Drop Shadows with Corel DRAW

This tutorial will show you how to create drop shadows in Corel DRAW! I used Corel DRAW! 7.0 for Windows. Some things may be done differently with other versions.

Drop shadows are not something you'd expect to be able to do in a vector based drawing program. Although the shadows created with this technique differ from those done with a paint program such as Photoshop they are, nevertheless, a pretty cool effect.

Open a new graphic. Choose the text tool and enter your text. Choose the pick tool to select the text. Use Text, Format Text to bring up the Format Text dialog box.

Choose a size and font for your text. I used 50.0 points and the Dauphin font (see figure 1.1).

figure 1.1

Choose Edit, Copy then Edit, Paste. Move the top copy aside and use Edit, Paste to create a third copy. Move this one aside, as well (see figure 1.2)

figure 1.2

With this last copy still selected choose a light gray color. This will change the last copy to light gray.

Move one of the other copies over the light gray one so that it's a little above and to the left of the light gray copy. If you have to, use Arrange, Order, Forward one so that the black copy is above the light gray one (see figure 1.3)

figure 1.3

Use the pick tool to select both the light gray and the black copies.

Choose Effects, Blend to bring up the Blend menu. I left the default 20 steps and clicked Apply to get figure 1.4.

figure 1.4

Finally, use the pick tool to select the last copy and, with it selected, changes its color to the color you want the the text to be. Move it into place over the blended copies to arrive at something like figure 1.5.

figure 1.5

3D Buttons with Corel DRAW

This tutorial will show you how to create 3D buttons in Corel DRAW! I used Corel DRAW! 7.0 for Windows. Some things may be done differently with other versions.

The buttons you'll draw during this tutorial were inspired by my stereo. I originally created these buttons for the first Earth Orbit Consulting web site. I subsequently went on to create the first GrafX Design online tutorial describing how I had created these buttons with Paint Shop Pro. To show you how some graphics can be created with a vector program as easily as they can be with a paint program, I'm re-creating that first tutorial here.

This technique involves a little more effort than the first Corel DRAW! tutorial though it's still rather simple.

Open a new graphic. Choose the ellipse tool and, while holding down the Ctrl key to constrain the ratio, draw a circle about 2.5 inches in diameter at the left of the page.

Select the pick tool and, with the circle selected, hit Ctrl-c and Ctrl-v to copy and paste the circle. Use the right cursor key to move the copy to the right of the page. (see figure 2.1).

figure 2.1

Select the rectangle tool and draw a rectangle between the two circles. Make sure that the corners of the rectangle meet with the circles (see figure 2.2)

figure 2.2

Use the pick tool to draw a marquee around both circles and the rectangle. Click the intersection icon. This will only create the intersection of the left-most circle and the rectangle (see figure 2.3).

figure 2.3

Use the pick tool to draw another marquee around the right-most circle and the rectangle. Click the intersect icon again. You should now have two intersections with the rectangle. Choose the circles, one at a time, and delete them. This should leave you with something like figure 2.4.

figure 2.4

Use the pick tool to select the left-most curve and fill this object with a light gray. Select the right-most curve and fill this object with a dark gray (see figure 2.5).

figure 2.5

Select the fill tool and choose the gradient tool from the flyout menu. This will bring up the Fountain Fill dialog box. Under Color blend, select Custom. This will change the Fountain Fill dialog box so that it resembles figure 2.6.

figure 2.6

Add another point to the blend by double-clicking above the rectangular blend window. Change the middle point (the one you just added) to a light gray by clicking on the Current pulldown menu (it's just above the custom blend window). Change the color at both of the outside points to dark gray. Set the Angle to 90 and adjust the middle point so that your blend resembles the one in figure 2.6. Click OK.

NOTE: The custom blend starts out with only a beginning and an ending point. You can add more points to create your custom blend by double-clicking above the blend window. These points can also be moved by clicking and dragging.

