CorelDRAW Open/Import & Save As/Export/Publish

May 24th, 2008 Val

One of the things that frequently confuses new users of CorelDRAW is that there are at least two different ways to get documents into the program (not counting copy/paste) and at least another three to get documents from the program out to data storage. Let’s look at getting existing documents INTO CorelDRAW to start out with.

CorelDRAW can open gobs of file formats. If you install CorelDRAW without using the custom install, you may not have the full set. Even if you did install the full set, you can turn some of them off and on in the Tools/Options Global -> Filters dialog. Feel free to explore that list sometime, but right now, we’re headed to the File menu.

In the File menu are two kinds of document open commands. The first is File/Open (Ctrl+O). Use Open to open formats that CorelDRAW thinks of as primarily VECTOR files. This list will vary depending on your version of CorelDRAW, but includes not only the native CDR and CMX files, but AI, EPS, PDF (in some versions) DWG, PUB, WMF and a bunch of others that you may or may not think of as primarily vector in nature.

The second menu command is File/Import (Ctrl+I). One thing you need to know about this one is that you must have an already open document in CorelDRAW to import a file. The file being imported will be placed into that open document rather than as an independent document. When you Import a document, you’ll get a little cursor showing where the top left of your file will go. Attached to that cursor will be some descriptive information about your imported file and some hints about where to put it. You can place the imported file with your mouse by moving that corner cursor to where you want it and simply click to place the file at it’s full size there. Alternatively, you can tap your Enter key and that will place your file centered on the page. Finally, you can click and drag to resize your file proportionally. For some files, pressing the Space bar will place the file centered on the page. For others, it will place the file wherever it was originally placed on a page in it’s original formatted file.

The Import command, unlike the Open command, is not limited to just Vector files or just Bitmap files. You can import a JPG image (or most other bitmaps) or you can import a multipage CDR file (or most of the other vector formats that CorelDRAW can open). If you import a file that has multiple pages, the pages will be created for you in your open file provided they don’t already exist. Layers are also created on the fly during the import process. Depending on the complexity of the file, Importing a file can take a bit of time, so be patient.

The one thing you cannot do in either Open or Import is to acquire a file that was created in a newer version of a program than was in existence when your version of CorelDRAW came out. This isn’t just true in CorelDRAW, but in just about any program out there. Older programs have no idea what to do with the features in newer programs. Also, in general, newer versions of CorelDRAW are more successful importing files in non-CorelDRAW Graphics suite formats.

As to those output options? If you want the file saved as a vector format, choose Save or Save As. If you need it in GIF, TIF, JPG, or PNG or any of several other bitmap formats, use the Export command. If you need a PDF, choose Publish to PDF. If you are creating an image map for the web, use the Publish to the Web option.

Also, keep in mind that though you may see what you’d normally think of as a vector file in the Export list, just about everything exported ends up as a bitmap. If you want vector, use Save As.

You CAN create a simple GIF or JPG using the Publish to the Web option, but in general, it’s more of a pain than it’s worth since you need to be working in 1:1 zoom mode if you want your graphics to be any specific size.

Well, I know I’ve probably oversimplified some things (and possibly made others more complex than they need to be) but I’d love to hear from you about your tips for getting images and documents into and out of CorelDRAW.

Have fun!

Val P.

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