CorelDraw & PhotoPaint Keypad

Summary

These days photo editing is no longer a “strictly for professionals” field. There are lots of helpful tutorials, tools and great communities out there to help novices learn the ropes of post-production and image manipulation. Today we’re reviewing a tool that can help you work on and even transform your pics, so read on to find out what we make of CorelDraw & PhotoPaint Keypad.

CorelDraw & PhotoPaint Keypad is meant to make it easier for users to work on their photos by transforming a smartphone or tablet into an additional keypad that can be used to make additional shortcuts. In theory this means that you can do a key combination when you want to insert a text or do some other kind of editing, for instance.

How well does the connection between computer and smartphone pan out, and, more importantly, how useful is this app really?

The app is connected to the computer via WiFi, provided you’ve got the imperative three components: the smartphone app, the Corel Draw Suite for the computer and a special programme which can be downloaded from the dirtyHand website (the programme connects the app with the computer). Sounds like a lot, but in reality it took less than five minutes to download and install all three components.

The major issue I foresee future CorelDraw & PhotoPaint users having is getting used to controls via an external device. A lot of shortcuts become obsolete thanks to the app, and in the beginning working with the shortcuts you already know still feels easier. Once you’ve gotten used to it, however, I anticipate that you’ll get hooked on the ease of using CorelDraw & PhotoPaint Keypad, and then there’s no going back. It really makes a lot of things quicker and easier to control.
My only complaint is that users cannot yet edit the keypad according to their own preferences, but a little bird told me that the developers are working on making this aspect more configurable.

I also have to commend the CorelDraw & PhotoPaint Keypad support: I’ve written over 150 app reviews and these devs are among the absolute best, most efficient and friendliest lot I’ve had the pleasure of communicating with. Big thumbs up for that.

Bottom line:

We recommend CorelDraw & PhotoPaint Keypad to all Corel Drawer users. Once you’ve found your bearings, I think you’ll find this app super easy to use and very useful indeed. The current drawbacks are that the pad can’t be configured, but the developers tell me that this option is in the works.
 

CorelDraw & PhotoPaint Keypad comes with excellent controls. Everything works as it should—except for the WiFi signal which is sometimes a bit shaky.

As far the graphics go, I must say that there’s room for improvement. It feels a bit out-dated. The good news is that the CorelDraw & PhotoPaint Keypad team have promised that an update is imminent.

The only limiting factor is the WiFi signal, but the app can't necessarily be held accountable for that. Aside from this, CorelDraw & PhotoPaint Keypad performed very well in terms of its speed and stability.

CorelDraw & PhotoPaint Keypad is available for €1.99. Unfortunately, there’s no free version that you can try out before going for the full version.