1. The Text Tool
(F8)
The Text tool
is activated by pressing F8 or selecting it from the Toolbox. It is the
primary tool for adding and editing text in CorelDRAW.
The tool behaves
differently depending on how you click:
- Click once → Creates Artistic Text
- Click and drag to draw a frame → Creates Paragraph Text
2. Artistic Text
vs. Paragraph Text
These are the two
fundamental text types in CorelDRAW.
Artistic Text
- Created by single-clicking with the
Text tool.
- Best for short phrases, headlines,
logos, or single words.
- Behaves like a vector object — you
can apply effects like drop shadows, contours, envelopes, extrusions, and
distortions directly.
- Each line is a separate object by default.
- Can be easily converted to curves (Ctrl +
Q) for further node editing.
- Can be converted to Paragraph Text via Text → Convert to Paragraph Text.
Paragraph Text
- Created by clicking and dragging a
text frame with the Text tool.
- Designed for larger bodies of text —
articles, brochures, multi-page documents.
- Flows within a container frame;
text can overflow to linked frames.
- Supports advanced formatting: bullets,
drop caps, columns, tabs, indents, and hyphenation.
- Text frames can be linked together so
overflow continues from one frame to another.
- Can be converted to Artistic Text, but you
may lose some paragraph-specific formatting.
Table
|
Feature |
Artistic Text |
Paragraph Text |
|
Best for |
Short text, logos,
effects |
Long body copy,
layouts |
|
Text frame |
No (free-floating) |
Yes (container
required) |
|
Columns |
No |
Yes |
|
Bullets / Drop caps |
No |
Yes |
|
Text linking |
No |
Yes |
|
Envelope /
Distortion effects |
Yes directly |
Limited |
|
Convert to curves |
Yes |
Yes (but breaks into
lines) |
3. Text Properties
Bar
When text is selected,
the Property Bar at the top changes dynamically to show text-relevant
options.
For Artistic Text:
- Font family and style
- Font size
- Alignment — None, Left, Center, Right, Full
Justify, Force Justify
- Bold / Italic / Underline
- Position, size, scale, rotation angle
- Mirror options
For Paragraph Text:
All of the above,
plus:
- Bullets
- Drop caps
- Columns
- Frame alignment (top, center, bottom)
- Text frame options (background color, baseline grid
alignment)
Alignment Options
Explained:
- None — No alignment applied; text follows cursor position
- Left — Text aligns to the left margin of the frame
- Center — Text is centered within the frame
- Right — Text aligns to the right margin
- Full Justify — Text is evenly spaced so both left and
right edges align, with the last line left-aligned
- Force Justify — Forces the last line to also be
justified, stretching it to fill the entire width
You can also set
default properties for both text types via Window → Dockers → Object Styles
→ Default Object Properties.
