September 15, 1997, Issue: 681 Section: Intranet Applications CorelDraw 8 To Let Illustrators Draw On the Web Joy Russell Looking to put nice graphics and illustrations on your intranet? The most popular PC-based graphics program, CorelDraw, will get a major tune-up with new Web features and a more browser-centric interface, according to company officials. Corel Corp. (www.corel.com) will release the new Draw version by December. The second beta version of its graphics software for designers and illustrators has more Web features. That beta was released late last month and a third beta is likely before the product is commercially released, said Denise Zutrauen, a Corel product manager. Among the key additions was a browser look and feel. "Customers of the first beta release wanted to see an interface that more closely resembled a Web interface," a company spokeswoman said. Web designers will also find that in addition to the newly added HTML export option, CorelDraw 8 will include a feature that guarantees compatibility with Web servers. As a result, only material formatted in HTML will be displayed on Web browsers, while the software will not make it possible to view extraneous data on the Web client. Also added was HTML Anchors, a feature that lets designers mark anything within a file as bookmarks. To utilize that feature, a Bookmark Manager has been added to the toolbar. CorelDraw 8 will also let illustrators assign Web addresses to any component of a graphic. Illustrators will also be able to embed graphics into text via the Windows clipboard. The new CorelDraw release will also let them add 3D effects to existing text. Like its predecessor released last fall, CorelDraw 8 contains three primary components: a main illustration feature called Draw, Photo-Paint for enhancing photographs and a program for rendering 3D graphics called Dream 3D. Added into the Arrange Menu is Object Locking, which prevents an object from being changed except by unlocking it. The "locked" object keeps its position in the object stacking order and can only be unlocked for modification by choosing "Select All" under the Edit Menu and clicking on "Unlocked." The software is set to carry a list price of $695, according to company officials. Copyright (c) 1997 CMP Media Inc.