Hi there, welcome to this video dedicated to CorelDRAW X7! We will see here
all you need to start creating in a very short time.
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Before starting, remember that you have the Hints window on your right, in
case you are in distress with something. In case you have it closed, you can
always open it again going to Window above and then to Dockers. Do this in
case windows miss. Create a new project. Just click on the icon that looks
like a sheet of paper, on the left. Here you can decide name, width & height,
orientation and number of pages. Instead of using custom width and height
values, make sure to use standard values. You can choose them going to
Size. This is important in case your project has to be printed or be
uploaded in a website later.
Let's see the workspace. On top you have different bars. The Menu bar, that
is the classic bar that contains all the features of the software; the
Standard Toolbar, that contains all options regarding opening, saving and
visualization; and the Property Bar, that contains all options releated to
the current tool selected. On the centre you have your main workspace,
where you will going to work. On the left you have the Toolbox, that lists
all the important tools accessible fast, and on the right a list of other
windows we will see.
Create a generic line. You can use the first icon in the third section of
the Toolbox. Then just click and drag to draw. You can zoom in and out
using your mouse wheel, and move through your project using the Pan tool,
clicking and dragging. The buttons in the Toolbox may have a dark arrow on
the right. This means that more that one tool is listed inside a single
button. You can choose the right tool holding your click on it and then
selecting. The tool that you are going to activate is always the one shown
by the button. So to activate the Pan tool, choose the hand icon!
CorelDRAW has other important tools to help you at drawing. You can enable
or disable them from the Standard Toolbar. You can enable or disable the
Rules around your workspace, activate or not a grid, or the Guides. A part
from the grid, it is better to keep rules and guides active, to make
projects more precise.
You can do three main things with CorelDRAW: create your own drawings,
retouch images or create text paragraphs.
All you need to create drawings is inside the third section of the Toolbox
on the left. The first tool collects all to draw lines and curves. Freehand
Tool lets you draw freely, just hold your click on while you draw. Or else
click twice to create a straight segment. 2-Point Line always draws a
straight segment, just hold your click and drag. Bézier, Pen and B-spline
let you create curves, we won't see these in this beginner tutorial. Use
3-Point Curve to draw curves while you are starting using this software.
Just hold your click and drag to create the initial segment, then convert
it to an arc moving your pointer after releasing your click. Polyline
draws a consecutive series of segments sharing a same node. Double-click to
finish drawing it. Artistic Media Tool draws artistic traces, and works
just like the Freehand Tool.
Use the the Rectangle, Ellipse, and Polygon Tools to draw polygons, or
other special shapes. Hold your click on the button to choose other ways to
draw them, or the kind of shape you want to insert.
Lines, curves and polygons are totally created by the software, and are
also called vector files.
Keep in mind the Property Bar on top: everytime a tool is active, it lets
you adjust the drawing options related. For example, if you have Artistic
Media on, you can change the kind of trace, its thickness, and so on.
In case you want to import pictures and modify them, you can simply click
and drag them inside from your own folder. This is also called Bitmap file,
and it's fully managed through the Bitmaps section in the Menu Bar. Just
make sure to select the picture first. Then go to Bitmaps and then to Image
Adjustment Lab to correct lightness, contrast and colors through the new
window appearing. Check the Preview on the left. When you are done, just
click on OK below. If you don't like the settings applied, you can always
undo your latest action pressing CTRL+Z from your keyboard.
You can also add effects on your picture, selecting one of these more at
the bottom of the Bitmaps section and then setting how the effect must be
through the related window.
Bitmap files and vector files can be managed in the same way. You can
select an object clicking on it while the Pick Tool, the first icon in the
Toolbox, is on. Editing Tools always work on selected objects. You you can
select just one object, or more of them, if you click on them on and on
while holding Shift down. Press Escape key to undo selections. You can cut,
copy or delete any object right-clicking on it. You can click on Lock Object
to block the object as it is, in case you don't want to move or edit it
until you don't unlock it.
You can delete parts of objects using the Eraser Tool, which is inside the
third button's list. This deletes parts of vector objects and pictures, but
doesn't work on artistic media traces or text. Keep in mind that, in case
the object has a stroke, this will be updated. And, if you cut an object in
two parts, these may seem independent but indeed they do remain dependent
since you move and select them always together.
If you want to cut parts of an image, the easiest way is to duplicate it
first, and then use the Shape Tool. Drag the nodes or the edges to cut off
what you don't need, you can also add new nodes double-clicking, to create
a custom shape. Select an object and drag it to move it. If there are more
objects selected, these will be all moved in the same way. Then you can
use the squared black nodes to scale the object. Each object is inside a
virtual box whose centre is indicated through a black cross.
If you click once on the object selected, the nodes become black arrows.
You can use these to rotate or skew the object.
You can move objects while using other tools. If you drag an object with
your right mouse click, and choose Move Here, you will directly move
without enabling the Pick Tool.
While you are using the Pick Tool, you can scale and place your object more
precisely using the Property Bar, typing precise numbers. Press Enter key
to apply. Moreover, you can rotate the object selected setting the right
degrees, or flip horizontally or vertically using the two buttons more
on the right.
You can set other options using the Object Properties on the right. On top
choose the section, and then modify the stroke color, the stroke line, any
transparency, add some filling or gradient. Just remember that the square
with its diagonals shown means no color. Use it to remove any filling or
stroke applied.
There are many other tools you can try. The second button collects many
effects you can apply on selected objects. All these work if you click and
drag the pointer on the object interested.
Then you have other effect tools, like the two ones above the Eyedropper
Tool. In these cases you have to click and drag just once. For example you
can add shadow using the Drop Shadow Tool. Remember to use the Property
Bar to change the effect settings. The Object Properties on the right are
always referred to the object itself, and never on any of its effects
applied. So if you need to edit the shadow in the future, you have to
activate the Drop Shadow Tool again and use the Property Bar, and so with
any other effect.
Keypoints are very useful while you draw, and are indicated in blue color.
Object edges are indicated through a square. Nodes and angles through
a bigger square. Central points through a target and midpoints through a
triangle. Then you can add some Text. Simply click on the A icon in the
Toolbox. Click and drag on your workspace to create a text area, a virtual
the cross to move the text. Use the black and the white nodes to size the
text area. If it's too much small, the text won't be shown, and the
rectangle becomes red. Use the Property Bar to set the text properties,
for example its font and size. Select the text first to make changes
effective. In this case you can also use the Object Properties on the right,
to add stroke, gradients or set the text distribution.
What if you have objects overlapped? You need to use the Layers, in the
Object Manager window on the right. Each object is a sublayer, listed in
this window. In short, the object that is upper in this list is shown on
all objects that stay more below. So you can choose to place the text on
or behind an object simply changing its position in the list. Simply by
clicking and dragging up or down.
When you are done, save your project! Simply click on the Save icon, on
top. Choose the destination, and its format. In case you save it as .cdr,
you will save it as a CorelDRAW project. These can be opened again by this
software, to edit it further in the future. You can open these again going
to Open.... It will appear in another subwindow, right above the workspace.
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