Corel BF Sale (Graphics and Video) up to 60% off

[mettelus]

Corel had a sale that "ended" last night (and missed the deadline on), but when I added PhotoMirage to my cart at 1 AM it came up even cheaper! The sale is still on, with bigger discounts, so is worth sharing. The link is here.

I have had VideoStudio Ultimate for a few years now, which is a nice lightweight video editor (sale is $49.99 versus $99.99). That program typically updates early in the calendar year, and I wait till the upgrade goes on sale.

I was actually interested in PhotoMirage, which is another lightweight editor to add motion to a picture (coverts to a video or gif file). That is on sale for $34.99 versus $69.99. The interesting side-effect is that it is bundled with ParticleShop & WinZip 23. I had never heard of ParticleShop before, which is a dynamic brush plugin for Photoshop, Lightroom, Corel, and "some other graphics programs." I was having more fun with ParticleShop after buying PhotoMirage, and it was included for free (the 11 core brushes are not bad at all, but apparently they get more revenue from the brush sets than the program - and there are a truckload of them). ParticleShop is a plugin, so I had to Google to find out where it embedded itself into Photoshop on me.

[Brian Walton]

PotoMirage was $1 at humble bundle twice now.  (which also included Particle Shop - the standard set) the 2nd time they offered it.

 

 

[antler]

If anyone's thinking of getting CorelDRAW, here's something to keep in mind. Apparently this version will be the final version that has upgrades: as I understand it, there are three approaches to getting the next version (whenever it comes out):

• Buy it 'full' priced (i.e. not at upgrade price)
• Pay a subscription (where if you stop paying, you can't use the software anymore)
• Pay for their upgrade plan: this is like a subscription, but you can keep the last version you had if you stop paying

I don't think this applies to any other product in their range.

[Brian Walton]

16 minutes ago, antler said:

If anyone's thinking of getting CorelDRAW, here's something to keep in mind. Apparently this version will be the final version that has upgrades: as I understand it, there are three approaches to getting the next version (whenever it comes out):

• Buy it 'full' priced (i.e. not at upgrade price)
• Pay a subscription (where if you stop paying, you can't use the software anymore)
• Pay for their upgrade plan: this is like a subscription, but you can keep the last version you had if you stop paying

I don't think this applies to any other product in their range.

And on that front.

Highly recommend checking out Affinity's 30% off all products for the end of the week sale.   https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/

Buying Photo, Designer and Publisher provides both Pixel, Vector and Layout editing with INSTANT switching between each.  

$35 each is amazing for what it can do.  

 

(and cheaper ipad versions that also have pro features)

 

 

Edited November 25, 2019 by Brian Walton

[mettelus]

2 hours ago, Brian Walton said:

PhotoMirage was $1 at humble bundle twice now.  (which also included Particle Shop - the standard set) the 2nd time they offered it.

That is good to know. I don't often see things unless they pass through this forum, and should probably check out humble bundle more often "just because." The name alone wouldn't have gotten my attention, but the examples on their page sure did (the surfer one is probably the most impressive). For $1 that is definitely a no brainer. Without someone chiming in and saying what it is and why its cool, the name recognition can fall short for a lot of products.

The brush packs for Particleshop are NOT cheap, even bundled... and I only saw the bundles in the app itself, which only shows 12 of the included packs per set. As far as I can tell, the best of the packs (like Fabric Fantasy) are not bundled, only separate. Not the best marketing out there, and is $24.99 for roughly 15 brushes per pack. It is a bit difficult to find clear information on the web on them as well...

 

[antler]

1 hour ago, Brian Walton said:

Highly recommend checking out Affinity's 30% off all products for the end of the week sale.

Agreed. I was going to mention Affinity, but wasn't sure if it'd be taking the thread OT. I bought Photo a while ago as a replacement for Corel PhotoPaint (can't justify buying Photoshop for my usage pattern), and really like it. Recently bought Designer because I didn't fancy signing up for a Corel subscription. I might look into Publisher one day.

