Corel tip for sharing files

[John Barton]

Save your corel files to CMX instead of CDR and you won't need to worry about which version it's in. CMX is the Corel Exchange Format and it's seems to be version independent.

I have sent files done in v.13 to people running v.8 and they have been able to open them.

Saves me a lot of hassle because I used to have to ask people which version they have and save to that version.

[Mike Null]

That is a great find if it'll really work with all versions. If you're working with X4 how about posting a test file for those of us who don't have X4 to try.

[Dan Hintz]

Be aware... some of the more advanced features will not transfer using that format (or they'll be "flattened", so to speak).

[John Barton]

That is a great find if it'll really work with all versions. If you're working with X4 how about posting a test file for those of us who don't have X4 to try.

I don't use x4 - if I could I'd prefer to go back to v9 as I hate x3. I don't understand why each version of Corel has change things that worked "for the better" and in reality they aren't better. The only reason I don't go back is that I have thousands of files in v13 right now and I don't want to go through them all and save them to v9 or cmx. My latest problem after the last crash is that the color pallet will NOT SAVE so each time I close Corel and reopen it I have to call up the color pallet AGAIN.

Someone else can do it though - just pick a drawing and save it as a CMX and see what happens.

My drawings don't get flattened when I send them out this way - all the layers are intact. I send cmx to the factories I deal with because every one of them works on different versions of Corel than I have - it's inevitable.

[Bill Cunningham]

Ok.. Here's a test for you.. The Aztec Calendar saved to a .cmx from X4 and put in a .zip file
If it works with this, it should work with anything

[art baylor]

Opens fine in v11. Looks fine at x400.
Art

[John Barton]

Ok.. Here's a test for you.. The Aztec Calendar saved to a .cmx from X4 and put in a .zip file
If it works with this, it should work with anything

Worked for me too - this is the message I got when opening it -

So I don't know how complex it might have been but the file I got is perfectly engravable and unless someone tells me I can use I am going to burn it on something next week :-)

Thanks Bill!

[Mike Null]

Works fine in X3.

[Bill Cunningham]

What version are you running John? That message probably only means something when opening complex fills/layers etc.. The aztec file, though very detailed, as far as it goes, it's still a simple black and white vector file, that should be no more or less version demanding than any other file we would need..
I'm just glad it did not blow up in my face and deny me access to a possible 72 versions :D

[art baylor]

I got the same warning message. But all looks fine.
Art

[Jerry Hewett]

Using x3 and got the same message. File looks fine.

[John Barton]

What version are you running John? That message probably only means something when opening complex fills/layers etc.. The aztec file, though very detailed, as far as it goes, it's still a simple black and white vector file, that should be no more or less version demanding than any other file we would need..
I'm just glad it did not blow up in my face and deny me access to a possible 72 versions :D

X3 - this was my point that for most files we would be using the CMX file format seems to work just fine across versions. In China it's totally across the board as to what they are running so I send CMX and it all works out.

I found this out by accident. I was having a crazy time trying to get some files to one factory - they even had X3 and couldn't open my cdr files. So I thought I'd try the CMX format and it worked. Since then - it's all CMX baby and no more hassles with any of them. Once in a while I forget and sure enough the answer comes back that they can't open my file.....

Now, someone tell me how to get my color pallets to stay in place?

My computer crashed hard a month ago and I had to reinstall Corel. Since then my color pallet will NOT stay in place. Every time I close Corel it goes away and when I reopen it I have to go to window/colorpallets and choose the one I want. (I use the cymk pallet mostly). No matter what I do - save the workspace etc... it still goes away. Everything else stays where I put it.

Any help would be great - I have scoured the web looking for an answer and give up after about 30 minutes of searching.

John

[Bill Cunningham]

Under tools, Save settings as default.. That 'should' save everything you have set..

[John Barton]

Under tools, Save settings as default.. That 'should' save everything you have set..

Yeah....it should. But it doesn't. That's what I did first. I don't know, I am either overlooking something else or it's a bug. I have to say that this time I tricked Corel a bit and copied over all my pallets and configurations, first time I did that on a reinstall and everything BUT the pallets showed up exactly as I had it in the previous installation. Even my palletes are there with the custom colors but they don't stay docked.

I don't know what to do. It's just another quirk of Corel I have to live with. The past year or so it also has acquired the habit of randomly not rendering anymore. So I will be happily working and suddenly everything will go blank. I save the file - exit and reopen and it's all there. This can happen at any time for no particular reason that I can figure out. And it happens across computers and only with 13.

[Rangarajan Saravana kumar]

Hi John,

I was really suffering to save in corel 11 , and once forget to save, the service provider should have v14 else, i have to save again

this cmx idea is very helpful and thanks a lot for sharing

Regards,
Saravanakumar

[Bill Cunningham]

Yeah....it should. But it doesn't. That's what I did first. I don't know, I am either overlooking something else or it's a bug. I have to say that this time I tricked Corel a bit and copied over all my pallets and configurations, first time I did that on a reinstall and everything BUT the pallets showed up exactly as I had it in the previous installation. Even my palletes are there with the custom colors but they don't stay docked.

