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Assume I have a CDR file, Adobe Illustrator CS 5 and no CorelDraw. How can I convert this CDR file to AI file? What is the fastest and cheapiest way?

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GraphicConverter 7.3 won't accept .cdr files, unfortunately. – da4 Aug 9 '11 at 15:45

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The free program Inkscape can open many .cdr files and can export in a variety of formats that Illustrator can read.

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It doesn't open it. It says 'You need to install the UniConvertor software. For GNU/Linux: install the package python-uniconvertor.' How can I install it under Mac OS X? – NR4TR May 19 '11 at 19:54
@NR4TR Ugh, unfortunately the solution to that appears to be somewhat difficult and still might not solve the problem, especially if the .cdr file has any text in it. See answer #2 here: answers.launchpad.net/inkscape/+question/90463 – Matthew Frederick May 19 '11 at 21:17
@NR4TR The only other options I know of are to have someone or some service convert the file for you. Google reveals quite a number of websites that either provide it as an online service (though they seem somewhat shaky to me) or as a manual service -- basically you pay someone to open it in Corel Draw and export it for you. The Python package problem you ran into apparently popped up a few years ago. Wish I had a better suggestion for you. – Matthew Frederick May 19 '11 at 21:20
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Try to export as .eps file. This will open in Illustrator.

It works fine for me!

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Download Corel trial version. Import all cdr files and export as AI. job done !

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Welcome to Ask Different! Can you expand this answer a bit? For example, you could provide a link to the trial version and explain how to export in the correct format. Please take a look at the FAQs for more info. Thanks. – Nathan Greenstein♦ Mar 4 '12 at 18:37
up vote 1 down vote

I have tested two applications: Inkscape V0.48 and LibreOffice Draw V3.6.4.3. Both are able to open CDR file and save/export it as an SVG vector graphics (and PDF eventually too). The SVG is listed as a supported format for Adobe Illustrator. Both programs I used are Open Source and free.

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If you happened to get such files often consider converting them on a Linux machine. You can set up a virtual machine and use the Inkscape for Linux. Probably it is not the best method though.

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I have a Windows installed via Bootcamp, so it seems that the best way is to install Corel there... – NR4TR May 20 '11 at 8:49
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Vector file conversion service at http://www.filespazz.com/.

If you're looking to convert CorelDraw Files (.cdr files) into eps, image file or to different Corel Draw file version then you came to the right place. We convert your CorelDraw files into eps formats, images like bitmap, jpeg or gif.

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Welcome to Ask Different! Answers on Ask Different need to be more than just a link. It's okay to include a link, but please excerpt it in the answer. – gentmatt Sep 30 '12 at 11:39

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