Expert: Amy - 10/4/2006

Question
I have used CorelDraw for the past 9 years, I decided to go freelance a month ago and some of my customers use MAC Adobe Illustrator.  If I buy Adobe Illustrator is there a way to convert the files to MAC? Or maybe can I use CorelDraw Save as an AI and convert to Mac?  Help! Thanks

Answer
Hi Sarah,

If you use Illustrator for the PC, you'll be able to give your clients the AI files you create on your PC and they'll be able to open them on their Macs.

What might interfere is version and fonts used.

The Illustrator versions went 6 7 8 9 10 CS CS2

If you buy CS2 and they use 10, for example, you'll have to Save As Legacy version for them to be able to open it, just like with different versions of Corel.

You can also save as EPS format to go to the Mac, that's a bit safer. EPS also has legacy format options to save down to some of the versions I specified above.

With both AI and EPS formats, you should choose to embed fonts.

As far as sticking Corel into the equation, I completely understand that you're faster on Corel and it will take some time to work up to speed on AI.

The two file formats are not completely compatible, although you can save a Corel file to be read in Illustrator. You might lose or get strange results with certain elements, especially those that use transparency, like drop shadows, opacity masks, etc. A good experiment for you would be opening some of your more complex Corel files with Illustrator and seeing what they look like.

You might find that you're able to use Corel and then open with and save as Illustrator for simple jobs like a form but for more complex jobs, you might want to use Illustrator 100%. At least that's how I predict it will end up.

I used to do a lot of back and forth work with an outdoor advertising company that used Corel and there was so much re-work involved on their end that I felt bad for them. I hear it's better opening Corel files with AI but I couldn't tell you for sure.

Hope this info/opinion helped you
Amy Pace