I've just downloaded Inkscape. I did so because I read that it could open/import .cdr files

I have Coreldraw 10 and want to be able to use Inkscape with Linux Mint Cinnamon, in order to stop using Windows.

I have years of .cdr files and just tried importing what I thought was a straightforward one:
A landscape map which has text a few straight lines and rectangles to form the roads on the map.

The text appeared to import OK. but the lines & rectangle didn't.
Having said that, none of the text was anywhere near where it should be.

I have Inkscape 0.91

Any suggestions?

Please provide a sample cdr file and a screenshot of what it's supposed to look like. 

I hope this works OK:

I'm getting the lines and rectangles, and yes the text is all over.

The SVGs look correct when exported from Corel.

The best solution if you still have access to Corel, is to batch convert the files to SVG using the internal CONVERTER.START macro. 

https://forum.corel.com/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=40978

TD

Tyler thanks for your help with this.

Do you know why the import fails by any chance?
As I'm new to Inkscape, I don't know if the forum just has regular program users, or if it's Inkscape support staff?

So far the only thing I have done is trying to import the .cdr files, because the blurb said v0.91 could do this.
I haven't even attempted to use the design features yet.

I don't know anything about SVG files, I've just discovered it means Scale-able Vector Graphics.
Does that I mean I can edit an SVG file the same as I would in Coreldraw, but in Inkscape - manipulating/editing items, etc?

Even if that's so, I have over 500 .cdr files from over the years and it would be sad to lose them because I don't have the chance to edit them in Inkscape or another Linux Mint program.

DixieNormous

Do you know why the import fails by any chance?

No, but it is sufficient to say that not all programs can open files from other companies' proprietary formats, much less perfectly. Illustrator can open the files quite well, but $$$ and no linux.  The more you pay for software, the more likely they have directed resources on reverse-engineering other formats. Affinity is also nice but does not open cdr at all.

DixieNormous

As I'm new to Inkscape, I don't know if the forum just has regular program users, or if it's Inkscape support staff?

Technically speaking, there is no support staff, Inkscape is created by volunteer developers all around the world and they try to help users when they have time. Most members of these fora are end-users, and occasionally some developers chime in.

DixieNormous

Does that I mean I can edit an SVG file the same as I would in Coreldraw, but in Inkscape - manipulating/editing items, etc?

Yes. However, there are no bitmap editing tools like in Corel. Bitmaps can be edited in GIMP and linked or embedded into Inkscape.

DixieNormous

Even if that's so, I have over 500 .cdr files from over the years and it would be sad to lose them because I don't have the chance to edit them in Inkscape or another Linux Mint program.

You won't lose your files unless you erase them. You could rent/buy/borrow a machine with Corel installed to convert them to SVG. e.g. We have some at our makerspace and  we have Adobe Illustrator too. You may find your local public library has one (but of course it will have to wait until they're open again). There are a number of free online converters for one-at-a-time, and/or you may have acquaintances with Corel that can batch convert your files. I might even be able to help you when the pandemic eases up in the US. (I would gladly sign NDA/NC documents, I do a bit of commercial work.)

TD

Thanks for the suggestions and your offer to help. Unfortunately they're not really practical for me.
I live in Thailand in a small town, so there's nothing available like you mentioned.

Talking of other options, was googling and came across another program for Mint, sk1.

I installed that and tried opening the same .cdr files. That opened with the lines for the map in the right place, but none of the text was there.

Since you suggested .svg files, I ran Coreldraw and exported the file to .svg.
When I opened it in Inkscape the map was OK. the text was correct and nearly located correctly, apart from the Thai script which was showing as Latin rubbish text.

I used to have a problem with Coreldraw V10 using Thai script. I couldn't paste anything in from elsewhere, I had to switch to the Thai keyboard and type it in. Once I had it there, it was OK - apart from exporting to .svg as I've realised.

I opened the Coreldraw generated .svg file in sk1, that showed the map, but no text - Thai or English.

I also came across a Linux utility called Uniconvertor (not the one spelt Uniconverter) That claimed to convert .cdr to .svg.. when I opened the converted .svg file,both Inkscape and sk1 showed the map but no text.

Oh well, looks like I can't get rid of Windows just yet.

Thanks once again for your time and your help. Much appreciated.

DixieNormous

When I opened it in Inkscape the map was OK. the text was correct and nearly located correctly, apart from the Thai script which was showing as Latin rubbish text.

I presume you opened the SVG in Inkscape on the Linux machine. Does it have the Thai font installed? If not, it will look like Latin rubbish.

The SVG I converted using Corel looks perfect here.

TD

That's a good point.

I went back into Windows to find what font it was. The file I gave you used Microsoft San Serif for both English and Thai.

The SVG I opened in Inkscape said it was:  [FontIDO "Microsoft San Serif"] but only the English was clear, yet it was written on the same single line of text.

I exported another .cdr file to .svg which used Tahoma. Inkscape said [Font D10 Tahoma].

Both of those two files in Coreldraw had Thai & English on the same single line of text, but only the English is correct in .svg.

Those two fonts aren't Linux fonts, so how does your PC display it correctly, if you're running Linux?

As an aside, I have a.ods spreadsheet in Libre Office Calc which I designed in Widows using Tahoma.
Opening it in Linux still lists the font as Tahoma, even though (again) it's not a Linux font.

It's possibly a Linux font issue, maybe unicode needs to be installed/repaired, maybe msfonts needs installed/repaired, IDK. I have some Linux friends looking into it. 

I primarily use windoze, since I have other programs not ported to Linux. I'll keep looking into this myself, as well.

TD

I had assumed you were using Linux  I didn't realise you could use MS fonts in Linux, that's why I was surprised about Tahoma in Libre Office.

Still confused why the English displays OK, but not the Thai.

Thanks again for your help. I look forward to your reply.

Well, things are looking up.
I opened the converted file on my Mint machine at the office and all the text is there... almost. It seems wingdings are not installed on that machine for the arrows. The font sizes may need adjusting, but the Thai and English are both there. The lines are thin, but they are there too.

I would proceed to convert all the files to SVG in Corel and straighten them up as needed. Conversion is rarely perfect, but at least we can say the files converted from Corel are usable in Linux. 

Thanks for the good news. It sounds encouraging.

The image you've posted looks spot on.

What about the fonts that I'm have trouble with but you aren't - any further ideas on that?
What might I need to do so Tahoma & MS Sans Serif (plus Wingdings) display/work in Thai on Linux, as none of them are Linux fonts?

This YT video looks legit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=23&v=EAQw4jmnaks&feature=emb_logo

Tyler, thanks again.

I watched the video and it did install quite a few MS fonts. Unfortunately for me the three fonts I wanted weren't included.

That in itself might not be a problem if I can use another similar font?

Ignoring that, I still don't understand the lack of displaying in Thai? I just can't think why you can open the .svg and it displays the text in Thai, but it doesn't for me?

The fonts are easy, you can copy them from your Win machine or use the ones from my machine in the attached zip (always scan zip files for viruses ).

Regarding Thai characters, It may be that your Inkscape was not installed with full language support.

Now, here's some more vital info: The converted Corel files are not fully ready to use, due to the way Corel exports them. Open one in a browser and you'll see.

To get full edit and display ability using Inkscape:

• Open the converted file in Inkscape. Ungroup everything until there are no more groups. Select everything and copy.
• Open a new/blank document in Inkscape. Use Ctrl+Alt+V (Paste in Place) into a layer. Save the file and test in a browser. 

I've attached a file that I pasted and it seems to work well here in Linux and Windows.

TD

I had no idea you could copy .ttf fonts from Windows into Linux. I just don't know enough about Linux.

The file you attached I opened and installed the fonts, apart from Wingding. Whatever I do there's no way I can get that to open in the Linux front viewer.
The attached file you sent has the fonts and a .jpg image. The way I read it, I thought there was an .svg file?

I tried to follow what you said regarding the vital info. Opening the .svg converted corel file showed the map fine, but no text whatsoever. I still ungrouped it, copied to a new doc & saved. Opened fine, but still no text.

Have I screwed up in corel, exporting the file to .svg and for some reason it's excluded the text I wonder?

Separately, I have just created a new file in Inkscape. It had only one line of text in Thai & English. I saved it (.svg) and reopened it OK.
Both languages displayed exactly as I wrote them.

The svg is in my post above, next to the photograph of my screen. you can download that image and open it in Inkscape and in a browser. (right-click, save image as)

Can you attach a cdr file you have converted to SVG in Corel? I can check it out here.

TD

Ah right. I missed the obvious there. I didn't realise it was the displayed image. thanks. D/l amd opened fine.

I've attached the .cdr file and the .svg file. I think the .cdr file is just the same one I sent before, but renamed IIRC. Thanks again.

Thanks for the files.

The Corel export to SVG has many missing elements, so there may be a setting in Corel to get everything that needs to be checked. I'll explore this next time I'm at the shop.

TD

I think I’ve found where I’ve been going wrong with Coreldraw.

I eventually realised that when I exported one of the files to .svg,
I hadn’t selected everything. It wasn’t all grouped together.
When I did ‘ctrl A’ to select all, then exported, the text was
included in the .svg file.

However! Corel didn’t export the Thai correctly, so it’s all
gibberish again.
Looks like that’s the problem I mentioned before about originally
getting Thai text into Corel: I couldn’t paste it, I had to type it
manually using ‘insert text’.
I have Corel v10, I bet that’s most of my problem. I’m guessing you
have a newer version of Corel to me.
I just searched and found “CorelDRAW version 10 was released in Oct
2000”

Opening .cdr in Inkscape shows all the text correctly, but in the
wrong places and the map is missing.

Please share the the most recent svg exported from Corel. 

I'm not sure the Corel version is the issue. Ours is a bit newer, but not much (v14).  If the Thai is a jumble of Latin glyphs, it might still be a font substitution issue within Inkscape. 

Is Microsoft Sans Serif listed in the Inkscape fonts menu (Text tool must be active to see the list).

TD

I created a new document.

