How to open .cdr files in illustrator
amnesiac
I thought .cdr format was supported, but when I try , i get a "The file
*.cdr is an unknown format and cannot be opened.
Any thoughts?
GordonG
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When it comes to opening other company's formats, Adobe are pretty braindead
unfortunately. You need to save the cdr file as an ai file (File > export in
Corel) to make use of Corel's stuff. Of course, Corel can open darn near
anything that Adobe can create - including layered transparent psd files
etc. Adobe should learn from this, but almost certainly won't...
Gordon
amnesiac
"GordonG" <gor...@iig.com.au-nospampleasewerebritish> wrote in message
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LauraK
Roberto Delpiano
Xara.
Save from Corel as a v.7 type. Maybe even 8, don't know.
All shadows (here is where it lays the trouble) will have to be removed (I
remove them before saving) but all the rest is there, in good shape.
roberto
arrooke
Marek Williams
>How do i open .cdr (Corel Draw) files in illustrator9?
>I thought .cdr format was supported, but when I try , i get a "The file
>*.cdr is an unknown format and cannot be opened.
Since the very beginning of CorelDRAW, Corel has used a proprietary
format. The reason is mostly to be able to redraw the screen quickly
when the user is making a drawing.
While this is not uncommon among vendors of drawing applications,
Corel has done things a bit differently. First, Corel changes the file
format with each new release (currently at version 10), which is about
once a year. Thus if other vendors (like Adobe, Quark, etc.) want to
make import filters for CDR format, they would have to update the
filters every year. This is very expensive.
Several years ago, in the middle of the product run for CorelDRAW 5.0,
Corel released a software development kit to allow others to make
import filters for CorelDRAW 5.0. However, shortly thereafter Corel
purchased Ventura Publisher from Xerox Corporation. At that point it
occurred to Corel that if they kept the CDR format secret then Ventura
would be the only layout application that could directly import CDR
files. And later Corel bought WordPerfect from Novell too. So the
software development kit for CDR 5.0 files was the first and last such
kit.
When Macromedia released Freehand 7.0 they included an import filter
for CDR 5 and 6. A few months later Adobe released Illustrator 7.0,
which they also shipped with import filters for CDR 5 and 6. At that
time CorelDRAW 7.0 had been on the market for the better part of a
year. The literature from Adobe noted that the CDR 5 import filter
should work all right, but that the user should expect occasional
problems with the CDR 6 import filter because they had to reverse
engineer it in order to create it. Macromedia said the same thing
about their CDR 6 import filter. I tried both Freehand 7.0 and then
Illustrator 7.0 and used both the CDR 5 and CDR 6 import filters in
both programs. The literature was accurate -- I got great results
importing CDR 5 files, but the CDR 6 files came in pretty hosed.
When Illustrator 8.0 and Freehand 8.0 were released they included
import filters for CDR 5, 6 and 7 (adding one more version). By that
time Corel was at version 8.0. Note that the import filter is a
version or two behind Corel. Unless Corel decides to make their file
format public again, that will always be the case.
And those are drawing programs where the user would be the most likely
to need to import CDR files. Other programs are far less likely to
have even CDR 5 import filters. I do believe, however, that there are
commercial conversion programs, e.g., Hijaak Pro, that have
reverse-engineered filters for CDR files. Since conversions are all
these programs do it is worth their effort to do the work to make the
import filters.
So what you need to do is either get someone with CorelDRAW to open
the file and export it in some other format (EPS is usually best,
although I've also had good luck with AI), or you need to get Hijaak
Pro or some other program that can import the files you have. If CDR
files are all you ever need to convert, it might be just as
inexpensive to buy CorelDRAW as Hijaak Pro. I have the Linux version
of CorelDRAW 9.0 and it cost only about US$129.
I haven't upgraded to Illustrator 9.0 yet, but I note a minor bug in
Illustrator 8.0. Remember I said that Illustrator 7.0 could import CDR
5 and 6, and Illustrator 8.0 added CDR 7. Well, when they added the
CDR 7 filter they failed to change the dialog box. It still says
"CorelDRAW 5, 6 or CMX." But if you go ahead and use it with a CDR 7
file it will work. Still won't work with later CDR formats, however.
Don't reply to the e-mail address in the header. It's bogus. But
I read the newsgroup every day so post here.
Michael Stevens
in Illustrator. I've always exported as AI v6.
Mike
amnesiac
Thanks
"LauraK" <lk...@aol.comxnox> wrote in message
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LauraK
>Thanks
File>Place
At least it is in AI9. Also Photoshop 6 and InDesign 1.5
It shows various files that you can import that way and it includes .cdr in the
file list. I don't have any .cdr files so can't tell you if it works.
webm...@atomicmotorspeedway.com
http://www.atomicmotorspeedway.com
amnesiac
"LauraK" <lk...@aol.comxnox> wrote in message
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Rochester
be loaded by Illustrator. However, one of the features of Illustrator 9 is
supposedly the ability to open .cdr files. I too, an my colleagues haven't
been able to. We haven't really, really tried, but if its there its not
obvious. It may be a plugin you have to install?
"arrooke" <arro...@xsympatico.ca> wrote in message
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