In about five seconds, Blend has done what would have taken us an hour or two. In transitioning between a full-intensity version of the graphic to an all-white version, DRAW created intermediate graphics with varying tints. And all 386 objects are tinted back. You just need to pick which one of the five would be right. If you need more choices, increase the Steps value. When you find one you like:

11.  With the entire blend selected, go to Arrange Ø Separate.

12.  Select the intermediate group and go to Arrange Ø Ungroup (Ctrl+U).

13.  Pick the graphic that you think is tinted just right and copy it to the Clipboard.

14.  Return to the first page, remove the original graphic, and press Ctrl+V to paste the new one.

15.  Size it to taste and move it to the back.

You can find this drawing as Watermark.cdr on the Sybex Web site.

In this case, we haven’t used Blend to create artwork; we have used it to solve a problem. We have used it to automate a procedure that otherwise would have been virtually unthinkable. Because of its high appeal with both the artists and the technicians, we think Blend is the most versatile and most powerful of all of CorelDRAW’s tools.