Corel Design questions welcome!

[williamd]

I would like to offer my expertise for Coreldraw if ever some members here use it instead of Illustrator.... More than happy to help and am looking forward to participating in this forum~!

[cambo]

I have a question I use coreldrawx3 and I just downloaded the harley file from this forum and the drawing came in fine except that it is a bunch of broken line segments that need to be joined. i know how to do this manually but was wondering if there was a quicker way. Any help would be appreciated

[williamd]

In CorelDraw X3, you need to 'Combine' the broken line segments and then 'close the path' by joining the broken nodes.... Or better yet, have the original creator of the file export it out properly.....

[Metal Lee]

It seems that files coming out of Auto Cad or maybe Plasma Cam software are prone to broken line segments, it is only the designers that do this for a living that can seem to put out a clean file. Most of the files that are on this site when you import them into Corel Draw, combine them and then use the node tool you will find multiple broken lines. I think this has something to do with their output setting. What I do to get a working file is open the .DXF in my Command and cut software that came with my table and join the line segments, that is a function within the software that I have. Then I export the file as a .plt and then I have a good clean file to work with in my Corel Draw. I have not found an easy was as of yet to join the line segments in Corel, most of the files have an upwards to 800-2000 broken line segments or objects and not even me other software can join them. I wish I could find an easier way to work with the files, and if I do I will be sure to let everyone know. Don't get me wrong I am not trying to diss anyone here or there files just trying to find an easier way to work with them. Is anyone usin corel X4, is there a way to join segment's with it? If someone is talking to Corel tech support it may be a good question.

[cambo]

Hello williamd i am kind of new at this whole computer thing, getting better every day thanks to people on this forum,so I tried what you said but am having trouble finding the 'close the path' option any idea? metal lee i have command and cut and never thought about trying that. I will have to give it a whirl thanks to both of you.over

[williamd]

Cambo, to close a path, you must select the adjoining nodes, with the node select tool and then in the top menu "Arrange"... "Close Path".....

[williamd]

Send me one of the files, I'd be more than happy to take a look at it... info@excaliburcreations.com

[srp]

When I bring dxf files into corel from my cadd program I find missing segments also. These segments are missing arcs or circles. My thoughts about Corel is that it doesn't translate arcs well. In the past Corel has been notorious for this and ver.9 goes back quite a ways. They were to make big improvements in ver. 12. ? - John

[glgsales]

Cambo, to close a path, you must select the adjoining nodes, with the node select tool and then in the top menu "Arrange"... "Close Path".....

William .
I use Corel 11 and i am trying to find what you are describing ,i think you are talking about when the lines are broken correct?

I i have pic i will post here in dxf, that i imported to Plasmacam first, there were so many lines who ever saved it just made a mess of it.
Then i imported it into Corel 11 and I see a pretty good dragon pic, but up close the lines a very jagged and not smooth, which we all know will cause any plasma cutter,i.e.plasmacam to go crazy cuttin this. You are right the person saves a file must understand that when it is exported it must have all the lines closeed and as smooth as possible and in as high a resolutuion as possible,inmho. Plasmacam has a way to link segements, but smoothing is really time comsuming in a small drawing and often the original drawing really isn't anything like what you end up with.
I am trying to use Inkscape and Corel, and recently downloaded a trial of IllustratorC3 to use and compare ease of use to vectorize a bmp pic for a our lazer engraver and for our cnc router, and mill .
I have used Corel for years off and on but i am not an expert, and i can't get inkscape to do any better.
Because the longer and more complicated the file,the less the kids, want to work on it . Me too for that matter...lol
But i have more time, so i plug on.... many times in an endless circle...lol
SO I don't see a simple step by step i guess for every drawing, do you agree?
Or do you have one you can share with us?

Thaks
Gary

[williamd]

Gary,

I took a look at the Dragon Dxf, I can clearly see that it was made from Autotracer software.... Something like this you would have to spend the time smoothing it out or re-drawing from scratch. (Which is what I would do myself as you will have a better file to work with afterwards.....)

