Let me first get this out of the way to prevent someone asking me a question. If you do not have a full version (that includes upgrades) of CorelDRAW, it is very possible you don’t have the VBA or VSTA macro language needed to run macros. So those of you who felt you got a great deal buying a lower-priced academic version or the “Home and Student” version didn’t get a deal at all. No, there is no way to “add” it. The only solution is to buy the full version!

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about two very important macros that are included in the last several versions of CorelDRAW.

First is Calendar Wizard. It allows you to create all different kinds of calendars with a minimal number of clicks. Within a minute, you can have a month, a year and all kinds of variations. Heck, you can even customize the completed calendars to include images. In Lesson 11 of CorelDRAW X5 Unleashed Advanced Topics, I walk you through the customization of a calendar to get the image you see above right.

The other one of great interest is File Converter. It allows you to batch convert files from one format to another. Obviously the files you are converting need to be vector and a format that CorelDRAW can open/import. And if the files won’t import properly, the same problems will come up when you batch convert them. Simply select Tools | Macro | Run Macro (in newer versions or Tools | VBA | Play (in older versions) and look in the list for File Converter. Once it is on screen, just follow the prompts to select the files you want and the destination format. For those who have a lot of files to convert, it can be a real lifesaver!