Two years since the impressive X3 release Corel has finally announced the launch of its X4 Suite.

New highlights include:

Live Text Preview - so that you can quickly explore different font choices in situ. And more fonts are included in the package...

Tom Arah shows you how to uncover Adobe Illustrator’s creative depths.

Ten years ago today’s market-defining vector drawing package, Adobe Illustrator, was an underpowered embarrassment. Compared to pioneering rivals such as Xara and Expression (see previous article), Adobe’s flagship just wasn’t able to produce work with the same creative depth...

VERDICT: Disappointingly cut-down graphics application designed to work hand-in-hand with Expression Blend.

When Microsoft bought the innovative graphics application, Creature House Expression, there was brave talk of taking on Adobe Illustrator in terms of vector handling, Photoshop in terms of bitmaps and Fireworks in terms of web graphics...

RECOMMENDED

VERDICT: A greatly improved working environment and ground-breaking new colour handling make Illustrator seem fresher than ever.

At almost 20-years old, Illustrator is the veteran of the core CS3 applications and at one stage looked ready to be put out to pasture...

VERDICT: New multiple page support and improved text handling and workflow integration but the program’s main strength remains its underlying speed.

Xara has always stood out for the astonishing speed of its vector handling and for the hands-on creativity that this enables...

RECOMMENDED

VERDICT: Powerful and creative colour handling add-on for Adobe Illustrator - and amazing value

When thinking of add-on filters most users would immediately think of Photoshop but there’s another very important, and very different, platform: the vector-based Adobe Illustrator.