[Some Guy]

5 hours ago, Brian Walton said:

PotoMirage was $1 at humble bundle twice now.  (which also included Particle Shop - the standard set) the 2nd time they offered it.

 

 

Also Painter 2019, PSP 2020 Ultimate, Pinnacle Studio 23 Ultimate (like < 1 month after release, Lol), AfterShot Standard, and some Brush sets.

They're going to have a hard time selling anything, even at these prices, after the Bundle they put up a month or two ago.

Poor coordination and communications between departments, perhaps?

1 hour ago, antler said:

Agreed. I was going to mention Affinity, but wasn't sure if it'd be taking the thread OT. I bought Photo a while ago as a replacement for Corel PhotoPaint (can't justify buying Photoshop for my usage pattern), and really like it. Recently bought Designer because I didn't fancy signing up for a Corel subscription. I might look into Publisher one day.

Affinity Photo > PaintShop Pro, although PSP does have at least basic Assets Management built-in.

CorelDraw >>> Affinity Designer and Affinity Publisher - It isn't even close, however...

… you have to be a legit professional (or a Prosumer with money to burn) to justify paying for CorelDraw, which is still available as a perpetual license.   CorelDraw includes Corel PhotoPaint, which is a better - less cluttered - Bitmap/Photo Editor (it was their product before they acquired PaintShop Pro).

Most companies going to subscription are doing it the "Microsoft Way," not the "Adobe Way."  They will obviously prefer you to subscribe, for obvious reasons, but the perpetual licenses are still available.

[Brian Walton]

4 hours ago, antler said:

Agreed. I was going to mention Affinity, but wasn't sure if it'd be taking the thread OT. I bought Photo a while ago as a replacement for Corel PhotoPaint (can't justify buying Photoshop for my usage pattern), and really like it. Recently bought Designer because I didn't fancy signing up for a Corel subscription. I might look into Publisher one day.

You might consider Publisher for no reason other than once you have it, you can switch between Designer and Photo instantly.  All 3 have to be installed on the computer to make that magic happen.  I don't use Publisher a whole lot (yet - though I expect to appreciate it to create variations on Poster/Sign designs in a way that Photo and Designer just don't do super efficiently).

 

 

[Brian Walton]

3 hours ago, Some Guy said:

Also Painter 2019, PSP 2020 Ultimate, Pinnacle Studio 23 Ultimate (like < 1 month after release, Lol), AfterShot Standard, and some Brush sets.

They're going to have a hard time selling anything, even at these prices, after the Bundle they put up a month or two ago.

Poor coordination and communications between departments, perhaps?

Affinity Photo > PaintShop Pro, although PSP does have at least basic Assets Management built-in.

CorelDraw >>> Affinity Designer and Affinity Publisher - It isn't even close, however...

… you have to be a legit professional (or a Prosumer with money to burn) to justify paying for CorelDraw, which is still available as a perpetual license.   CorelDraw includes Corel PhotoPaint, which is a better - less cluttered - Bitmap/Photo Editor (it was their product before they acquired PaintShop Pro).

Most companies going to subscription are doing it the "Microsoft Way," not the "Adobe Way."  They will obviously prefer you to subscribe, for obvious reasons, but the perpetual licenses are still available.

 

I'm much more on the photo end of the spectrum (and do it professionally), but I have professional creative/design  friends that think the Affinity suite is better than CorelDraw.

Now if you are making technical illustrations, corel is just designed to do that better at this stage.  But for general art and mock up creation of a number of things, the seamless Pixel/Vector/Design Layout of the Affinity Trinity is basically unmatched and paired with a seamless workflow that extends to higher end ipads, I argue it is a stronger suite.  

Honestly I think it has more to do with the legacy of users that learned on it and are stuck (outside of the niche things it really does excel at).  Those are the ones that have to stick with CorelDraw.  I've seen the same thing with Adobe where people fear switching because they have used the product for 10+ years week in and out and just don't grasp that Affinity was smart enough to keep things more the same than different.  I know a few people that do use some specialized functions in Photoshop that Affinity doesn't have (yet).  But those are the exception.  

