Can't open old CorelDraw (v4?) file - help please!

[Ampa]

I was searching through some old backup CDs today, and found the original file for a short illustrated book that I wrote many years ago.

It is called "Shaun the Sheep" and is a tongue-in-cheek children's book, for adults (due to the drug taking scene).

From memory it was put together in CorelDraw v4, but I no longer have CorelDraw or anything else that will open the file, so I am posting it here in the hope that someone will be able to open it and export it in a more accessible format.

Thanks for your time

[yksyks]

Sorry, I tried, but to no avail. Adobe Illustrator CS2 refused to open it (no surprise), and CorelDraw 10 simply crashed. I was just able to see a small preview of the drawing, so the file is probably not damaged. Maybe some really authentic version of CorelDraw would help.

[katykaty]

No problems opening it in X3

CDR, GIF and EPS conversions attached.

[Ampa]

yksyks: Thanks for trying.

katykaty: Ooh! So nearly! CorelDraw X3 seems to have opened it, but only the first page of many.

Looking at the original file in a hex editor I can see that the text for the whole book (three short stories) is definitely buried in there along with lots of extra data (layout information and pictures) so I am hoping that the whole thing can be recovered somehow.

Perhaps it needs a really early version of CorelDraw to make sense of the file?

Got my fingers corssed crossed (Ed: seems they were literally crossed when I typed that!)

[katykaty]

Ah, didn't realise - perhaps I should say notice/bother to check  there was more than one page.  But they ARE all in the .cdr file; 15 pages. I left the 'this page only' tick on when I exported rather than saved which is why they're in the cdr but not the others.

I've got to confess I don't use pages that often (indeed, at all!) so I'm not sure how to export multiple pages without them layering over each other.

Maybe you need to reinstall Corel.

I've exported it to pdf - the original appears to be 300 dpi so I've exported lossless to that. Does that help?

[tomos]

Freehand 9 says it can open *.cdr but not this one...

[katykaty]

OK, now I remember why I gave up on using pages - they're a nightmare to manage 

And now I remember why I tend to use Screenshot Captor instead of exporting 

I know, I know; we spent a heap of £ on something we don't use properly, but come on, have you ever tried using Inkscape? I'd happily work down a coalmine a month to save up to buy ANYTHING that meant I didn't need to use Inkscape 

Anyway, back to Shaun.

I've exported all the pages to separate eps files (seems like that's the only way). The page size seems to have got lost on the way but I assume that's manageable?

Amazingly the eps files together are 68Mb but zip down to less than 4Mb 

Are we getting there?

PS - you may have noticed that right now I'd rather be doing ANYTHING than my proper work 

[Ampa]

katykaty: Thank you!!! 

I realise that it isn't going to win the Nobel Prize for literature, but it amused me to write it, and fun to see it again after many years. I originally printed two copies (so that as a limited edition it would be worth a fortune!) but no longer have either copy

[katykaty]

You're welcome   

And now I'm going to print out that pdf - which will make it the only copy in the world, and therefore extremely valuable - and cash in 

I'm rich, rich beyond my wildest dreams 

[Grorgy]

We could all flood the market