Are you a pent-in Picasso? No space in your home for an easel and palette? Then learn how to draw and paint without pencils, pastels, or watercolors using your computer and the imaging software, CorelDRAW.

Want to unlock the artist inside but you can’t draw a straight line or a round circle? No sweat! This course was developed with the beginner in mind, but those with design experience will also benefit from the detailed, step-by-step instructions.

You’ll learn how to add special effects and brilliant colors to your designs while creating a professional-looking newsletter and greeting card. You’ll also learn how to add exquisite text to images to create logos and letterheads and export your designs to other applications like Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat, and the Web.

Whether you’re designing for business or pleasure, this course will supply you with all the tips and tricks you need to know in order to create images of the highest quality.

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Syllabus:

All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have to be present when the lesson is released, but you must complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.

A new section of each course starts on the second or third Wednesday of each month. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.

Week One

Wednesday - Lesson 01

CorelDRAW is different from other image editing applications in that it is vector-based. Many other image editing applications will force you to work with graphics in a bitmap format. Do you know the difference between bitmap and vector images? Before you open CorelDRAW, I'll describe the differences, explain the pros and cons, and then show you some examples of each format. Afterward, you'll tour CorelDRAW to see how some of the menus and tools are arranged. Then we'll jump right into it and draw some shapes with the Smart Drawing tool. You'll also learn how to use the Zoom tool, the Hand tool, and the Pick tool.

Friday - Lesson 02

This lesson is all about the meat and potatoes of CorelDRAW: the shape-creation tools. We'll start with the basics—using the Ellipse tool and the Rectangle tool to draw circles, squares, and rectangles. Then you'll practice using the Polygon tool, the Spiral tool, the Star tool, and the Perfect Shape tool to draw more intricate shapes. Afterward, you'll form your shapes into images using the weld function. Finally, you’ll get a chance to practice adding colors to your newly created designs.

Week Two

Wednesday - Lesson 03

We’re going to dig a little deeper into CorelDRAW drawing tools as you learn how to create lines. You'll start with the Freehand tool, which simulates drawing with a pen or pencil on a piece of paper, but with an automated twist that makes it much easier to use. Then we'll explore the Outline tools. Outlines are the lines that form and surround shapes and objects, and you'll use the Outline tools to format, shape, and color those same lines. Afterward, we’ll move on to curves and you'll learn how to use the Three-Point Curve tool and the Bézier tool to draw both simple and complex curves. Finally, you'll learn about the Artistic Media tool, which enables you to apply effects, styles, and objects to ordinary lines.

Friday - Lesson 04

In this lesson, we'll take a break from drawing tools and instead concentrate on layers. Layers are invisible planes that contain information about each object. You'll use them to organize, edit, and manage your drawings. Just as shapes are the building blocks of a drawing, layers are the frames that support those building blocks. We'll begin by layering one of your drawings from a previous lesson followed by learning how to layer as you create a new design.

Week Three

Wednesday - Lesson 05

Did you also know that CorelDRAW supplies you with a complete desktop publisher? In today's lesson, you'll create a two-page newsletter using this feature. As you assemble your newsletter, you'll also learn how to set up a drawing page with the Page tab, apply and use guidelines, input and import text with the Text tool, and import objects into designs.

Friday - Lesson 06

We'll continue our text discussion in this lesson, but this time we'll concentrate on artistic text. You'll learn how to shape, form, and adjust artistic text to follow the path of an object or line. Afterward, you'll fill objects with color transitions, patterns, textures, and elaborate designs using CorelDRAW fill tools. Then you'll apply what you've learned to create an original logo.

Week Four

Wednesday - Lesson 07

In today's lesson, you'll explore one of my favorite CorelDRAW subjects—applying special effects to designs. First, you'll learn how to cast shadows on objects using the Interactive Drop Shadow tool. This is an excellent effect to use when you want to add a little realism to your objects. Then you’ll learn how to create see-through objects using the Interactive Transparency. You'll also practice transforming ordinary 2-D shapes into 3-D objects using the Extrusion tool.

Friday - Lesson 08

You'll get a chance to put all your CorelDRAW skills to work in this lesson because we're going to pull together as many different elements from what you've been learning into an apple design. This will give you more insight into how CorelDRAW tools interact and show you some practical applications for these same tools. You'll also learn about shaping tools, including the Knife tool, the Eraser tool, the Smudge Brush, and the Roughen Brush. You'll mostly use these tools to shape, modify, adjust, and enhance objects after you’ve drawn them.

Week Five

Wednesday - Lesson 09

We'll continue our exploration of special effects in this lesson, beginning with PowerClips. You'll use the PowerClip effect to place one object inside of another. This is a great way to incorporate bitmaps or photographs into your designs. Then we'll take some ordinary shapes and completely transform them into amazing objects using the Interactive Distortion tool. Finally, you'll draw some balloons as you learn how to use the Eyedropper and Paintbucket tools, which allow you to copy the properties from one particular object into a completely different object.

Friday - Lesson 10

Once again, we'll concentrate on desktop publishing as you create custom-designed envelopes, business cards, and address labels while learning to use the Page Size window. Then you'll learn how to create a CD cover using a CorelDRAW template. Not only will you learn how to choose from the huge selection of templates, you'll also create your own business stationary template to accompany the envelope, business card, and address labels you just designed. Then to top it all off, you'll design an original birthday card using the Page Layout window.

Week Six

Wednesday - Lesson 11

This lesson is all about photographs. You'll start by bringing some life into a dull-looking photo using the Crop tool and the Image Adjustment Lab. Then you'll learn how to change ordinary photos into stunning works of art by applying spectacular effects with artistic strokes, abstract patterns, and 3-D effects. You'll also learn how to convert photographs into sleek designs using PowerTRACE.

Friday - Lesson 12

In our final lesson, you'll design a series of presentations using drawings you've created throughout this class, and then you'll learn how to export them into different formats. This will enable you to post them on the Internet, insert them into documents and presentations, or email them to a friend in an easy-to-open format. We'll start by going over the Export window, which converts CorelDRAW designs into various formats, and in turn allows you to view and update these same designs using all types of software. Then we'll focus on specific formats, including Portable Network Graphics (PNG) and Portable Document Format (PDF). Finally, we'll conclude the class by creating an original Web page!

This course includes a knowledgeable and caring instructor who will guide you through your lessons, facilitate discussions, and answer your questions. The instructor for this course will be John Sadlouskos.

John Sadlouskos has been a CorelDRAW and Corel PHOTO-PAINT user since version 6. For over 10 years, he has applied these skills as a technical writer, and more recently, he has used them as a product label designer and developer. He holds a B.F.A. from the University of Arizona, and he has experience working in both print and electronic media for government agencies, financial institutions, and the transportation industry. John specializes in writing easy-to-follow instructions for software and for educational and consumer applications.

Requirements:

Microsoft Windows Vista, XP, or 2000; CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 or CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 Upgrade or CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 Student and Teacher Edition are all acceptable (please be sure to install the software on your computer before the course begins); Internet access, e-mail, the Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox Web browser, and the Adobe Flash and PDF plug-ins (two free and simple downloads you obtain at http://www.adobe.com/downloads by clicking Get Adobe Flash Player and Get Adobe Reader). Artistic ability is not required, just a desire to be creative. Note: this course is not suitable for Macintosh users.

Users of CorelDRAW 12 and CorelDRAW X4 will also be supported in the Discussion Areas.

Student Reviews: