cdr (coreldraw) conversion is not good, very very bad

[A. Zain]

maybe i'm to stupid.. but what do i have to do, to import an CDR (Coreldraw) File into inkscape??
via menu ? (i have already installed/set the following)
# UniConvertor requires Python ,Python Image Library (PIL) and ReportLab package. You need downloading and installing Python 2.5 msi-package (http://python.org) and after that corresponded PIL package (http://pythonware.com) and ReportLab package (http://www.reportlab.org)
# Please check that your Python directory and \Scripts directory are in system path. If not just add they in "My computer->Properties->Advanced->Enviroment Variables" for "Path" system variable.

and all what is described at
http://www.inkscapeforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=935

But when i use inkscape => file => import => Type: any type => select an CDR => get an error message in german "Laden der gewünschten Datei ..fehlgeschlagen" means "loading/import of the selected file ... failed"
do you have an idea, how to solve?

best regards jagehtsnoch

[A. Zain (adnan-zain)]

UniConvertor is worst, result from converting cdr files to svg only 1 page but still not satisfy with result.

[Alvin Penner (apenner)]

uniconvertor is now included in the recent development versions of Inkscape, it might be worth trying a development version.

[Guillermo Espertino (Gez) (gespertino-gmail)]

Corel draw import is made via uniconvertor. It's not in the internals of Inkscape.
If the cdr import is not good is something related to uniconvertor and should be reported in the uniconvertor bug tracker, not here.
I'm marking this as invalid. There's a more appropriate channel to report this bug (uniconvertor).

Also there's a workaround that is saving the original file in a compatible format from Coreldraw.
The import of proprietary formats made via a third party utility as uniconvertor is a plus, not a must.
In my oppinion, commercial applications should support standard output formats to assure exchangeability with other applications. We shouldn't have to support closed formats (as I said, it should be considered as an extra feature, not a need).

[A. Zain (adnan-zain)]

Guillermo Espertino (Gez) wrote:
> Corel draw import is made via uniconvertor. It's not in the internals of Inkscape.
> If the cdr import is not good is something related to uniconvertor and should be reported in the uniconvertor bug tracker, not here.
> I'm marking this as invalid. There's a more appropriate channel to report this bug (uniconvertor).
>
> Also there's a workaround that is saving the original file in a compatible format from Coreldraw.
> The import of proprietary formats made via a third party utility as uniconvertor is a plus, not a must.
> In my oppinion, commercial applications should support standard output formats to assure exchangeability with other applications. We shouldn't have to support closed formats (as I said, it should be considered as an extra feature, not a need).
>
> ** Changed in: inkscape
> Status: New => Invalid
>
>
sorry, i am not yell to Inkscape. That's problem when we try to migrate
but opensource not available to convert coreldraw. unfortunately all
design graphic use corel draw and running on win$.

[Guillermo Espertino (Gez) (gespertino-gmail)]

I'm a graphic designer and I use Inkscape ;-)
But I understand. CDR is a very common format, just as AI and EPS. Even freehand is quite common, although Adobe killed Freehand when acquired Macromedia.
That's, on one hand, a common situation of the real, everyday life. On the other hand, as I said before, they are closed formats and supporting them without specifications isn't that simple. Somebody has to study the format and code a proper importer/exporter. If somebody takes that hard work and does it, fine. But at the moment nobody is working on it.

As I said before, I'm a graphic designer and I use Inkscape. I have to live with that situation frequently.
Inkscape has a pretty good EPS support now, so I ask them to send mi EPS or PDF files when they send me Corel files.
Every vector design program out there supports EPS and/or PDF, so it's not a big deal.
A piece of advice: You won't be able to re-use your windows+commercial apps workflow in Linux. You'll have to find a new workflow, changing things, formats and procedures. That takes some time and effort, but once you made it, you'll find it's possible to run a design studio using free tools. Good luck!