Illustrator: how to import Corel Draw files?

[Red83]

I have a Corel Draw file and I open it in Illustrator, but it doesn't work. Is there a way to solve this problem?

[markerline]

Illustrator CS5, fyi, can open CorelDraw X5 and any previous versions, given that the file is not corrupted (not sure about Mac CorelDraw files though, just speaking from Windows experience).

But

CorelDraw X5 can only open up to Illustrator CS4 as far as I know, based on experiences with prior C.D. versions--it's usually one version less than the current Adobe version.

[Silkrooster]

Interesting, glad to see the import and export options on both programs have been updated.

[thejimmywalter]

Not true. I have old CDR files from Corel Draw 11 that AI CS6 says are "unknown file" types and cannot be opened.

[Filipe0513]

I'm using Illustrator CS5 for MAC, I don't have Corew. I have no idea how the .cdr was saved, and I'm getting the same alert message as thejimmywalter

[Monika Gause]

Try this:

https://cloudconvert.org/

[JETalmage]

If the Draw file was saved with the compression option turned on, Illustrator cannot open it.

But as Scott said, anyone who tries to answer your post is just guessing. You haven't provided enough info.

JET

[Red83]

ok ok  you are right!

I use Corel Draw 12 and Illustrator CS3...

[markerline]

But you still haven't answered JETalmage's question of whether you are using compressed files (which until his post I was not even aware that CorelDraw was capable of that option for file saving) . . .

In normal cases you would simply use the Open command on the File menu to open CDR files which would then come into AI as "[converted]".  Any changes made to the file would be saved as Illustrator format.  But if you want to work with Corel afterwards then you would be sure to save in a lower version of AI that your version of Corel is capable of opening.  Otherwise you get a "unknown file type" error, or something to that effect.

-markerline

[sawduster]

FWIW, I was trying to import an AI14 file into Corel Draw X4 this morning and kept getting a corrupted file error.  This happens often when bringing in the AI files, but it's never consistent and sometimes error messages are different.  I went to the X4 Help menu, updated to Service Pack 2, and then the file imported perfectly.

[markerline]

That's what I was trying to describe with CDRaw and AI compatibility.  You needed the service pack from Corel in order for it to read the newer AI files.  Otherwise you would have only been able to open AI CS3 files and below.

[ucreatecrhis · Accepted solution]

Seems no one answered this question. I found a solution....8 years later
Zamzar - video converter, audio converter, image converter, eBook converter  Free converter for multiple file options that actually worked.

The free Cloudconvert convert anything to anything - CloudConvert  as mentioned before works too, but with limited output options.

The bigger questions is why anyone still uses Corel draw im sure its much better than when I used ti 20 years ago.

[taylorp32681803 · Accepted solution]

Necro-post I know, but I wanted to share what I discovered after several hours fighting with this today: 

I've always had the best luck exporting as PDF, because just about anything can open a PDF, and unlike EPS or SVG, there arent issues with transparency or different programs saving at different DPI. Never had issues gettign AI to open Corel PDFs until earlier this week, when all of a sudden files from Corel would not open correctly in AI, no mater what format I saved/exported them in. Well cut to about a week later, the solution is as dumb as the problem: Open the PDF file in Acrobat, go to "save-as", and resave the PDF with default settings, under the same filename. For whatever reason, that fixes it, and lets AI import everything just fine.