I wrote before about using corel without Ventura. I am trying to take over a job created by a designer using Quark in MAC format. I have received two eps files from that designer and a pdf from the printer. Corel will not open any of them. A  box opens asking if I want the text as text or curves and I choose, then it shows me a list of font substitutions, I choose either permanent or temporary, then I get the error message that "the file is corrupted" and it does not open. It gives me the same error whether I choose text as text or curves. Since the files are in two different formats from two different sources could I have a problem with Corel? I can open other pdf and eps files without problems. Any suggestions? Please help because getting this project is important to me but if I cannot open the files they give me then the client will go with someone that has Quark in MAC.

Thanks, Sherron

 Sometimes, but not always, you can open the pdf in Acrobat Reader and then re-save it with a different name. I've sometimes been able to open a persnickity pdf in CorelDraw that way.

 If you have another vector drawing program, for instance Xara, then it may be possible to import it into that program and then export it out as a cmx file ( Corel Presentation Exchange format ) and then import that into CorelDraw.

 I work in the sign business and I'm getting pretty good at working with "iffy" file. There are times though that a file just won't open or it brings the whole show to a standstill. When that happens I'll usually talk to the designer at the other end and see if they know womeone close by with a PC that can open the file and resave it as something else.

 I find that sometimes I have to be more creative in getting a file imported than I would if I have to come up with a concept drawing from scratch. One thing I will never do though is buy Adobe Illustrator just for opening files. That represents a stack of beer money. 

Dan, thanks for your reply,

I have tried re-saving and I still get import error - file is corrupted. Unfortunately, I have no other program to try this in. I am waiting for a return phone call from the other designer. The other designer was hoping to pass this project on to a friend of his and the client wants me (more convenient location for the client) so I hope he will continue to cooperate.  I am wondering if the problem is because there are so many imbedded fonts that I do not have on my computer? Should I tell him not to embed the fonts and try again in pdf format?

Are there any other tips I should suggest to him to make the file more transferrable from MAC to my PC CorelDraw? He already told the me and the client that he had used Corel in the past and that Corel would cause problems for the printer, so I think he will take the fact that the files will not open as meaning I cannot do the job and then just treat me as a pain in the (you know what). Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I have tried re-saving and I still get import error - file is corrupted. Unfortunately, I have no other program to try this in. I am waiting for a return phone call from the other designer. The other designer was hoping to pass this project on to a friend of his and the client wants me (more convenient location for the client) so I hope he will continue to cooperate.  I am wondering if the problem is because there are so many imbedded fonts that I do not have on my computer? Should I tell him not to embed the fonts and try again in pdf format?

Are there any other tips I should suggest to him to make the file more transferrable from MAC to my PC CorelDraw? He already told the me and the client that he had used Corel in the past and that Corel would cause problems for the printer, so I think he will take the fact that the files will not open as meaning I cannot do the job and then just treat me as a pain in the (you know what). Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 As far as I know if you embed the fonts in a PDF it only embeds the individual glyphs that are used to make up the words. It doesn't embed the whole TTF or OTF font file. If whoever is saving the file as a PDF converts the fonts to curves BEFORE they export as PDF you likely won't run into the issues you're running into now.

That may or may not be a problem. It depends on whether you are going to have to edit the text at some future time. If you are then you will need to install the missing font file on Windows.

 Once you get the file opened in CorelDraw work with it as a native CDR file and if someone requires it in PDF or Adobe AI format then export it that way as the final step. I've exported CorelDraw generated files in PDF and Adobe AI to print shops that say they don't work with CorelDraw generated files and they've been none the wiser.

One thing that I can say from experience is that an adept user of CorelDraw will out produce an adept user of Adobe Illustrator almost a 100% of the time. Many common tasks can be done with less "clicks" and less effort in CorelDraw. Illustrator users that have never used CorelDraw will tell you different but anybody who has used both will have trouble disagreeing with that.

Illustrator users that have never used CorelDraw will tell you different but anybody who has used both will have trouble disagreeing with that.

Sherron

If this (hopefully) new client will keep on giving you documents created in Quark, I suspect you'll have a hard time getting it right. Without knowing the exact capabilities of Quark, I'm pretty sure that bringing Quark files into Draw as editable text, with everything in place, will be a tough job.
If it is only a few not too complicated files, maybe you can find a way to get around the corrupted files problem. Try installing a free PDF printer, like Cute PDF, open the original PDF in Acrobat Reader and print to the PDF printer. This may create a file that can be opened in Draw. Be prepared though that text may come in as separate lines or even separate words/characters (and missing fonts). Vector shapes and pictures is most likely coming in as good as can be, but you must keep an eye on things like bitmaps, and effects like shadows for example. In most cases though, it will at least give you something to start working with.

/Ronny 

Thanks Ronny for your help. I got the other designer to create another pdf file and this time it opened. I will be able to work from this because it is really the layout that I need, i.e. size of map and placement of text and advertising on the map. Once I have created it this year I will be the one to do it in the future, so it will not pose a problem again.

Sherron