4. Text Menu
The Text menu
contains all text-related commands:
Table
|
Command |
What It Does |
|
Text → Insert
Character / Glyphs |
Opens the
glyph/character docker |
|
Text → Format
Text |
Opens the Text
docker (Character/Paragraph/Frame tabs) |
|
Text → Convert to
Paragraph Text |
Converts artistic
text to paragraph text |
|
Text → Convert to
Artistic Text |
Converts paragraph
text to artistic text |
|
Text → Show
Non-Printing Characters |
Displays spaces,
tabs, paragraph marks |
|
Text → Writing
Tools |
Spell check,
grammar, thesaurus |
|
Text → Edit Text |
Opens a dedicated
text editing window (Ctrl + T) |
|
Text → Make Text
HTML Compatible |
Ensures text works
for web export |
|
Text → Straighten
Text |
Removes
rotation/skew from text |
|
Text → Fit Text
to Path |
Flows text along a
curve or shape |
|
Text → Align to
Baseline Grid |
Aligns text to a
grid for consistency |
|
Text →
Hyphenation Settings |
Controls automatic
hyphenation |
|
Text → Columns |
Sets up multi-column
text frames |
5. Text Docker
(Text Inspector)
The Text docker
(called Text Inspector in newer versions, accessed via Window →
Dockers → Text) is the central hub for advanced text formatting. It has
three main sections:
Character Section
- Font family and style
- Size
- Kerning and tracking
- Character fill — uniform, fountain, bitmap pattern,
texture
- Background fill — color behind characters
- Outline — thickness, color, style
- Expanded options: superscript, subscript,
strikethrough, small caps, all caps, capital spacing
Paragraph Section
- Horizontal alignment — None, Left, Center, Right, Full
Justify, Force Justify
- Line spacing (leading)
- Paragraph spacing (before/after)
- Left indent, first-line indent, right
indent
- Expanded options: character spacing, word
spacing, multi-language spacing
- Bullets, drop caps, tabs, hyphenation
Frame Section
- Background color for the text frame
- Align to baseline grid
- Vertical alignment (top, center, bottom)
- Columns — divide text into multiple columns
- Text flow and linking options
6. Insert Character
/ Glyphs Docker
CorelDRAW provides a
powerful Insert Character docker (older versions) or Glyphs inspector
(newer versions like 2019+) for accessing special characters, symbols, and
OpenType glyphs.
Accessing It
- Text → Insert Character (older versions)
- Text → Glyphs (newer versions / Mac)
- Window → Dockers → Glyphs
- Shortcut: Ctrl + F11
Features
- Font selection — browse any installed font
- Character filter — filter by category:
- Common — arrows, currency, math symbols, numbers, punctuation
- Scripts — Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Arabic, Hebrew, CJK, etc.
- OpenType — ligatures, swashes, alternates,
fractions, stylistic sets
- Show all glyphs — displays every available glyph at a
glance
- Baseline preview — blue guide lines show ascender,
descender, x-height, and baseline
- Recently used characters — quick access to frequently used glyphs
- Character info — name, Unicode number, keyboard
shortcut, OpenType feature name
Interactive
OpenType
Newer versions of CorelDRAW feature Interactive OpenType capabilities. When working with OpenType fonts, an on-screen OpenType indicator appears directly on or near characters that have alternate glyphs available. You can click these indicators to preview and apply contextual alternates, ligatures, swashes, and stylistic sets in real-time — without needing to open the Glyphs docker. This makes experimenting with advanced typography faster and more intuitive.
OpenType Support
The Glyphs docker is
ideal for working with OpenType fonts. You can see OpenType feature
indicators below characters that have alternate glyphs available.
Special characters,
symbols, and glyphs
Using
the Glyphs inspector, you can find and insert special
characters, symbols, and glyphs (variations of individual characters or
character combinations) of OpenType fonts.
All
characters, symbols, and glyphs included in a font are displayed by default,
but you can filter character subsets to display only the characters you want.
For example, you can display only currency symbols or numbers, or you can
display only Cyrillic characters and symbols.
Characters
included in a font are organized in the following categories:
• Common — includes arrows, currency, mathematical
symbols, numbers, punctuation marks, and separators as well as CJK symbols and
punctuation marks (used in Asian scripts)
• Scripts — includes the scripts that the selected
font supports, such as Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Hiragana and Katakana, Han,
Arabic, or Hebrew scripts
• OpenType — includes the OpenType features provided
by the selected font such as standard ligatures, discretionary ligatures,
fraction, alternate annotation forms, and more. For more information about
OpenType features, see OpenType features.
The Glyphs inspector
is ideal for viewing and applying the OpenType features provided by OpenType
fonts. The default view shows a list of characters in which the glyphs for
individual characters appear grouped. Alternatively, you can display a longer
list that shows available glyphs at a glance.
Each
selected character appears against a set of blue lines that let you preview its
position in relation to the text baseline.
Most
recently used special characters
You
can use the list of most recently used special characters to copy characters
that you use often. The list retains the font attributes of most recently used
characters and any OpenType features that were applied. You can manage the list
by removing characters that you no longer need.
