Community Beginner ,
/t5/illustrator-discussions/illustrator-how-to-import-corel-draw-files/td-p/2922544 Sep 06, 2010 Sep 06, 2010
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
I have a Corel Draw file and I open it in Illustrator, but it doesn't work. Is there a way to solve this problem?
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
2 Correct answers
New Here , Oct 11, 2018 Oct 11, 2018
ucreatecrhis • New Here , Oct 11, 2018 Oct 11, 2018
Seems no one answered this question. I found a solution....8 years later 
Zamzar - video converter, audio converter, image converter, eBook converter Free converter for multiple file options that actually worked.
The free Cloudconvert convert anything to anything - CloudConvert as mentioned before works too, but with limited output options.
The bigger questions is why anyone still uses Corel draw im sure its much better than when I used ti 20 years ago.
Votes Upvote
Translate
Translate
Jump to answer
New Here , Mar 14, 2025 Mar 14, 2025
taylorp32681803 • New Here , Mar 14, 2025 Mar 14, 2025
Necro-post I know, but I wanted to share what I discovered after several hours fighting with this today:
I've always had the best luck exporting as PDF, because just about anything can open a PDF, and unlike EPS or SVG, there arent issues with transparency or different programs saving at different DPI. Never had issues gettign AI to open Corel PDFs until earlier this week, when all of a sudden files from Corel would not open correctly in AI, no mater what format I saved/exported them in. Well cu
...
Votes Upvote
Translate
Translate
Jump to answer
Explore related tutorials & articles
12 Replies 12
Jump to latest reply
Mentor ,
/t5/illustrator-discussions/illustrator-how-to-import-corel-draw-files/m-p/2922545#M6830 Sep 06, 2010 Sep 06, 2010
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Illustrator CS5, fyi, can open CorelDraw X5 and any previous versions, given that the file is not corrupted (not sure about Mac CorelDraw files though, just speaking from Windows experience).
But
CorelDraw X5 can only open up to Illustrator CS4 as far as I know, based on experiences with prior C.D. versions--it's usually one version less than the current Adobe version.
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
LEGEND ,
/t5/illustrator-discussions/illustrator-how-to-import-corel-draw-files/m-p/2922547#M6832 Sep 06, 2010 Sep 06, 2010
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Interesting, glad to see the import and export options on both programs have been updated.
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
Explorer ,
/t5/illustrator-discussions/illustrator-how-to-import-corel-draw-files/m-p/2922552#M6837 Oct 17, 2014 Oct 17, 2014
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Not true. I have old CDR files from Corel Draw 11 that AI CS6 says are "unknown file" types and cannot be opened.
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
New Here ,
/t5/illustrator-discussions/illustrator-how-to-import-corel-draw-files/m-p/2922553#M6838 Nov 11, 2014 Nov 11, 2014
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
I'm using Illustrator CS5 for MAC, I don't have Corew. I have no idea how the .cdr was saved, and I'm getting the same alert message as thejimmywalter
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
Community Expert ,
/t5/illustrator-discussions/illustrator-how-to-import-corel-draw-files/m-p/2922554#M6839 Nov 11, 2014 Nov 11, 2014
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Try this:
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
LEGEND ,
/t5/illustrator-discussions/illustrator-how-to-import-corel-draw-files/m-p/2922546#M6831 Sep 06, 2010 Sep 06, 2010
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
If the Draw file was saved with the compression option turned on, Illustrator cannot open it.
But as Scott said, anyone who tries to answer your post is just guessing. You haven't provided enough info.
JET
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
Red83 AUTHOR
Community Beginner ,
/t5/illustrator-discussions/illustrator-how-to-import-corel-draw-files/m-p/2922548#M6833 Sep 07, 2010 Sep 07, 2010
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
ok ok you are right!
I use Corel Draw 12 and Illustrator CS3...
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
Mentor ,
/t5/illustrator-discussions/illustrator-how-to-import-corel-draw-files/m-p/2922549#M6834 Sep 07, 2010 Sep 07, 2010
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
But you still haven't answered JETalmage's question of whether you are using compressed files (which until his post I was not even aware that CorelDraw was capable of that option for file saving) . . .
In normal cases you would simply use the Open command on the File menu to open CDR files which would then come into AI as "[converted]". Any changes made to the file would be saved as Illustrator format. But if you want to work with Corel afterwards then you would be sure to save in a lower version of AI that your version of Corel is capable of opening. Otherwise you get a "unknown file type" error, or something to that effect.
-markerline
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
New Here ,
/t5/illustrator-discussions/illustrator-how-to-import-corel-draw-files/m-p/2922550#M6835 Sep 07, 2010 Sep 07, 2010
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
FWIW, I was trying to import an AI14 file into Corel Draw X4 this morning and kept getting a corrupted file error. This happens often when bringing in the AI files, but it's never consistent and sometimes error messages are different. I went to the X4 Help menu, updated to Service Pack 2, and then the file imported perfectly.
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
Mentor ,
/t5/illustrator-discussions/illustrator-how-to-import-corel-draw-files/m-p/2922551#M6836 Sep 07, 2010 Sep 07, 2010
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
That's what I was trying to describe with CDRaw and AI compatibility. You needed the service pack from Corel in order for it to read the newer AI files. Otherwise you would have only been able to open AI CS3 files and below.
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
New Here ,
/t5/illustrator-discussions/illustrator-how-to-import-corel-draw-files/m-p/2922555#M6840 Oct 11, 2018 Oct 11, 2018
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
Seems no one answered this question. I found a solution....8 years later
Zamzar - video converter, audio converter, image converter, eBook converter Free converter for multiple file options that actually worked.
The free Cloudconvert convert anything to anything - CloudConvert as mentioned before works too, but with limited output options.
The bigger questions is why anyone still uses Corel draw im sure its much better than when I used ti 20 years ago.
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
New Here ,
/t5/illustrator-discussions/illustrator-how-to-import-corel-draw-files/m-p/15211544#M437868 Mar 14, 2025 Mar 14, 2025
Copy link to clipboard
Copied
LATEST
Necro-post I know, but I wanted to share what I discovered after several hours fighting with this today:
I've always had the best luck exporting as PDF, because just about anything can open a PDF, and unlike EPS or SVG, there arent issues with transparency or different programs saving at different DPI. Never had issues gettign AI to open Corel PDFs until earlier this week, when all of a sudden files from Corel would not open correctly in AI, no mater what format I saved/exported them in. Well cut to about a week later, the solution is as dumb as the problem: Open the PDF file in Acrobat, go to "save-as", and resave the PDF with default settings, under the same filename. For whatever reason, that fixes it, and lets AI import everything just fine.
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
