the festive season is here, and i want to give custom self made cards, to add a personal touch and cut costs . unfortunately am new to both corel draw and photoshop. which is easier to learn and use?

me thinks few members would understand this.. so just try both and decide which is easier.

Photoshop is a tool mostly used for graphics relating to websites.

Corel is mainly used for publications e.g. magazines, posters and has several preset sizes and is also relatively easier to learn.

I have actually used both and the simplicity in learning is relative. In Photoshop you are expected to use vectors and masks during design, whereas Corel has several in built design ready for use.

Photoshop is industry standard and has everything a designer needs to work with graphics of all kind. Therefore the application itself is huge and hundreds of addons are availabe. The Corel X5 suite on the other hand (my favorite) has all the features you might need (Photopaint and Draw) but without being bloated like PS.
Both softwares have the ability to export your work for a printshop (fonts, color separations) or for the web.

If you are a beginner, I recommend Corel, if you want to enter the graphics design business, there will be no way to live without PS.

One important issue is the price if you are not a torrenteer - Corel will cost you half the dough than PS.

I recommend to check out Lynda.com for Video tutorials, I tried myself and learned a lot despite the fact using both apps since years.

All my websites graphic work was done entirely in Corel http://alexxis.eu

I hope I could help you in your decision...