Glyphs
without Unicode numbers
Glyphs
that have no Unicode mapping can be accessed only in specific circumstances and
with specific sets of OpenType features. Such glyphs cannot be inserted by
using keystrokes, but you can still add them to your document from the Glyphs inspector.
Glyphs
without Unicode numbers are inserted as glyphs not characters; therefore, you
cannot change their font. For example, if you change the font of text that
contains a glyph without Unicode mapping from Gabriola to Impact, the glyph
will remain a Gabriola glyph as shown in the following example.
Left:
A glyph without a Unicode number. Top: Text that starts with this glyph.
Bottom: The font is changed, but the glyph remains the same.
It
is easy to tell glyphs without Unicode mapping apart from other glyphs because
they are displayed against a gray background in the Glyphs inspector.
To
add a special character, symbol, or glyph
Glyphs.2 In the Glyphs inspector,
choose a font from the Font list box.
3 Drag a character in
the Character and glyph list to the drawing window.
If
you cannot find the character you want, open the Character filter list
box, and enable the Entire font check box.
To
filter special characters, symbols, and glyphs
2 In the Glyphs inspector,
choose a font from the Font list box.
3 Open the Character
filter list box, and enable the check boxes for the character subsets
that you want to display.
To
view glyphs of OpenType features
2 In the Glyphs inspector,
choose an OpenType font from the Font list box.
3 Open the Character
filter list box, and in the OpenType area, enable any
of the check boxes for the available OpenType features.
• To display a list that includes grouped glyphs, make sure that
the Show all glyphs button does not appear pressed. To view all
glyphs in a group, click a character, and then click the OpenType feature
indicator. Click a glyph to display it in the Character and glyph list.
• To display a list that includes all available glyphs, click
the Show all glyphs button .
Left:
The OpenType feature indicators below individual characters show that more
glyphs are available. Right: When the Show all glyphs button
(1) is pressed, you can see available glyphs at a glance.
The Show
all glyphs button is not available for fonts that do not support
OpenType features.
Some
glyphs provided by OpenType features vary depending on the context in which
they appear and cannot be shown in the Glyphs inspector. You
can view and insert such glyphs in the document window by using the onscreen
OpenType feature indicator. For more information, see To enable the onscreen OpenType feature indicator.
To
use the list of most recently used special characters
2 In the list of most
recently used special characters (glyphs), perform a task from the following
table.
7. Table Menu
The Table menu
allows you to create and manipulate tables directly within your document.
Key Commands
Table
|
Command |
Function |
|
Table → Create
New Table |
Draws a table with
specified rows/columns |
|
Table → Insert /
Delete |
Add or remove rows,
columns, or cells |
|
Table → Merge
Cells / Split Cells |
Combine or divide
cells |
|
Table →
Distribute |
Evenly space rows or
columns |
|
Table → Text →
Fit Text to Cell |
Auto-fits text
within a cell |
|
Table → Convert |
Convert table to
text or text to table |
Text in Tables
- Text inside table cells behaves like paragraph
text.
- You can format individual cells or entire
rows/columns using the Text docker.
- Tables can have borders, fills, and
background colors applied.
8. Text Wrap Around
Image
One of CorelDRAW's
powerful layout features is the ability to wrap text around objects and
images. This is essential for creating professional magazine layouts,
brochures, and newsletters.
How It Works
- Select the image or object you want
text to wrap around.
- Go to Window → Dockers → Wrap Paragraph
Text.
- Choose a wrapping style:
- None — No wrapping; text flows normally
- Contour — Text wraps around the object's contour/outline
- Square — Text wraps around the bounding box of the object
- Above/Below — Text flows above and below the object
only
- Adjust the offset distance to
control how close the text sits to the object edge.
- You can also use Text → Wrap Paragraph
Text for quick access.
Tips
- For irregular shapes, use Contour
wrapping to make text flow tightly around the actual shape rather than
its bounding box.
