Alternatives to CorelDraw

[randyc]

Hey guys, looking for an alternative to CorelDraw.  At my current company, we may need 1 or 2 drawings per month.  Sometimes simple, sometimes not.   Corel X3 was stable and worked fine.  But will not work on Win 10.   So what suggestions might you guys have that are no more than Corel or even cheaper.   

We have to do sign and canopy image drawings for convenience store renovations.  Usually permit drawings or proposed elements laid over a photograph.   I like Corel, but hte internet buzz is that current version is unstable and Corel wants to force you to pay $200/year subscription fee.   At our current level, not really worth it - may just set up an old PC to make drawings.  No connection to internet or server for security.  HAve to flash drive everything from PC to server.  

Any suggestions?   Thanks.

[Russell C]

Problem with getting an old PC and putting the Corel on it is that you'd also have to install the MicroSoft Windows virus on it to use it.

Me, I still use my 2007 era iMac that's so obsolete it can't handle the internet any more. But it handles my Corel 11 just fine. I'd rather have my Corel 5 again, but oh well. Just a bit of a tiny chore to save my Corel photo alterations in a thumb drive and plop them down in this computer.

[peteski]

Inkscape is a freeware vector-based drawing program.  I'm surprised that Corel Draw X3 (aka 13), will not run in Windows 10.

An alternative is to install a virtualization program on Windows 10, create a virtual machine (VM), install  older OS on that VM (like Windows XP), then install the older Corel in that VM.  That is how I'm running Corel 10 (on XP VM) on a Windows 10 machine.  There are several virtualization environments available. I'm using freeware VirtualBox

 

[randyc]

  On 2/8/2020 at 5:12 AM, Russell C said:

Problem with getting an old PC and putting the Corel on it is that you'd also have to install the MicroSoft Windows virus on it to use it.

Me, I still use my 2007 era iMac that's so obsolete it can't handle the internet any more. But it handles my Corel 11 just fine. I'd rather have my Corel 5 again, but oh well. Just a bit of a tiny chore to save my Corel photo alterations in a thumb drive and plop them down in this computer.

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I already have a PC with my Corel on it.  So that wouldn't be an issue.  It's just that Microsoft is no longer supporting Win7.  Or at least that's what they are telling me.  I don't pay attention to that stuff anymore. Just do what the boss wants and we're trying to figure this out.

Thanks for the input

[randyc]

  On 2/8/2020 at 8:15 AM, peteski said:

Inkscape is a freeware vector-based drawing program.  I'm surprised that Corel Draw X3 (aka 13), will not run in Windows 10.

An alternative is to install a virtualization program on Windows 10, create a virtual machine (VM), install  older OS on that VM (like Windows XP), then install the older Corel in that VM.  That is how I'm running Corel 10 (on XP VM) on a Windows 10 machine.  There are several virtualization environments available. I'm using freeware VirtualBox

 

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I'll bring that up the the boss and computer guy.  

Thanks

[my66s55]

I run Windows 10 on a VirtualBox set up on my Linux machine. Works great. 

[peteski]

  On 2/8/2020 at 1:47 PM, randyc said:

I'll bring that up the the boss and computer guy.  

Thanks

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I should have also mentioned that VirtualBox can create a shared local folder to seamlessly access files in that share on both the native OS, and on the OS running inside VirtualBox.   That is how mine is set up, because the WinXP VM has its network disabled (it is my company's policy to keep old versions of Windows off the network for security reasons).

Edited February 8, 2020 by peteski

[chasracer]

Did you try running the software as an Administrator?

Right click the icon and select "Run as Administrator".

[randyc]

  On 2/8/2020 at 6:23 PM, peteski said:

 (it is my company's policy to keep old versions of Windows off the network for security reasons).

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That is why I had to update my PC.  That and the end of support for whatever old Office version we were running.  It was time.  I was resistant.   Just seems like I am so familiar with X3 and it's quirks that it is a shame to have to upgrade.  Especially no more than we really use it anymore.  WE try NOT to do drawings because they eat up time and money.  I am the only one that really uses it at this point.    Thanks for the input.

[randyc]

  On 2/8/2020 at 8:15 AM, peteski said:

Inkscape is a freeware vector-based drawing program.  I'm surprised that Corel Draw X3 (aka 13), will not run in Windows 10.

An alternative is to install a virtualization program on Windows 10, create a virtual machine (VM), install  older OS on that VM (like Windows XP), then install the older Corel in that VM.  That is how I'm running Corel 10 (on XP VM) on a Windows 10 machine.  There are several virtualization environments available. I'm using freeware VirtualBox

 

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Ok, I'm looking at the manual for the VirtualBox.   Do I have to have a Win XP (or whatever) OS install disc to make the older OS?  Not sure if we have any of those around.   My PC is a new build, so it's not an upgrade and many of those old Win discs were probably lost when we moved to this location.  I know we did some serious "inventory reduction" when we moved.

[randyc]

Our IT guy will not recommend the Virtual Box setup to the boss, so that's out.   He says we'd have to buy a WIN8 license, then take chance on the old WIN securtiy issues coming up and biting us.  For better or worse, we have to adhere to our IT guy's recommendation.  Durn it.   So to fool the system, it would apperently be more expensive than buying the new crappy Corel.  Which the boss will do if we have to. 