I don't know what to do. It's just another quirk of Corel I have to live with. The past year or so it also has acquired the habit of randomly not rendering anymore. So I will be happily working and suddenly everything will go blank. I save the file - exit and reopen and it's all there. This can happen at any time for no particular reason that I can figure out. And it happens across computers and only with 13.

I noticed something weird with my computer a few weeks ago.. Things started 'stopping' for no reason at all.. We had a few power outages, and each time the computer came back on with no problem, it did not even go through the chk dsk routine when it gets a bad shut down. I would try to edit some video and windows movie maker would just crash, the system would slow down to a crawl.. I tried to defrag the disk, and it went through all the motions for 4 hours, and did absolutely nothing, no change to the structure at all.. I thought I picked up virus. the system was running 'Panda' security, then 'it' started getting errors.. I uninstalled 'Panda' and it would not let me re-install it. When it asked to confirm the install directory, I would, and it told me to pick another spot, I did, and it kept telling me to pick another spot.. So I un-installed it for good.. I did a full chk dsk and the chk told me to defrag the disk, so I did it again without the system security installed, the defrag went perfectly, I cleaned the registry again, downloaded and installed the McAfee scan and rescanned for malware etc.. Nothing... But, now everything is running perfect again?? I was having some random Corel crashes, but nothing since.. All I can think of, is some programs, including XP-Pro and system scans, can get tripped up looking for file fragments etc..

[Dan Hintz]

Bill, when I start seeing odd symptoms like that, I immediately suspect bad memory sticks. Been caught with my pants down more than once on that one, and ever since I suspect the viability of my data backups.

[John Barton]

I noticed something weird with my computer a few weeks ago.. Things started 'stopping' for no reason at all.. We had a few power outages, and each time the computer came back on with no problem, it did not even go through the chk dsk routine when it gets a bad shut down. I would try to edit some video and windows movie maker would just crash, the system would slow down to a crawl.. I tried to defrag the disk, and it went through all the motions for 4 hours, and did absolutely nothing, no change to the structure at all.. I thought I picked up virus. the system was running 'Panda' security, then 'it' started getting errors.. I uninstalled 'Panda' and it would not let me re-install it. When it asked to confirm the install directory, I would, and it told me to pick another spot, I did, and it kept telling me to pick another spot.. So I un-installed it for good.. I did a full chk dsk and the chk told me to defrag the disk, so I did it again without the system security installed, the defrag went perfectly, I cleaned the registry again, downloaded and installed the McAfee scan and rescanned for malware etc.. Nothing... But, now everything is running perfect again?? I was having some random Corel crashes, but nothing since.. All I can think of, is some programs, including XP-Pro and system scans, can get tripped up looking for file fragments etc..

Every time I sit and spend time trying to figure out where the latest "quirk" in Windows is coming from I think about how many people around the world are doing the same thing at the same moment.

It reminds me of that old joke about Bill Gates and Lee Iacocca sitting down together at a banquet. Lee was the CEO of Chrysler. Bill leans over and says to Lee, "if the auto industry had innovated as fast as the software industry we'd have flying cars by now." Lee, without hesitation, shoots back, "well if the auto industry was like the software industry then cars would stop dead for no reason and people would have to roll down and roll up all the windows, restart it several times an hour, and get out and walk around the car trying to see what's wrong with it for hours a day."

And another one, "A helicopter pilot is training a new pilot and they find themselves in a fog bank - as they rise out of the bank they don't know where they are and they see an office building. Flying over to the building they hold up a sign that says "where are we?" - The people in the building hold up a sign that says "You are in a helicopter."

The pilot waves thanks goes up and then flies straight to the Seattle airport. The trainee is amazed and asks the pilot how he could know ehre they were based on that answer. The pilot replies that it could only be the Microsoft building as they gave him a technically correct but utterly useless answer.

Anyways - I have to get some pix ready and show you all the latest fruit of our laser labor playing with embossing plates. Later.

[Bill Cunningham]

I don't think it was a bad memory stick, because once I finished all that crap, everything was running well, fast, and crash free.. I'm pretty sure it had something to do with the Panda virus checker, and a highly fragged HD. Once I cured those problems, all went back to normal.. The current McAfee, keeps track of your defrag needs, and seems to be a pretty slick piece of software, and you get 3 months to try it out free.. I tried the free Avast on my house computer, and it bogged down everything, and leaves chunks of junk all over, when you try to uninstall it.. And John, here's hoping the new system from MS is the 'lucky' number 7

[Phil Garcia]

John, thanks for a great idea. I knew about the extension but had completely forgot about it. Thanks again for the reminder....you know...with the old age those details kinda get lost....LOL:D