CorelDraw Tutorial : Logo of Microsoft Windows XP

Logos are the graphic symbols which are used by different organizations to introduce themselves and to promote their business so these can be seen everywhere from small visiting cards to huge hoardings on the road sides.  CorelDraw is software that is considered an ideal one for logo designing simply because it is based on vector or line art graphics and images made by the use of this software can easily be re-sized without  getting blurred or distorted and can be used on different objects regardless the size of those objects. 

This is my first post about logo designing and in this post I have decided to explain a very simple method through which one can draw a nice looking logo of Microsoft Windows XP. For instance logo in the following image is made totally on CorelDraw X6. 

Microsoft Windows XP

Main tools which I have used while drawing this logo are Rectangle Tool, Shape Tool, Fill Tool and Text Tool given in the Tool Box and different options given in different menus including the option Duplicate in the Edit Menu, Group, Ungroup, Convert to Curves and Break Artistic Text Apart in the Arrange Menu. 

 How to draw Windows XP logo using CorelDraw X6?

Having created a new document, first of all select Rectangle Tool out of the tool and draw a rectangular shape anywhere on the document. Then select that shape with the help of Pick Tool by clicking on it. As soon as you will select that shape, its properties including its width and height will be appeared on the Property Bar. ( As there will be needed a square shape instead of a rectangle, so the width and height of the selected shape should be equals to each other. )Set the width and the height of the selected shape equals to 4.0 by typing the value in the box and hitting the Enter Key on the keyboard. As soon as you will hit the Enter Key, the selected shape will assume the same width and height and will become a perfect square.

Perfect square on the document

 After that, get inside the Arrange Menu and select the option referred as Convert to Curve, or hit CTRL + Q.

Convert to Curves in the Arrange Menu

 As soon as you will select the option called Convert to Curve of hit CTRL + Q, outline of the selected shape will become flexible enough to be transformed into a curve.  But there will be seen no difference at all in the shape before applying the Shape Tool on it. So, select the Shape Tool out of the Tool Box by clicking on it or by hitting F10 on the keyboard.

Shape Tool in the menu

As soon as you will select that tool or hit F10, pointer of  your mouse will assume the shape of something look like a thorn with a small dotted rectangle at the bottom-right of it and the color of the selected shape will turn a bit lighter. Then put the thorn shaped pointer of your mouse anywhere at the top boundary of the shape and hit the left button of your mouse once. As soon as you will hit the button, a small asterisk like shape will be appeared on the same place and the tool properties (including Convert to Curve, Smooth node, Symmetrical node and Reverse direction) will be activated on the property Bar. Out of those options or properties select Convert to Curve by clicking on it.

Asterisk shaped symbol on the top boundary of the shape along with activated tool option in the Property Bar

 As soon as you will select that option, asterisk shaped tiny symbol will be disappeared from the outline of the shape and there will be appeared two blue colored arrows  on the top boundary of the shape facing each other. Then put the pointer of your mouse beneath the top boundary line and drag your mouse upward but a bit diagonally toward the right side to turn the top boundary line of the shape into a curve.

Top boundary of the shape converted into a curve

 After that , put the thorn shaped pointer of your mouse on the bottom boundary of the shape and hit the left button of your mouse once, as soon as you will do so, an asterisk shaped small symbol will be appeared here too and the tool options will be appeared again on the Property Bar. Out of those options , select Convert to Curves again as I have explained earlier. As soon as you will select that option, once again two blue colored arrows will be appeared on the line facing each other and tiny asterisk will be vanished at the same time. Then put the pointer of your mouse beneath to bottom boundary line of the shape and drag your mouse again upward and a bit diagonally toward the right side to turn it into a proper curve.

Bottom boundary of the shape converted into a curve

 Having done so, select the shape with the help of Pick Tool and make a duplicate of it by hitting CTRL + D or by getting inside the Edit Menu and selecting the option called Duplicate given in the menu.

Option Duplicate in the Edit Menu

 As soon as you will  select the option called Duplicate  or hit CTRL + D , a duplicate shape will be appeared on the document near the first shape. With the help of Pick Tool put that duplicate right beside the first shape leaving a little distance between the both shapes. Then , select the duplicate shape with the help of Pick Tool. As soon as the shape will be selected, it’s properties will be appeared in the Property Bar along with the options referred as Mirror Vertically and Mirror Horizontally.

Selected duplicate shape and it's properties in the Property Bar

Then, select Mirror Vertically to flip the duplicate shape from top to bottom and with the help of Pick Tool put it again right beside the first shape as I have explained earlier.

Vertically flipped duplicate shape right beside the first shape

After that, select both the shapes on the document by hitting CTRL + A or by getting inside the Edit Menu and selecting the option Objects that is given inside the Edit Menu’s option Select All’s side menu.

Option Objects given in Select All's side menu

 Having selected both the shapes, group them together either by getting inside the Arrange Menu and selecting the option Group or by hitting CTRL + G on the keyboard . After that make a duplicate of that group either by hitting CTRL + D on the keyboard or by getting inside the Edit Menu and selecting the option Duplicate as I have explained earlier in my post How to draw Indian flag using CorelDraw X6. Then put that duplicate group of two shapes right beneath the first group leaving a litter distance between both the groups.

Two identical groups on the document

Then, select all the shapes on the document by hitting CTRL + A and ungroup them either by getting inside the Arrange Menu and selecting the option Ungroup given there or by hitting CTRL + U.

Option Ungroup given in the Arrange Menu

 As soon as you will selected the option Ungroup or hit CTRL +U on the keyboard all the grouped shapes on the document will be ungrouped and will ready to be manipulated separately. After that, select the top-left shape with the help of Pick Tool and then click the small black arrow that can be seen at the bottom-right of the Fill Tool in the Tool Box to open a menu containing different tool options including ( Uniform Fill, Fountain Fill, Pattern Fill, Texture Fill, PostScript Fill, No Fill and Color) out of those options select none other than Fountain Fill by clicking on it or by hitting F11 on the keyboard.

Menu containing different options of Fill Tool

 As soon as you will select the option Fountain Fill or hit F11 on the keyboard, a window or dialogue box will be appeared named Fountain Fill. In that dialogue box, there will be seen a drop-down-menu called Type containing different gradient styles including Linear, Radial, Conical and Square. Out of those styles, the style which is supposed to be selected here is none other than Linear. Having selected the style Linear set it’s Angle equal to 0^o and it’s Edge pad equal to 0%.   Further in the same dialogue box there will be seen two radio buttons named Two Color and Custom under the head of Color Blend.  Though, in that dialogue box, the radio button called Two Color always remain selected  and its setting options always remain  visible by default but here we need to select the other option called Custom.

Type, Angle, Edge pad and Color blend in the dialogue box called Fountain Fill

As soon as you will select the radio button called Custom, setting options of Two Color will be replaced by the setting options of Custom including a Color Palette, an inactive box called Position a rectangular shape (with two tiny squares at top left and top right corners of it) showing gradient color and a drop-down menu called Preset in the same dialogue box..  Further, you will notice that the tiny square at the top left corner of the rectangular shape will be black and the other tiny square at the top right corner of the shape will be white. That simply means that the left part of the shape will be selected and the right part of the shape will not be selected.

Setting options of Custom

 As here Windows XP logo is supposed to be drawn, so fill red color in the selected part (left part) of the shape by selecting the thumbnail representing red color  in the Color Palette given in the dialogue box. As soon as you will select that thumbnail, red color will be filled in the left part of the shape.

Red color has been filled in the left part of the shape

Then, select the tiny square at the top- right corner of the shape by clicking on it and select the thumbnail representing red color in the Color Palette given in the dialogue box again to fill red color in the right part of the shape too. As soon as you will select that thumbnail, the red color will be filled inside the right part of the shape too and the shape will be looked totally red then.

