Corel Corporation Introduces Corel DESIGNER Technical Suite 12-Corel Delivers the World's Most Complete and Affordable Technical Graphics Suite

Business Wire, Feb 28, 2005

OTTAWA -- Corel Corporation today introduces Corel DESIGNER(R) Technical Suite 12, the latest version of the company's award-winning technical graphics software. Corel DESIGNER Technical Suite 12 is designed specifically to make technical illustrators more productive, enabling them to create technical documentation, instructional manuals, and maintenance references with exceptional precision and speed. The suite will be available next month in English, French, and German, and a fully functional trial version is now available for download from www.corel.com/designer.

Offering an exceptional price/performance ratio and superior ease of use, Corel DESIGNER Technical Suite 12 was created for professional illustrators working in the manufacturing, automotive, aerospace, defense, landscaping, and apparel industries. The suite is universally compatible, supporting more than 75 file formats including AutoCAD(R) 2004, Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), Adobe(R) Illustrator(R), CorelDRAW(R), TIFF, and many more.

Corel DESIGNER Technical Suite 12 comprises the following: Corel DESIGNER 12 for precise technical illustration and layout; Corel PHOTO-PAINT(R) 12 for professional image editing; CorelTRACE(TM) 12 to convert bitmaps and legacy paper documents into vector graphics; and Corel CAPTURE(TM) 12 to create screen captures, an integral component of many technical documents. This integrated collection of software applications is unmatched by any other offering in the industry, giving value-conscious customers access to a powerful collection of tools at a price lower than what other vendors charge for a single application.

"Every new feature added to Corel DESIGNER Technical Suite 12 was engineered with the needs of technical illustrators and their specific workflow in mind. By offering integrated professional illustration, photo editing, and bitmap to vector conversion applications together in one package, we know customers will be very impressed by this complete solution," said Nick Davies, Corel's General Manager Graphics.

"This suite is unique because it has been created specifically for technical illustration - distinct from other offerings that are simply re-purposed CAD, flowcharting, or creative graphics applications. For the first time, businesses have access to an affordable and comprehensive suite that's ideal for meeting their needs - whether they have one technical illustrator on staff or need to deploy a powerful solution to an entire documentation team," added Davies.

Corel DESIGNER 12 - Taking Advanced Technical Illustration to a New
Level

- Professional, specialized, precision drawing - New and enhanced
  features including the Projected Drawing Mode, Dynamic Guides,
  Gravity, and the ability to add Object Data-Hot Spotting enable
  users to create their drawings precisely and with more speed than
  ever before. The suite offers customers exclusive high-powered
  functionality not available in any competing application in its
  price point.

- Maximizing data integrity - Support for a multitude of vector file
  formats including open-standard SVG and CGM v4, AutoCAD(R) 2004,
  PDF, and a full complement of bitmap formats ensures seamless
  integration into a technical illustrator's workflow.

- Fully customizable and scriptable environment - Technical
  illustrators can adapt their working environment by automating
  repetitive tasks with Microsoft(R) Visual Basic(R) for Applications
  or customizing the user interface to mimic other graphics
  applications, including previous versions of Corel and Micrografx
  DESIGNER. As a result, the user can interact with data and objects
  easily, speeding the creation of complex technical illustrations.

- Powerful language support - Dynamic language switching allows
  multiple language versions to be installed on a single machine. New
  Unicode support makes it easy to create multilingual documents
  (including Czech, Greek, and Asian languages), enabling teams
  located around the world to work more efficiently.

- Industry-standard templates and symbols - Industry-standard
  templates and an extensive set of reusable symbols for
  manufacturing, electrical, and architectural requirements make
  users more efficient by saving them from having to start every
  project from scratch. Users can also create, deploy, and manage
  custom templates and symbols for standard use throughout an
  organization.

"Corel DESIGNER is playing a key role in the development of technical documentation at Mercury Marine. With DESIGNER's drawing and callout tools, as well as its versatility in working with many different file formats, it has become an essential part of our graphic creation process. Now, with the introduction of the Corel DESIGNER Technical Suite 12, we are looking at a whole new range of possibilities for vector drawing and digital photo editing. New tools like the Projected Drawing Mode will make production of technical graphics so much faster... what a powerful tool!" said Cathy Thayer, Technical Illustrator at Mercury Marine. "Version 12 will make our technical writing process more productive and enable us to ensure a great customer experience by providing high-quality product manuals and documentation."