Initially the text tool just showed as "sans-serif". When I checked the list 'Microsoft Sans Serif" is there.
I added some text using MS SS - Thai & English in the same line. Saved it, closed. Reopened the file and it's still there showing correctly Thai & English. When I clicked to edit the text it still says MS- SS.

Please share the most recent SVG exported from Corel. If I can open it in Linux with the Thai intact, it is then a matter of getting your machine to do the same thing.

TD 

Have a look at this.
For me, the map is there, the text in nearly the right places except it's not Thai - it's English & gibberish.

It seems there is a big difference in the way the earlier version of Corel outputs SVG and the later versions. 

I doubt you want to beg/buy/borrow a later version of Corel, so I propose a test: upload a few files (~10) to Google drive or Dropbox and PM me a share link. I'll look into batch processing them to SVG on my Corel machine. If it's easy, I'll let you know. (I won't share your files with anyone).

Your help has been so good. Thanks for all this.

What version of Coreldraw do you have?

I'll need to look at Google drive and Dropbox, as I know nothing about them.

We have version x4 (14) . 

Google Drive and Dropbox are private online storage for your files.  You can opt to share access with specific people, everybody in the world, or nobody but yourself. Most people are backing up files online now, in addition to backing up at home/office.

TD

Sorry for the slow reply. Thank you so much for all the conversions. It's much appreciated.

They all seem OK. I'll need to move some text slightly to get it to line up.
 

Although it's not the end of the world, would you have any idea why the webding font won't import into my Mint Cinnamon, but the other two fonts have done so OK?
As I said before, when I click on the first two, the Liinux font viewer opened and installed them, but it won't open webding.
I even copied one across from Windows, just in case the one you sent had a problem, but that doesn't open either.

The conversions worked perfectly for me in Windows, but in Mint, the ones with bitmaps did not connect the images. Not a total fail, but certainly puzzling.

In one system, I'm sure I installed the ancient fonts:

sudo apt-get install ttf-ancient-fonts

I don't think it would hurt to try that, and chime back.

TD

I tried, but it didn't install wingding (well it doesn't appear on the font list anyway).

I thought I'd have a look at webdings using Character Map. Despite having it, webdings doesn't appear in the Character Map list.
Loads of other fonts in many different scripts appear though.

If I go into Libre Office Writer, I can choose Webdings and type different symbols.
In Inkscape I can type with webdings just the same, but I have no idea how to find out where things like arrows are  - left, right, up, down, etc?
Those are the ones missing in the converted files due to not having MS wingding.
 

I presume you are rebuilding the font cache.(?)

sudo fc-cache -fv

I hadn't, as I had no understanding of that, I've done it now but webdings still doesn't appear in Character Map.

I see Character Map can view by script or Unicode block. Viewing the latter, the first item on the list is Arrows, It shows quite a few, but I don't know how to find the font & letter to press to select it.

This is new territory for me as well.

I would try the steps for manual installation of special fonts at the bottom of this github page. I tested on my home Mint machine and it installed the extra Wingdings and other Microsoft fonts. They work in Inkscape.

https://github.com/IamDH4/ttf-wps-fonts

I was successful in copy/paste the linux commands into a terminal window (using menus, not keyboard shortcuts). 

I am getting a lot of fonts I won't use, but I'll go back and delete them later.

TD

Thanks for the link, but this is getting way too technical for me.
I appreciate your help no end, but I just have no idea how Linux works, and I had no understanding of any of what the readme file meant.

I think I’ve got the wingdings issue sorted now by going down another route, slightly more involved
Basically I was looking for arrows to replace the missing wingdings font.

After a lot of trying, I’ve found that in Character Map by selecting “view by Unicode  Block” and then “Arrows”, I can then pick the font I want, select the arrow and copy it to the clipboard.
In Inkscape by highlighting the erroneous arrow symbol I can replace it by pasting in the one from the clipboard.

It's all new to me too. I just skipped to the bottom of that page and followed the steps, it seemed to work easily enough. 

I'm trying to learn a little about Linux and converting from Corel. There are many users at my makerspace who are in your situation.

Getting the correct font installed might be a way to skip individually editing lots of files. Speaking of the files, it took very little time to batch convert the ten or so you sent. about 2 seconds each.

 

'Skipped to the bottom of the page'
Hmm, I'm afraid I just don't understand one word of anything to do with terminal, plus I'm scared doing something wrong will screw the whole system up.

The only thing I can cope with is pasting instructions into terminal - not that I know what they mean at all.
That's why I go out of my way to use anything gui, For me it's the downside of Linux, it's not for an ordinary user.

I'm pleased you found it straightforward to do the Corel conversions. Thanks again for all your help.

TylerDurden

I'm getting the lines and rectangles, and yes the text is all over.

The SVGs look correct when exported from Corel.

 

The best solution if you still have access to Corel, is to batch convert the files to SVG using the internal CONVERTER.START macro. 

https://forum.corel.com/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=40978

Have you encountered any issues or inconsistencies when using the CONVERTER.START macro for batch converting SVG files in Corel, and if so, how did you address them?

I haven't used Corel or the macro in >3.5 yrs. 

Maybe someone else can chime in with their experience.