Red color has been filled in the whole shape

 After that, put the pointer of your mouse any where inside the red rectangular shape and hit the left button of your mouse twice. As soon  as you will do so, a slide will be appeared right above the rectangle containing a black arrow pointing toward the selected part of the shape and the formerly inactive box called Position will then be activated showing the position of newly appeared black arrow. Set the position of the black arrow equal to 25 and select the thumbnail representing white color in the Color Palette given in the dialogue box. As soon as you will do so, white color will be fill inside the selected area and the shape will no longer remain perfectly red.

Set the position of white color in the red shape.

 After that, click OK to apply this setting on the selected object on the document. As soon as you will  click OK , that setting will be applied on the selected object.

Red  and white colored top right shape

Then, by following the same method explained above, fill  green and white color inside the top-right shape , fill blue and white color inside the bottom-left shape and fill yellow and white color inside the bottom-right shape but set the position of black arrow equal to 75 instead of 25 in the case of top right and bottom right shapes .

Four shapes on the document with different colors filled in

 Then, select all the shapes on the document by hitting CTRL + A and group them together by hitting CTRL + G or by getting inside the Arrange Menu and selecting the option Group.  Then select that group again either with the help of Pick Tool or by hitting CTRL + A on the keyboard. As soon as you will select that group, its properties will be appeared on the Property Bar. Out of those properties, set the width and height  of the group equal to 5.0 and hit Enter.  As soon as you will hit the Enter Key on the keyboard, the selected group will assume the same width and height. 

Width and height of the selected group  in the Property Bar

Then,  set the Angle of rotation for the group equal to 350^o, and in order to remove the color of the outlines of all the shapes in the group, select the thumbnail representing "No color" in the Color Palette by hitting the  right button of your mouse.

Angle of rotation and color of outline

 Then, select Text Tool out of the Tool Box by clicking on it or by hitting F8 on the keyboard.

Text Tool in the Tool Box

 As soon as you will select that tool, pointer of your mouse will assume the shape of a plus ( + ) with letter A at the bottom-right of it. Then put that pointer anywhere on the document and type the phrase ‘Microsoft Windows XP’ there.

Typed text on the document

 Then select that newly typed phrase with the help of Pick Tool and break the three words in the phrase apart by getting inside the Arrange Menu and selecting the option referred as Break Artistic Text Apart or by hitting CTRL + K.

Option referred as Break Artistic Text Apart in  the Arrange Menu

As soon as you will select that option or hit CTRL + K, all three words in the phrase will be broken apart. Then select the word ‘Microsoft’ with the help of Pick Tool and  set the Font Size for this word equal to 36 pt.

Font Size equal to 36 pt for the word 'Microsoft'.

Then select the word ‘Windows’ with the help of Pick Tool and set the Font Size for that word equal to 120 pt.

Font Size equal to 120 pt  for the word 'Windows'.

Then finally select the word ‘XP’ with the help of Pick Tool and change it’s color from default black to custom orange by selecting the thumbnail representing orange color in the color palette with left mouse click. Then in order to make this word prominent,  select the option Bold given in the Property Bar and set the  Font size for this word equal to 48 pt.

Color, Attribute and Font Size for the word 'XP'

After that with the help of Pick Tool put these three differently formatted words  on the required places.

Then, select all objects along with the text on the document by hitting CTRL + A and group them together by hitting CTRL + G. Then  get inside the File Menu and select the option Save or hit CTRL + S to save the image in CDR format or select the option Export or hit CTRL + E to save the image in any format other than CDR as I have explained in my post Illustration of Pakistani flag in CorelDraw X6. Then use the image anywhere you like by putting suitable backgrounds  behind the logo using Photoshop.

I hope you will find this post helpful and interesting, so have fun with it but kindly don’t forget to subscribe your comments.