My short answer is: It all depends on what you need.
My long answer is:
When looking for an affordable alternative to CS, you need to look at different things. First, the feature set. You mention that you're looking for printing and CMYK output, which tells me that you look for a package that does photo-editing, vector illustration and page layout, all this with with the capability to output for professional printers (e.g. color separation and more). I guess you're also looking for color management and potentially also for spot color support such as Pantone.
The second aspect you should consider is the actual user of the product. As you mention, you look at a product that can be used and learned by people who are not necessarily trained in graphics, and who might also not be the most power-users when it comes to computers in general. If the software could help them a little throughout the process of "discovery" it, that would certainly help you with your training.
In addition, as you're talking about your company, the IT department might have a say in the software you use. According to your post, you're mainly in a Windows environment, so I guess the IT team uses a tool such as SMS to manage the desktop software. They will be looking for a package that is network deployable and easy to maintain on multiple computers.
Now, if you're a CS user, you are certainly also looking at a package that is compatible with your product (PSD, AI and PDF file formats) and potentially also that is not to difficult for you to get used to, so that you can have both side by side.
If this matches what you're looking for, I would recommend you try out CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 and see for yourself. If you have any questions about the product, a great place to go is http://coreldraw.com/.
And to add a little disclaimer: I am part of the CorelDRAW product management team, so some of you might consider this comment biased. I understand that and all I am saying is that you should find out for yourself and get your product questions answered by Corel of the CorelDRAW community.
Slashdot Mirror
My short answer is: It all depends on what you need.
My long answer is:
When looking for an affordable alternative to CS, you need to look at different things. First, the feature set. You mention that you're looking for printing and CMYK output, which tells me that you look for a package that does photo-editing, vector illustration and page layout, all this with with the capability to output for professional printers (e.g. color separation and more). I guess you're also looking for color management and potentially also for spot color support such as Pantone.
The second aspect you should consider is the actual user of the product. As you mention, you look at a product that can be used and learned by people who are not necessarily trained in graphics, and who might also not be the most power-users when it comes to computers in general. If the software could help them a little throughout the process of "discovery" it, that would certainly help you with your training.
In addition, as you're talking about your company, the IT department might have a say in the software you use. According to your post, you're mainly in a Windows environment, so I guess the IT team uses a tool such as SMS to manage the desktop software. They will be looking for a package that is network deployable and easy to maintain on multiple computers.
Now, if you're a CS user, you are certainly also looking at a package that is compatible with your product (PSD, AI and PDF file formats) and potentially also that is not to difficult for you to get used to, so that you can have both side by side.
If this matches what you're looking for, I would recommend you try out CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X3 and see for yourself. If you have any questions about the product, a great place to go is http://coreldraw.com/.
And to add a little disclaimer: I am part of the CorelDRAW product management team, so some of you might consider this comment biased. I understand that and all I am saying is that you should find out for yourself and get your product questions answered by Corel of the CorelDRAW community.
Gérard