TutsPlus. It’s a lengthy tutorial covering all the basic steps you should follow to master this unique tool.

6. Custom Lettering Effects

You may be surprised to learn that CorelDRAW actually has their own channel with a few tutorials and introductory guides covering new software updates.

This channel is exclusive just to their DRAW software so it doesn’t feature any other Corel programs. Which means you know exactly what to expect from their content.

For a specific recommendation have a look at this tutorial to get a sense of their quality.

In my opinion this content is really clean and super detailed. The biggest problem to me is the audio voiceover: it’s just too quiet. You have to really turn up your volume to just barely hear what the tutor is saying.

Still, for an official Corel video guide this one is well worth adding into your watch list.

7. Sticker Text Effect

A related YouTube channel CorelMaster also features a bunch of high-quality tutorial videos.

These are not exclusively endorsed by Corel but they do cover a huge range of Corel content, all of which deserves some attention from budding designers.

In regards to CorelDRAW I specifically recommend this video on designing a sticker text effect with the software. It totals just over 18 minutes long and the end result is pretty darn impressive.

Along the way you’ll learn how to create repeating patterns, how to emboss text, and how to design text vector elements that can easily be resized without losing the work you’ve done.

8. Neon Sign

Many logo designers use CorelDRAW for custom text effects and mascots. That’s why you’ll find so many typographic tutorials in this list.

But many of these techniques can apply to all graphics which makes them well worth following.

Much like this 7-minute video guiding you through the process of designing a neon text sign.

This should feel incredibly simple to follow even if you’re a total beginner. Not to mention the tools you’ll use to create the glowing effect will apply to so many other projects.

I wouldn’t say that there’s many places where neon text fits perfectly. Yet if you could learn a few new techniques from this process I’d say it’s well worth the time.

9. 3D Logo

Ah, 3D design. One of the most complicated styles to pull off as a beginner.

Have a look into this tutorial if you’re itching to craft a perfect 3D letter effect. The final piece actually looks pretty darn good and it’s a surprisingly gentle intro to 3D work in CorelDRAW.

Totaling just over 20 minutes long, this is a fairly lengthy tutorial so you’ll be at it for a little while.

But the end result is a much better understanding of how 3D works in the software and what you can use it for.

10. Realistic 3D Bottle

You may think of CorelDRAW as just as vector suite for creating icons and text effects. But it can also render full objects as 3D designs too.

Take for example this video showing you how to design realistic 3D bottles from scratch.

These could be used in a promotional flyer or a banner ad. Or these graphics could be useful as a presentation tool when showing off a brand redesign.

If you know how to design a bottle then you can learn to design almost any 3D shape with a little practice. That’s the true value of this tutorial.

11. Biscuit Wrapper

In a similar style as the tutorial above we also have this one teaching you to design a branded cookie biscuit wrapper.

People don’t often think about who designs their cereal boxes, snack wrappers, and similar food containers. But most of those designs are created as vectors to be scaled and printed on many different materials.

This free design tutorial is incredibly powerful and will help improve your overall knowledge of CorelDRAW.

You can apply many similar lessons into Adobe Illustrator and even use this technique to create a portfolio piece to show off your branding skills.

12. Print Flyer Design

Some designers argue that print is dead. Others say it’s still going strong.

Regardless of your stance I’d still argue that print design will be around in various forms for decades. So learning to work with print content is a must if you’re getting into graphic design.

With this simple tutorial you can learn how to design a burger flyer in just 6 minutes with CorelDRAW.

The final project looks great and it’s surprisingly easy to pick up. Just know that it’s not really the most practical tutorial when it comes to digital work, so use this more to supplement your CorelDRAW knowledge.

13. Creating A Cupcake Label

Another awesome food design tutorial with a small branding/identity twist.

With this 8-minute tutorial you can quickly learn how to design a realistic cupcake brand from scratch. This includes an icon, some ribbons, and some neat text effects all merged together.

The concept of brand identity is not new. But it has only recently become more mainstream among digital designers working on the web and on tech projects.

If you can develop a solid understanding of UI, branding, and general graphics work, you’ll be a powerhouse in the design space with project work lined up for months.

14. Vector Tut

It is actually possible to create drawings with CorelDRAW. Granted the software is not the best for artists: for that I’d more recommend Corel Painter.

But it’s still much easier to create scalable vector drawings if you’re using CorelDRAW.

So that’s exactly what this video teaches in a total of 20 minutes. You’ll learn how to trace and draw a full vector woman from scratch with just the tools found in this software.

Note it does help if you have a little bit of an artistic background before tackling this. Certainly not required but it’s a little different than other basic design tuts.

15. Bottle-Shaped Text

Here’s a tutorial that really shows off the tools in this software, rather than creating a practical end result.

You may find yourself looking to match text into a shape since that’s a very common technique. Thankfully what you’ll learn in this guide has everything you’ll need to replicate this for all design projects.

And this is one of the many tutorials that has no voice over guide, only music and some on-screen instructions. But since this is only 10 minutes long I don’t think it’s impossible to follow.

All of the commands are easily visible on screen and you could even try doing a split window effect to watch and follow along with ease.

16. Coffee House Logo

Now here’s a much more practical tutorial on logo design.

Specifically a logo design for a coffee house or cafe. Seems pretty cliché, but it definitely works.

In this video you’ll follow along creating a complete coffee house logo with a bean graphic and some warped ribbons. The final effect could apply to pretty much any business and it’s absolutely stunning from a designer’s standpoint.

17. Modern Logo Design

To get a little more technical and modern we have this logo design tutorial for CorelDRAW.

It focuses a lot more on shapes and custom text effects to create a very unique branding that jumps off the page. Everything is designed using vectors so it can scale larger or smaller without any quality loss.

One thing to note is that this uses a lot of anchor points and direction changes with the pen tool when drawing & editing line segments.

This means you’ll want to gain some familiarity with the pen tool before attempting the final design.

18. Basic Line Art

Here’s one more artsy-styled tutorial for all you natural artists.

Specifically this is a custom line art video tutorial and it goes pretty in-depth with the content. You’ll learn how to trace a drawing and create your own line art from scratch. Not to mention the final piece which looks incredible for a vector object.

It’s a fairly long video with just over 17 minutes of content. And there’s no voice over so you’ll have to follow along from the screen to copy the same techniques on your own.

Still a fun guide to learning digital art and vector design in this design software.

19. BMW Logo Design

Working with copyrighted logos can be tough on final projects. But with a simple practice project it’s a lot more fun to design around well-known brands.

Have a look at this video which teaches you how to design a full BMW logo plate from scratch.

This not only has you design the logo in CorelDRAW, but also teaches you how to create scalable gradients that fit the logo perfectly.

You could probably take these techniques and apply them to any other large brand with a simple logo such as McDonald’s or Amazon.

20. Tracing A Logo

And nearing the end of the list we come to this fairly technical tutorial on how to design and trace a custom logo.

The final result looks like a tech company’s logo or something that you’d find on a consulting firm’s website. It’s geometrically complex yet it still catches the eye.

If you’re somewhat comfortable working with shapes in Corel then this tutorial will take your skills up a notch.

But really all of these videos are worth checking out if you’re interested in learning and mastering the CorelDRAW software.

I hope ID GRAPHIX DEGISNS just gave you a good lesson?

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton