CorelDRAW Graphics Suite vs Microsoft Publisher

Likelihood to Recommend

The tool is fairly easy to pick up and do some basic functions. Which makes it great for non-design folks to participate in collaboration. It also has a lot of power so we can take ideas and really refine them into a quality design. Although I say I like collaboration, this tool does not offer a shared interface where multiple people can work on a project at once. The would be an interesting upgrade to see this ability of teaming in a design environment.

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Verified User

Manager in Product Management

Accounting Company, 5001-10,000 employees

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Microsoft Publisher is well suited for almost any situation. It is something that I'm sure has far more advanced tools than I use or am aware of, but it is also very simple for entry-level users to create professional documents quickly. I have used it for very involved brochures in real estate scenarios and I have also used it for very simple "Construction Zone" signs at a job site under construction. There are so many uses for this program!

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Ashley Vogler

Executive Assistant

Spiegelglass ConstructionConstruction, 11-50 employees

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Pros

Easy to learn - especially if you have experience with other graphic software. It is fairly intuitive which is helpful.
Creating high resolution graphics is a breeze with this software - and it has the ability to export into a large variety of formats!
I am able to import a wide variety of file formats. I have also had success with importing and editing PDF files which has been helpful.

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Pam Fultz

Marketing/Development Coordinator

Sidney-Shelby YMCANon-profit Organization Management, 51-200 employees

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Business cards
Internal memos that use a logo or a little bit of design.
Quick and simple flyers for internal events.

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Robb Auspitz

Owner

Groovy Hemp Company LLCInternet, 1-10 employees

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Cons

Documentation on many features are absent or obscurely hidden which I feel deters users from learning about or how to use certain aspects and features of the suite.
VBA in Corel is a major asset and used by many. The lack of knowledge of VBA from many users could be addressed with a more user-friendly way of creating custom macros and toolsets. I feel Corel should implement a user-friendly way of creating custom macros as the VBA abilities of Corel are a major asset that could generate more users and sales while giving current users a more powerful way of using the suite.

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Richard Reilly - Fluid

Executive Creative Director

Fluid DesignsApparel & Fashion, 1-10 employees

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The greatest shortcoming is large (300+ page documents) that require lots of internal hyperlinks. While it can do it, I can tell, due to the way it bogs down, that I am pushing the program to its limits.
I would like to be able to work better with pdf's. I would like the ability to import a pdf of a graph, picture, or some other object directly into a Publisher document. Currently, I have to first convert the pdf to a jpeg and then import the jpeg. I have not found a way around this issue.
At one point, I thought I had the option to automatically turn off hyphenation. Somewhere along the way, it seems as if the default for everything is hyphenation is turned on. I detest hyphenation and turning it off on every box I create becomes cumbersome.
More options for graphics. Particularly the defaults that allow you to place "frames" and effects around photos. More options.

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Terry Goodman

Secretary of the Annual conference

Holston Annual ConferenceReligious Institutions, 11-50 employees

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Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

Yes

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

Starting Price

$249 per year

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite Editions & Modules

Edition

Download	$499.00¹
Physical Edition	$499.00¹
Subscription	$249.00²

One Time Fee
per year

Additional Pricing Details

—

General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

Starting Price

$139 one time purchase

Microsoft Publisher Editions & Modules

Edition

Microsoft Publisher	$139¹

one time purchase

Additional Pricing Details

—

Usability

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 8.0

Based on 1 answer

Just like any design program or suite, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who doesn't do graphic design professionally. If you're not adept at learning a program or experience, it isn't a program you can just pick up and start using easily. Outside of the learning curve, it's a nice program with a decent user interface.

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Mandy Cramer

Graphic Designer

Miss Mandible DesignsGraphic Design, 1-10 employees

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Microsoft Publisher 10.0

Based on 1 answer

It has a great feature set but does not overwhelm me with its complexity. This is not an entry-level program, but it is also not one of the top of line graphic designer programs, like Abode In-Design. I can use Publisher to do 95% of what I need to get done. The other 5% I farm out to the graphics design person in the organization. It simply works and does so in a simple to use manner.

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Terry Goodman

Secretary of the Annual conference

Holston Annual ConferenceReligious Institutions, 11-50 employees

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Support Rating

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 8.3

Based on 20 answers

Overall, CorelDRAW meets all my needs as a researcher and allows me to create beautiful and clear graphics to illustrate the main ideas for publications. It does not lack any functionality for my needs; however, it has some bugs that impact productivity, such as the color drag and drop that sometimes stops working and needs restarting, and crashes, especially when working with large bitmaps.

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Pablo Lacerda Silva

PhD Candidate

The University of British ColumbiaHigher Education, 10,001+ employees

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Microsoft Publisher 8.0

Based on 6 answers

While I have not directly used support for Microsoft Publisher, I have used their help files and found them to be useful. I have also found that most answers that I need can be found through simple web searches and chat platforms. In all though, there are very few times when the preloaded help files have not given me the answers that I need.

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Kathryn Juarez

Community Relations Director

Boley Centers, Inc.Mental Health Care, 51-200 employees

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Alternatives Considered

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite has the advantage of a fair price, tools are on par with what Adobe Illustrator, many I find far simpler to work with, I have had firsthand experience where CorelDRAW Graphics Suite has been head and shoulders above anything else on the market. I have used free software that is extremely cumbersome, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite beats them hands down all day long.

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Daryl Garner-Savory

General Manager

Elemod ElectronicsDesign, 1-10 employees

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Microsoft Publisher is more for beginners, or for basic needs, anyone with some familiarity with the Microsoft suite should be able to use it easily. If you’re looking to create something more graphic and advanced, you’d probably want to look into something like InDesign, which is not as user friendly if you’re not familiar with it at all. For basic needs the average employee should be able to use Microsoft Publisher with ease.

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Amanda Carpenter

Administrative Office Technician

Lebanon Campus of Harrisburg Area Community CollegeHigher Education, 1001-5000 employees

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Return on Investment

Ease of use reflects on less time to train new users, a positive impact in investment and productivity.
The practicality to make new designs results in less time needed to do them, again a positive impact.
The integration with other graphic programs could be better if needed to finish a rendering using the design made in Corel Draw it's needed to export in formats that don't carry all information and the process is not that simple.

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Stéfano Bellote

Engenheiro de desenvolvimento de produtos Jr

ElectroluxConsumer Goods, 10,001+ employees

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Allowed us to created our own documents/educational material for patients. In previous practices I have worked we had to buy "pamplets and brochures" which were very costly.

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Kristen Lysobey

Medical Assistant

Sound Foot and AnkleMedical Practice, 1-10 employees

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CorelDRAW Graphics Suite vs Microsoft Publisher