CorelDRAW Graphics Suite vs. Microsoft Publisher

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite
Score 9.7 out of 10
N/A
Corel Corporation, headquartered in Ottawa, offers the CorelDRAW Graphics Suite, a graphic design studio and library of tools.
$249
per year
Microsoft Publisher
Score 7.5 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Publisher is a desktop publishing application available with an Office 365 subscription, or as a standalone download.
$139
one time purchase
Pricing
CorelDRAW Graphics SuiteMicrosoft Publisher
Editions & Modules
Subscription
$249.00
per year
Download
$499.00
One Time Fee
Physical Edition
$499.00
One Time Fee
Microsoft Publisher
$139
one time purchase
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
CorelDRAW Graphics SuiteMicrosoft Publisher
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
CorelDRAW Graphics SuiteMicrosoft Publisher
User Ratings
CorelDRAW Graphics SuiteMicrosoft Publisher
Likelihood to Recommend
9.8
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.4
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
CorelDRAW Graphics SuiteMicrosoft Publisher
Likelihood to Recommend
It is a perfect suite of applications to finish presentations and create beautiful layouts for design. It is very useful both for graphic design and for architecture design when you want to draw a realistic idea of a project without being a rendering or when you need to present both images and vectorial drawings.
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Microsoft Publisher is well suited for almost any situation. It is something that I'm sure has far more advanced tools than I use or am aware of, but it is also very simple for entry-level users to create professional documents quickly. I have used it for very involved brochures in real estate scenarios and I have also used it for very simple "Construction Zone" signs at a job site under construction. There are so many uses for this program!
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Pros
  • Ease of use is a major factor in our choice for the CorelDRAW Graphics Suite. With intuitive interface terminologies, users are able to jump right into the applications with ease and confidence.
  • The ability to customize the Suite to fit your particular needs is a major strength of the CorelDRAW Graphics Suite. CorelDRAW customization abilities are endless and can turn the default Graphics Suite into a fully customized powerhouse application catered to a designer's specific wants and needs.
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  • Microsoft Publisher is just like Word, but Publisher, give much more features like multi page printing of single image and banner
  • We have faced very much difficulties for picture control in Microsoft Word, but Microsoft Publisher has much advanced picture. Control features with multiple alignment and distortion correction function.
  • We are also using Publisher for big banners for streets for promotion of our products, which is helping us on a very large scale advertisement with in-house design, designing, and printing of large banners easily
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Cons
  • The bitmap edit feature to edit images. The pop out is clunky and with it was a bit more integrated.
  • Trace - Would love to see this strengthened. We love to scan in hand drawn things to turn to vector and would love to see the accuracy increased.
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  • Formatting in general. It's a pain to refine a layout in Publisher in my opinion.
  • Microsoft is so invested in their approach to software and making it look and feel like an Office 365 application that they inadvertantly cripple applications like Publisher.
  • Earlier versions of Publisher gave you a lot more latitude and creative freedom. They were also much easier to work with. Not everything has to look like it's part of Office 365. They did the same ... thing to Access.
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Usability
Just like any design program or suite, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who doesn't do graphic design professionally. If you're not adept at learning a program or experience, it isn't a program you can just pick up and start using easily. Outside of the learning curve, it's a nice program with a decent user interface.
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It has a great feature set but does not overwhelm me with its complexity. This is not an entry-level program, but it is also not one of the top of line graphic designer programs, like Abode In-Design. I can use Publisher to do 95% of what I need to get done. The other 5% I farm out to the graphics design person in the organization. It simply works and does so in a simple to use manner.
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Support Rating
Overall, CorelDRAW meets all my needs as a researcher and allows me to create beautiful and clear graphics to illustrate the main ideas for publications. It does not lack any functionality for my needs; however, it has some bugs that impact productivity, such as the color drag and drop that sometimes stops working and needs restarting, and crashes, especially when working with large bitmaps.
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While I have not directly used support for Microsoft Publisher, I have used their help files and found them to be useful. I have also found that most answers that I need can be found through simple web searches and chat platforms. In all though, there are very few times when the preloaded help files have not given me the answers that I need.
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Alternatives Considered
I feel Corel is just as powerful as the Adobe suite. I started using Corel back when I worked for a government organization that was PC based (and at the time, you couldn't get the Adobe suite on PC). I found that Corel was just as powerful. Over time, you can now get the Adobe Suite for PC but Corel is a better price - which for a non-profit is very important. Of course, I am more comfortable with Corel because I have used it for so many years as well.
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Microsoft Publisher is more for beginners, or for basic needs, anyone with some familiarity with the Microsoft suite should be able to use it easily. If you’re looking to create something more graphic and advanced, you’d probably want to look into something like InDesign, which is not as user friendly if you’re not familiar with it at all. For basic needs the average employee should be able to use Microsoft Publisher with ease.
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Return on Investment
  • Ease of use reflects on less time to train new users, a positive impact in investment and productivity.
  • The practicality to make new designs results in less time needed to do them, again a positive impact.
  • The integration with other graphic programs could be better if needed to finish a rendering using the design made in Corel Draw it's needed to export in formats that don't carry all information and the process is not that simple.
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  • Don't really have a way to measure ROI in my industry (Religious organization), but let me say, Publisher is at the heart of the way that I do things. If I did not have it, then my productivity would be crushed and the ability to communicate with individuals within the annual conference would be greatly diminished.
  • Publisher allows me to produce quality, sometimes complex, documents in a simple and efficient manner.
  • It has been my go-to program for the majority of my communication needs for more than 10 years. It would be difficult to do my job without Publisher.
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ScreenShots

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite Screenshots

Screenshot of A complete suite of applications:
CorelDRAW® - Vector illustration and page layout
Corel PHOTO-PAINT™ - Image editing and pixel-based design program
Corel® Font Manager - Font exploration and management tool
PowerTRACE™ - AI-powered bitmap-to-vector tracing (included as part of the CorelDRAW application)
CorelDRAW.app™ - Online vector illustration and graphic design via web browser
CorelDRAW.app™ for iPad – Vector illustration and graphic design iPad app
CAPTURE™ - Screen capture tool
AfterShot™ 3 HDR - RAW photo editorScreenshot of From creative professionals working in advertising and publishing, to small businesses producing in-house marketing materials, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite has the tools to create everything from stand-out brand identity assets to alluring sales tools.Screenshot of Professionals in the sign and print, and fashion industry rely on CorelDRAW® to create artwork for a variety of print outputs, thanks to a powerful color management engine and superior prepress tools.Screenshot of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite has commerce professionals covered with dedicated tools for web and print, whether you’re designing point-of-sale promotions or creating assets to enhance an online store.Screenshot of Illustrators and artists alike can combine their classic art practices with CorelDRAW’s state-of-the-art vector-illustration technology to create beautiful, sophisticated works of art.Screenshot of Get more for less! Discover the affordable, flexible way to stay up-to-date, while enjoying exclusive features, content, enhancements, and support for the latest technologies.