How to Create Designs With CorelDRAW 12
The strength of CorelDRAW 12—the version of the art program prior to “Creative Suite”—is its intuitive handling and usability, enabling even the newest user to almost immediately create designs, even without instruction. And, with its deep core of design tools, CorelDRAW 12 also offers a lot of room for designers to develop their skills.
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Step 1
Choose “File” from the menu and select “New from Template.” In the pop-up box that appears, choose the pre-installed “BusLet_009″ (if this particular template is missing, choose another full-page graphic template). A pre-built graphic design should appear, in this case a faint planet Earth on a soft gradient with a border on the left side of the page. Click on the far-left graphic element—the long, thin ornamental border—and “Delete” it.
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Step 2
Use the “Pick Tool.” All of the elements on this page were created in CorelDRAW, and all the pieces can be moved, modified, or deleted. By choosing the “Pick Tool” from the Toolbox toolbar and left-clicking and holding down the mouse button, draw a bounding box around the entire graphic. All elements of the graphic will become apparent when you release the mouse button. The two top elements are text boxes, and one vast text box covers the dominant space of the body of the graphic.
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Step 3
Experiment with the various elements on this template by double-clicking on the pre-loaded elements such as the two invisible header boxes at the top of the work area. Add text, and change styles by manipulating size, color, bold and italics. This graphic is suitable for a flier, or even letterhead. Experiment in creating various styles.
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Step 4
Click on the globe shape in the center of the template. You will be clicking on a large text box that is one layer above the globe shape. Move this text box to the right side of the screen in order to access the globe shape. Right-click on the globe and select “Ungroup” from the drop-down menu. You now have access to the three separate elements that comprise the globe graphic. Select each in turn and choose new colors.
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Step 5
Click on various tools from the “Toolbox” toolbar, such as the “Ellipse” tool to add a circular shape, or on the “Freehand Tool” to incorporate drawings or unique lines. Also, rearrange the various graphic elements that were part of the original template.