I don’t think it should come as a surprise that Corel has been working hard to complete the first service pack for CorelDRAW X5. The bigger questions are when it will be available and what will be included. Gerard Metrailler has answered some of those questions in recent blog posts. He has said it will be released “over the summer”. I can only translate that as meaning that it won’t be in the next couple of weeks or he’d give a more definitive answer and that it will be before the end of August. That is just my guess and I’ll post more specifics if they become available.

Corel CONNECT is a new application in CorelDRAW X5 and Corel has made it clear that it is an important part of the current and future suites. Gerard created the video below to show off some of the upgrades coming to Corel CONNECT in the service pack. Note that I also cover some of the new additions from the service pack in my CorelDRAW X5 Unleashed Multimedia Training.

The new features in Corel CONNECT are nice, but many users are more concerned about some of the problems that have been reported with the initial release. Gerard has also outlined some of the other fixes that will be included. I will include his notes below.

• Overall, we will be addressing the top Windows Error Reporting (WER) issues with SP1, and we review the WER reports on a regular basis, therefore, we strongly encourage you to send us a WER report if you encounter an error.
• Enhanced support for Pantone Huey lighting compensation.
• Enhanced file filters for the following file formats: AI, CGM, DSF/DRW, EMF, EPS, JPG, PDF, TIF, WMF and VSD; as a result, you will experience improvements when importing and/or exporting the file formats.
• When printing files that contain overprints, the separations in the print preview will not display unless Simulate Overprints is enabled in the View Menu. However, the overprint will be maintained in the output, whether the option is enabled or not.
• Resolved a number of stability issues when you have many dockers (e.g. Undo docker, Extrude docker, Fillet/Scallop/Chamfer docker) open in the workspace.
• Resolved stability issues when copying and pasting groups that contain vector effects, dimensions, and connectors.
• Improved results when opening files that were created in a previous version and also include transformed objects, such as callouts, rectangles with envelopes or linear gradients, Artistic Media objects, and transparency gradients. This may result in transparency gradients appearing differently after applying the SP1 update; however, the appearance will be consistent with opening the files in a previous version.
• Improved spot color functionality within the document/image palette.
• Added the ability to perform name searches within spot color palettes.
• Improved text functions when working with text outside the Latin codepage.

Gerard made it clear that these are only some of the fixes and the list covers some of the problems I’ve seen most often. I know many users have been happily using CorelDRAW X5. Others have only been able to use it occasionally due to some of the problems. Some of you are waiting to upgrade until the service pack is available. Since we know it is coming in the near future, you might want to take advantage of some of the special deals available now on CorelDRAW X5. These deals expire on July 7. This gives you a chance to test drive the new version so that you’ll be ready to implement it when the service pack is available.