PDF to CDR Converter
Clients send logos, menus and banners as PDF; sign shops and printers who work in CorelDRAW need them as CDR to cut, recolor or resize. This page rewrites the vector content of a PDF as a CorelDRAW file.
CAD Converter
or drop DWG, DXF, DWF … files here ·
Max 95 MB per file· Up to 20 files· Deleted after 30 minutes
Files are processed on our servers and deleted after 30 minutes.
Model space is the full drawing. All layouts exports each paper-space sheet as its own page, as set up in AutoCAD.
Fit to page scales the drawing to fill the sheet. Actual size keeps drawing units 1:1 (1 mm in the drawing = 1 mm on paper) and may span a larger page.
Same as source uses the size set in each layout. A1 and A0 are the usual plotter sheets for architectural drawings.
Auto turns the page to match the drawing's longer side.
Monochrome prints every line black, like plotting with a monochrome.ctb style — best for printed plans on white paper.
White suits printing. Black looks like the AutoCAD drawing area; transparent works for placing the drawing in other documents (not available in JPG).
300 DPI is print quality; 150 is enough for screens. At A1 and 600 DPI an image is 14,000 px wide, so higher values make very large files.
Only used when the input is a photo or scan (JPG, PNG). Outline draws the edges of shapes, good for logos and laser cutting; centreline draws single lines through strokes, good for scanned line drawings and plotters.
Pixels darker than this become lines. Raise it if faint lines are missing, lower it if background noise turns into shapes.
Higher values give fewer, smoother curves; lower values follow the pixels more closely but create more points.
How to use this tool
- 1
Upload the PDF
Add up to 20 PDFs, 95 MB each. A PDF exported from Illustrator, InDesign, Canva or CorelDRAW itself converts best.
- 2
Keep or change the colors
Colors stays on Original colors. Pick Grayscale or Monochrome when the artwork is headed for a one-color job such as engraving or a rubber stamp.
- 3
Convert to CDR
Press Convert to CDR, then open the file in CorelDRAW and check text and clipping before you cut or print.
Can a PDF be converted to an editable CDR?
Yes, when the PDF holds vector artwork: shapes become CorelDRAW curves you can recolor, resize and cut. A scanned PDF only holds a picture, which has to be traced instead.
Vector PDF or scanned PDF: check first
PDF, introduced by Adobe in 1993 and standardized as ISO 32000-1 in 2008, can carry two very different things: vector drawing instructions and embedded images. A logo exported from a design program is paths and fills, which convert into CorelDRAW curves one for one. A brochure scanned on an office copier is a photograph of paper, and converting it gives you that photograph inside a CDR file.
Zoom to 800% in any PDF viewer to tell them apart. Vector edges stay razor sharp at any magnification; scanned or raster content turns into visible pixels. Most real files mix both, with a vector logo and text next to a product photo.
What a PDF becomes in CorelDRAW
Editable curves
- Logos, icons and shapes
- Fill and outline colors
- Lines, borders and dielines
Check by hand
- Text and fonts
- Clipping paths and masks
- Transparency and blend effects
Stays a picture
- Photos and scanned pages
- Artwork flattened at export
- Screenshots pasted into the PDF
Portable Document Format
PDF was created by Adobe in 1993 and became the open ISO 32000 standard in 2008. It fixes text, fonts, images and layout so a document looks the same on every screen and printer. PDFs can contain forms, signatures, links, attachments and searchable text, and the PDF/A variant is used for long-term archiving. The fixed layout makes PDFs hard to edit, and scanned PDFs contain only images unless OCR is applied. Every browser and operating system can open them.
- Compression
- –
- Transparency
- Yes
- Animation
- No
- Introduced
- 1993 · Adobe
CDR
CorelDRAW drawing
CDR is the native file format of CorelDRAW, a vector graphics editor first released by Corel in 1989. It stores vector shapes, text, layers and multi-page layouts and is widely used in sign making, vinyl cutting, packaging and print shops. The format is proprietary and changes between CorelDRAW versions, so other programs import it only partially. Most viewers, browsers and design apps outside the Corel ecosystem cannot open CDR files.
- Compression
- –
- Transparency
- Yes
- Animation
- No
- Introduced
- 1989 · Corel
People convert PDF to CDR when artwork arrives as a print PDF but the shop that has to cut, recolor or rework it lives in CorelDRAW.
PDF to CDR limits and options
- PDFs per batch
- 20
- per file
- 95 MB
- until files are deleted
- 30 min
- color modes
- 3
The CDR targets current CorelDRAW versions. If someone on an old release cannot open it, a newer CorelDRAW can re-save it for them through Save As, which offers a version list. Going back the other way, from your finished design to a print-ready file, is CDR to PDF; keep the original PDF either way, since it remains the best reference for colors and layout.
Print PDFs made to the PDF/X standard often contain crop marks, bleed and slug areas outside the trim. They come across as ordinary objects, so delete them before cutting.
PDF to CDR questions
Can CorelDRAW open a PDF without converting it first?
Yes, CorelDRAW imports PDF files and asks whether text should come in as text or as curves. If you have CorelDRAW on hand, that works well. This page is for the other cases: preparing a CDR for a shop that asks for one, or converting a batch without opening each file.
Why does my PDF arrive in CorelDRAW as one big picture?
The PDF itself contains a picture. Scanned documents, photos saved as PDF and artwork flattened by some export settings have no vector shapes inside. Export the page with PDF to JPG and trace it with JPG to CDR to get curves.
Will the text be editable after PDF to CDR?
Only if the font is installed on your computer. PDFs usually embed just the letters the document uses, which is enough to show the text but not to type new words in that font. Without the full font, keep the text as curves and retype changes in a font you own.
Why is every object wrapped in an extra box or clip?
Many programs write PDF artwork inside clipping paths, and CorelDRAW often shows them as PowerClip containers or nested groups. Ungroup and extract the contents, then delete empty frames before cutting.
Is a converted CDR ready for a vinyl cutter?
Usually after a little work. Weld overlapping letters, remove fills that only mattered on screen and check that every shape is a closed curve. Cutters follow outlines, so a hairline stroke and a filled shape cut the same path.
- CDR to PDF ConverterConvert CorelDRAW CDR files to PDF without installing CorelDRAW. Keeps the page size, vector shapes and colors so clients and print shops can open the artwork.
- JPG to CDR ConverterTurn a JPG logo or sketch into a CorelDRAW CDR file of traced vector shapes that sign, vinyl and engraving shops can cut and recolor. 20 images per batch.
- PNG to CDR ConverterTrace PNG logos, clip art and line drawings into a CorelDRAW CDR file with smooth, cut-ready curves. Transparent backgrounds stay empty. Up to 20 images.
- SVG to CDR ConverterConvert SVG cut files, logos and icons into CorelDRAW CDR documents at true size, for engravers, sign makers and print shops that work in CorelDRAW.
- CDR to JPG ConverterConvert CorelDRAW CDR files to JPG without CorelDRAW. Set the resolution from 72 to 1200 DPI for screen previews or print proofs. Up to 20 files per batch.