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Problem importing EMF files into Corel... need suggestioins

Segnosaur

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Segnosaur
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Just wondering if anyone could give me some suggestions...

I'm working on an application which draws a graph, and exports it to EMF format. (The idea is that this EMF file is supposed to be imported into Corel Draw for further changes.) The application itself uses a graphics package called Metadraw to create the graph.

The EMF file looks perfectly good when viewed with Windows Picture and Fax viewer, or Microsoft Office Picture Manager. It also looks perfectly good within the application itself.

However, when I try to import the EMF file into Corel Draw (we're using version 13), its not showing up properly. I've tried this using both Open File and Import.

I've also tried a bunch of other things, but with no luck:
- I tried using several conversion programs (Irfan, Picture Manager, etc.) to convert the EMF to a WMF format, and it does convert the file so that it can be read in, but it changes it from a Vector to a Raster format (which isn't what I need for formatting)
- I've tried creating, saving (and then loading) an EMF file that I've created with Corel and it seems to work OK (so it does handle EMF properly)
- I've tried loading the EMF file into several other programs, such as PowerPoint and StarOffice. In both those cases, the image somehow gets corrupted. (Staroffice doesn't show the text on the form, and PowerPoint initially displays the EMF correctly, but when I try to modify it some of the shapes on the diagram get altered.)

So, anyone have any idea why an EMF file that looks so good under Windows Picture Viewer gets so messed up under Corel? Is there a (hopefully open source or free) program I can use to convert the image into another vectorized format that Corel might actually read?
 
Is there no way that the original application can write another vector format? EPS and TIFF have vector subformats, AFAIK.

What is the original application, if you are at a liberty to tell?

In my (somewhat limited) experience, EMF and WMF are hit and miss whether or not they work with certain programs, and I try to avoid them if possible.
 
elgarak said:
Is there no way that the original application can write another vector format? EPS and TIFF have vector subformats, AFAIK.
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I didn't think TIFF had a vector subformat. (I assume it was all raster.)

I could export the file in WMF format; however, there seems to be a bug that keeps the output format from being output correctly in that format.

What is the original application, if you are at a liberty to tell?
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Its a scientific application used by geologists to date the age of rocks. The graphs that it generates show ratios of various isotopes (among other things).

Of course, I keep telling them everything is 6000 years old, but nobody believes me.

In my (somewhat limited) experience, EMF and WMF are hit and miss whether or not they work with certain programs, and I try to avoid them if possible.
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Certainly can't blame you for that... this has been a frustrating experience.
 
You could also try ImageMagick (an OpenSource command-line suite) to convert the EMF to some other (vector) format supported by Corel Draw.

I don't know how well it would work, though, as I haven't tried that particular conversion myself.

You could also look into using SVG, which is an open standard for scalable vector graphics (not as well supported as it should be, though).
 
zippyapparition said:
Would WordPerfect work? It's a Corel product, and it can save to a lot of different file types.
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Do you mean Word Perfect to read or create the diagrams?

I have tried reading them into Word Perfect Office 12, and it doesn't display things correctly either. (It still displays the EMF files, but parts are missing; looks different than Corel Draw though.)
 
grmcdorman said:
You could also try ImageMagick (an OpenSource command-line suite) to convert the EMF to some other (vector) format supported by Corel Draw.

I don't know how well it would work, though, as I haven't tried that particular conversion myself.
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On your suggestion I took a look at ImageMagic... it does have EMF->WMF and EMF->SVG converters, but I don't think that would work... if you look through their web site, they have a section where they recommend against using IM to convert from one vector format to another. (They do recommend another tool to do the conversion VectorSection, but from the looks of that tool they don't support WMF format.)

http://www.imagemagick.org/Usage/formats/#vector

You could also look into using SVG, which is an open standard for scalable vector graphics (not as well supported as it should be, though).
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Unfortunately the graphics package we're using (Metadraw) doesn't support SVG.
 
Hmm. A search for "EMF converter" brings up a few hits (non-free apps). Perhaps one of those would work for you.

Another option is IrfanView; don't know what it does in vector-to-vector conversions, though (and it's not free for commercial use, although people often overlook that).
 
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Can your original application "print" the graphic?

On a number of occasions, I've used "print to file" using a PostScript printer driver, then imported the file into CorelDraw for further editing using its "interpreted PostScript" capability. Results will vary not only depending on how the original application goes about its business, but also on the choice of printer driver and how it's configured (usually some switches and knobs available to control how the driver goes about producing the PostScript).

Way back when, I used to do something similar, but using a print driver for an HP plotter, then letting CorelDraw convert the plot file into native CorelDraw objects (which it did quite well - one could map "pen numbers" in the plotter file to line colors and thicknesses in the resulting CorelDraw file). In that case, the original application happened to make very convenient HP plot files (graph curves came in as a few relatively complicated curves), but not-so-convenient PostScript files (graph curves came in as a many, many simple curves).
 
grmcdorman said:
Hmm. A search for "EMF converter" brings up a few hits (non-free apps). Perhaps one of those would work for you.

Another option is IrfanView; don't know what it does in vector-to-vector conversions, though (and it's not free for commercial use, although people often overlook that).
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I had already looked at Irfanview (plus a couple of other converters) and they all had the same problem... they may do an EMF->WMF conversion, but they alter the image into a rasterized version.
 
_Q_ said:
Can your original application "print" the graphic?

On a number of occasions, I've used "print to file" using a PostScript printer driver, then imported the file into CorelDraw for further editing using its "interpreted PostScript" capability.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion. That's something I hadn't tried out yet.
 
I'm coming to this a little late, but something that might be worth a try is to print to a PDF (PrimoPDF is probably the best option for this - Google for the link) then opening it in Corel - since newer versions of CorelDraw will allow PDFs to be edited. I have never had much luck with EPS files in Corel.
 
CFLarsen said:
What other export/save options does the program offer?
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Its not exactly a program I'm using, its a .net component. It does exports in various raster formats (.jpg, .bmp, etc.) as well as a few vector formats (.wmf, .emf).

I have solved the problem... I re-wrote part of the code so that the graphics could be exported in .wmf format which Corel has an easier time with. (I had to dumb-down part of my program in order to get it to work, but it does do an export; I wanted to avoid doing it, but it seemed to be the only option.)
 
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