Select the button with the pick tool and, using the outline tool flyout menu, set the outline to none.

Use Arrange, Transform, Scale and Mirror to resize the button.

At this point you might want to save the button (see figure 2.7).

figure 2.7

I exported the button as a JPG with the following settings in the Bitmap Export dialog box. The really important settings to remember are the Maintain aspect ratio and Super-sampling.

figure 2.8

Use the text tool to add some text to your button. I used the Bedrock font. You may choose to copy and paste the text with a different color to add a highlight (see figure 2.9).

figure 2.9

Export the final button as a web-ready JPG and make sure you keep a copy of the vector drawing i.e. save the image as a CDR file so you can go back and make changes easily later on.

3D Textured Text with Corel DRAW

This tutorial will show you how to create 3D Textured Text in Corel DRAW! I used Corel DRAW! 7.0 for Windows. Some things may be done differently with other versions.

I'm always exploring textures and materials effects in the various programs I use. I like creating gold, metal, wood, stone, etc... Normally I use all sorts of filters and tricks to get the look just right and I usually use a bitmap program such as Photoshop. I thought it might be fun, though, to try and see if something like this could be done with a vector program such as Corel DRAW! The following tutorial is the result. Let me know what you think.

The process is quite simple and, using it, you can achieve some really cool effects. I'll be demonstrating how to create "Hot Rocks" or Lava text. All of the effects can be accomplished using the files that come with Corel DRAW!

Open a new graphic. Select the Text tool and enter some text. I used the Braggadocio font at 75 points (see figure 4.1).

figure 4.1

You'll want to use a chunky font for this stone look. Later you can try different fonts and fills to see what you can come up with.

I wanted to give the text some perspective as well as adding 3-dimensionality to it.

Use the Pick tool to select the text and Choose Effects, Add Perspective. This will surround the text with a red grid and put nodes at the corners (see figure 4.2).

figure 4.2

Grab the top corners and move them in and up until you have something like figure 4.3.

figure 4.3

You may notice the perspective marker, a small black "X", appear above the text. Once you're happy with the perspective click on the Pick tool again to clear the grid.

It's time to add the 3D effects. Choose Effects, Extrude to bring up the Extrude dialog box (see figure 4.4).

figure 4.4

Select the Extrude icon and enter Small Back with a Depth of 10.

Select the Rotation icon and play around until you get a view that you like (see figure 4.5). You can see the text change every time you click the Apply button, so play around.

TIP: You might want to change the color of the text to a light gray so that you can see the angles and side more clearly.

figure 4.5

You can see the actual x,y,z values by clicking on the small paper icon to the right of the red Corel 3D rotation image. The values I ended up with were 19, 29, 5.

Now add some lighting. I added all three lights. You can see their placement in figure 4.6.

figure 4.6

Besides the placement you can play with the intensity of the lights. I set the first to 68, the second to 41 and the third to 86. Again, you'll want to play with these values to suit your particular image.

Now that the image is ready you can fill it with a texture. Select the Fill tool and hold it down until the flyout menu appears. Select the texture fill (it kinda looks like a black and white cloud image) which will bring up the texture dialog box (see figure 4.7).

figure 4.7

I chose the Painted Stucco texture from Samples 7. There are a lot of different textures, though, so take a few minutes to go through the libraries and find something you like. I thought this texture looked like hot lava rock. Take a look at the final image (figure 4.8) and see what you think.

figure 4.8

I exported the image as a JPG using Custom for the Size with 400 for the Width and setting the Maintain aspect ratio. I set the Resolution to 96 (both Horizontal and Vertical) and chose Super-sampling for the Anti-aliasing method. In the JPG Export dialog box I set the Quality to around 40.

Play around with some of the effects in this tutorial and see what you can come up with and, above all, have fun.

Make sure you keep a copy of the vector drawing i.e. save the image as a CDR file so you can go back and make changes easily later on.

Yahoo! Style Buttons with Corel DRAW!