 

It is all about how you use the products.  I have a friend that is crazy talented, still uses a version of the Adobe Suite that is about 10 years old at this point and can create art that looks better than what Corel is even advertising with (which might not be saying much).  

I was surprised they are still trying to sell Painter for as much as they do.  A bit of the "old guard" in place where Adobe used to sell the products for $600+ for a seat of one of the tools.

 

Humble Bundle is also a limited audience and ran for what 2-3 weeks or so?  

Paintshop does have a DAM, but I never even tried to use it.  The main program is just too cluttered and is too different from Photoshop to make a swift transition.  

[smallstonefan]

I have Corel Suite and the damn thing spams me constantly on my desktop. This is a known issue and the workarounds to disable it don't stick. It's because of this that I would not recommend it to anyone...

[Brian Walton]

1 hour ago, James Foxall said:

I have Corel Suite and the damn thing spams me constantly on my desktop. This is a known issue and the workarounds to disable it don't stick. It's because of this that I would not recommend it to anyone...

I hate that as well.  If I had paid full retail it would bother me even more.  

I can't beleive the mesage supression notification in the program doesn't work, it can be maddening.  

[chris.r]

On 11/25/2019 at 7:29 PM, Brian Walton said:

PotoMirage was $1 at humble bundle twice now.  (which also included Particle Shop - the standard set) the 2nd time they offered it.

 

 

so I bought this $1 bundle but having extremely low knowledge about video and photo editing, need to ask a question: do I have to own any paid software to use what comes with this bundle? thx

[antler]

I have CorelDRAW 2018 and I like it; I just can't justify an upgrade to the latest version given both my usage pattern, and the upgrade cost.

The only other thing that drives me mad about the upgrade popups is that they have different discount levels on different days: in the last two weeks, I've had adverts seemingly randomly giving discounts of any of 15%, 30%, 50%, and 55%.

Edited November 26, 2019 by antler

[Brian Walton]

17 minutes ago, chris.r said:

so I bought this $1 bundle but having extremely low knowledge about video and photo editing, need to ask a question: do I have to own any paid software to use what comes with this bundle? thx

PhotoMirage is StandAlone.

Particle Brush is a Plugin....will require another application.  Affinity Photo will Run it (or Photoshop).  Not sure you would get much out of Particle Brush...it is more of a perk for those that are fairly serious about PhotoEditing or Creating Designs/Art.  You can get tons of Free Brushes not related to Corel for a Program Like Affinity.  

[chris.r]

26 minutes ago, Brian Walton said:

PhotoMirage is StandAlone.

Thanks! PhotoMirage looks useful if you want to add some animated photos as a background for your youtube music etc.

[Some Guy]

On 11/25/2019 at 11:15 PM, Brian Walton said:

I have professional creative/design  friends that think the Affinity suite is better than CorelDraw

It's not.

What suite is "stronger" depends on how strong they are at tackling all areas of Design and DTP, not whether or not they are strong and "feel better to use" in the subset of the market you choose to care about in the context of the discussion.

If you only use a small subset of the functionality, than the app may be better - for you, at that time, within the confines of your specific workflow... but it's still a worse overall solution because if you ever need to delve into more technical things, you're going to be at a disadvantage, anyways.  That's why people like these venerable apps like Photoshop, Illustrator, Draw, Quark, etc.

If I just need to save screenshots, then Microsoft Paint is superior to Adobe Photoshop.  If I just need to edit a configuration file, then Notepad may be better than Microsoft Word.

Things change a bit when you get to professional software, and people tend to prefer headroom because they know the app will grow with their needs reliably, instead of them having to fall back to making feature requests.  This is why many people will come to Cakewalk directly, instead of going to Audacity first.

