Import Problem

[jjkohler]

I am trying to import a CorelDraw file from the Borders Folders of the Draw 7 clipart CD. The file is Frame098.cdr. When I try to import it into Xara2 I receive the following message: This file may not be suitable for this filter - are you sure you wish to import this file? I'm given three choices: Import, Don't Import and Help.
Selecting Help gives the following message: Some parts of the document could not be imported.
Selecting Import gives the following message: Not a CorelDraw file.

I have tried exporting the file from CorelDraw as a cmx. I can import this into Xara2 but the colors are messed up and some of it appears to be missing.

I really want to use this file because it is perfect for the project and I really want to keep in a vector format because it will be scaled up for a 18 by 24 poster. I want to complete the project in Xara 2 because I am using a lot of transparency effects which I can't easily duplicate in Draw.

Any one have an idea on how I can solve this problem?

Thanks

John

[Michael]

Save the file from CorelDRAW? as a version5 file. It shiuld open up in Xara without a hitch ...

[athena]

John,

to do this you have to have draw (like draw 7or 8) installed.

Open your favorite clipart in Draw. Open Xara.

Copy clipart from Draw document.

Paste in Xara. (I use this method very often, considering the power of Draw, it seems shameful to only use it to open clipart. . . but I've done it quite often.)

Xara might ask you some filter question but that should work. (use the power of windows when you can)

Hope that helps,

Athena

[img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

[amoore]

Do you have any other apps that will open the cdr and export something Xara is comfortable with?

I don't use Draw but I have at least one other application (Ventura) that will open the cdr file in its present incarnation. I just export in whatever Xara-acceptable format seems to work best for the particular image. (Ventura only goes up to Draw 8, but then I don't have any Draw 9 clipart.:-))

[Mike Bailey]

I have had problems with some of the clipart borders on the CD7 CD. If you are going to use one do a test print before you commit to using it, you might find you have to redraw parts to get it to print properly.

[gwpriester]

>>I have had problems with some of the clipart borders on the CD7 CD. If you are going to use one do a test print before you commit to using it, you might find you have to redraw parts to get it to print properly. <<

Mike

I have noticed a lot of the clip art, much of which has not changed in years, was originally created in Illustrator. You can tell by the way Illustrator breaks shapes into small parts and groups things in ways that seem odd in DRAW, but I'm sure make sense in Illustrator.

Gary

Gary Priester

Moderator Person

Be It Every So Humble...

[jjkohler]

Michael's suggesion: Open file in Draw 9 and save as a version 5 cdr file. No luck. Behaves the same as the file from the clipart CD.

Athena's suggestion: Open in Draw and copy and paste into Xara. Again no luck. Only parts are pasted in Xara and colors are changed.

Allison's suggestion: Open in another program. Tried opening file in Publisher 2000. File imported but was messed up.

My solution: Opened file in Draw 9, added rquired text and resized to that needed for poster. Exported as a TIF which I then imported into my Xara file. Client is happy with result.

Glad to see others have experienced the same problem for a while I thought I was going senile.

I would like a better solution that having to go through a TIF because there is really some excellent stuff on the Draw clipart Cd. I often use the draw clipart as a starting point for new designs. Perhaps one of our gurus has some thoughts on how to deal with this kind of problem.

Thanks to everyone for their replies.

John

[Mike Bailey]

>>odd in DRAW, but I'm sure make sense in Illustrator.

Hi Gary, That makes a lot of sense as well, I rarely use clip art it makes me feel like I am producing a cheap product, If I'm throwing some freebee together I will use it for the sake of saving time, then if I run into a problem I don't bother much about diggin in to see whats wrong, I'll just trash it and use something else.

[Sean Sedwards]

John

I'm surprised the version 5 cdr file didn't work - Xara's party trick is to open Draw 5 files faster and better than Draw 5 itself. Do you still have Draw 7 installed? Saving it as a v5 from that might work. Also, Xara 2 is probably only totally compatible with cmx versions prior to 8, so try exporting it as a v5 cmx. Draw 9 will copy the drawing to the clipboard in v9 (cmx) format, so you're likely to get the same results as importing a v9 cmx file.

If you want to keep the border as vectors, a pretty much sure-fire format is wmf (Windows metafile), although it tends to introduce many more nodes.

I'm interested to find out what's going on here, so perhaps you could e-mail me the original file.


Regards - Sean

[Sean Sedwards]

Having received the cdr file from John, the problem is that Xara doesn't support Draw's multi-section fountain fills. Apart from that, all the cmx versions (including the clipboard) work well and, strictly speaking, the colours aren't wrong, it's just that the middle parts of the fills have been lost. To simulate a metallic brass / gold look, most of the fills fade from brown to yellow to brown again. This can be achieved in Xara using back-to-back linear fills, as described by Gary in an early Xealot, or by playing around with one of the other multi-colour fills.

BTW, wmf works but slows Xara to a crawl with the increased nodes. An alternative approach might be to import the wmf file to a non-visible layer and work with a bitmap copy until time to export.

Regards - Sean