CorelDRAW Tutorials : How to create chisel effects in CorelDRAW 11: Part 1

By Steve Bain

In this visit to the CorelDRAW 11 toolbox, you'll discover a technique to creating perfectly chiseled shapes. Chiseled shapes enable you to create the 3D illusion of shapes which appear either recessed into or raised above a flat surface (as shown next) from simple two-dimensional shapes. Success will depend on your object's shape, skill with node editing and path commands, and an effect or two.

Before you begin, do a little setting up
Before you begin the exercises to follow, it'll help immensely for you to ensure a few invaluable snap settings are selected in CorelDRAW 11. You'll need to check that certain Snap options are active using the Options dialog. To get set up, follow these steps:

1. Choose Tools, Options to open the Options dialog.

2. Under the Workspace heading, click Snap to Objects. Ensure the Snap to Objects is selected active and click both the Snap to Nodes and Snap to Object Center Points options are selected (shown next).

3. Click OK to close the dialog and accept your changes and you're ready to start.

Creating the chisel shape path
The key to the riddle of a successful chisel shape lies in creating a new path to represent the center between two existing paths. You could manually draw the shape with mastery of the Freehand or Bezier tools, but that could take considerable time and effort, and the result may not be entirely accurate. This is where the Blend Tool can help. By creating a single blend step between two existing paths, you'll be able to quickly create a new path automatically. In most cases, you'll be able to use the resulting shape with very little node editing. But as you'll discover, the process isn't without its little tricks.

To familiarize yourself with the process, try these steps:

1. Choose the Ellipse Tool and create an ellipse of any size or shape. Make it a circular ellipse by holding Ctrl as you create it.

2. Create a copy of your new circle centered within the original by holding Shift as you drag one of the corner handles toward the inside of the original, then clicking the right mouse button to create the copy (as shown next).

   

3. Choose the Pick Tool (press Spacebar), select the two circles, and convert them both to curves (Ctrl+Q).

4. Choose the Interactive Blend Tool and click-drag from the edge of one circle to the other to create a default blend effect. Using Property Bar options, set the Number of Steps option to 1. This will create the chisel path (shown next).

   
   
   
   
   
   
   

5. Using the Pick Tool, right-click the blend object and choose Break Blend Group Apart to break the link between the original circles and the blend.

6. Select only the blend object and press the "+" key on your numeric keyboard to create a copy superimposed over the original. With the copy still selected, hold Shift, click the outer circle and combine the two paths to make a compound path (Ctrl+L). Send the new object to the back (Shift+PageDown).

7. Click to select the original blend object and hold Shift while clicking the innermost circle to select both objects. Combine them into a single compound object (Ctrl+L). You now have two separate compound paths.

8. Select both objects and fill them with any color (Red for example), and choose the Interactive Fill Tool (G). Using Property Bar options, choose Radial from the Type menu to fill both with a default red-to-white radial fill.

9. Offset the centers of each radial fill. Drag the white marker on the outer object to the upper-left and the white marker of the inner object to the lower-right. This will enable you to simulate basic shading (as shown next). Remove any outline properties from the objects and you're done.

   

In the circle example, you were able to create the chisel effect using a series of unbroken circular paths. But, if the shape you're attempting to apply this effect to feature corners, the process becomes slightly more involved and requires the blend step process as well as node editing. This is where the effect really takes off though. Let's take a simple square as an example:

1. Using the Rectangle Tool, create a square shape (hold Ctrl to constrain). As you did with the circle, create a smaller copy inside the original by dragging a corner handle inward while holding the Shift key and clicking the right mouse button to make the copy (as shown next). Select both objects and convert them to curves (Ctrl+L).

   

2. Using the Blend Tool, create a single blend object by dragging from one shape to the other (shown next). Then, using the Pick Tool, right-click the blend object and choose Break Blend Group Apart from the popup menu. This will represent the chisel path.

   

3. Select only the blend shape and press numeric "+" to make a copy. Hold Shift and click to select the outer square and Combine the two shapes (Ctrl+L).

4. With your shape still selected, choose the Shape Tool (F10) and click any node on the shape. Then, using Property Bar options, click the Select All Nodes and the Break Curve buttons (shown next), to select and unjoin all the nodes at once. Then separate all the lines in the shape using the Break Apart command (Ctrl+K). This process essentially reduces the shapes to lines.

