Expert: Ran - 3/24/2009

Question
After importing a dxf into corel I want to give object a fill. Selecting the outline and applying the fill result in nothing. The object manager tells me that the path is closed, but it seems not. How can I solve this? Any help would be much appreciated.

Answer
I can not duplicate your problem without your .DXF file.

However, you are quite correct that if a CorelDraw object is closed it will show its fill colour, but if it is not closed it will not show its fill, even if it has one.

Therefore I suspect that your object is open, but I can not explain why it says it is closed.

Using X4, select your object, click on a fill colour (even though it will not show any difference), right-click/Properties, choose the final tab (showing number of nodes, sub-paths etc), then click/unclick the checkbox which says "Close Curve". With the box ticked, the curve should close and the fill colour should appear.

I hope this works for you.

CorelDraw closes open curves by adding extra lines between open nodes which you may not want. Switch to simple wireframe view and select the shape tool (press F10). Zoom right in on one of the nodes, very closely. Now move the node slightly. If it moves as you would expect, then the node is closed. If you right-click/Break Apart then try again you will see the difference when the node is open. If you study all of the nodes in your shape like this, perhaps it will help you to locate your problem.

If not I will take a look at your file for you if you email it to me at allexperts@nhbusiness.co.uk. Please let me know how you get on.