Teach Yourself
CorelDRAW 8 in 24 Hours
If you plan to use CorelDRAW objects in a web page, a Word document, a PageMaker publication, or a PowerPoint slide show, for example, you need to export them to a file format other than CorelDRAW (.cdr). Try opening a CorelDRAW file in PowerPoint, for example, and you see a disappointing dialog box such as the one in Figure 17.1.
It hasn't always been easy to move CorelDRAW's vector-based images into desktop publishing, or bitmap graphic or word processing programs. But that was then; this is now. In most cases, transferring graphic images between CorelDRAW 8 and other programs is a smooth process. Usually you can handle the process by copying objects from CorelDRAW into other applications and choosing from various Paste options in the target application.
Moving objects from other programs into CorelDRAW is a bit different. Copied bitmap images enter CorelDRAW as bitmap images, not as vector-based objects. But when you get those bitmap images into CorelDRAW, you can edit them just like you would any other bitmap object in CorelDRAW. You explored that process in Hour 11.
Not all applications like CorelDRAW files but you can get around that and bring your CorelDRAW objects into any program.
Finally, if you bring your CorelDRAW illustration to a printing service bureau, you might need to provide a file that its software and printers can recognize. Almost every printing service bureau can handle files saved to EPS (Encapsulated PostScript Format). And Corel handles that just fine.
Before you walk through some specific examples of importing and exporting different types of other files, it will be helpful to understand the different ways you can move objects in and out of CorelDRAW. Importing, opening files, exporting, copying, pasting--you can use all these techniques to transfer objects in and out of CorelDRAW.
You can bring files from other programs into a CorelDRAW file either by importing them or by opening them. Opening a foreign format file create a new CorelDRAW file. Importing files from other programs brings those objects into already open CorelDRAW files. The only difference is that opening foreign files creates a new drawing, whereas importing brings the file contents into your drawing. What happens if you import a file from Adobe Illustrator, for example, into a blank, new document? You get the same result as if you opened that Illustrator file using the CorelDRAW open menu.
You can open the Import and Open dialog boxes using the toolbar, as shown in Figure 17.2. Figure 17.2 also shows the Export button.
You can bring files from other formats into CorelDRAW using either the Import or the Open buttons.
Although there is a subtle difference between opening foreign format files and importing them, there is no substantial difference between exporting files or using the Save As dialog box to save them to other formats. Okay, one exception to that rule exists. When you learn to export files to EPS format at the end of this hour, you will use the Export dialog box. Whether you export your CorelDRAW drawing or save it as another format, you have the option of saving the entire drawing or just selected objects as another file format.
In short, there's not much difference between exporting objects from CorelDRAW into other file formats and using the Save As dialog box to save them in other file formats.
Most of your transfer problems between CorelDRAW and other programs can be handled by copying and pasting objects. When you select an object, or objects, you can copy them into the Windows Clipboard and then paste them into other applications. In this hour, you explore those options and when to use which one.
In other words, the Windows operating system manages many, if not most, of your importing and exporting problems.
Text frames can be exported to word processing files. The text that you create in CorelDRAW can be saved as a WordPerfect, Word, or generic RTF file.
You are more likely to import word processing documents into CorelDRAW than you are to export them. When you import text into CorelDRAW from a supported word processing format, that text automatically gets poured into a new paragraph text frame. You cannot open word processing documents as new CorelDRAW files. But you can always open a new, blank CorelDRAW file and import the text into it. Your options are to let CorelDRAW figure out the size of that frame or to define your own frame as you import.
Your other option is to simply click with the import text cursor. If you do that, CorelDRAW will create a text frame large enough to hold the entire text file.
The imported text cursor enables you to define a paragraph text frame to pour your text into.
As you learned earlier in this hour, importing and opening files from other formats is very similar. The difference is that importing brings the file into an open CorelDRAW drawing, whereas opening the file creates a brand new CorelDRAW file.
To import a file from another format, open an existing drawing or create a new one in CorelDRAW. Then click on the Import button in the toolbar and select All Files in the Files of Type drop-down menu in the dialog box. This way, CorelDRAW figures out the type of file.
When you click on the Preview check box in the Import dialog box, you see a thumbnail of supported images in the Preview area of the dialog box.
