BreadCrumbs: CorelDraw

CorelDraw

From Luke Jackson

(Difference between revisions)

Revision as of 14:23, 5 October 2007

1 Open .EPS Files with CorelDraw11
2 FAQ
- 2.1 Why won't my curves weld properly after I converted them from outlines?
3 Macros
4 See Also
5 Tags

Open .EPS Files with CorelDraw11

For some reason there is a bug in CorelDraw11 which prohibits it from opening .EPS files. Instead in inserts a gray box representing the bounding box of the image with the file information. I have found a workaround for this issue and it is explained below.

Import PostScript Settings

Open CorelDraw11 and create a blank document.
From the Tools sub-menu of the menu bar select Customization.
You should now see the Options window appear. On the left side of this window there is a tree at the bottom of the tree is the Global element, Click on it and expand it.
Click on Filters and on the right of the options window should appear the Filters file association options.
What we want to do is tell Corel to use a different filter than the traditional EPS filter to open EPS files. So on the far right you should see a list box with all of the currently configured filters and their associated files. Locate EPS - Encapsulated PostScript and click on it once to highlight it. Now it gets a tad complex because we still want to be able to export .EPS files but we don't want to use the .EPS filter to import them. So what we need to do is give it less of a priority than the PostScript filter. We can do this by using the Move Down button to move it below the PS, PRN, EPS - PostScript filter.
Once this is completed EPS files will fall back onto the PostScript filter. This is OK because an EPS is still PostScript at the core and we will only have to ensure some simple options for the filter at time of open. Click OK to save your changes and close the Options window.
Close the existing blank document and locate a valid .EPS we can use to test.
There are some more bugs / anomalies with CorelDraw11 when it comes to file names. So the only way I am able to have it keep my file name is by dragging the desired file(s) into the CorelDraw workspace. (Please ensure no documents are open as it will then insert the files into the open document rather than creating a temp document with the file name for each file)
Once a file is dropped onto the workspace you will be prompted with the Import PostScript dialog box. Simply configure the following settings:

- VM Size: 8.0 MB
- Import text as Curves
- Report PostScript errors

Click OK to dismiss the box and open the .EPS file. You should now see curves and be able to manipulate the vector graphic.

I should mention that I have seen instances where files open blank, but I had not found any file which did not open to be a properly formated EPS file. I usually use an application like Adobe Illustrator to confirm that the file is not corrupted. I.E. no bitmap images, mesh objects, redundant paths. Once I verify this I re-export it as an .EPS and then in order for CorelDraw11 to open the file it needs to be converted by Goverts GoBatchGS. This has been successful everytime. Hope this is of help to someone.

FAQ

Why won't my curves weld properly after I converted them from outlines?

CorelDraw 11 has a bug in the Convert Outline to Object tool where it is unable to convert outlines which are not a whole number in width. This bug was encountered in a file exported from Freehand 10. It is not always reproducible but an easy fix is reduce the outline to a whole number.

Macros

Create Measurement Shapes

Sub Measure()
    ActivePage.CreateLayer "Measure"
    ' Create Negative Space Ruler
    Dim n_space As Shape
    ActiveDocument.Unit = cdrMillimeter
    Set n_space = ActiveLayer.CreateEllipse(0, 1, 1, 0)
    n_space.Outline.Type = cdrNoOutline
    n_space.Fill.UniformColor.CMYKAssign 0, 100, 100, 0
    ' Create Positive Space Ruler
    Dim p_space As Shape
    ActiveDocument.Unit = cdrMillimeter
    Set p_space = ActiveLayer.CreateEllipse(1, 1.5, 2.5, 0)
    p_space.Outline.Type = cdrNoOutline
    p_space.Fill.UniformColor.CMYKAssign 100, 0, 0, 0
End Sub

Sub KillMeasure()
    ActivePage.Layers("Measure").Delete
End Sub

Convert Outlines to Objects

Locates all shapes with outlines and converts them to objects. Then deletes the leftover null shapes.