This tutorial will show you how to create Yahoo! style buttons. Many people have written asking how these are done and I'll be demonstrating the technique with all of the programs I write tutorials for. I used Corel DRAW! 7.0 for Windows for this technique. Some things may be done differently with other versions.

Sometimes it's harder to create a certain look in a drawing program versus a paint program. This is not the case with these buttons, however. In fact, since these are done with a drawing program you can easily add certain features such as text that wraps around the button.

Begin by drawing a circle. Holding down the CTRL key while dragging the cursor will assure you of a circular rather than an elliptical (oval) shape.

Repeat the process drawing a smaller circle this time.

Use the Pick tool to marquee select both circles.

Choose Arrange, Align and Distribute and, in the Align and Distribute dialog box click on the "Center of Page" option. Click OK. You should have something like figure 6.1.

figure 6.1

Select the Pick tool and click on the outer circle to select it.

Place the mouse over the Fill tool and hold down the left button until the flyout menu appears. Select the Fountain Fill Dialog icon. This will bring up the Fountain fill dialog box.

Set the Type to Linear and the Angle to -45%. Leave the Color Blend as Two color (the From: color should be black and the To: color should be white). Click OK and your image should resemble figiure 6.2.

figure 6.2

Use the Pick tool to select the inner circle.

Bring up the Fountain Fill Dialog box again. This time set the Type to Radial, set the Horizontal Offset to -20 and the Vertical Offset to 20.

Left-click on the From: color. This will bring up a small menu of colors. Choose the color you want the button to be: I chose a dark blue. Click OK and you'll have something like figure 6.3.

figure 6.3

That's it for the button. You can add text or clip-art images. I added a Yippee! icon I've been working on, placed some text in a circle over the top of the button, shrank it down, and saved it as the web-ready JPG you see in figure 6.4.

figure 6.4

Make sure you keep a copy of the vector drawing i.e. save the image as a CDR file so you can go back and make changes easily later on.

Page Curl Effect with Corel DRAW!

This tutorial will demonstrate how you can create a page curl effect. Many people have written asking how this is done and I'll be demonstrating the technique with all of the programs I write tutorials for. I used Corel DRAW! 7.0 for Windows for this technique. Some things may be done differently with other versions.

Sometimes it's harder to see how a certain effect can be created in a drawing (vector or object oriented) program versus a paint program. It may not be immediately obvious how to create the effect using a collection of objects rather than just being able to paint the pixels in. I think this may be the case with an effect like a page curl. For this tutorial I'll create a yellow sticky note and curl one corner of it up.

Begin by drawing a rectangle. Once you've drawn the rectangular shape, fill it with a bright yellow (see figure 7.1).

figure 7.1

Draw another rectangle that's long and narrow. Place this rectangle along the bottom of the first and turn it so that it covers the two corners of the yellow rectangle and so that it's on an angle as in figure 7.2.

figure 7.2

Use the Pick tool to draw a marquee around both of the shapes.

Along the toolbar (the second line below the menu choices) you should see the trim icon (see figure 7.3). Click this icon to trim the top rectangle (the last rectangle shape you created) from the bottom rectangle (the yellow one that you created first).

figure 7.3

Click away from the two shapes to de-select them. Select the long rectangle and press the delete key to discard it. You should now have just the bottom portion of the sticky note (a rectangle shape with an angled bottom).

Double click the Polygon tool and, in the Options dialog box, choose the Toolbox tab. Under Polygon Tool Defaults set the Polygon option and set the number of Points/Sides to 3. This will enable you to draw a triangle.

Draw a long narrow triangle shape beside the yellow rectangle (see figure 7.4).

figure 7.4

Choose Layout, Snap to Objects.

