Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 16

Thread: CorelDraw to Adobe Illustrator?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    North Yorkshire, UK
    Posts
    465

    CorelDraw to Adobe Illustrator?

    Hi All,
    I would not want to start a Ford or Chevy debate here (Land Rover or Toyota debate if you are in Africa)

    I have used CD for years now, currently on CD 2017. I use an iMac with Parallels for the Microsoft based software, with which I experience issues (crashing, not recalling recent work etc etc, these issues only occur with CD not with Vectric software and I have neither found a solution nor have the energy to do so at this stage).
    If I was to swap to AI (which would work on my iMac), what is the learning curve like from one to the other and would AI open all my CD files? Is the trace function in AI as good or better than that in CD?

    Thanks for your help. John
    60w EFI 6090 & 100w Z4 Reci 6090 G Weike Lasers, 4 X 4 CNC Router
    CLTT using Oki C822dn & Adkins Press
    Glass Sandblasting, Woodwork Shop, etc...
    V Carve Pro v8 & Photo V Carve, Lasercut 5.3, Corel Draw 2017 on Windows 7 and iMac (via Parallels), etc

  2. #2
    I use both every day. My design work, if done offline, is always done in Illustrator. But I'm pretty fluent in CorelDraw, and that's what's on every laser we have. Illustrator has a pretty steep learning curve compared to CD. Illustrator will NOT open a CD file. The trace function isn't any better than CD in my opinion. In fact, the trace function can be a bit complicated for many things and doesn't do a great job very often.

    If I just ran lasers and didn't have printers, we'd probably only use CD. I would not make the switch you are talking about, unless you had a real need for Illustrator for some reason.
    Lasers : Trotec Speedy 300 75W, Trotec Speedy 300 80W, Galvo Fiber Laser 20W
    Printers : Mimaki UJF-6042 UV Flatbed Printer , HP Designjet L26500 61" Wide Format Latex Printer, Summa S140-T 48" Vinyl Plotter
    Router : ShopBot 48" x 96" CNC Router Rotary Engravers : (2) Xenetech XOT 16 x 25 Rotary Engravers

    Real name Steve but that name was taken on the forum. Used Middle name. Call me Steve or Scott, doesn't matter.

  3. #3
    I have a MacBook pro with parallels, win 10 and Corel X7. It is not a work machine but one I use in the den for puttering with my website, photo albums, social stuff etc. I'm a big fan of CD but I hate X7 because of it's quirky behavior. I also have it on my pc but I still use X5 for all my work.

    I can't find a reason to get AI, though many of my customers use it.
    Mike Null

    St. Louis Laser, Inc.

    Trotec Speedy 300, 80 watt
    Gravograph IS400
    Woodworking shop CLTT and Laser Sublimation
    Dye Sublimation
    CorelDraw X5, X7

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    North Yorkshire, UK
    Posts
    465
    Thank you Steve and Mike, coming from the two of you, I will call that solid advice. Much appreciated.
    Kind Regards, John
    60w EFI 6090 & 100w Z4 Reci 6090 G Weike Lasers, 4 X 4 CNC Router
    CLTT using Oki C822dn & Adkins Press
    Glass Sandblasting, Woodwork Shop, etc...
    V Carve Pro v8 & Photo V Carve, Lasercut 5.3, Corel Draw 2017 on Windows 7 and iMac (via Parallels), etc

  5. #5
    One alternative to consider might by Serif's Affinity Designer --- competitor to Adobe Illustrator, it's inexpensive enough just to try, and doesn't entail a monthly fee. Available for both Windows and Mac OS X, but was initially developed for the latter.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2017
    Location
    South Carolina
    Posts
    11
    I use Corel Draw X5 at work for our design work. I have used Adobe Illustrator at home for personal graphic design, but I prefer CD. To me the trace tool is easier to use and I like the way the Bezier tool works on CD for when I need to rework a costumers artwork.