   

5. Next, we'll join each pair of lines representing the sides of the shape. Using the Pick Tool and while holding the Shift key click to select the first pair of lines and Combine them (Ctrl+L). Then, choose the Shape Tool and choose the node pair at one end and click the Extend Curve to Close button in the Property Bar (shown next). This will add a straight line between the two nodes. Repeat this operation for the node pairs at the opposite end. Once you are complete, the shape will be a closed curve.

   

6. Repeat the above step for each pair of lines, first combining them and then joining the node pairs. In the example shown next, all sides of the outer shape have been combined into closed curves.

   

7. You'll also need to repeat this process for the inner shapes. Click to select the original blend path object and combine it with the innermost square. Then select and break apart all curve nodes and break apart the entire arrangement. Choose each line pair and combine them, and close each end using the Extend Curve to Close button. The result will be eight closed shapes. Although we haven't yet explored the shading aspects of the chisel effect (which we'll do in part 2 of this article), the example shown next demonstrates the final result with various colors and shades applied to each side.

   

Variations on the chisel
You may not always need to create a negative and a positive shape for the chisel effect. In some instances, you might simply need to create the effect of a complete shape carved onto (or into) a surface. In this exercise, there is no need for the blend step, but there is certainly more emphasis on node editing and drawing. Let's take a simple polygon as the example and create a chiseled star shape:

1. To begin, choose the Polygon Tool (Y) and create a default symmetrical polygon shape by holding Ctrl to constrain the shape as you drag. Using Property Bar options set the Number of Points option to 5. If needed, increase the depth of the star spikes by holding Ctrl and dragging any of the shape nodes toward or away from the center of the shape (as shown next).

   

2. You'll also need to create an object to use as a snapping guide. For this, choose the Ellipse Tool (F7) and create a circular ellipse (hold Ctrl) slightly smaller than the inner area of the star. Select both shapes and press E and then C to center the two objects vertically and horizontally with each other (as shown next).

   

3. Using the Pick Tool, select the star and convert it to curves (Ctrl+Q). Then choose the Shape Tool and hold Ctrl+Shift while clicking any node to quickly select all nodes composing the shape. Using Property Bar options click the Break Curve button and then press Ctrl+K to break apart the lines in the shape.

4. In this next step your node-snapping settings will be really pay off. Click to select one of the original star lines to select it and choose the Bezier Tool. Notice the nodes at either end are visible. Click any node and then click the dead center of the circle to add a straight line. Then, click the remaining node on the opposite end of the original line to close the shape (as shown next). This will create a single chisel side.

   

5. Repeat this process for each of the 9 remaining lines which composed the original star. To do this quickly, press the Spacebar to toggle your tool state between the Bezier and Pick tools using the Pick Tool for selecting and the Bezier Tool for drawing. Once all 10 lines have been completed, the effect needs only to be colored or shaded (as shown next). Once you are finished, be sure to select and delete the circle shape and remove any outline properties from the star chisel shapes.

   

Steve Bain is an award-winning illustrator and designer, and author of nearly a dozen books including CorelDRAW The Official Guide.

CorelDRAW Tutorials : Mastering CorelDRAW's Mesh Fills

By Steve Bain

Mesh fills offer you the power to solve many types of realistic illustrative challenges with a minimum of objects. But, few new users take the plunge and dive into the complex depths of this slightly intimidating CorelDRAW feature. Next, we'll take some of the mystery out of working with mesh fills and explore a few simple, practical applications.

Not much has changed since mesh fills first appeared in the CorelDRAW 9 Toolbox, which take advantage of state-of-the-art PostScript 3 technologies. Technically speaking, mesh fills enable you to apply multiple omni-directional color over a single object using a customizable grid structure. On a simpler level, you might think of applying them as freestyle custom fountain fills. Mesh fills can be applied to any vector or bitmap object not already applied with some other effect.

You'll Need Two Basic Skills
In CorelDRAW, mesh fills are controlled using the Mesh Fill tool. If you already have an understanding of how béziers curves are controlled and how color is applied, you'll find mesh fills relatively simple to grasp. Once a mesh is applied to an object, you'll see the grid structure composed of nodes and curves. Nodes and béziers can be manipulated just as you would the shape of any other vector object. The areas separated by the grid lines may be individually applied with different colors. Both operations are functions of the Mesh Fill Tool located in the Toolbox grouped with the Interactive Fill Tool (as shown next).