Select the Pick tool and click twice on the triangle to set the rotation points (see figure 7.5). Move the center of rotation point (see figure 7.5) to the top point of the triangle. Click the triangle again to set the sizing points. Move the triangle so that the top point is aligned with the bottom-left corner of the sticky note. Click the triangle again to change to the rotation points. Click on one of the corner rotation points and drag the triangle until it aligns with the bottom of the sticky note (see figure 7.5).

figure 7.5

With the triangle still selected, choose Arrange, Convert to Curves.

Select the Shape tool. Select the node in the middle of the right side of the triangle and press the delete key to discard it.

With the Shape tool, marquee select the two right corners of the triangle and click on the To Curve icon on the toolbar.

Place the cursor in the middle of the line along the right side of the triangle and drag it to the left until you get a nice rounded curve (see figure 7.6).

figure 7.6

If you need to, you can stretch the triangle shape so that it fits along the bottom of the rectangle. Just select the Pick tool and click on the triangle, then stretch it to fit. With the "Snap to Objects" still on this should be relatively easy.

Now you should have both shapes of the sticky note. The yellow note, itself, and the triangle that'll become the page curl.

All that's left to do is use a fountain fill to blend some shadows and highlights onto the triangle to give the appearance of a 3-dimensional curve.

Use the Pick tool to select the triangle shape.

Click-and-hold the Fill tool icon. This will bring out the Fill tool flyout. Select the Fountain Fill Dialog icon.

In the Fountain Fill dialog set the Type to Linear and click the Custom button.

You're going to have to play around with the Angle, the Edge Pad and the placement of the colors to come up with a fill that fits your particular triangle.

To start, set the left-most color to a bright yellow. Click on the Current option and then select Others. Set the color to a darker yellow. I chose 0, 0, 75, 24.

Click along the top of the gradient about a quarter of the way out from the left end and click the bright yellow color square in the colors swatch. Click a little ways over to the right and choose white. Click a little over again and select the bright yellow again. Finally, set the color at the far right to a dark yellow.

Set the Angle to about -45% and the Edge Pad to 20.

You should have similar settings to those shown in figure 7.7.

figure 7.7

Click OK.

You may find, like I did, that the fill doesn't give you the effect you expected. If this is the case, bring up the Fountain Fill dialog box again. If the white line wasn't visible move the two yellows and the white over and click OK.

Once the white and yellow lines are visible you can adjust the angle, as well.

You may find that you'll need to add another color such as another dark yellow close to the left edge of the bright yellow/white lines.

It should only take a couple of minutes of fine tuning to get the effect just right.

Marquee select both shapes and select the Outline tool. Hold down the mouse button until the flyout appears. Select the No Outline option.

You'll now have a yellow sticky note with a curled-up corner (see figure 7.8).

figure 7.8

Now, because this is a vector image, you can easily resize it, and add some text as I've done. The final image can then be saved as a web-ready JPG (see figure 7.9).

figure 7.9

Note that you can use similar techniques to add a curled effect to any image you want. You would, of course, choose different colors.

Make sure you keep a copy of the vector drawing i.e. save the image as a CDR file so you can go back and make changes easily later on.

3d cube in coreldraw

Select the Rectangle Tool, hold down the Control key, and draw out a rectangle. Holding down control will keep the rectangle proportional.

STEP TWO

Now select the Pick Tool and click on your rectangle twice. You should see the following:

STEP THREE

You can see that there are 8 handles to choose from. Grab the left middle handle and skew the rectangle up. You should get the following:

STEP FOUR

Now that we have the left side, let's create the right side. There are a few ways to do this, but I like to use some funky mouse moves to duplicate and mirror a shape. Here's how.

Using the Pick Tool, click on the shape and you should see the following:

STEP FIVE

You can see there are 8 handles to choose from. Grab the left middle handle and while holding down the Control key, drag to the right but don't let go. You should see a duplicate appear but to actually duplicate the shape you must right click on the mouse. It's a little difficult at first but with practice it becomes very easy.