Affinity also had massive performance issues up until relatively recently.  Including Broken Metal Support on macOS that took them over a Year to Fix.   Opening up large RAW files took forever, and then panning around the image had really bad performance and checkerboarding.   IMO, the software is not yet developed and maintained as professional tools.   No professional wants to run constant beta builds/pre-release software on their production workstation.

iPad use is not worth raving about because Surface Pro is actually a thing, and CorelDraw runs there while supporting the Windows Pen APIs and Touch /shrugs

In any case, it should still be the default for any non-professional or serious hobbyist, because the price is more than right and they do more than enough for those types of users.

You have to NEED CorelDraw, Photoshop, Illustrator, Quark, etc. to justify paying the price (subscription) to obtain them.

Paintshop Pro is bad.  I wouldn't even install it out of the Humble Bundle.  I'd get that bundle for Corel Painter (which is one of the best Digital Painting apps on the market) and maybe Pinnacle Studio 23 Ultimate if you need a decent lower-end video editor.

PhotoMirage, AfterShot, and ParticleShop... I wouldn't even bother installing them, personally.  The latter, because Painter handles PSD files without issue...

Edited November 27, 2019 by Some Guy

[Brian Walton]

7 minutes ago, Some Guy said:

It's not.

Thinking something is better is different than actually using it to do work.  If you have the right friends, they'll tell you Paint.NET is better than Photoshop, too.  CorelDraw is easily superior to Affinity Designer and Publisher, and they also have a CorelDraw Technical Suite that is used in industries where people will literally laugh at Affinity Designer.  It is used in the Automobile and Signage industries at a non-trivial levels.

Affinity Publisher is still missing many relatively basic features that people are waiting on.

There's a reason why they've been able to maintain the high price on CorelDraw, and they don't tend to do super discounts on it, almost ever.  The product has remained their flagship since ever.

Corel Painter is also known for being one of the best Digital Painting solutions on Windows or macOS.  It's really good.

The Corel Humble Bundle is up again, BTW ?    

So, anyone who missed it the first time can go and snag it.

Affinity Photo is great, especially in the prosumer market, and Corel doesn't really try to compete with Photoshop with PHOTO-PAINT, which is why it's bundled in the CorelDraw Suite (and basically not marketed to any decent degree outside of the bundling with CorelDraw).

PaintShop Pro is more for consumers/hobbyists who would buy the Adobe Photography Plan simply because it's Photoshop and Lightroom ("Industry Standard Effect").  IMO, it isn't that good, and has pretty bad performance.  The RAW editor is laughable, as well.

The biggest selling point for Affinity is the price.  They are really good for the market they are targeting.  They are denying expansion by companies like Adobe and Corel by giving a dirt cheap alternative of high quality to people who really don't need all of the power offered by applications from Adobe and Corel, among others.  At this point, many companies are depending on expansion into the prosumer/hobbyist/consumer markets to increase their usage number and revenue.

They are kind of like the VEGAS Pro of the Photography/Design/DTP market.

As I mentioned Corel is superior for technical illustration which is basically what your example is.

That is a very different need than creative/art application.  There are different aspects to better.  Affinity is more efficient at a number of things and not everyone needs the esoteric functions Corel or PhotoShop offer.   And that is infact important in the actual work world.   The integration between the 5 apps is a game changer for workflow 

It is about how you use the tools.  

I have friends with multiple Emmy wins, addy awards and a slew of other design honors.  It can be used for "work."  

Work isn't limited to technical illustration and product design.  Corel has its place but I think Affinity is better suited for the average general art creative.  

Current humble bundle is worth it if you can deal with the Corel spam that pops up on the desktop that basically can't be disabled.  

[Some Guy]

26 minutes ago, Brian Walton said:

As I mentioned Corel is superior for technical illustration which is basically what your example is.

That is a very different need than creative/art application.  There are different aspects to better.  Affinity is more efficient at a number of things and not everyone needs the esoteric functions Corel or PhotoShop offer.   And that is infact important in the actual work world.   The integration between the 5 apps is a game changer for workflow 

It is about how you use the tools.  

I have friends with multiple Emmy wins, addy awards and a slew of other design honors.  It can be used for "work."  

Work isn't limited to technical illustration and product design.  Corel has its place but I think Affinity is better suited for the average general art creative.  

