Open CDR File

Open and View CDR files without CorelDraw

If you received CDR file and either don't have CorelDraw installed or you do not want to purchase CorelDraw license or you have a computer which runs operating system other than Windows, then you will need an alternative way to view your CDR file. It is important for you to know that CDR file extension could created by applications other than CorelDraw for purposes different from storing vector files. For example Apple Disk Utility uses CDR files to store CD/DVD disk images. That is why before looking for a vector application to open or view CDR file make sure that you are dealing with vector CDR file.

Some paid programs that open CDR files are:

• Adobe Illustrator
• ACD Systems canvas

Some free programs are:

• Inkscape
• CDR Viewer

In this article we will focus on how to use the Inkscape program to view CorelDraw files since this application has very rich vector editing and viewing functionality. You can download Inkscape from the following link: https://inkscape.org/release/inkscape-1.0/ and use it as a CDR file viewer.

Inkscape

Inkscape is an open source vector graphics editor, similar to CorelDraw and other vector image editing programs. Any Inkscape project can be exported to formats compatible for both web browsers and printers (SVG, EPS, etc.). Inkscape is also cross platform, which guarantees compatibility between various operating systems. You can get Inkscape as Windows download, Mac OS download and Linux download.

Below you can see how simple it is to open and view CDR file in Inkscape without having CorelDraw available.

Step 1: Open the Inkscape program.

Step 2: File Menu

Open the file menu and then “Open…” and look for the CDR file you want to open.

Step 3: Vectors

As you can see, the CDR image we use as an example is vectorized and it was possible to open it in Inkscape, edit it and export to other compatible formats.

Converting from CDR to other formats

If you want to open CDR file and convert it to other popular formats like SVG, EPS, PDF you can either you "File->Save As..." menu option in Inkscape and select a corresponding file format or use one of the online conversion options. For example, ZamZar offers CDR to PDF option.