- You can wrap text around multiple objects
simultaneously.
- Wrapping works with both imported bitmap
images and vector objects.
9. Text Is Vector
by Default
All text created in
CorelDRAW is vector-based by default.
What This Means
- Text remains infinitely scalable
without any loss of quality.
- You can apply vector effects
directly: contours, envelopes, extrusions, blends, distortions, block
shadows.
- Text can be converted to curves (Ctrl
+ Q) to edit individual nodes with the Shape tool.
- You can fill text with any vector fill
type: uniform color, fountain (gradient), bitmap pattern, texture, or
postscript fill.
Important Note
Once text is converted
to curves, it is no longer editable as text. Always keep a backup copy of
editable text before converting.
10. Font
Identification: WhatTheFont Integration
In older versions
of CorelDRAW, a built-in WhatTheFont Integration feature allowed users
to identify unknown fonts directly from within the application.
How It Worked
- Users could capture a sample of text
within CorelDRAW.
- By selecting Text → WhatTheFont?!,
the sample was automatically uploaded to the WhatTheFont service.
- WhatTheFont (by MyFonts) would analyze the
image using deep learning and match it against a database of over 133,000
font styles.
- Results would suggest the closest matching
fonts, making it easy to recreate or match existing designs.
This feature was
particularly useful when working with client-provided images or when trying to
match a font seen in a reference design. While newer versions may have shifted
toward other font identification workflows, the integration demonstrated CorelDRAW's
commitment to streamlining the typography workflow.
11. Text Effects in
CorelDRAW
Evolution: From
Bitmap Limitations to Vector Power
Older Versions: In earlier versions of CorelDRAW, certain
advanced text effects could only be applied if the text was first converted
to a bitmap. This meant losing vector scalability and editability. Effects
like complex glows, certain distortions, or advanced bitmap-based filters
required rasterization, which was a significant limitation for designers who
needed to maintain vector output for print or scaling.
Newer Versions: Modern versions of CorelDRAW have dramatically
improved text effect capabilities. Many effects that previously required bitmap
conversion can now be applied non-destructively to vector text,
including:
- Live drop shadows and glows
- Transparency and blending modes
- Envelope and distortion effects
- Extrusions and bevels
- Block shadows
However, applying
multiple effects simultaneously can still present challenges. Stacking
numerous complex effects on a single text object may cause rendering issues,
performance slowdowns, or unexpected visual artifacts. Designers often need to break
effects into layers or convert to curves at strategic points to
maintain stability.
External Tools for
Text Effects
While CorelDRAW is
powerful, designers increasingly use external tools to generate complex text
effects:
Table
|
Tool |
Use Case |
|
Adobe Photoshop |
Advanced raster text
effects, layer styles, 3D text; PSD files can be imported into CorelDRAW via
stock libraries |
|
AI Image
Generators (e.g., ChatGPT 4o
Image Creator, Midjourney, DALL-E) |
Generate unique,
photorealistic, or stylized text effects from prompts |
|
Freepik / Envato
Elements / Shutterstock |
Downloadable PSD
text effect templates |
|
TextPro.me /
TextStudio |
Browser-based 3D and
logo text effects |
|
Kittl |
AI-assisted design
with built-in text styling |
These tools complement
CorelDRAW's workflow — you can create effects externally and then import,
trace, or integrate them into your CorelDRAW projects.
12. CorelDRAW
Toolbox for Text Effects Mastery
CorelDRAW's native
toolbox provides an extensive set of tools for manipulating text effects once
you understand how to use them. Here's the detailed breakdown:
Shadow Sub-Toolbox
Located in the
Toolbox, the Shadow tool (grouped with other interactive tools) allows
you to add dynamic shadows to text:
- Drop Shadow — Creates a shadow offset from the text;
adjustable blur, opacity, color, and direction
- Inner Shadow — Creates a shadow inside the text
boundaries
- Glow — Produces a soft, radiating light effect around text edges
- All shadows remain live and editable
until you choose to separate or convert them
Transparency Tools
The Transparency
tool lets you apply varying levels of opacity to text:
- Uniform Transparency — Even opacity across the entire text
- Fountain Transparency — Gradient fade from opaque to
transparent
- Bitmap Pattern Transparency — Uses bitmap patterns to create textured
transparency
- Texture Transparency — Applies procedural textures as
transparency maps
- Two-Color Pattern Transparency — Simple pattern-based transparency
These work on both the
text fill and the text outline independently.