Current humble bundle is worth it if you can deal with the Corel spam that pops up on the desktop that basically can't be disabled.  

1.  No, work isn't limited to technical illustration and product design, but even for the general art stuff, CorelDraw is better.  Corel has added the other stuff because it finished featuring up for the general art market like 1.5 decades ago.  They simply went in a different direction to software like Illustrator when they solved the basic problem for this genre of software, but still needed to continue developing and innovating so that they could sell upgrades to users - and push into new/other markets.

2.  Affinity is good enough for the average joe, because the average joe isn't a professional designer who may get work from clients that have different needs, or works in a business that targets a certain niche.  If you're just doing design for your personal website, YouTube channel, blog, sports club newsletter, etc... then you don't need anything more than Affinity's software.  Software like Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, CorelDraw, etc. would be a massive waste of cash resources.  Just get Affinity and move on.

I was more responding to your statement about your Design/Illustration friends saying Affinity is better.  

Having friends with multiple Emmy wins, Addy Awards, etc. does not mean that they used Affinity for the work that earned those awards.   You're speaking as if the two are mutually exclusive, and I can almost guarantee that they are not.  And if they did, Affinity would be singing about it on their websites.  I'm almost completely sure that work was done with Adobe software, and comparable solutions.   People don't just change software like this to save a few bucks, especially when they could otherwise just sit on CS6, anyways, since even a version of Adobe that old is more powerful than Affinity's software.

Most art designers aren't using Corel, unless they're digital painters (where Painter does see a lot of use).  Corel's software tend to be strongest in more niche markets (like WordPerfect Office in the Legal Market).

Most of these software packages are filled with esoteric features.  The reason why Photoshop and CorelDraw have more is because they finished implementing the basics 15-20 years ago, while Affinity has only just began 4-5 years ago.

Again, Affinity only has 3 Apps.  Photo/Designer/Publisher.  And the "integration" is actually not a game changer, because you can do the same thing with Adobe or Corel Software on a Surface Pro (and could even before Affinity's iPad apps existed).

Corel Software already use cross-compatible file formats.  Adobe already has Dynamic Link.

None of this is new or innovative.

What matters more is that when you load files from Photoshop, you routinely get elements that don't render properly and warn you about unsupported features in Affinity Photo/Designer.  This is why the market is pretty much locked into Adobe.  Because their software has implemented so many shortcuts (QoL/Convenience Features), etc. the files are basically locked into Photoshop even when other software claims great compatibility.  This is a big problem if you have to interchange files with users of Adobe Software.

You might use Affinity and send them a perfectly fine file, but what they send you back may have elements that do not display, or warn you about elements that cannot be loaded due to feature disparities between the applications (usually the file from Photoshop is the offender, not the other way around).

I own Affinity's software,  on both macOS and Windows.  They are not bad, or even close to bad.  They just are what they are, which is definitely not a replacement for Adobe or Corel, unless the end-user's needs are relatively hobbyist.   There are almost no professional photographers on the market that will prefer Affinity's RAW engine to Adobe Camera RAW. 

Edited November 27, 2019 by Some Guy

[Brian Walton]

1 hour ago, Some Guy said:

1.  No, work isn't limited to technical illustration and product design, but even for the general art stuff, CorelDraw is better.  Corel has added the other stuff because it finished featuring up for the general art market like 1.5 decades ago.  They simply went in a different direction to software like Illustrator when they solved the basic problem for this genre of software, but still needed to continue developing and innovating so that they could sell upgrades to users - and push into new/other markets.

2.  Affinity is good enough for the average joe, because the average joe isn't a professional designer who may get work from clients that have different needs, or works in a business that targets a certain niche.  If you're just doing design for your personal website, YouTube channel, blog, sports club newsletter, etc... then you don't need anything more than Affinity's software.  Software like Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, CorelDraw, etc. would be a massive waste of cash resources.  Just get Affinity and move on.

I was more responding to your statement about your Design/Illustration friends saying Affinity is better.  

