Welcome, CS users!

Following the recent announcement made by Adobe regarding their shift to a  purely subscription model for future versions of Illustrator, Photoshop and the  rest of their Creative Suite products, we’ve heard from many CS users looking  for alternatives. As stated before, we strongly believe in providing users choice to purchase your software the way you want.

So we’re doing just that-giving Adobe customers choices. I’m happy to announce a special offer for CS4, CS5 and CS6 customers around the world (some restrictions apply). From now until August 30^th, 2013, owners of eligible Adobe products can purchase a wide range of Corel products at the upgrade price, including CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6, Painter 12, PaintShop Pro X5, PaintShop Pro Ultimate X5, Photo & Video Suite X5, VideoStudio Pro X6, VideoStudio Ultimate X6 and AfterShot Pro.

You can run CorelDRAW on a Mac!

Following my recent blog post regarding users choice and the Adobe Creative Cloud announcement, we’ve received a number of enquiries relating to Mac OS of our products to offer alternatives to those using Apple hardware.

Corel offers a broad range of software solutions for a variety of users. Primarily available on the Microsoft Windows platform, some of these solutions are also available natively on the Mac: Painter, the world’s leading digital art software, AfterShot Pro, a fast, flexible photo management & RAW workflow tool, and CorelCAD, our high-performance CAD design solution with native .DWG support.

Based on the feedback we’ve received the last few days from Adobe CS users looking for alternatives, the number one request has been around CorelDRAW Graphics Suite, which today is designed and optimized for Windows-based computers. Our goal has always been to provide powerful and complete applications to our users, and difficult development investment decisions are taken by understanding the market opportunity and determining the resource requirement to provide a great user experience.  The time and effort to bring our products to a new platform would have considerable impact on the features and enhancements that we would be able to make to the Windows application.

Corel is all about giving users choice

As you’ve probably noticed, big changes are underway in the high-tech industry at large, and more specifically in the graphics software world. Earlier this week, Adobe announced that it will discontinue the boxed version of Creative Suite and move exclusively to a subscription-based model (AKA Creative Cloud). This means that going forward, the only way to keep up-to-date with the latest offering from Adobe will be by paying monthly fees. When you stop paying, your products will stop working. Looking at it from the outside, one could argue that it feels like forcing users down a specific path they might not be ready to go down.

At Corel, we strongly believe in giving users the choice to purchase your software the way you want. For many of you, we know that the preference is to purchase a box or download version of our products in what is called a “perpetual license”, i.e. in a way that gives you the right to use the product forever without having to pay anything extra. You then have the choice, if the new features and benefits make sense to you, to purchase and upgrade to a new version.

Making the most of Spring: Outdoor photography tips

Ah, Spring is in the air. Well, it is for us in the Northern Hemisphere. If you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, Winter may just be getting started. In that case, we apologize.

Spring means so many things. Animals come out of hibernation, trees start to blossom and life seems to return to nature. It also means a great photo opportunity. For those of you thinking about dusting off that old camera and getting some outdoor shots, here are some tips on making those shots great ones!

Behind the Scenes: Project Managing My First Video Shoot

gordongroup was recently approached by software giant Corel to create a fresh, youthful and inspirational promotional video for their new Corel Painter Lite software. One tiny catch: The timeline was just three weeks to plan and produce this thing!

Undaunted by the task before me, I enthusiastically dove in. While the creative team worked out the concept, my first task was finding a cool location, so I scouted almost every art venue in town. It only took a few days before stumbling upon SAW gallery, a quaint and elegant space that fit our videographer’s vision to a tee.

Grow your business with video

Whether you’re a business owner, marketer or video enthusiast, you probably know the importance of video in promoting your product or service. So why haven’t you used it? Video can be intimidating if you have little experience with it, and outsourcing isn’t always an option. Fear not, we are here to help!

How to create a business video in five easy steps:

How to Create a Kick-ass Kickstarter in Five Easy Steps

Do you have a great idea for a project? Maybe you’re looking to publish a book, make a movie or record your band’s very first album? If so, you might just consider launching your very own Kickstarter. If you haven’t heard of Kickstarter before, essentially it’s a way to fund a project through crowdsourcing. You create the project, offer rewards and backers front the dough. Recent Kickstarter success stories include the Veronica Mars movie (which successfully raised over $2 million dollars in less than 24 hours) or the independent video game Torment: Tides of Numenera, which broke a Kickstarter record in raising nearly $4.2 million dollars.

How to stay productive on the go

We live in a fast-paced world. It’s hard to get work done when you have to be in six different locations in one day. Luckily, technology helps us stay productive while we’re out and about. Here is what you need to get work done on the go:

The Right Gear:

Before you can accomplish anything while away from your desk, you need the right hardware. Tablets are your best bet. When was the last time you saw someone bust out their laptop on the bus? If you want to get work done on the run, get your hands on a tablet!

How to break through the dreaded creative block

We’ve all been there. You sit down to start a project, and you can’t come up with anything. It can be during brainstorming, writing, drawing, editing or any stage of your work. You can’t find that creative spark that puts your thoughts into practice. It’s ok! There are ways to work around these creative blocks.

Do your research:

Some people believe that a creative block doesn’t happen by chance, but it is in fact a result of not having enough information. If you are a writer, writer’s block might occur because you do not know enough about the subject to write fluidly.

The Power of YouTube Shines at Playlist LIVE

Last week, I had the privilege of attending Playlist LIVE in Orlando, Florida. Not only did I escape the cold, “spring” weather here in Ottawa, I also learned a lot about the influence that YouTube has on its users.