He bought Corel 18 last year, which allows 3 separate installs, but only use one at a time.  He put it on his laptop but we decided to wait on other machines and now we can't install on the other 2 machines - not available for d/l now.  

I found some workaround solutions that work for some, but apparently my machine has too new a build to allow the workarounds.  And it is not an upgrade to 10, but a new 10 build.  

We do have extra monitors, so in theory I could set up my old PC to run only when Corel is needed and transfer files via flashdrive.   Boss is very sensitive to security issues in the PCs.   He's been burned before.  

So the saga goes on...

[Dave Van]

  On 2/8/2020 at 5:12 AM, Russell C said:

Problem with getting an old PC and putting the Corel on it is that you'd also have to install the MicroSoft Windows virus on it to use it.

Me, I still use my 2007 era iMac that's so obsolete it can't handle the internet any more. But it handles my Corel 11 just fine. I'd rather have my Corel 5 again, but oh well. Just a bit of a tiny chore to save my Corel photo alterations in a thumb drive and plop them down in this computer.

 

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My 1998 W98 PC still runs fine. I use it to run CorelDraw 8 which I need for ALPS and an engraver. 

There are a few free graphics pgms out there '............google 'free vector pgm'.

[peteski]

What is the reason for not using Virtual Box?

Yes, VirtualBox VM is basically like out-of-the-box PC with nothing installed on its virtual hard drive.  To install the OS you need either physical media (like a CD/DVD) or an image of a CD (.iso file).  I'm sure you could find a copy of XP CD lots of places (like eBay).  If you still have your old XP product key, you should be able to use it on the new install.

Like Dave, I still run Win98SE on one of my home PCs for my Alps printer, and I use Corel 10 on it.  Actually that PC is dual-boot and ti also has a copy of XP installed on it (and Corel 12).

And yes, there are free vector drawing graphic programs out there. Most popular seems to be Inkscape.

Edited February 12, 2020 by peteski

[randyc]

  On 2/12/2020 at 10:28 PM, peteski said:

What is the reason for not using Virtual Box?

Yes, VirtualBox VM is basically like out-of-the-box PC with nothing installed on its virtual hard drive.  To install the OS you need either physical media (like a CD/DVD) or an image of a CD (.iso file).  I'm sure you could find a copy of XP CD lots of places (like eBay).  If you still have your old XP product key, you should be able to use it on the new install.

Like Dave, I still run Win98SE on one of my home PCs for my Alps printer, and I use Corel 10 on it.  Actually that PC is dual-boot and ti also has a copy of XP installed on it (and Corel 12).

And yes, there are free vector drawing graphic programs out there. Most popular seems to be Inkscape.

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I think the real reason is that the IT guy doesn't want to fool with it.  I have to work within that framework.  I think we're just going to set my old machine up in a separate office to draw on on the rare occasions when I need to draw.   Transfer the files to flash, then to server.   No time to deal with today unfortunately... maybe back to it in a few days.  

[peteski]

  On 2/13/2020 at 4:38 PM, randyc said:

I think the real reason is that the IT guy doesn't want to fool with it. 

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There is nothing to fool with.  You install it like any other Windows program. You start it, set up a virtual machine. Then you start it (it shows up as a window on your desktop) then you install OS on it.  That's pretty much it.  Windows 10 still runs on the computer, then your VM shows up as a window on the Windows 10 desktop.

But yes, if your IT guy is not on board with it, then this is doomed.

[randyc]

It is doomed.   Thanks for trying though.

[blunc]

Paintshop Pro (also a Corel product) handles rastor and vector files, and it's usually less than $100

[randyc]

  On 2/15/2020 at 8:59 PM, blunc said:

Paintshop Pro (also a Corel product) handles rastor and vector files, and it's usually less than $100

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I'll have to look into that one as well.  

[Bugatti Fan]

I think that there is an option within newer windows programs to enable older programs to run on it such as ones that ran on XP.  Worth interrogating your PC to see how this works?

There is a large company named RS Components who have a 3D CAD program that can be downloaded for free. I think it is named Design Spark Mechanical for drawing 3D Solids. Worth a look if anyone is thinking about 3D Printing. I would guess that their program can output files compatible for 3D printers. They also have a PCB design program and a Sheet Metalwork Development CAD Program I believe. If anyone on here is already using it I would be interested to know how good it is.

Google had a 3D program named Sketchup some time back. Not sure if this is still available. Another program named Pro/Desktop used to be available free to schools until support was dropped about 10 years ago. This program may be avaoilable as free downloads from some sources still. The RS one appears to be the most current one.

Edited March 5, 2020 by Bugatti Fan

[randyc]

Good suggestions.  We ended up just using the old PC with no internet access.  Flash drive to transfer to new PC and server for archiving.  I think I've used it twice since we started this thread so it's not a really big deal.  

[peteski]

  On 3/7/2020 at 3:34 PM, randyc said:

Good suggestions.  We ended up just using the old PC with no internet access.  Flash drive to transfer to new PC and server for archiving.  I think I've used it twice since we started this thread so it's not a really big deal.  

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That's exactly what I do at home. My XP and Win98SE are still alive and well, and running my old programs.