The applications target illustrators working on technical documents and instruction manuals.Corel Corp. this week launched Corel Designer Technical Suite 12, its graphics suite targeted at technical illustrators.
"There's no other product on the market that has this functionality for this price," said Nick Davies, general manager of graphics for Corel.
"This is targeted for technical illustrators, particularly those in the automotive, aerospace, apparel and electronics fields."
Corel Designer Technical Suite 12, according to Davies, is ideal for creating technical documentation, instructional manuals and maintenance references, and the suite lets technical illustrators work with precision and speed.
"Other products with the same kind of powerful applications can run into the thousands. We're selling this for just $699 or $299 to upgrade," Davies said. "We think there's definitely a niche in the market for this."
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Corel Designer Technical Suite 12 includes: Corel Designer 12 for technical illustration and layout; Corel Photo-Paint 12 for professional image editing; CorelTrace 12 to convert bitmaps and legacy paper documents into vector graphics; and Corel Capture 12 to create screen captures, an integral component of many technical documents.
"We're trying to create a product that makes it as easy as possible on the designers. We think for small shops, this will be an ideal solution," Davies said.
Corel Designer Technical Suite 12, according to Corel, offers high-end benefits in an affordable technical illustration package.
These include: professional, specialized precision drawing capabilities including the new Projected Drawing Mode; the ability to maximize data integrity by offering more than 75 import export filters, including AutoCAD 2004, CGM and SVG; a customizable and scriptable environment; powerful language support including Unicode; as well as access to industry-standard templates and symbols.
"With tools like advanced Call-Outs and the new Projected Drawing, Corel's Designer Technical Suite 12 is ideally suited to the technical illustrator's workflow needs," said Dr. Jon Peddie of Tiburon, Calif.-based Jon Peddie Research.
"Combined with a robust image editing application, this cost-effective suite is like no other on the market."
Davies says that this upgrade, unlike some, is really about new functionality and better workflow tools for illustrators.
"We're big in Europe, too. We have a very large installed base, particularly in Germany, that can't wait to use this. Our product hits a real sweet spot."
Corel Designer Technical Suite 12 is available to customers worldwide through Corel and its reseller partners.
Suggested retail pricing for Corel Designer Technical Suite 12 is $699 for the full product and $299 for the upgrade. A $99 education license is also available to qualified customers.
Upgrade pricing is open to customers who own the following software applications: Corel Designer versions 9 and 10, Micrografx Designer (any version), Micrografx/iGrafx Business, Micrografx/iGrafx FlowCharter, Micrografx Picture Publisher, Microsoft Visio, Autodesk AutoCAD LT and ACD/Deneba Canvas.
For more information about Corel Designer Technical Suite 12, or to download a free, fully functional trial version, visit www.corel.com/designer.
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