Well finally got Corel X3 after a suitable wait for the bugs to be ironed out, and was looking forward to getting up and running etc. I thought I would be clever and go for the 'Academic' version as I did before with 12 and 11 and was mighty pleased to pay just $85.....
But....when I load Corel Trace the version that appears on screen is actually Corel 12 Trace, anyone come across this ? I assume now that the Academic version is 'trimmed down a bit' so perhaps it was not such a good bargain after all.
Apart from that I really like it, anyone out there still wavering about and making do with 11 or 12, go for it, time to move on !!

Simon Cork
Sheffield UK

"Do not forget to survey the land on both sides before building a bridge"

HI Simon
There is no separate trace program in X3. The trace program is built right into it. If you click on a bitmap there will be an icon on the toolbar asking if you want to trace it. There is also a lot of pieces that don't come in the Academic program. X3 is far beyond what the older versions were. The only thing that takes a little getting used to is text along a path works very different now. I was part of the beta for X3 and didn't like the text along a path then, now I love the new features.

Simon,

It's hard to imagine an academic version of X3, (made for the purpose of training) showing up as X3-lite.

As far as I know, academic versions of software are fully functional, with the proviso (whether adhered to or not) that the program can't be used for commercial purposes.

Just a general statement, with no specific knowledge of Corel X3.

With Adobe the academic programs are identical, but some of the extras are not there. For example in GoLive they drop a few of the "actions" which let you drag & drop special features onto web pages. The academic gives you about 90% of the actions included with the full version. With Photoshop I think you are also missing a few actions or maybe a couple of filters. But the program themselves are identical.

I don't know how Corel does it.

Thank you for the response, job sorted, aren't forums great..... I was importing a bitmap then loading Corel Trace via the 'launch application' button, not realising it was now called 'Power Trace'
I have been one of those who prefer to digitize manually, even after trying Corel 12 Trace, but I have to admit that the X3 built in feature is very good, will give it some serious practise.
The Academic version still has the manual, but it is in pdf format and I think Fosters e book is a better bet and not that expensive. I have never been that keen on Corel manuals personally.

Simon Cork
Sheffield Uk

"The path forward is wide so avoid narrow tunnels"

I thought you could only upgrade from the last version that was released (C12).......

In my case I would have to upgrade from Corel 5...... I think that is a "New" purchase..

When I started out 2 1/2 years ago I had an old cd of Corel Ver. 3. I emailed Corel and asked if I could upgrade from 3 to 12. They said if any version of Corel was installed I could do an upgrade.

A lot of industry experts recommend upgrading every other release.

Mark,

I agree with James. I've upgraded from version 3 to 9 then from 9 to X3 with no questions asked.

The reason I always buy the academic version is because in the UK it is so much cheaper than the upgrade, let alone the full version. At one time you had to prove you were a student, which I am part time, so that was ok. Now it seems like anyone can get it with no problem, I know you do not get support or backup from Corel with academic.
On the other point, I have often been told that an upgrade version of any Corel is identical to a new boxed version, the only difference being when you load an upgrade it seeks out your own sequrity code then starts to load

Simon Cork

Hi Barb,

I just upgraded from v12 to 13. I like the trace function a lot better in 13 but I don't like the zoom out function as well as in 12. In 12 you can hit F3 to zoom out to your previous zoom. I am having to learn to work around that. For me, the trace upgrade was worth the change.

If you're an ARA member, you can get the ARA discount for the X3 upgrade (Corel Graphics Suite - including Draw, Paint & more) for $139.

www.ara.org