Object Menu
Sub-Menus
The Object menu
contains several commands critical for text manipulation:
- Object → Convert Outline to Object — Turns text outlines into fillable
vector shapes
- Object → Shaping — Boolean operations (Weld, Trim,
Intersect, Simplify) that allow you to combine text with other shapes for
custom effects
- Object → PowerClip — Places text inside a container object
(or places objects inside text) for masking effects
- Object → Lens — Applies color lenses and special
effects overlays
- Object → Transformations — Rotate, scale, skew, and mirror with
precision
Effect Menu
The Effect menu
is where CorelDRAW's most powerful text transformations live:
- Effect → Contour — Creates concentric outlines or inline
offsets from text
- Effect → Envelope — Distorts text to fit preset or custom
envelope shapes
- Effect → Extrude — Creates 3D depth and perspective on
text
- Effect → Blend — Morphs between two text objects,
creating intermediate steps
- Effect → Distort — Applies push/pull, zipper, or twister
distortions
- Effect → Block Shadow — Creates a flat, offset shadow effect
popular in modern design
Bitmap Menu
When you do need
bitmap effects (or are working with bitmap text):
- Bitmap → Convert to Bitmap — Rasterizes vector text for bitmap-only
filters
- Bitmap → Blur — Gaussian blur, motion blur, radial blur
- Bitmap → Camera — Depth of field, bokeh effects
- Bitmap → Creative — Art strokes, fabric, glass block,
mosaic, etc.
- Bitmap → Distort — Ripple, zigzag, shear, wind effects
- Bitmap → Noise — Add or remove noise for texture
- Bitmap → Sharpen — Unsharp mask, high pass
Pro Tip: Mastering the combination of these tools —
applying a contour, then an envelope, then a drop shadow, then a PowerClip mask
— is how professional designers create complex, layered text effects entirely
within CorelDRAW without ever needing external software.
13. Other Important
Text Features
Fit Text to Path
- Text → Fit Text to Path allows you to flow text along any curve,
circle, or custom shape.
- The text remains editable — you can adjust
offset, distance from path, and mirror text.
OpenType Features
(On-Screen)
- CorelDRAW supports advanced OpenType
features like standard & discretionary ligatures, contextual
alternates, swashes, stylistic sets, fractions, and ordinals.
Spell Check &
Writing Tools
- Text → Writing Tools → Spell Check (Ctrl + F12)
Find and Replace
Text
- Edit → Find and Replace → Find Text /
Replace Text
Text Styles
- Create and save text styles via Window
→ Dockers → Object Styles.
Variable Fonts
Support
- Newer versions support variable fonts,
allowing continuous adjustment of weight, width, and slant.
Multilingual
Typography
- Supports complex scripts including Arabic,
Hebrew, Cyrillic, CJK, and more.
Text as Hyperlinks
- Artistic text can be converted into clickable
hyperlinks for interactive PDFs.
Quick Reference
Shortcuts
Table
|
Action |
Shortcut |
|
Text Tool |
F8 |
|
Convert to Curves |
Ctrl + Q |
|
Insert Character /
Glyphs |
Ctrl + F11 |
|
Spell Check |
Ctrl + F12 |
|
Edit Text (dialog) |
Ctrl + T |
|
Show Non-Printing
Characters |
Ctrl + Shift + C |
|
Fit Text to Path |
Text → Fit Text
to Path |
|
Align to Baseline
Grid |
Text → Align to
Baseline Grid |