Corel Issue

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Gang;
Weird things going on. I created a drawing, mostly circular objects, in Corel (X4) on one computer. When I opened it in Corel on the 2nd computer I founds the circles had now changed to ellipses- the vertical ruler is a bit longer scale than the horizontal ruler (measured with a ruler, one inch on the horizontal is about 90% of an inch on the vertical).
I thought maybe the screen res was off and tried several others- no change.
Any suggestions are welcome
Thanks
Best regards;
George
LaserArts

[Dan Hintz]

George,

Did the objects actually change in the file, or just their representations on the screen? In other words, if you printed both would they appear the same on the printed page? If so, it's a screen pixel dimension issue.

[Chuck Stone]

Just a guess here, but are you running your two computer monitors at
the exact same resolution?

If one is at say .. 1280 x 768 and the other is at 1280 x 720, you'll get
a different aspect ratio..

[George M. Perzel]

Thanks, guys;
As both you guys indicted, it appears to be a screen resolution issue as the drawing was created on a computer with a monitor running at 1680x1050 and the other monitor will only go to 1280x960. Anyone know of a quick method of converting a cdr from one aspect ratio to the other?
Best regards;
George
LaserArts

[Dan Hintz]

It's not an issue with the file itself, it's an issue that has to be dealt with the monitor driver. Corel itself shouldn't even be a problem as it's an independent observer in all of this. The better monitor drivers allow you to deal with non-square pixels (though why you would be dealing with such a beat on one of today's monitors is beyond me).

[Todd Koessl]

When I changed monitors on my computer I noticed the same issue. The new monitor was a 22" widescreen and the old one was a 17". I had to change the mode the widescreen was viewed in and it cleared up the problem. My monitor had a wide screen and normal setting, the same as most new tv's. Once I changed it to normal I was good to go.

[John Noell]

All LCDs have a native resolution (width by height, in pixels, such as 1024 x 768 or 1920×1200). The ratio of W to H is the aspect ratio. If the ratio the computer puts out does not match the aspect ratio of the LCD, you get oval-looking circles. Some older computers need BIOS updates to be able to output the right aspect ratio for the newer LCDs.

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Guys;
Interesting that file was created on computer A (1680x1050), sent as a cdr to computer B(1280x960), shows up distorted on B and is lasered that way when sent from B to laser. Somehow the Corel file is getting changed to a different aspect ratio-transfer is made via Shared files on home network.
Files created on B are fine and laser fine
Best regards;
George
LaserArts

[Dan Hintz]

So it is engraving differently...

[Kevin Huffman]

Are you saving the file as a .cdr or exporting as an .AI or .EPS?
I have seen issues with .eps changing shapes/sizes and other various things.

Are you File/Opening or File/Importing the file into other program?
When you open a file, it brings all kinds of settings from the previously saved file, which screen size may effect it's size/shape.
Try doing a File/Import (even with a .cdr file), this doesn't bring all the settings. It will simply allows you to bring in the graphic into your current plate.

[John Noell]

That is amazing. The same cdr file lasers diffferently when sent from two different computers to the same laser? Hmm, what brand laser do you have George? (I would think the Epilog driver immune to such things but CorelDraw can a strange beast.)

[Chuck Stone]

I'm shocked that it would laser differently if the file wasn't altered.
I thought the monitor was passive. It shouldn't affect the file in any way that
I remember.. but you could write books with what I don't know.
Oh wait, they have. :p

[John Noell]

The monitor is not entirely passive. It can tell the computer what it's native resolution is (sometimes). But any program can easily ask what the resolution of the video driver output is set to (regardless of whether or not a monitor is even hoked up or what it is set to). I am guessing this is the issue but I remain shocked that any program would adjust printer output on that basis.

[Michael Wintermute]

George,

Try this:

Click on
Tools, Options ...
Workspace, Toolbox, Zoom ...
Check the box Zoom Relative to 1:1
Click the Calibrate Rulers box
Adjust the parameters until the on screen rulers match a scale.

As far as the Lasing at differant shapes, I have no explanation for that.

Mike

[George M. Perzel]

Hi gang;
Thanks for all the input and advice-will try each this weekend and advise results.
The setup is this: Computer A with wide monitor running at 1680x1050 and connected to a Mercury (Laserpro) laser.
Computer B with crummy X2Gen monitor ruinning (*Freudian slip) at 1280x960 and connected to two Venus laser (Laserpro) through LPT switch.
Both computers are running exact same version of XP Pro and Corel (X4) and file transfer is made via Shared Doc folder.
File is being produced on computer A in the comforts of my office and opened in computer B which is located in the basement which has a very low ceiling and no warning signs. Image opens distorted and lasers/prints that way. More later
Best regards;
George
LaserArts

[Chuck Stone]

(*Freudian slip)

Isn't that when you say one thing, but you really mean your mother?

[Mark Ross]

George,

We have run into the same problem and could never find a solution for it running X3.

Computer 'A' sits in my office. I draw something and have 30 some holes all with a diamter of 0.134".

I put the file on our network drive. The Epilog computer opens the file and the holes are elliptical, about 0.128" X 0.134".

The only way we have worked around this is to check the hole sizes on the computer used to run the file and fix anything there and save it.

I am running 1680 by 1050 and the Epilog computer is running...yup...1024 X 768:rolleyes:.

Not sure what is going on, we just kind of lived with it as we don't really have the time to do a full investigation. Screen resolution should not alter the file unless there is something weird going on with the coding of the program.