Versions, versions versions! What's a scroller to do?

I am working hard to try and make the CorelDRAW tutorials accessible to as many as possible. CorelDRAW is not a cheap program and it can be confusing to know what to buy because of all the different versions. Let me try to take the mystery out of it in this post before we get into the meat of the program.

I am going to use Amazon.com as my price reference. You might find them cheaper at other discount online shops but be careful who you purchase from. It is important that you get a valid copy that has not been pirated. It's just not worth the headache of cleaning a virus from your computer. If you can not afford CorelDRAW there are free options available. I won't be doing tutorials on the other vector graphics programs because I use and like CorelDRAW.

You can also purchase CorelDRAW at Staples and other brick and mortar stores but expect to pay close to full retail. I purchased CorelDRAW X5 Home/Student from Staple last night. The price was $129. As you will see you can buy if for nearly half that price on Amazon.com

Let me finish this section by saying that all the versions listed below will work fine for creating scroll saw patterns. I will be using X5 for the tutorials and you should be able to follow along just fine with any of the following versions. The Amazon prices listed below could change and availability is limited in some case. Not all products you buy from Amazon are sold by Amazon.com. They use outside vendors for some products. I have always had good luck buying from Amazon but I know some of you don't like to purchase online. The price is a little higher in your local stores but at least it is available.

CorelDRAW X5 Full version. Amazon Price $308.50

This is the full version. This gives you a license that covers commercial use. If you plan to use this software in a business environment this is the version you should buy. It is functionally identical to the versions below. The difference is the license and more of the "extra" content.

CorelDRAW X5 Educational version. Amazon Price $86.24

This version is the Educational package. It is again functionally identical to the other packages but it requires the purchaser to be enrolled in or employed by an institution of education with a valid ID. It's a good idea to visit the Corel site and read the requirement before you buy this version. It will work fine for the tutorials.

CorelDRAW X5 Home/Student. Amazon Price $67.99

This version is intended for the casual home user. The license says it is not intended for commercial use. There are no checks as in the educational version and no ID is required to purchase the program. I think this will cover most of you that just want to make patterns for your scroll saw. Read the license and decide for yourself if this version is right for you. I purchased this version specifically for the tutorials. If you purchase this version the tutorials should match exactly what you see in the videos.

CorelDRAW X4 Full Version. Not Available on Amazon.

Same as the X5 full version with fewer new features. It should work fine with the tutorials with a few minor differences that I will hopefully catch and point out.

CorelDRAW X4 Home/Student. Amazon Price $49.99

Same as the X5 Home/Student version with minor difference. Should work fine with the tutorials.

I hope this clears up the confusion over versions. All of these will work just fine. If you have a version older than X4 there will be some differences that could cause the tutorials to be difficult to follow. The older versions still work great for creating scroll saw patterns and I would not upgrade just for these tutorials. Many of the tools still work the same they are just not all in the same place on the user interface.


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