Corel Presentations

[Chuck52]

Talk about unrelated to tractors! However, as has been said here many times, someone on this forum probably knows the answer to just about any question, so......

I use Corel Presentations to modify WordPerfect Graphics files and then save them in various formats. I started using the software when it was DrawPerfect, and it is still the only easily found software that allows me to do what I do with it. I'm editing molecular drawings by adding labels and then moving the labels to aesthetically pleasing positions, and Presentations treats the labels as objects which can be picked up and moved, modified as to font, etc, even if the labels are right on top of other elements in the drawing. I just have to click on the label and do what I want, rather than try to circle it or something, as one might do with a bitmap. After making any changes, I could then save the image in many different formats, including all the ones various journals want drawings in. All was fine until I had to upgrade to Corel Presentations X3 to get decent compatibility with Windows XP. Now, though all other functions seem OK, when I save a drawing I must carefully measure the actual bounds of the image and use those measurements to specify the image size to be saved. Otherwise, I get a badly distorted image stretched vertically or horizontally. With earlier versions, it was not necessary to input the image dimensions to avoid distortion. I could just specify whatever format, and give the resolution desired, and the original perspective was preserved. Since I have an education copy of the software, Corel isn't interested in answering any questions about it. I suspect there is a simple setting I could apply to have the perspective maintained, but be darned if I can find it.

Anyone have a clue they are willing to share?

Chuck

 

[jdbower]

How tied are you to Corel? IMO there are only two office packages worth owning: MS Office is, of course, the business standard and should be used by anyone who needs to be compatible with the rest of the business community (and can afford it). For those who don't want MS Office, OpenOffice is the best replacement. Not only is it free, but it also provides an excellent set of products that have great support from the online community at large. Especially if you're not exactly eligible for the student version it may be worth considering an "upgrade" to OpenOffice to see if that does what you need it to.

 

[Chuck52]

Jeff,

I use MS Office for everything except this. All documents at work are Word, and if I actually made a slide show presentation I'd use PowerPoint for compatibility with everyone else. I just use this feature of Presentations because it handles WPG files so nicely. I actually create my drawings in Hewlett Packard Graphics Language, because historically that was the format of choice for line drawings and the software that makes the drawings will only save as HPGL or Postscript. Presentations will read HPGL and convert to WPG, which is still a very nice format for line drawings, and as I said, with WPG drawings Presentations treats labels and text as "objects" which can be moved and modified easily. There are certainly other ways to do what I do with this software, but when it was working my old convoluted method worked very, very well. Now the only thing "broke" about it is this problem with saving the files in the other formats the journals want. Presentations has a very extensive list of formats it will read and write, but when I save drawings now I have the added step of having to measure the actual drawing and use those figures when exporting to other formats. In the past, I would just drag and drop to Presentations, make my changes, and save in whatever format and resolution I liked.

Yesterday, after posting this, I found that if I opened Presentations and first set the page format to portrait, my problems were solved. Apparently, earlier versions of Presentations either used portrait as the default page setup, or read whatever page format applied to a file being opened. If I can find a way to make portrait the default, or perhaps set my original drawings to be landscape, I may get back to the easy way I had it before.

Thanks for the comment anyway.

Chuck