Expert: Elmer - 10/7/2010

Question
I'm a designer working in Adobe programs. My client is working in CorelDraw. I've designed logos that he now wants to use in his programs - but is wanting the background to be transparent. I've created clipping paths in Photoshop, but it does not seem to translate when he imports into Corel. Any suggestions on how to have a transparent background so layering can occur in a document?

Answer
Hiya Shelly,
I apologise in advance for the nerdy two nerdy paragraphs that will follow:

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Why take a file from Photoshop to Corel? Because Photoshop is a raster-based program (meaning it converts art to pixels), text and lineart for screenprint or vinyl plotting is not its strong suit. Even though Photoshop supports vector text, it's still not going to vectorize (convert to bitmaps and give a razor-sharp appearance to) anything other than a CMYK image.

Sharing between Photoshop and Corel is possible because both support a standard separation format called DCS2 EPS. DCS stands for Desktop Color Separation and has been part of Adobe software for years. Prior to the acceptance of the DCS format, it was necessary to split the channels in Photoshop and reassemble them individually into a vector program.
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Whew, thank god thats over! Now to something a little easier for you.

If you export the artwork to a Corel Photopaint file, he should still be able to import it into Corel draw with clipping mask intact.

If this fails then export the artwork as a jpeg with transparent background. If the res is good enough it should work also.

Finally, the last option would be to send the clipping mask seperately as a vector path. He can then apply the mask himself.

Coreldraw has always had difficulty dealing with certain elements of adobe. Clipping paths, transparencies, even gradients come out all wierd.

I hope that this helps and I apologise again for the lengthy response.

Cheers,

Elmer