Most of us are familiar with subscriptions in one way or another, whether it be a subscription to a cable TV provider or even something as a simple as a subscription to your local newspaper. At its most basic level, subscription is really just a way of ensuring that, as consumers, we always receive the latest version of whatever it is we’re buying and usually it represents a better deal than buying one at a time.
So it’s not too surprising that subscription has also become a powerful new way for software companies to offer more choice and flexibility to customers. After all, there are some incredible changes going on right now driven by the rapid adoption of web services, mobile devices, social media and new forms of technology connecting desktop apps to web and cloud-based content, which makes having the latest version more and more important.
It is with these advantages in mind, that we at Corel are offering subscription to CorelDRAW users. So what exactly is the new CorelDRAW Subscription program? In a nutshell, it means offering our customers an additional way to purchase and use CorelDRAW. Currently, when you buy CorelDRAW, you receive what’s referred to in the software business as a “perpetual license copy” meaning that whether you bought your software as a physical retail copy or downloaded it from our website, it’s yours to keep. However, if you do want the latest functionality and updates, you will need to upgrade to the latest version.
Subscription on the other hand, allows our users to purchase a product on an annual or monthly basis. Your version of CorelDRAW works the same as if you bought it off a store shelf or downloaded it from our e-store; you install the software on your computer. Think of it as essentially “renting” the software for a period of time.
So why subscribe? Well, for starters the advantage of a subscription means a substantially lower upfront cost for new CorelDRAW users. It also means more flexibility when it comes to how and when you choose to use CorelDRAW-something that will be particularly useful to our many business users.
More importantly though, for both new and existing CorelDRAW users, being a part of our subscription program means always having the latest version of our software. In fact, as a subscriber, you’re automatically entitled to the most current version of CorelDRAW for as long as your subscription is active. That’s a huge benefit to our users, given that in today’s rapidly evolving world, staying current means staying competitive.
Of course, upfront cost benefits and ensuring you have the latest version of CorelDRAW are just two great reasons to become a CorelDRAW subscriber. There’s also the added benefit of being a part of our new CorelDRAW Membership program, which offers our customers exclusive cloud-based content to expand on the CorelDRAW creative design experience. (You can learn a little bit more about CorelDRAW Membership in a recent video put together by Senior Product Manager John Falsetto, or by going to www.corel.com/coreldraw.)
Subscription is just one part of Corel’s new push towards offering our users more choice. Unlike other software developers, we don’t want our customers to be forced to choose just one way to use our products. Subscription isn’t necessarily going to be for everyone and if you’re happy to continue purchasing CorelDRAW from your nearest retailer or download it from our website, that’s great too. We’ll continue to offer that option. Subscribing to CorelDRAW really is all about catering to how our customers want to use our software, and it’s just part of the many ways we’re working to connect with our users and help our users to connect with one another.
I’m extremely excited about the new CorelDRAW Subscription program and hope you’ll take some time to learn more about it. You can find out more information by visiting our website. I’d also love to hear from you and what you think about CorelDRAW and our subscription program. Post a comment below and share your thoughts.
Thanks for reading and keep on DRAWing!
Cheers,
Nick
How I would do anything to convince Corel to revive Ventura Publisher..
At this stage, we haven’t made any announcements regarding future versions of Ventura. We continue to review our product portfolio, market conditions and, of course, user requirements on a regular basis to drive our decisions about product development. It’s always important to hear what our customers want, so thank you for reaching out. I will pass your note on to the Product team.
Thanks,
Nick
Dear Mr. Davies,
Thank you for your quick reply. There is nothing like Ventura Publisher. Microsoft Word (and even highly regarded Corel WordPerfect) cannot even compare themselves to what Ventura Publisher can do when it comes to the powerful tagging. With one click, anything that is tagged can be changed globally. To do anything like that in a word processor program – it might as well be retyped all over again. To change from one column to two, it takes just a few clicks. Do that with other programs and you might as well spend the rest of the night formatting.
The program has so much potential even where it is now. Tried to switch to Adobe Framemaker (and even gave Adobe Indesign a try) was like swallowing acid. Indesign, as powerful as it is, like other Adobe programs, is difficult to use. Menu and buttons make little sense.
At least please make it fully compatible with Windows 7 64 bit and make the PDF export work with Postscript type 1 fonts. (Turn around is to use Corel PDF Fusion.)
Lastly, a serious bug in Ventura that has been around since version 8 or so – place the cursor on bottom of a page, move it to the next paragraph, hit back space a few times to close the gap (between paragraphs), program crashes. It is not due to the graphic driver (current driver is used). Happens in Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 (both 32 and 64 bit versions).
I think the program sort of disappeared because it was not marketed properly. The program can do * so * much. Its integration with Corel Draw (it can import CDR files) is terrific. If it’s not going to get a major upgrade, please provide a bug fix.
Another bug – in Windows 7, sorting (in index), A and a are not grouped together. I read somewhere that it’s a Windows bug (what else is new..)
THANK YOU!
Wtin Jalanugraha
Wtin@yahoo.com
Ditto. Please don’t let this wonderful product (Corel Ventura) die. Pleasse!!!!!
You can have a look at what other loyalists think about Corel Ventura at :
desktoppub.about.com/b/2010/10/08/anyone-still-using-corel-ventura.htm
I hate it when Adobe did this and now I hate it that you have followed suit. I have been a Corel licensed user since 3.0. I guess my last version is what I will live with from now on. You can keep your subscription based model. Subscription based model == Greed.
Hi Jeff,
Subscription is just one new option – we have no plans to stop delivering perpetual license (box) or download versions of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite. Our goal is to give our users more choice. We’ve done a significant amount of research on this and many users, like you, prefer to stick with their box or download software purchases. We recognize that there are also many others who want the option to subscribe, so we are focused on providing flexible options that let you choose.
