Illustrator shortcuts for Corel Draw

[mikebatho]

Hi.

I've been using Illustrator for 20 years now, and like all designers, I have the shortcuts burned into my brain. When I work it's like playing the piano... I don't even think about which shortcut keys I'm pressing - it's second nature.

I'm going to be doing a job for a local firm who use Corel Draw on PCs only. I'm seeing that many of the tools are similar, but the shortcut situation is driving me crazy. I keep hitting keys thinking I'm in Illustrator and of course I'm getting completely different reactions.

Has anyone out there been in a similar situation? I believe you can customise your shortcut keys, but that would only help if when I go in to work at the company's offices, I have my own machine, which might not be the case. I can't go screwing around with PCs used by other people, as they're likely used to Corel's default settings, and my PC laptop is too small to take in there....

Does anyone have a comprehensive list of keyboard shortcuts fro Corel Draw 2018? I keep finding google links that when they open, show listings for x7, x6 etc. Are they the same?

Or do I duct tape my left hand behind my back and give up on shortcuts for now while I learn the software?

A bit of advice would be very welcome, thanks.

*EDIT* As another option, does anyone know if any older versions of Illy will work on Windows 10? ie versions on disc I might be able to pick up cheaply, before they went CC? If I can't get to grips with CorelDraw I thought I could maybe do the bulk of the work on Illy & export as eps files to finish in Corel (gradients, text etc)

 

[eyoungren]

*EDIT* As another option, does anyone know if any older versions of Illy will work on Windows 10? ie versions on disc I might be able to pick up cheaply, before they went CC? If I can't get to grips with CorelDraw I thought I could maybe do the bulk of the work on Illy & export as eps files to finish in Corel (gradients, text etc)

Our company uses Adobe CS2 on Win7/Win10 PCs for the editorial side. That's ID, PS and Illy.

I use CC17 on Mac at work though. But my shortcuts for ID are set up as closly as I could manage to the shortcuts QuarkXPress uses. I was using QXP from 1999-2011 so converting to ID was traumatic. Making the environment as closely linked to QXP as I could made the transition easier.

I've never used Corel Draw and my knowledge of Illy over these past 19 years has only been what I need to know in order to get AI/EPS art processed for use in newspaper ads. So I can't really help there simply because the only real shortcuts I know for Illy are the very basic ones.

 

[dwig]

I have Ai CS2 running fine on my Win10 box. As a rule, Windows is far better at supporting elderly apps than macOS.

Last I looked (CDRv12) there were preprogramed keyboard shortcut sets selectable in Preferences. One of which mimics Ai's shortcuts. I haven't look for this in my v14 as I'm reasonable used to CDR's shortcuts.

 

[mikebatho]

Cool, thanks. I just need to find a cheap copy somewhere....

 

[MBAir2010]

WOW corel draw is still alive?
wow i used that to compose a business journal back in 1997-99, with pagemaker on a compaq PC
the command should be the same, just the funky square button is our command but C V P X drag mouse to rescale are the same as illustrator. the trick is to reminder the 4 square key
Go Boncos!

 

[mikebatho]

The immediate issue I'm having is say I'm drawing bezier curves with the pen tool, H + mouse drag to move the page along, it doesn't automatically switch back to the pen tool. I have to select the pen again from the tools bar, then click the last anchor point....

I noticed that you can change the tools menu to look like Adobe Illustrator, which would be a handy function if it worked lol.

but I guess that isn't really helping me learn Corel....

 

[MBAir2010]

years ago my very experienced friend rode my motorcycle said it was weird, almost crashed
he has a crotch rocket, and had to get use to sitting up on my Vulcan.
i guess you need to adjust slowly and realize this is a temporary project that will be over soon.

 

[mikebatho]

Ha... actually, I'm kinda hoping it will be a long, ongoing business relationship that will run and run haha

 

[MBAir2010]

Ha... actually, I'm kinda hoping it will be a long, ongoing business relationship that will run and run haha

then you will adjust and get used to the program eventually, i think i did back in 1997

 

[mikebatho]

then you will adjust and get used to the program eventually, i think i did back in 1997

Did your motorbike have very high pedals, Yoda?

 

[MBAir2010]

im

Did your motorbike have very high pedals, Yoda?

thanks for freaking me out, I'm right now working on comic character based on yoda!
I'm trying to understand the yoda reference, aha, Vulcan is a kawasaki motorcycle model.

 

[mikebatho]

im

thanks for freaking me out, I'm right now working on comic character based on yoda!
I'm trying to understand the yoda reference, aha, Vulcan is a kawasaki motorcycle model.

I was referring to your infinite wisdom haha

 

[dwig]

The immediate issue I'm having is say I'm drawing bezier curves with the pen tool, H + mouse drag to move the page along, it doesn't automatically switch back to the pen tool. I have to select the pen again from the tools bar, then click the last anchor point....
...

I haven't used the newer releases of CDR enough to know of any specific "fixes". The last version that I've used extensively (80% of my day, 5 days a week for about 6 years) was v12 and there was no fix in that version. I haven't found a fix in v14 (my current version), but I haven't looked very hard. In v12, there was no way to do a momentary toggle to the "hand" tool. You could only switch to the tool and then manually switch back your previous tool.