Total brain fart.....

[dlac]

Old person steps up to the podium.. I am proficient in Illustrator, Freehand and even corel enough to make the tails and shape the type BUT...even though I have gone away from the MAC platform in the last 6-7 years I still have a G4 that has a lot of my old art on it and on It I have a program called TYPESTYLER.. I think something similar is available for corel users from one of the aftermarket accessory companies   you don't have to have an art degree you just open it up and have it do it for you... then do your final adjustments and get a good nights sleep
dlac

[Sbrem]

Actually, the most recent version of TypeStyler is available as an app at the Mac App Store. Runs on OS 10.6.8 and up (Snow Leopard).

Steve

I always favored Freehand myself, but as I hired artists who only knew Illustrator, that became my favorite for vectors.

[Ripcord]

I made this little movie of the baseball design to show how easy it is to manipulate type with the Envelope Tool in Corel Draw: http://www.bluesunwater.com/baseballfinal3.wmv

[Ripcord]

Sorry about my movie yesterday...I didn't realize how large the file was. This one should be OK: http://www.bluesunwater.com/baseballfinal3.wmv

[Frog]

  I thought that you may be apologizing to the OP who works in Illy!

[Joe P Racefan]

Go online, find a copy of Illustrator 10 and KPT vector effects for AI....download and install both....find KPT Warp Frame under Effects....use it...love it....curse the day corel bought KPT and updates in Illy outdated thr best damned plugin Illustrator ever saw.

OR...find an old Mac (pre-OSX), then find TYPESTYLER.

Best old program we'll never see again, as far as text and text manipulation.

[Rocfrog]

Thanks for all the great responses guys! I have been looking for true type manipulation software/plug ins with no great results. I will look into some of the suggested programs though and I guess eventually will have to fork over the cash for Corel and add it to my arsenal of design programs.

Nick

[Sbrem]

I got an email from TypeStyler the other day, on sale for $45.00. Great program, loved using it in the old days, meaning the '90's. Strider Software.


Steve

[Ripcord]

I guess eventually will have to fork over the cash for Corel and add it to my arsenal of design programs.

Nick

You might check Ebay for older versions of Corel. They tend to be pretty cheap and have almost all the same features as the latest version. I can't remember which version introduced the envelope tool, but it was at least as far back as version 9 (I know because I had version 9...)

[Prosperi-Tees]

Advanced Artist has their product called Design Base which has about 40 preset envelopes that are done with a click of the mouse. I like it. They are having a 50% off sale right now. But it is only for Corel.

Oh the good thing is Design Base is FREE! My favorite 4 letter word!!!

http://www.advancedtshirts.com/products/design-base.html