Thanks,
Nick
It’s so great that CorelDraw is moving to such greater heights throughout the years. I just wished it was produced for Mac as well. I now use Illustrator on a Mac but will forever love CorelDraw. If it will be produced for Mac in the future, that would really make my day.
Mr Nick, please get a foot into any ventura forum to get an idea of the need of it by his powerusers (ventura evangelists). Ventura is still the best DTP application around. Indesign 6 is not as fast or powerfull as ventura (still) is.
Tony
For me, it will depend on how rhis new subscription model affects your product pricing.
Hi Eddie,
Our new subscription model is designed to offer more flexible pricing to our customers. The cost to subscribe month over month or year over year offers benefits for some customers because it prevents the need for a higher upfront payment. Subscription also provides the opportunity (if purchased monthly) to effectively rent the software on a shorter term basis, if you only need it for a limited time. For other customers, purchasing the product in the traditional way (either a Full or Upgrade version) will remain the right choice. For us at Corel, we just want to provide choice, flexibility and options to suit all of our customers’ needs.
Thanks,
Nick
So sorry to have gone off the subject of Corel Draw subscription, but dear Mr. Davies, I found this link that should interest you about Ventura Publisher. It still has a lot of fans out there. http://desktoppub.about.com/b/2010/10/08/anyone-still-using-corel-ventura.htm
There is nothing like it. Adobe Indesign is not flexible and is not a good tool to use for long documents. Ventura Publisher is a perfect combination of desktop publishing and word processing. Its tagging function saves hundreds of hours of work that no word processing programs can do. With it, there is no need to go over the document from page 1 to 1,000 (or more, as it’s a great program to work on long document) – to reformat. Change the formatting a paragraph that is tagged “body text” and everything in the document that is tagged with the same name changes. Other programs may have caught up – but Ventura Publisher is still a speed king.
Please submit this idea to the product team. I will pay whatever you charge to upgrade the program to the next version.
p.s. I beta tested version 8 and 10.
Thanks for being such a loyal Corel user! While we fully understand the unique qualities of Ventura, we will continue to review our entire product portfolio based on market conditions, user demands and future opportunities.
I am a current Adobe CS subscription user. I chose to go that way because I could install any program they offered onto my computer. I am happy with it and the pricing…so far. I have paid thousands of dollars on Adobe products.
As far as CoreDraw goes, I have been using it since ver. 1.0. I have also paid thousands of dollars on CorelDraw. Can I please have a subscription for free? I think I have earned it! I am currently using X5 and I’m happy with it. It is still my main tool for creating logos, etc. I have to use Illustrator for many things, but it is still very frustrating since I have used CorelDraw for so many years. I don’t have a need for a subscription for Draw. It would not make financial sense since I will only buy a version of Draw every two or three years.
Ventura Publisher… my old friend… you have changed so much. I also used Xerox Ventura Publisher ver. 1 in the GEM environment. Ventura was KING! I did everything from 200+ page manuals to simple flyers and everything inbetween on Ventura. Their ability to create Styles was so far ahead of everything else. I used it through version 5, I think. I am sorry to say that Corel ruined it when it first got a hold of it. At that point there was nothing else that could perform like Ventura. I used Quark, FrameMaker, PageMaker and am currently an InDesign user. I miss Ventura, but haven’t used it for years. For those, above, who claim that InDesign can’t do what Ventura does, do not know how to use the program. Yes, it has a somewhat steep learning curnve—every program does now because of the vast amount of functionality that they cram into every program. Ventura had an extremely steep learning curve when it first came out. That was its most criticized aspect, that it was SO HARD to learn. I learned it, mastered it and created everything under the sun with it. Now I do the same with InDesign. It has paragraph styles, character styles, and so much that allow you to create some of the most interesting documents and more. I know. I do it every day, all day. It is a tool, just as CorelDraw, Illustrator and Photoshop, all of which I use on a daily basis. Corel could make a killing if they revived Ventura and made it a seamless part of the Draw suite, much like InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop work together. That would give something for Adobe to worry about!
Hello,
Thank you for your note and thank you for being a long time CorelDRAW user. Nick passed your note along to me, as I’m the Senior Director of Product Management for Graphics.
As mentionned earlier, we wanted to provide our users choice when it comes to getting access to the latest versions for CorelDRAW. As a CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5 user, you are eligible to purchase the upgrade of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6 at a much reduced price and get access to the new typography and color styles engines which will be very useful when creating logos.
Once on X6, you will have the choice to add a Premium Membership that will provide you with even more content, early access to new features and upgrades to new major releases as long as you have a valid Premium Membership. Do you want to get a taste of what is coming with the X6.2 update before the end of 2012 for Premium Members? Check out my blog at CorelDRAW.com/blogs/gerard
If you prefer, you can subscribe to CorelDRAW and always be up-to-date, getting the benefits of both the latest version of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite as well as the full Premium Membership benefits as long as you remain a subscriber.
Thanks,
Nick
Hello,
since 1989 I make my living with Ventura – EVERY day for hours – making my computer life very comfortable in writing handbooks for machines. I have tested Adobe programs and use MS Word, but I am missing many features and the reliability of Ventura.
I would love to buy a current version of Ventura along with DRAW, both as German version, just to be compatible with my customers. It should be able to output PDF along with foreign font types, e. g. cyrillic.
Rolf
Thank you very much for your interest in Corel software.
The latest version of CorelDRAW has full Unicode support as well as advanced OpenType functionality, e.g. you will be able to with the German version of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X6 and create documents with Cyrilic characters. Why don’t you try it for yourself by downloading the free trial from http://www.corel.com/coreldraw? Regarding Ventura, we haven’t made any announcements regarding a new version at this time.
Thanks,
Nick