Sub CvertOutlines()
    Dim sh As Shape, shRange As ShapeRange
    ActivePage.Shapes.All.CreateSelection
    Set shRange = ActiveSelectionRange
    'Find Outlines and Cvert to Objects
    For Each sh In shRange
        If sh.Outline.Type = cdrOutline Then
            'sh.Selected = False
            sh.Outline.ConvertToObject
        End If
    Next sh
    ActivePage.Shapes.All.CreateSelection
    'Find Null Shapes and Delete
    For Each sh In shRange
        If sh.Outline.Type = cdrNoOutline And sh.Fill.Type = cdrNoFill Then
            sh.Delete
        End If
    Next sh
End Sub

Center Shapes and Crop Document

Sub AutoCenterObject()
    ActivePage.Shapes.All.Group
    ActivePage.Shapes(1).CreateSelection
    Dim width As Double, height As Double
        ActiveDocument.Unit = cdrInch
        ' Add 0.05in margin
        width = ActiveShape.SizeWidth + 0.05
        height = ActiveShape.SizeHeight + 0.05
    ' Set current page size
    ActivePage.SetSize width, height
    ' Set default document page size
    ActiveDocument.Pages(0).SetSize width, height
    CorelScript.AlignToCenterOfPage 3, 3
    ActivePage.Shapes.All.UngroupAll
    ActiveDocument.ClearSelection
End Sub

Convert to Curves, Ungroup All, Flip, Set Hairline, Remove Fill, Align Bottom-Right

Sub CutnClean()
'By Luke Jackson 04.10.2007
'##########################
    ActivePage.Shapes.All.UngroupAll
    ActivePage.Shapes.All.CreateSelection
    ActivePage.Shapes.All.Group
    ActivePage.Shapes.All.CreateSelection
    ActiveSelectionRange.ConvertToCurves
    ActivePage.Shapes.All.CreateSelection
    ActiveSelectionRange.Flip cdrFlipHorizontal
    ActiveSelectionRange.AlignToPage cdrAlignRight + cdrAlignBottom
    ActivePage.Shapes.All.SetOutlineProperties 0.003
    ActivePage.Shapes.All.SetOutlineProperties Color:=CreateCMYKColor(0, 0, 0, 100)
    ActivePage.Shapes.All.ApplyNoFill
    ActivePage.Shapes.All.UngroupAll
    ActiveDocument.ClearSelection
End Sub

nuts

Sub CutnClean()
'By Luke Jackson 04.10.2007
'##########################
    ActivePage.UnlockAllShapes
    ActivePage.Shapes.All.UngroupAll
    ActivePage.Shapes.All.CreateSelection
    Dim sh As Shape, shRange As ShapeRange
    Set shRange = ActiveSelectionRange
    Find Null Shapes and Delete
    For Each sh In shRange
       If sh.Outline.Type = cdrNoOutline And sh.Fill.Type = cdrNoFill Then
            sh.Delete
        End If
    Next sh
    ActivePage.Shapes.All.Group
    ActivePage.Shapes.All.CreateSelection
    ActiveSelectionRange.ConvertToCurves
    ActivePage.Shapes.All.CreateSelection
    ActiveSelectionRange.Flip cdrFlipHorizontal
    ActiveSelectionRange.AlignToPage cdrAlignLeft + cdrAlignBottom
    ActivePage.Shapes.All.SetOutlineProperties 0.003
    ActivePage.Shapes.All.SetOutlineProperties Color:=CreateCMYKColor(0, 0, 0, 100)
    ActivePage.Shapes.All.ApplyNoFill
    ActivePage.Shapes.All.UngroupAll
    ActiveDocument.ClearSelection
End Sub

CorelDraw

From Luke Jackson

Revision as of 14:23, 5 October 2007

Contents

Open .EPS Files with CorelDraw11

FAQ

Why won't my curves weld properly after I converted them from outlines?

Macros

Create Measurement Shapes

Convert Outlines to Objects

Center Shapes and Crop Document

Convert to Curves, Ungroup All, Flip, Set Hairline, Remove Fill, Align Bottom-Right

nuts

See Also

Tags

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