So to summarize again, you want to grab the left middle handle and while holding down the Control key drag to the right but do not let go. While still holding down the Control key as well as the left mouse button, right click on the mouse to duplicate the shape. You should see the following:

STEP SIX

Alright, the only piece left now is the top. Now we could create another rectangle and try to fit it in but that could take a while to try and play with the size and getting it to fit perfectly. So here's a way I like to use.

Select both the left and right pieces with the Pick Tool. You can hold down the Shift key to select multiple objects. You should see the following:

STEP SEVEN

Again, you see that there are 8 handles to choose from. This time grab the bottom middle handle and while holding the Control key, drag up but don't let go. We're going to do that funky mouse move again to duplicate the shapes. So right click to duplicate the shapes. You should see the following:

STEP EIGHT

You may be asking why we did that. It doesn't look like a 3d cube?! What we just did was create the outline of the top part of the cube! You can now see exactly the size and angles of the top piece of the cube. So now all we have to do is trace it! To make it easier, make sure Dynamic Guides are on. You can do this by clicking on the View menu and making sure Dynamic Guides is selected.

One of the reasons why we enabled dynamic guides is because when you hover over a corner it actually shows you the exact placement of the node for that corner. So while you're tracing you can hover over each corner and click in the correct spot. Take a look at the examples below:

STEP NINE

So using the Bezier Tool, click on each of the 4 corners to create the top piece of the cube. Then you can delete those two duplicate pieces so all that's left is the 3d cube:

After adding some color and duplicating a few more cubes, here's what I came up with:

New Dynamic Guides Will Change the Way You Draw

Once in a while, a new drawing feature comes along that's so innovative, it has the potential to completely change the way you draw. New Dynamic Guides in CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite 12 will do just that. In fact, after using them for a while, you'll wonder how you ever did without them. Let's explore just how great these fancy new guides really are.

A Boon for Drawing and Positioning Lines and Objects
Unlike typical guidelines that physically occupy a point on your document page, Dynamic Guides appear only momentarily right where you need them. As you're drawing a line or dragging an object, they come to life to show information about your cursor's position relative to points on surrounding objects.

As your cursor comes within a certain distance of an object snap point, a Dynamic Guide path magically appears right where you need it. The guide path itself is "sticky", meaning your cursor easily aligns to it. When drawing or positioning objects, the screen tips you see provide angle and distance measurements from your cursor or grab point to nearby snap points, like this:

If you've never used Dynamic Guides before, try these steps and you'll see just how powerful this feature is:

1. To view only the feedback provided by Dynamic Guides, turn off the CorelDRAW 12 Snap to Objects feature. To do this, choose View/Snap to Objects Setup to open the Options dialog box for the Snap to Objects pane. Click to turn off both the Snap to Objects On and Show Snap Location Marks options, and click OK to close the dialog box.
   
   
2. Next, let's make sure Dynamic Guides are active. If they aren't already showing, activate your Dynamic Guide display by pressing Alt+Shift+D. Choose View/Dynamic Guides Setup to open the Options dialog box for the Dynamic Guides pane. Make sure the Angle and Distance Screen Tip options are selected and click OK.
   
   
3. Now that you're all set up, start your exploration with a single object. For example, draw a simple rectangle with the Rectangle tool (F6).
   
   
4. Choose the Pick tool, then grab the lower-left corner node of the rectangle and drag it in a circular motion around its original position. Notice as you do this that guide paths, and angle and distance values appear around the rectangle.
   
   
5. Continue dragging, but this time, drag your grab point close to a nearby snap point and slowly drag it along the guide path that appears. Notice how your cursor "sticks" to it, and the difference in angle and distance from your grab point to the current snap point is updated as you drag. What you see on your screen will look something like this:
   
   
   
   
6. Create a second object (such as an ellipse) and add it to the mix. Drag your rectangle from the same corner beside the right side of the ellipse and notice another guide path appear at angles between your grab point and the ellipse snap points, like this:

Even if you're just creating lines or curves, you'll see Dynamic Guides feedback that displays the angle and distance from the last node position relative to the snap points of other objects. If you've ever fumbled trying to draw three nodes in perfect alignment at a non-typical angle, you'll certainly appreciate how useful this can be.

