Convert PDF to CDR

A PDF document can be converted directly to a CorelDRAW (.cdr) file using only CorelDRAW software. The success of this conversion will depend on the complexity and content of the PDF.

The following steps will guide you through the PDF to CDR conversion process.

Convert PDF to CDR in CorelDraw

1. If you don't have CorelDRAW, download it from CorelDraw's official website, try the trial version, or purchase a subscription.
2. After opening CorelDraw, click on the main menu File -> Import. After finding and selecting your PDF file, click the Import button.
3. The cursor will change to display the first page of the PDF document. Click on your workspace to position it and paste the PDF content. If your PDF has multiple pages, you'll get a dialog asking you to select the pages you want to import.
4. After importing the PDF, you may need to ungroup objects that appear grouped. Right-click on the imported PDF content and select the Ungroup command if it is available.
5. If the import was successful and you've made any required adjustments, navigate to File, then choose Save As. Select the .cdr format and save.

Potential issues:

When you open a PDF that uses fonts not installed on your computer, the results may differ. Install the original fonts or convert text into curves/paths in the PDF before importing.

Some advanced elements in PDFs might not import correctly, so you'll have to manually adjust or recreate them in CorelDRAW.

It is known that CorelDraw's graphics editor has some problems when importing PDF files that have not been exported from CorelDraw previously. There can be slight anomalies in a .pdf file that will result in CorelDraw being unable to recognize any data. Typically, this is the case when importing older PDF documents that display an error message stating, "File is corrupted".

The workaround for successful imports to CorelDraw is to re-save your .pdf document again (PDF/A or PDF/X) using the latest Adobe Acrobat Reader. You may obtain better results by exporting to Postscript, but you will need CorelDraw in any case since it is virtually impossible to reproduce a CDR file from a PDF file without it.

Since the CDR format is proprietary, and most programs / online converters deal with an older format variant, finding a reliable PDF to CDR converter online is unlikely, or it is a scam. The best way is to use the CorelDraw application. PDF and CDR are two completely different file formats, and newer versions of the CorelDraw graphics suite have better support for importing PDF documents.

Ensure you always use caution when uploading your files to web-based converters, as you never know where they may end up.