If your imported image is a bitmap format, the drop-down menu with Full Image showing becomes active. You can select Crop from this drop-down list to crop the file before you import it. If you select the Crop option and click on the Import button, you can crop your image in the Crop Image dialog box before you bring it in. In Figure 17.4, I'm cropping a bitmap image before I import it.
The other option in this drop-down menu enables you to resample a bitmap image before you import it. If you select this option and click on the Import menu, you see the Resample Image dialog box shown in Figure 17.5.
You can crop bitmap images as you import them.
Resampling enables you to change the size and resolution of imported images.
Imported vector-based images from Adobe Illustrator cannot be resampled or cropped as they are imported. However, they can be edited using all the vector-based editing options in CorelDRAW.
You can copy files from CorelDRAW into any Windows application. Most applications provide several options for pasting the CorelDRAW file. They include Bitmap File, CorelDRAW Object, and Picture (vector-based) Image.
These are the three main options: If you paste your objects from CorelDRAW as bitmap objects, that are converted into bitmap format and pasted into the target application. If you select CorelDRAW objects, your objects will be pasted into the target application as vector-based images, and you can then edit them in CorelDRAW from within the target application. If you choose Picture format, your graphic will be placed in the target application as a vector-based image format, usually Windows Metafile (*.wmf), but it will not be linked to CorelDRAW.
CAUTION: Don't right-click and choose Paste from a shortcut menu. In most cases, this doesn't provide you with as many Paste options. The Paste option on the Edit menu provides you with more control over the format in which you import your object, as you will see in the next step.
Just A Minute: In Figure 17.6, I've opened PowerPoint 97 and am attempting to import a CorelDRAW object. I'm presented with five options in PowerPoint 97. The first option imports the copied graphic as an object that can be edited in CorelDRAW. The two different Picture options import the graphic as vector-based graphics. The two bitmap choices import the image as bitmap graphics. You can experiment when you have more than one vector or bitmap option to see which one looks better when you copy your graphic.
Paste format options break down to three types: CorelDRAW object, (other) vector-based, or bitmap.
When you select a format, click on OK in the target application Paste Special dialog box.
Just A Minute: Some older applications that still run under Windows 95 do not support Paste Special options. In those cases, you are restricted to pasting in a format defined by the target application.
Most applications to which you copy objects have some way to edit those pasted graphics. If you choose to paste as CorelDRAW objects, they will let you edit those objects in CorelDRAW when you double-click on them.
You might have situations where copying and pasting, even using Paste Special options, is not enough. One of those options is when you have to convert a CorelDRAW file to a file format that a printing service bureau can handle.
Try calling your favorite printing service bureau or find one in the yellow pages. Ask what kinds of output they can create and they'll impress you with a list of brochures, billboards, posters, and so on. But ask if they have a lot of experience printing CorelDRAW 8 files and they'll probably put you on hold, ask around, and tell you no, not really. However, almost every printing service bureau is comfortable working with EPS files, and CorelDRAW files can be saved to PostScript format.
You export drawings to PostScript files using the Export dialog box.
Just A Minute: CorelDRAW can open EPS files, but you will find that the objects in them do not edit well; many effects cannot be applied to objects in these imported files. EPS is not a good format to use for files that you intend to edit. If you save a file as an EPS file for a printer, save the drawing as a CorelDRAW file as well.
Much of the work of moving objects, either text or graphics, in and out of CorelDRAW can be handled by copying objects. When you copy objects, you can usually paste them into other Windows applications as CorelDRAW objects, other vector-based (Picture) formats, or bitmap images.
When you copy graphic images in or out of CorelDRAW 8, the Paste Special option on the Edit menu gives you control over the format of the graphic image.
The Import button in the CorelDRAW toolbar enables you to bring objects or even entire files into CorelDRAW. When you use the Import dialog box, you can bring objects into CorelDRAW even if you don't have the software in which those imported objects were created.
You can also export images from CorelDRAW to other file formats. You can export either selected objects or entire files. One useful export application is to export CorelDRAW files in Encapsulated PostScript format, which is recognized by almost every printing service bureau.
In this workshop, you experiment with exporting and importing graphic objects and text.
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