To see how easily you can add a perfect angled extension to a straight line, try these steps:

1. Use the same setup as in earlier steps. Start by creating a straight line at a non-typical angle (an angle that is anything but the standard 15-degree constrain interval). To create the line, choose the Freehand tool (F5).
   
   
2. Click any two points on your page to define the beginning and end points of the line. After clicking the second point, your straight line becomes a completed object, but remains selected.
   
   
3. Still using the Freehand tool, hold your cursor over the second point you clicked. Notice that the cursor features an end node symbol. Click your cursor on the node once to begin drawing another line segment. Move your cursor slowly away to extend the line and notice a Dynamic Guide appears at the exact angle of the existing line, like this:
   
   
   
   
4. Move your cursor along the guide and click a point anywhere on it. Another node position is defined and your line segment is now a straight path composed of three nodes.

Customizing Dynamic Guides
There are plenty of ways you can control what you're seeing on screen. You can toggle Dynamic Guides on and off a number of ways: by using the Alt+Shift+D shortcut, by choosing View/ Dynamic Guides from the command menus, or by clicking the Dynamic Guides button in the Property Bar (shown next) while the Pick or Shape tools (and no objects) are selected.



Dynamic Guides have a unique set of options that enable you to control their behavior. You can customize how the guides appear by choosing behavior options such as angle and distance tips, and tick snapping, and select which guide angles appear. To access these options (shown next), choose View/Dynamic Guides Setup to open the Options dialog box for the Dynamic Guides pane shown here:



Here's how each option will affect the way Dynamic Guides are displayed:

• Dynamic Guides – Select this check box to toggle Dynamic Guides on or off.
  
  
• Angle Screen Tip – When drawing with line tools, use Angle Screen Tip to show an angle value from the tip of your grab point relative to other object snap points, when positioning objects or placing nodes.
  
  
• Distance Screen Tip – When drawing with line tools, choose Distance Screen Tip to show the distance between your cursor position on a guide and the current snap point, when positioning objects or placing nodes. The unit measure you'll see is based on your currently selected drawing units. (You can set this in the Pick tool Property Bar while no objects are selected.)
  
  
• Snap to Ticks – Use Snap to Ticks to toggle tick snapping along the guide paths in customizable increments. This enables you to move your cursor along the guide and snap to tick points according to the current Tick Spacing value.
  
  
• Guides – Use this area to select which angles you want your Dynamic Guides to indicate on screen. Check boxes enable you to toggle the angles on or off in the list. As you select each one, its apparent angle is displayed in the Guides Preview window on the right of the dialog box. To add your own custom angles, just enter a value in the degree box above the list and click the Add button, as shown next. Custom guide angles are automatically added to the guides list, so you have the option of toggling them on or off. You can also interactively select and manage the guides via list selection or just by clicking the apparent angles shown in the Preview window.
  
  
  
  
• Extend Along Segment – When drawing using any line tool, use this option to easily add straight portions to an existing angled line segment. A Dynamic Guide will automatically show you where to place your new node so it's in perfect alignment with the existing straight line.
  
  

The Dynamic Duo
It may also help you to know that Dynamic Guides work together with the new Snap Modes feature in CorelDRAW 12. The guides appear whenever your grab point or line tool cursor comes within a certain threshold of an active snap point on your original object, or on a different object, like this:



You can set up to nine object snap points to include in the process by choosing View/Snap to Objects Setup to open the Options dialog box for the Snap to Object pane, shown next.



If you're already using CorelDRAW 12 but haven't yet explored what Dynamic Guides can do, the steps we've covered here should get you on your way. Although this only scratches the surface, you've just turned a corner to a novel new way of drawing.