    CD can open .AI files but I am not sure if AI can open .CDR. I normally ask my customers to send me PDF or EPS files anyways so its not a huge problem. If you go with AI you can get UniConvertor and convert your CDR files to AI. Here is the link

    I always hate saying this because its been said time an time again, but it all comes down to preference. Whatever software you feel comfortable with.

    Look into getting a trail version of AI and see which one you like working with better.
    3x Universal Lasers VLS6.60, M-300, M-25
    Sawgrass SG400 - Sublimation
    Vision Phoenix 1212 - Rotary
    CorelDraw X5
    Vision Pro8
    1 Boss to pay for my toys
    1 Co-Worker to make sure I don't screw up

  7. #7
    I've run into AI users who flat out say that if you're using CD you're ------- stupid. That's enough to keep me away, lol.. Just to see if I am, I just now downloaded a 'free trial' version just to check out... free that is, IF I consider HAVING to sign up and giving yet another company the chance to overwhelm me with spam email from themselves and whomever else they give my email address to. I don't consider that free at all, so I guess I'll never know. Call me ------- stupid I guess.

    Up until my new version of Reader, I've always liked Adobe. But the new version is 10% "Reader" and 90% advertising to buy Reader upgrades and other Adobe stuff. Glad I never throw out all the old setup files

    As for AI not opening Corel files, doesn't Corel's AI export work? None of my 3 graphics programs will open any of the other 2 but they'll ALL import and export DXF or EPS files.

    I'll never need AI anyway. Between the 3 programs I can *usually* make laser engraveable vector art out of almost any *reasonable* art within 10 minutes. Yesterday for an experiment I started Tim's job again from scratch-- from the PDF to Corel-Paint (to remove splotch background) to Casmate (to vectorize) back to Corel (to export to DXF) to Ezcad to finished engraving-- took less than 10 minutes, including the engraving time. And I can probably cut that time down now that I've done it once .. helps that I don't have to do one speck of editing...(I'll post a pic of the engraving it Tim says it's okay)
    Last edited by Kev Williams; 08-24-2017 at 11:49 AM.
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  8. #8
    Illustrator is just a lot more complicated and powerful. Powerful on things that don't really aid or matter to people using lasers. Now, if you are doing proofing or need things to look almost realistic, then it's fantastic. But for lasering, not so much. Plus, I haven't seen a single laser system that worked as well with Illustrator as they do with Corel.

    If you want to see what people do with it (and Corel), check out some of the vectors. You'll think they are photographs.....

    https://www.vectorgraphit.com/10-pho...ic-vectors/amp
    Lasers : Trotec Speedy 300 75W, Trotec Speedy 300 80W, Galvo Fiber Laser 20W
    Printers : Mimaki UJF-6042 UV Flatbed Printer , HP Designjet L26500 61" Wide Format Latex Printer, Summa S140-T 48" Vinyl Plotter
    Router : ShopBot 48" x 96" CNC Router Rotary Engravers : (2) Xenetech XOT 16 x 25 Rotary Engravers

    Real name Steve but that name was taken on the forum. Used Middle name. Call me Steve or Scott, doesn't matter.

  9. #9
    Careful John, Leetro doesn't like Illustrator and will play up when you least expect it
    You did what !

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    North Yorkshire, UK
    Posts
    465
    Thanks to all who have answered. I will stick with CD right now but will have a play with Serif’s Affinity Designer (when I actually manage to find the time).
    All your input is much appreciated.
    Regards, John
    60w EFI 6090 & 100w Z4 Reci 6090 G Weike Lasers, 4 X 4 CNC Router
    CLTT using Oki C822dn & Adkins Press
    Glass Sandblasting, Woodwork Shop, etc...
    V Carve Pro v8 & Photo V Carve, Lasercut 5.3, Corel Draw 2017 on Windows 7 and iMac (via Parallels), etc

  11. #11
    I've used Illy since version 5, when I had to, and Corel since version 2. (still have the whoppping 3 floppy discs it came on!)

    Corel Draw is miles more intuitive. Illustrator is nothing like Photoshop- except in a mental snapshot of the desktop.
    I keep Illy to open stuff that Corel cannot handle, to then backwards-convert it so I can edit in Corel.

