How do I open .CDR file with Adobe Illustrator CS3?

I have a Corel Draw file from a customer and was wondering if we could open this in Adobe Illustrator CS3? I don't know what version the Coreldraw file was created in. Thanks!

3 Answers

You can open .CDR files directly (i.e. 'File > Open') in Adobe Illustrator CS3 and I assume other versions (tested with CDR file from CorelDraw version 10).

Another option is to get the customer to save the file from CorelDraw as a PDF which should then open in Illustrator.

Illustrator does not open all Corel Draw files. If you cannot open with Illustrator, here are a couple freeware programs which allow conversion to a format you surely can open:

• XnConvert : exports to several formats (windows/mac/linux)
• Uniconvertor: exports to several vector formats (windows/mac/linux)
• InkScape: full fledged (thus likely an overkill since you already have illustrator) vector graphics editor (windows only)

I was able to open it by changing the cdr file extension to .eps. Worked for me, but may not work on all.