Having friends with multiple Emmy wins, Addy Awards, etc. does not mean that they used Affinity for the work that earned those awards.   You're speaking as if the two are mutually exclusive, and I can almost guarantee that they are not.  And if they did, Affinity would be singing about it on their websites.  I'm almost completely sure that work was done with Adobe software, and comparable solutions.   People don't just change software like this to save a few bucks, especially when they could otherwise just sit on CS6, anyways, since even a version of Adobe that old is more powerful than Affinity's software.

Most art designers aren't using Corel, unless they're digital painters (where Painter does see a lot of use).  Corel's software tend to be strongest in more niche markets (like WordPerfect Office in the Legal Market).

Most of these software packages are filled with esoteric features.  The reason why Photoshop and CorelDraw have more is because they finished implementing the basics 15-20 years ago, while Affinity has only just began 4-5 years ago.

Again, Affinity only has 3 Apps.  Photo/Designer/Publisher.  And the "integration" is actually not a game changer, because you can do the same thing with Adobe or Corel Software on a Surface Pro (and could even before Affinity's iPad apps existed).

Corel Software already use cross-compatible file formats.  Adobe already has Dynamic Link.

None of this is new or innovative.

What matters more is that when you load files from Photoshop, you routinely get elements that don't render properly and warn you about unsupported features in Affinity Photo/Designer.  This is why the market is pretty much locked into Adobe.  Because their software has implemented so many shortcuts (QoL/Convenience Features), etc. the files are basically locked into Photoshop even when other software claims great compatibility.  This is a big problem if you have to interchange files with users of Adobe Software.

You might use Affinity and send them a perfectly fine file, but what they send you back may have elements that do not display, or warn you about elements that cannot be loaded due to feature disparities between the applications (usually the file from Photoshop is the offender, not the other way around).

I own Affinity's software,  on both macOS and Windows.  They are not bad, or even close to bad.  They just are what they are, which is definitely not a replacement for Adobe or Corel, unless the end-user's needs are relatively hobbyist.   There are almost no professional photographers on the market that will prefer Affinity's RAW engine to Adobe Camera RAW. 

I think you might be surprised at the products and tools used.

Yes, they have been doing it for a long time and a number of projects used Adobe (Affinity wasn't even on the market when they started winning awards).  

Crediting other software in use is outside of the scope of the contract they have with Adobe.  Given it provides a revenue stream, you can't go to a different company and say "we used your product for this" you can publically post it on your website.  

Adobe is a money machine and they throw money around in ways Affinity can't.  

It is no different than the music industry.  Since I use my real name here, I'm not going to give specifics.  I also have friends with Artist sponsorships with one of the top 2 guitar makers in the USA.  And guess what, they don't actually use their guitars in any meaningful way, but they do recommend them to students and fans.  

 

I agree that Affinity's built in RAW is not on ACR's level.  However, Capture One is the market leader for quality on that front.  And if you use a MAC, Affinity can use the MAC OS RAW processor which is the same thing Hasselblad Uses and also Formerly Appeture, so on the MAC platform Affinity can produce pro level RAW results.  Photoshop iteslf isn't exacly what most pros use to process RAW images in the normal workflow, that is more for one-off use..and most pros take a ton of pictures.

I personally use Caputre One and Affintiy as a combined workflow, just like people use Lightroom and Photoshop together.  

Edited November 27, 2019 by Brian Walton

[mettelus]

I am not sure if that Corel popup is the task or the service, but I have the services set to manual (required to use the apps), and the tasks disabled. I believe they are the tasks.

For the Services... type "Services" into Windows Search/Cortana, sort by name, and scroll down to "Corel License Validation Service ..." There are two with different text for the ... Right click one, select "Properties," and set "Startup Type" to Manual (in the middle). Repeat for the other. This will only start them when launching a Corel application, but they will run until the computer is reboot.

For the Tasks... type "Task Scheduler" into Windows Search/Cortana, click "Task Scheduler Library" in left pane, sort the right pane by name, and right click->disable each of the "CorelUpdateHelperTask ..." items listed (is also two in there).