Help- Need with converting to AI from CDR

[lucie93]

Hey!

So my design team based in india uses coral draw, I have recieved a brochure that I want to make amendments ( text pictures etc)  in, although I understand you cannot do this in InDesign ( which would have been better for me) I can in AI...now i have downloaded the free trial of coral to convert this .CDR file into AI . but i keep getting the error when openinig in AI. *Below*

I have no idea how/why it could be damaged or anything as it works perfectly fine in coral.  at this rate im just going to have to re-create it all... 😞  

*I have tried to convert CDR to EPS FILE/AI file on an online converter the download is just a blank screen*

Any help is appricated. 

[Monika Gause]

So you opened it in CorelDRAW and then saved it as an AI file from there?

CorelDRAW probably didn't save it correctly for Illustrator 2020. You might want to report that to Corel.

Apart from that: just don't work this way.

Yes, you can convert files, but basically after every edit, everyone will have to redo basically everything. The text engines work completely differently. You make edits, adjust type settings, then your colleagues use CorelDRAW again and have to redo that. That will never work. And that is only text. You can't rely on graphics being converted correctly either. Or page numbering and whatnot.

So either you use PDFs to do redaction and then your colleagues edit that in the lyout file. Or you bite the bullet and learn CorelDRAW. It's not that difficult.

[lucie93]

Thanks,  agreed it isnt that difficult, but wondered if someone had a different solution other than the easist .. buy coral. 

pretty new at all this so just wondered. 

thanks anyway 

[Monika Gause]

I have done some testing with CorelDRAW and Illustrator CC2019 and the conversion worked (at least you could open the files). So there must be that little something that Corel's conversion engine gets wrong.

But still you cannot expect to have this work smoothly in a regular workflow going back and forth between the apps, because with each conversion you will basically ruin *all* the details in the other side's work. You will lose editability of everything but the most basic attributes (fills and strokes). You will lose all kerning, spacing, special text formatting. And every time you will have to first redo it in the other app before you can edit text, just because you need to know if your text fits.

You really want to do that? Having too much time?