A #1 rule to remember is "Garbage in.... Garbage out..." meaning if the BMP image isn't very good to start with you aren't going to have an Autotracer output something plasma friendly.

I use both Illustrator and Coreldraw, they're both just as easy to use. Coreldraw if more friendly for printing, so it tends to be the most popular used with Laser Engravers...

Only thing I can say is to practice with your software of choice, it will take time and re-draw manually to achieve the best possible artwork. If in a time crunch send it off to either myself or Jason.

[glgsales]

Thanks William
We do have a pick we need turn into better or cleaner file.
It is an island pic, we have in black and white and need to make into a file we can use on our router, g-code,pcm,dxf, or an enroute file would be great , for some reason i am having trouble turnig this into just one outline type file with Corel Trace.
And i only have so much time for projects like this with all the machines needing to be up and running as the kids get deeper into their trimester .
Used to be the maintaince people did this,not anymore.

anyway here is the pic see if you can do something with it.

Thanks
Gary

[parrotlady]

I have found that if you go to Youtube and type in anything from "tracing images in Corel" draw or whatever, tons of good video tutorials come up. Hope that helps; it sure helped me.

[wrenchhead]

Hi I'm new to the site. I have been mechanic for years with metal art a hobby I recently bought a tracker 5x10 and it came with corel draw x3. I have been cutting some of the designs from here on the site just tob get familure with the works of the machine and most work great but I'm ready to do my own designs. I recived a free download of some of Jasons(cascade) work which is awsome by the way.I can't seem to work with the fonts that came with the download, I can import them into corel draw but it will not let me work with the letters seperatly to spell what I need to. I sent Jason an email and he suggested I ask tou guys since he deal mostly with adobe. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[srp]

wrenchead- Upload a Corel file (.cdr) v.11 or earlier of the your drawing and explain what you are trying to do. It is probably something simple. Glad you are asking.When you save your corel file choose "Save As" and from the drop down list select ver.11- John

[wrenchhead]

Thanks letherhands i tried the fit text to path and this is what i came up with.

[wizardofiron]

Hi

Been using plasma cam table now for seven or eight years and for the most part I'm very happy with it! Recently I purchased coreldraw graphics suite X5. Is what i been trying to do is import my auto cad dxf files into my coreldraw. I have Windows 7 and when I import my dxf file it sits and times out, it doesn't come up on the screen. Been having no luck at all! The help area on coreldraw hasn't been much help for me. I am creative but my computer skills aren't so hot. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you Wizard Of Iron

[alfred123]

Beware! The CorelDraw X5 Home & Student version is missing features found in the regular version. A feature I used in CorelDraw X3 is the Print function for guttering, fold marks, and crop marks for card making. These are missing from the H & S version. The Help feature does not account for this and asks you to use features that do not exist in H & S. I did not explore what else is missing. Corel should fess up and provide a feature comparison sheet to show what features are not available in the H & S and Educational versions.

[Dawgonhawg]

Thank you for your help. I'll be contacting you.
Dawg

[toko]

I would like to offer my expertise for Coreldraw if ever some members here use it instead of Illustrator.... More than happy to help and am looking forward to participating in this forum~!

Hey if your still game I'm trying to learn how to create signs and things in corel and go to the plasma. Which Version of dxf do you use for this? The old dxf R10 worked but made flat spots around the edge. Is there a setting to fix that in corel?

[dhamilton56]

Hey if your still game I'm trying to learn how to create signs and things in corel and go to the plasma. Which Version of dxf do you use for this? The old dxf R10 worked but made flat spots around the edge. Is there a setting to fix that in corel?

I am having the same problem...I use coreldraw X5 and export as dxf R10.... my old torchmate cad makes the round portions flat spotted. the nodes are all corner nodes for some reason. Looks perfect in corel before I export it. If anyone knows what Im doing wrong please help!!