I have a design in Corel Draw which includes text, bitmaps, and vector images. I have attempted to import using SVG (no result), PDF (most but not all of the bitmaps import, most of the text does not, most of the vector images import), AI (same as PDF), copy-and-paste produces the best result but the central image is missing detail.
I’m running out of options. I’ve attached the PDF disguised as a TXT file and the resulting image in Lightburn
BDR Clock V3 PDF as Text.txt (710.2 KB)
I’ve tried opening the pdf you attached with Acrobat 9.0, Affinity Publisher 2.5 and CorelDraw 2018 with no luck. Acrobat shows a blank page, Affinity throws an error and CorelDraw just fails somehow with a blank work area. Would you be able to attach your cdr file (I only have CD 2018 so can’t open file versions newer than this so if you can save it as 2018 or earlier that would be helpful).
For AI check this thread.
I did a cut-and-past and included the SVG file. I cannot get the CDR file to import
I will check out the AI thread and get back to you
-Thanks
No, LightBurn doesn’t import cdr files. If you’re willing to attach it here I’ll see if I can find a solution (don’t forget I can only open 2018 or earlier and you’ll need to use the .txt trick).
How do you attach a .CDR, or for that matter a .PDF, to this forum? I tried sending a PDF by adding .TXT to the end of the file name but nobody could read it. I suspect that the same trick with the others will yield the same result. No joy with .ZIP.
The thread on AI provided the information that text is stored in an obscure manner in Adobe products and Lightburn won’t read it. The solution is either to retype the text or outline it in Adobe so the information passes as bitmap or vector as well. There is little text so I can enter it in Lightburn.
Failing to pass all of the image data is the larger problem. I can convert to bitmap but this costs resolution and time. The image takes roughly 2 hours to burn as a bitmap and I’m making a dozen of them. I’m hoping vector imagges are faster.
Thanks for the help if I can get you the file.
Glenn
Thanks for the link. I understand the limitations and will try and avoid the problem areas in the future.
Regards,
Glenn
Just adding “.TXT” to the end of the filename (so that it reads something like “MyFile.CDR.TXT” should work), I don’t know why it didn’t with the PDF earlier. Can you try it again with the CDR to see if it was just a glitch? I don’t recall there being any issues with the .TXT workaround previously.
TXTClockV3.cdr.txt (1.9 MB)
I used Win COMMAND to copy with a .TXT file type. If this does not work I can provide a link to a shared cloud location or can individually mail you the file.
Regards
Glenn
That worked great except that the file is a newer version than I can open with my CorelDraw 2018. If you can save it as an earlier version so I can open it that would be perfect.
If you’re not sure how to save as an earlier version you can do this in the save dialogue:
Your file had a lot of white fills, and things that LB doesn’t like. The SVG and CDR are “cleaned up”, but are missing the bitmap motorcycles.
BC.cdr.txt (512.3 KB)
BC.lbrn2 (1.1 MB)
Ralph,
Thanks for your help. So that I become better trained could you point me to resources to explain more about what you fixed, how you fixed it, and how I can not do it going forward? I want to be able to DIY without taking up others time and resources.
-Thanks
Don’t stack white fills on top of black fills. LB engraves what it sees, but it has to be “clean”. Look up designing for LB in the LB documentation.
Thanks – I will. Currently I’m using Corel Draw as the design platform and then moving to LB. As I get more familiar with LB I’ll be working here so the problem should be self-correcting over time. Thanks for helping on this project but more importantly for pointing me in a good direction for future projects.
-Glenn
Ok, so I’ve been having a bit of a play with your file and got everything looking pretty good so far (I’ve also been doing real work as well so it’s been a bit slow!):
The tank badge is quite a mess and needs some work but is fixable given a bit of time.
Some things to note:
Line widths are ignored by LB so all of your geometry must have zero line width. A lot (if not all) the geometry in your design has non-zero widths so you’ll need to correct that. Otherwise what you see in CorelDraw is not what you’ll see in LB (‘object outlines’ will appear thinner than they do in CorelDraw). ‘Convert Outline to Object’ can be useful in this instance but it can produce extra geometry that you’ll then have to delete.
I mostly used a combination of ‘Combine’ and ‘Weld’ to achieve this result I also used a custom colour palette that has all the LB layer colours which helps with importing to LB.
I’ve attached the CDR file as it is at the moment. Let me know if you’d like me to continue tidying it up for you.
Hope this helps.
ClockCorelVersion20-MW.cdr.txt (2.2 MB)
Thank you very much for the time and effort. I’m absolutely new to LB having just gotten an AlgoLaser Delta to play with. Based on @RalphU suggestion I’m in the process of RTFM so the number of newbie/silly questions should decline.
I was expecting a response along the lines of “here is what you did wrong, fix it and try again” and instead both you and Ralph have spent considerable time fixing problems not of your making.
I’m grateful to you both.
Regards,
Glenn
Thanks, no problem. As is the case with a couple forums I frequent you’ll find us a (mostly) friendly bunch willing to help others if they can.
I understand what you are saying. I’m more involved in wood turning and small controller programming than laser and I agree that, in general, the tool-associated forums are populated by knowledgeable and helpful folk. It is still polite and reasonable to recognize individuals who, by going out of their way, have made my life easier.
Relax and take the compliment
-Glenn
Oh, don’t worry… I do 
!
BTW: I’m still tidying up your graphic (it keeps me off the streets and out of trouble 
).
Here’s an example of LB ignoring line widths:
On the left is how it looks in CD and on the left is LB. This is somewhere you’d use ‘Convert Outline to Object’… Something else to look out for is duplicate objects. If something that should be filled in LB and isn’t it can be down to duplicate objects overlaying each other. It’s always good practise to perform a ‘Delete Duplicates’ whenever you import a graphic.
When I’m finished playing I’ll post what I’ve got and if I think of any more pointers I’ll post those too.
EDIT:
Attached CDR and LB files. There are some objects that I think should be black but as I don’t know the full design intent I don’t want to mess anything up. It’s simple enough to change the layer in LB so I haven’t worried too much about getting everything on as few layers as possible. Another thing I’ve done with some of the text was to convert it to curves but I’m not sure that was strictly necessary. Oh, I nearly forgot… I used the Corel/LB macro to transfer the graphics from CD to LB. It uses .AI format as an intermediary file so if you’re not using the macro you should be able to go via .AI export/import and get the same result.
ClockCorelVersion20-MW.lbrn2 (1.9 MB)
ClockCorelVersion20-MW.cdr.txt (2.1 MB)