Once the Mesh Fill Tool is selected simply clicking an object begins the process. The Property Bar (shown next) features options for creating the initial grid and features béziers controls for setting the condition of line segments (either straight or curved) and nodes (cusp, smooth, or symmetrical). There's also a slider option to set the Smoothness of selected paths.

Applying Your First Mesh Fill
If you haven't already toyed with this feature, these simple steps might help get you started:

1. Create and/or select the object you wish to fill with a mesh and apply any required color. Use any uniform or fountain fill color.
2. Choose the Mesh Fill Tool and notice the grid settings are automatically previewed over the object.
3. Customize the grid shape by dragging any node or line segment. As soon as you do, the object automatically (and permanently) becomes a Mesh Fill object-indicated by the Status Bar. The example shown next began as a Rectangle and was applied with a simple 3 by 3 grid.
4. To apply color, do either of the following: click to select an area of the grid and click a color well, or; drag a color well onto an area or an intersection point on the grid from your onscreen color palette.
5. To end your Mesh Fill editing session, click the Pick tool.

Controlling the Grid Shape and Color
As soon as an object is clicked with the Mesh Fill tool it becomes a mesh object, with the current grid values applied. To automatically add or remove vertical and/or horizontal grid lines, enter values in the Property Bar Grid Size boxes. To shape specific portions of the grid at the béziers level, click directly on the segments or nodes and drag to reposition them or use the Property Bar options to alter their state. Perfecting a grid can take a few minutes, but the more accurate it is, the more satisfying the results will be once your color is applied.

As you shape the mesh, you'll notice there are two basic types of nodes and line segments. The perimeter set controls only the shape of the object while the mesh grid set controls only the shape of the grid (as shown next). Both behave as you would expect, meaning you can move lines and nodes by dragging, or add and/or delete nodes using double-click actions. There is one key difference to note though-double-clicking a perimeter node simply deletes the node, while double-clicking nodes which join to the perimeter or to other grid lines deletes the specific grid line.

When applying color to the grid, you can drag directly from your onscreen color palette directly onto the grid. As you'll see in the illustration shown next, you'll encounter two different types of mesh anatomy onto which color may be applied: Grid areas (known as "patches"), and; grid intersection points and object nodes. As you drag color onto a grid patch, the cursor will feature a color square, and as color is dragged onto an intersection point or object node will feature an outlined square of color.

Mesh Fills in Action
Since mesh fills create fluid color using a single object, they're perfect for taking the place of complex blends in specific illustrative operations. Illustrators will often use complex blends to emulate depth when a mesh fill object will do the job more efficiently.

The example shown next is an illustration of Toronto's CN Tower structure surrounded by clouds. The sky background is an ordinary rectangle applied with a linear fountain fill, but the clouds are mesh fill objects applied with shades of blue. The finished clouds in this case were Powerclipped into the rectangle. A close up view of the clouds shows the mesh grid line structure and the colors applied to the patches.

The next example shows a complex bird illustration. In this case, the body and one wing have been applied with mesh fills. Duplicates of these objects show the carefully shaped grid and applied colors which compose the mesh fills for the body and wing parts.

This fish illustration (shown next) features a single mesh fill object to give color to the body of the fish. The mesh fill object duplicated on the right shows the grid shape and color. The remaining detail was created using other vector objects.

A Few Valuable Tips
As is the case with most complex tools, mesh fills are even easier to work if you know the ins and outs. As your learning curve flattens out, keeping these next few tips and techniques in mind will help you create more advanced meshes and make your mesh fill sessions more rewarding.

Begin with Simple Shapes
The first trick deals with shaping your object and grid. If the object you start with is a natural shape such as a rectangle or apply the grid first, then refine the perimeter of the shape before shaping the grid. Since grids are first applied with even spacing, create more grid lines you need initially-you can always delete the unwanted grid lines as you refine the grid shape. The next example illustration shows the original ellipse that was used as the basic shape for our fish body mesh.

Begin with Fountain Fills
The next tip will help speed your mesh color applying operations. Before applying your mesh, start by applying either linear or radial fountain fills to your object. Make it as close to your final mesh coloring as the fountain fills allow, using custom fountain fills if necessary. The quickest way to apply these is through use of the Interactive Fountain Fill tool. When your mesh grid is applied, the fountain fill will establish the foundation for your mesh fill (as shown next) and many of your final colors may already be in position.