    I prefer Indesign, even, to Illustrator- but those two are somewhat similar in many aspects.

    As far as 'experts' go, well just because so many industry professionals use Illy, does not make them experts... some still manage to make a right hash of files, and do stupid things. I was sent a digital Illy file last week- 5 ft x 3 ft size, to be printed on 1-way vision- and the designer made the file 1.3GIG in size!
    Please explain the logic in that! Most of the picture was thrown away in the holes in the 1-way vision. Utterly stupid filesize. 2 or 3 meg would have been plenty.
    Best wishes,
    Ian



    ULS M-300, 55w made 2002 with rotary. Goldenlaser 130 watt, 1300x700 made 2011.
    Flat bed 2500x1300 150/90watt 2 tube laser, 2018 model.
    Esab router, 1989, 4.5 x 2.0 m, conv. to Tekcel, and modded a 2nd time.
    HP L260-60". Roland PNC-1410. Mimaki GC-130 SU.
    Screenprinting carousel 6x4 and 7x4 ft 1-arm bandit vac table.
    Corel Draw X3, Illy, Indesign & Photoshop CS2 & CS5, Enroute 4
    Pencil, paper, paintbrush, airbrush & dagger-liners & assorted other stuff.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Doylestown, PA
    Posts
    7,551
    Quote Originally Posted by Ian Stewart-Koster View Post
    I've used Illy since version 5, when I had to, and Corel since version 2. (still have the whoppping 3 floppy discs it came on!)

    Corel Draw is miles more intuitive. Illustrator is nothing like Photoshop- except in a mental snapshot of the desktop.
    I keep Illy to open stuff that Corel cannot handle, to then backwards-convert it so I can edit in Corel.

    I prefer Indesign, even, to Illustrator- but those two are somewhat similar in many aspects.

    As far as 'experts' go, well just because so many industry professionals use Illy, does not make them experts... some still manage to make a right hash of files, and do stupid things. I was sent a digital Illy file last week- 5 ft x 3 ft size, to be printed on 1-way vision- and the designer made the file 1.3GIG in size!
    Please explain the logic in that! Most of the picture was thrown away in the holes in the 1-way vision. Utterly stupid filesize. 2 or 3 meg would have been plenty.
    Bigger is ALWAYS better ........ isn't it? I have similar complaints about people who send .jpgs suitable for for printing billboards to be viewed on a PC monitor or worse, phone screen.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Iowa USA
    Posts
    4,441
    I have an older version of Photoshop I use for well..... photos. But for laser work and graphics Corel Draw is really all you need. We are not doing work for color magazine publication.
    Retired Guy- Central Iowa.HVAC/R , Cloudray Galvo Fiber , -Windows 10

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    North Yorkshire, UK
    Posts
    465
    I have a love-hate relationship with CD. I think it is great, but hate the issues I have, compounded by lack of help from CD itself. I long for a native Apple/Mac version of CD.
    I use Adobe InDesign too (for other purposes), and find that fine, but not as intuitive as CorelDraw. I will be sticking with CD, the proverbial straw that broke the camels back is AI not opening CD files, that would drive me insane very quickly.
    Thanks to everyone for all your responses. Regards, John
    60w EFI 6090 & 100w Z4 Reci 6090 G Weike Lasers, 4 X 4 CNC Router
    CLTT using Oki C822dn & Adkins Press
    Glass Sandblasting, Woodwork Shop, etc...
    V Carve Pro v8 & Photo V Carve, Lasercut 5.3, Corel Draw 2017 on Windows 7 and iMac (via Parallels), etc

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by John Bion View Post
    I use an iMac with Parallels
    You may need to think through your connectivity strategy. It sounds like you are trying to get away from Parallels due to issues and use Illustrator running native on the Mac. You may still need Parallels to connect to your laser if that's working for you already. Just thinking out loud.
    I design, engineer and program all sorts of things.

    Oh, and I use Adobe Illustrator with an Epilog Mini.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •