CDR Import

[azguy]

Please add the ability to import CDR files. 

 

Lately, clients have started mentioning that they would like to move away from CorelDraw.  You might be surprised how many Mac users are using CorelDraw via Bootcamp or Parallels.  Now that Serif (Affinity) is supporting the Mac they want to migrate away from CorelDraw.

 

However, they feel trapped with CorelDraw because:

 

They do not want to lose their CDR files created over many years.

 

In addition, they want to avoid exporting hundreds of files out of CorelDraw one at a time so the files could be used elsewhere.

 

Here is an opportunity for Affinity to make friends in the Mac community.  Make Affinity products able to perfectly import Adobe and Corel files.  Do this and you will have an automatic customer base for a long time.

[000]

I am a Corel Draw user running it via Parallels and would LOVE to move away — despite the ugly new UI the newer versions of Draw require a ,Corel Account' and the barcode feature works with an active internet connection only.
Therefore, I second and third this! CDR import would be awesome and the file format isn't too complicated (basically ZIP files with XML or XHTML, renamed to CDR).

[andyajon]

Need this badly.

 

I'm currently using CorelDRAW on Mac via Parallels and performance wise, it is not good.

 

Please add CDR import file feature.

[fsgrafix]

I would like to be done with Corel and this is a great opportunity to switch. I have a large library of Corel files I'd like to keep working with. 

[jtucker]

I also fall into this category.  We use Corel Designer at our office on Win7 machines, and I use parallels or Bootcamp on my Mac at home to work on the files.  Would love to have the abiity to import .des or .cdr files.

[hschneider]

I second this. You could conquer the whole CorelDRAW market, with all these creatives converted to Mac OSX, still running Corel on Parallels. This would boost our workflow ....

[Milere]

Hello to all, I am also in the same boat as you guys, I want to move away from Corel but dont like Illustrator, I hope Affinity will include a CDR import function, that will be a smart move.

[Knollolio]

Indeed, CorelDraw is the one and only reason why I own Parallel's Desktop. And yes, the performance of CorelDraw under Parallel's Desktop is far from optimal. Moreover, with Yosemite coming, Parallel has to be upgraded again. This is exactly why I wanted to switch to another vector drawing application. And I also have a lot of CDR files that I'll need in the future. In my opinion, CDR Import would be a very good addition to Affinity Design.

[bcc2k]

+1 for CDR import.

[SilverSkyRat]

+1 too, running CorelDRAW! X4 on VMware Fusion 6. Performance fantastic, but want to remove Win entirely (sick of Windows Updates & Virus s/w updates just to keep a program or two running).

 

Also, look at the Mac vector graphics competition.... Sketch, ArtBoard, Intaglio, EazyDraw, Sketsa, SketchBook, Inkscape... NONE of them can do it... what an edge you'd have  ;)

 

Edit: Also great to see you're not doing the "subscription" and "cloud" nonsense that's a huge turn-off for someone who likes to control and backup their own data  ;)

[Raskolnikov]

Looks like Adobe and Corel and doing it lately really bad ...

[fsgrafix]

 

I have a huge library of CDR images that I need to access. This would be a real plus for me.

 

I also have a library of the old Micrografx Designer files that would be great to have access to.

 

The way to build a community of users is to bring them in from various other applications!

[macalienx]

This would really be helpful! :)

[Petar Petrenko]

Also a support for a CDX files. I have a huge collection of them: 100.000+. It would be very nice to use it with AD.

Also a support for a XAR (Xara Designer) files.

[lexislav]

Yes, please!

[rissom]

I would like to have this too!

[macgabsi]

Hi everyone!

 

I was just about to post a similar request and then came across this thread.

I am a CorelDraw user since Version 1 and have been frustrated ever since I changed over to Mac a few years ago.

I've been following a Corel user blog for a while now where it seems a large number of users are looking for an alternative, as Corel is making no effort to migrate their software to the Mac.

The blog entry that brought me to buy Affinity is here: https://corelblogs.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/you-can-run-coreldraw-on-a-mac/#comment-5630

 

I've literally only just played around for 15 minutes without reading any tutorial and my first impression is that Affinity is very intuitive coming from a Corel background.

Everything feels like it is "in the right place" and I'm eager to explore it more.

 

What I would like to see is an active effort by Serif to make a transition from CorelDraw to Affinity as easy and painless as possible.

A solid import option for .CDR files would certainly make the software an instant hit with anyone who is considering finally ditching the Parallels/CorelDraw setup.

I think there would be a considerable market from CorelDraw users who are desperately looking for a Mac alternative that has a very similar feel and functionality.

 

What does everyone else think? I am sure there must be plenty of Corel users who have switched already.

Any advice? Are there any specific "how to migrate from Corel to Affinity" tutorials anywhere to be found?

 

Many thanks!

[Milere]

I am another Corel/Parallels user that would like Affinity to open CDR files.

 

I think that this is an opportunity to YOU!!!!

 

I wonder if you know how many users are looking for a solution when migrating to mac?????

 

Thank you.

[000]

Hi Macgabsi,

 

I am currently in the switching process and have found that the easiest way is to run both applications — I start everything new with Affinity and edit everything existing with Corel.

 

PDF has proven to be a good format for transporting the files (Corels PDF export is fantastic, love it!), however, I keep working with Corel on some existing files, always weighting if it's easier and quicker to keep editing or if it's worth brining it to Affinity and check every element.

 

Since both applications are "buy-and-use", I can transfer my files one by one when and as needed — I think, people switching from Adobes subscription model have a harder time, since their time is running out respectively the Adobe application are generating new costs every month.

[gsmcd]

Yep, Corel under bootcamp just does not do it for me, not all the features seem to work fully and it feels clunky.  However, been using Corel for 18 years so have a lot of time and effort invested that I don't want to just dump.  This leaves me using an old PC just to access my Corel files.

[rofrol]

Since I changed to OSX, I don't use Corel anymore, but I have a lot of files created with Corel. My Windows-PC doesn't exist anymore - exporting them is not more an opportunity. Would be great to import them all to AD!

[vdamjanovski]

Wow, I cannot believe how many Mac users are still running CorelDraw on Parallels, like I do.

 

Really guys from Affinity, you might be onto something really unique for the illustrators if you make it possible to import CDR files into your Designer.

 

Adobe Illustrator for Mac is the least intuitive and the least capable drawing program I have encountered (and I have tried so many). It can not even have multi-pages drawing, like Corel, it can not rasterise if your drawing is A3 format for high resolution printing - it says not enough memory (!?!) even though I have 16GB.

 

Affinity, please take over.

[Petar Petrenko]

Здраво, вдамјановски. Дали успеав да налетам на еден Македонец на овој Форум? Ако живееш во МК (Скопје) сврти на 075 39-39-49 да се чуеме. Поздрав.

[vdamjanovski]

Да Петар, Македонец сум, ама живеам и работам во Сиднеј. Се надевам работите таму се подобруваат. Поздрав.

[000]

Just starting to dream here: It would be GREAT if I could import all my CDR clipart (several DVDs and CDs from version 11 to x6) and save them as .affinity files with a script or macro …