Create a Unique Color Palette
Since the color palette plays a key role in applying color to the mesh grid, it will help a great deal to have the specific colors you need at the ready. One quick way technique to use for creating colors for mesh fill depth effects is to first create a blend effect between two ordinary objects filled with the highlight and shadow colors needed using enough blend steps to create the needed colors. Then, break the blend apart and create a unique color palette - if only temporarily - based on the blend colors. In the example shown next, a cloud color palette was created based on a series of blended objects.

To do this quickly, click to select the blend objects using the Pick Tool and choose Window, Color Palettes, Create Palette from Selection. Use the Save Palette As dialog (shown next) which opens next to name your and save your new palette. Once saved, the new palette will appear automatically in your CorelDRAW application window ready for use.

The illustrative effects you can create using mesh fills are much more elegant than alternatives techniques such as blends or other workarounds. As you progress in your mesh fill projects you may be surprised how easy they are to learn and master.

Steve Bain is an award-winning illustrator and designer, and author of nearly a dozen books including CorelDRAW The Official Guide.

About CorelDraw

CorelDRAW is a vector graphics editor developed and marketed by Corel Corporation of Ottawa, Canada. It is also the name of Corel's Graphics Suite. Its latest version, named X3 (actually version 13), was released in January 2006.

Supported platforms

CorelDRAW was originally developed for Microsoft Windows and currently runs only on Windows 2000 and newer versions. The current version is X3 (actually version 13.0.0.739) an update on the original January 2006 version making it Windows Vista compatible.

Versions for Mac OS and Mac OS X were at one time available, but due to poor sales these are now discontinued. The last port for Linux was version 9 (released in 2000, it really didn't run natively, instead it used a modified version of Wine to run) and the last version for OS X was version 11 (released in 2001). Also, up until version 5, CorelDRAW was developed for Windows 3.1x and OS/2.

Development history

In 1985, Dr. Michael Cowpland founded Corel to sell Intel-based desktop publishing systems.

In 1987, Corel hired software engineers Michel Bouillon and Pat Beirne to develop a vector-based illustration program to bundle with these desktop publishing systems. That program, CorelDRAW, was initially released in 1989. The program was well received, and Corel soon focused on software alone.

CorelDRAW came into its own with Microsoft's release of Windows 3.1. The inclusion of TrueType in Windows 3.1 transformed CorelDRAW into a serious illustration program capable to use system-installed outline fonts (it included its own proprietary outline font system) without requiring third party software such as Adobe Type Manager.

Characteristic features

Several innovations to vector-based illustration originated with CorelDRAW: a node-edit tool that operates differently on different objects, fit text-to-path, stroke-before-fill, quick fill/stroke color selection palettes, perspective projections, mesh fills and complex gradient fills.^{[citation needed]}

CorelDRAW differentiates itself from its competitors in a number of ways. The first is its positioning as a graphics suite, rather than just a vector graphics program. A full range of editing tools allow the user to adjust contrast, color balance, change the format from RGB to CMYK, add special effects such as Vignettes and special borders to bitmaps. Bitmaps can also be edited more extensively using Corel PhotoPaint, opening the bitmap directly from CorelDRAW and returning to the program after saving. It also allows a laser to cut out any drawings

CorelDRAW's chief competitors are Adobe Illustrator and Xara Xtreme. Although all of them are vector-based illustration programs, the user experience differs greatly between the two. For instance, CorelDRAW and Xara Xtreme can work with multi-page documents directly; Illustrator only offers a single-page layout view, but it will allow you to divide that large layout in the print options so that it prints on multiple pages. While these programs will read their native file types and vice versa, the translation is almost never perfect. CorelDRAW can open Adobe PDF files: Adobe PageMaker and InDesign, Microsoft Publisher and Word, and several other programs can print documents to PDF using the Adobe PDFWriter printer driver, which CorelDRAW can then open and edit every aspect of the original layout and design. CorelDRAW can also open PowerPoint Presentations with little or no problem.

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite

Over time, additional components were developed or acquired and bundled with CorelDRAW. The list of bundled packages usually changes somewhat from one release to the next. There are several mainstays that have remained in the package for many releases now, however: PowerTRACE (a bitmap to vector graphic converter), PHOTO-PAINT (a bitmap graphic editor), and CAPTURE (a screen capture utility).

