Title: Converting Corel Draw Files (.cdr) to CAD files (.dxf or .dwg) for use in ArcView

 

Date: April 27th, 2001

 

Purpose: The purpose of converting Corel Draw files into a CAD file format allows for an Image drawn in Corel draw to be viewed in Arcview and successfully rectified (if base maps used are in same datum, coordinates, and projection).  This method for data collection only preserves the entities, but none of its attributes.  You will need to reference other sources for any attribute information when using this process.

 

Extensions required: CAD Reader

 

Process:

·       Open Corel Draw and open the file with the desired information and display it on the screen

·       Select all the features you want converted to a CAD file by using Edit – select all – objects and then saving them as AutoCAD (DXF) – assign appropriate name and remember where you saved it

·       Make sure ArcView is open and a new View is open as well.

·       Also, be certain that the Cad Reader extension is loaded, which is located under file – Extensions

·       To View the converted Corel file in Arcview, select Add theme and select your DXF feature. You can choose to display points, polylines, or polygons, and/or annotation (this is done be single clicking with the left mouse button on the folder in the add theme window).

·       It should display if the CAD reader extension is loaded properly

·       To make it easier to bring up the converted file, it is recommended that you convert it to a Shape file for future use.

·       To Convert it to a shape file, select Theme – Convert to Shapefile – give it an appropriate name and send it to an appropriate directory, and click OK.

·       Click YES to display the new shape file in the current view, if you want to see your file as a Shapefile.  Remove the DXF file from the View to make your newly converted shapefile easier to view.

 

Conclusions:  By utilizing the compatibility of Corel Draw and ArcView, it is easy to convert data layers of existing digital maps into formats recognized by ArcView.  By converting the data layers into a DXF file format, the data you have is easily displayed in ArcView with the use of the Cad Reader extension.  Once in ArcView, it is easier to convert DFX files to SHP files, making the need of re-digitizing existing digital data sets unnecessary. 

 

Note: Once the dataset has been formatted for ArcView displays, it is recommended that the ShapeWarp extension be used to rectify the former DXF file with an existing data theme so that they are in the same projection and coordinate system.  

 

Created by Chris Connell and Andy Freed, Geography 452: Advanced GIS Class.