Customer Reviews

CorelDRAW 11 for Windows

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I agree with the previous reviewer -- the Quickstart Guides for CorelDraw 11, and 10, and 9, etc. have become simple rehashes of the previous edition. This makes it very dull and repetitive to wade through, and when an upgraded software package debuts, the books give little hint as to what is new and different from previous editions. This becomes very important to those of us who must use the software in our work and are not given either training nor time to work through the enormous number of new or reworked features in the huge and complicated CorelDraw programs. The Corel manuals that come with the software are awful -- incomplete, fuzzy, almost no illustrations or helpful graphics, and leaving you abuzz with questions unanswered. So it falls to the Quickstart Guides and similar books to fill in the gaps, and these editions fall flat. The authors seem to feel that the book can be just an upgrade -- run through the text, update anything new and slap in on press. Rerun the same trite illustrations again, same headlines, same photos. Readers deserve better -- a good portion of the readership is reading the book primarily to gain knowledge of the details of a new version of CorelDraw, and the repetitions picked up from earlier editions, coupled with a lack of any real depth, makes for a book that should, and could, be much better. The editors who have approved this approach have forgotten the wonderfully fresh and original approach of the early Quickstart Guides -- their interpretation of what the reader needs and deserves is tired and decidedly unhelpful. When you pay for a new book, you should get a new book.

I was a bit disappointed when I first opened the book, I thought I was opening CorelDraw 10 for windows. Steve and Phyllis used many of the same illustrations found in their CorelDraw 10 book. Yes, I know the old illustrations get the point across, but,when I buy a new book I expect new illustrations and text to give me the sense I purchased a whole new book with all fresh and new information. Maybe a new illustration would shed light on a particular problem I was having, whereas,the old illustrations could not get the point across. All in all I'll will use the book in ernest, but when the going gets tough, I'll reach for Bain's Official Guide to CorelDraw 11.

For somebody who never used Coreldraw, this is a very helpful and easy guide. It is simply written and easy to understand. For those who think they already know what is in the book and wants to nly find out what is new, I would say do not forget those who are new.