The current version of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite, X3 (actually version 13), contains the following packages:

• CorelDRAW: Vector graphics editing software
• Corel PHOTO-PAINT: Raster image creation and editing software
• Corel CAPTURE: Enables several methods of image-capture
• Corel PowerTRACE: Converts raster images to vector graphics.
• Pixmantec RawShooter Essentials: Support for RAW file format

Features by version

• Ver. 2 (1991): Envelope tool (for distorting text or objects using a primary shape), Blend (for morphing shapes), Extrusion (for simulating perspective and volume in objects) and Perspective (to distort objects along X and Y axes).

• Ver. 3 (1992): Included Corel PHOTO-PAINT* (for bitmap editing), CorelSHOW (for creating on-screen presentations, CorelCHART (for graphic charts), Mosaic and CorelTRACE (for vectorizing bitmaps). The inclusion of this software was the precedent for the actual graphic suites.

• Ver. 4 (1993): Included Corel PHOTO-PAINT* (for bitmap editing), CorelSHOW (for creating on-screen presentations, CorelCHART (for graphic charts), CorelMOVE for animation, Mosaic and CorelTRACE (for vectorizing bitmaps). The inclusion of this software was the precedent for the actual graphic suites.

• Ver. 5 (1994): This is the last version which was made for, and works on Windows 3.x. Corel Ventura was included in the suite (and then sold as a separate program). It was a layouting software akin to PageMaker or InDesign.

• Ver. 6 (1995): This is the first version which was made exclusively for 32-bit Windows. New features were customizable interface, Polygon, Spiral, Knife and Eraser tools. Corel Memo, Corel Presents, Corel Motion 3D, Corel Depth, Corel Multimedia Manager, Corel Font Master and Corel DREAM (for 3D modelling) were included in the suite.

• Ver. 7 (1997): Context-sensitive Property bar, Print Preview with Zoom and Pan options, Scrapbook (for viewing a drag-and-dropping graphic objects), Publish to HTML option, Draft and Enhanced display options, Interactive Fill and Blend tools, Transparency tools, Natural Pen tool, Find & Replace wizard, Convert Vector to Bitmap option (inside Draw), Spell checker, Thesaurus and Grammar checker. The suite included Corel Scan and Corel Barista (a Java-based document exchange format).

• Ver. 8 (1998): Digger selection, Docker windows, Interactive Distortion, 3D, Envelope and tools, Realistic Dropshadow tool, interactive color mixing, color palette editor, guidelines as objects, custome-sized pages, duotone support. Corel Versions was included in the suite.

• Ver. 9 (1999): Mesh fill tool (for complex color filling), Artistic Media tool, Publish to PDF features, embedded ICC color profiles, Multiple On-screen Color Palettes and Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications 6 support. The suite included Canto Cumulus LE, a piece of software for media management.

• Ver. 10 (2000): CorelR.A.V.E. (for vector animation), Perfect Shapes, Web graphics tools (for creating interactive elements such as buttons), Page sorter, multilingual document support, navigator window.

• Ver. 11 (2002): Symbols library, image slicing (for web design), pressure-sensitive vector brushes, 3-point drawing tools.

• Ver. 12 (2003): Dynamic guides, Smart Drawing tools, Export to MS Office or Word option, Virtual Segment Delete tool, Unicode text support.

• Ver. X3 (2006): Double click Crop tool ( the first vector software able to crop groups of vectors and bitmap images at the same time), Smart fill tool, Chamfer/Fillet/Scallop/Emboss tool, Image Adjustment Lab. Trace became integrated inside Draw under the name PowerTRACE.

Trivia

• The software mascot was originally a moustached man with a hat called Waldo. "Waldo" was the code name for the first version.
• The first versions of CorelDRAW included its own proprietary fonts, which had the extension .wfn (Waldo fonts).
• CorelDRAW can actually be used to create TrueType fonts since at least version 4, although the creating of kerning pairs still cannot be adjusted inside the program. Later CorelDraw versions can export also PostScript and OpenType fonts.[1]
• In 1998, a vector illustration of Hedy Lamarr's face was used by Corel Corporation on the packaging and in the publicity for its CorelDRAW 8 software. Lamarr sued Corel for damages relating to unauthorized use of her likeness. The case was resolved in 1999 and settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, under terms that allowed Corel five years of exclusive rights to the image.
• South Park characters, scenery, and props are drawn using CorelDRAW.[2]
• Several versions of CorelDRAW/CorelDRAW Graphics Suite were released for the Macintosh OS with the latest being version 11. [3],