Quite often I will use an e-mail or phone call I receive when writing a blog post. In this case it was a phone call from someone who wanted to know if there was a macro or add-on for CorelDRAW that would do a specific kind of product. The person was ready to buy if I could simply tell them where to find this magic tool.

The answer to the question was very easy and not at all what the person expected. There was no need for any other software, the feature exists in CorelDRAW since very early versions. Early in the call, the user said there weren’t a very accomplished user and so I suggested that instead of an add-on, they should invest in some CorelDRAW training. In fact, the exact project they were asking about is covered in my CorelDRAW X5 Unleashed Advanced Topics Training DVD.

As I am putting together content for future DVDs, I listen very carefully to the questions being asked and the types of projects users want to accomplish. Then I do my very best to cover as many of the common questions as possible. Some users choose not to purchase training materials. Others simply don’t use the materials they have. Next time that you are wishing there was an add-on for a specific purpose, you might want to make sure it doesn’t already exist. The developers of macros and add-ons have a very good idea of what features need to be added and they do a great job of filling those needs. In this case, they just weren’t needed.

In this case, the user was asking how to merge a list of names onto name badges to be laser engraved and cut. Many users have a need to merge data and name badges are probably one of the most common users of the Print Merge feature. Laser cutting simply means adding an extra object defining the cutline to the file used in the merge.