CorelDRAW Editor

Use this skill to work with .cdr files through CorelDRAW itself. Prefer CorelDRAW COM automation over raw parsing because CDR is proprietary and version-sensitive.

Requirements

• Windows with CorelDRAW installed and registered for automation, usually CorelDRAW.Application or CorelDRAW.Application.<version>.
• Python 3.9+.
• pywin32. If missing and local package installation is acceptable, run py -3 -m pip install --user pywin32.
• Optional: ImageMagick for contact sheets and alpha/size verification.

Safety Rules

• Inspect first. Never edit blind.
• Preserve originals by default. For any edit that changes a document, create or open a copy and save to an explicit output path.
• Treat delete, ungroup, flatten/rasterize, font substitution, color conversion, and overwriting existing files as potentially destructive. Only do them when the user clearly asked or after making a copy.
• Close CorelDRAW in finally blocks with doc.Close() and app.Quit().
• Report assumptions, especially when objects are unnamed or selected by coordinates/indexes.

Core Workflow

1. Confirm the .cdr path and output destination.
2. Inspect structure:
   • scripts/coreldraw_editor.py inspect input.cdr --json metadata.json
   • Review pages, layers, shape indexes, names, types, positions, and sizes.
3. Make a page preview when objects are unnamed:
   • scripts/coreldraw_editor.py preview input.cdr preview.png --page 1 --dpi 300
4. Decide object selectors:
   • Use one-based shape indexes from inspection.
   • Use ranges such as 7-20 for clusters.
   • Use comma/range specs such as 2,5,8-10 for non-contiguous selections.
   • Use layer names or indexes when the document has multiple printable layers.
5. For exports, export selections or full top-level objects:
   • scripts/coreldraw_editor.py export input.cdr outdir --item logo.png:3 --format png
   • scripts/coreldraw_editor.py export input.cdr outdir --item tree.png:7-20 --transparent --manifest out.csv
6. For document edits, use copy-first plans:
   • scripts/coreldraw_editor.py apply-plan input.cdr edited.cdr --op '{"op":"rename","shapes":"4","name":"logo-primary"}'
   • scripts/coreldraw_editor.py apply-plan input.cdr edited.cdr --plan edits.json
7. Validate by reopening or inspecting the edited copy, and by exporting a preview/contact sheet when visual correctness matters.

Supported Script Operations

The bundled script intentionally supports conservative operations that map cleanly to CorelDRAW's COM API:

• rename: set shape names.
• move: move selected shapes by dx, dy in document units.
• set-position: set selected shapes to x, y.
• resize: set selected shapes to width, height.
• rotate: rotate selected shapes by angle degrees.
• duplicate: duplicate selected shapes with optional dx, dy offset.
• delete: delete selected shapes from the edited copy.
• group: group selected shapes.
• ungroup: ungroup selected shapes.
• layer-visible: set layer visibility.
• layer-printable: set layer printability.
• save-copy: save an output .cdr copy without further edits.

For more specialized tasks such as precise fill/outline replacement, font substitution, text replacement, PowerClip edits, lens/effect edits, or import placement, first inspect the generated Corel COM wrapper under Python's win32com.client.gencache folder and script against the exact installed CorelDRAW version. Use page previews before and after.

Validation

• For PNG exports, verify transparency and dimensions with ImageMagick when available:
  • magick identify -format "%f %[channels] %[pixel:p{0,0}] %wx%h\n" *.png
• For many exports, create a contact sheet:
  • magick montage *.png -thumbnail 180x180 -set label "%t" contact_sheet.png
• For edited CDR output, re-run inspect on the edited copy and export a preview before reporting success.

Practical Notes

• CorelDRAW.Application.<version> is more deterministic than the version-independent ProgID when multiple Corel versions exist.
• Shape indexes are document/order dependent. Re-inspect after operations that add/delete/group/ungroup shapes.
• Exporting a selection usually crops to the selection bounds. Complex effects, lenses, transparencies, missing fonts, and linked assets may render differently depending on export format.
• If generic tools cannot decode CDR, that is normal; continue with CorelDRAW automation.