AutoCAD and ArcGIS capabilities

Hello Erin; I cut vinyl from AutoCad files That are emailed. I have to cut vector files If I get a raster from a MS Word I charge extra.
  Why not down load the Free 30 trial of X7 and give it a try. ( I was using CorelDRAW & AutoCad 10 file before AutoCad had a Windows ver. back in 1990.

George

Erin said:

1. Can we pull Corel files into CAD and Word, and vice versa?  Is it scalable?

You can save CorelDRAW (vector) files as dwg and dxf files into CAD and as PNG/JPEG/WMF/EMF/TIF/EPS files to import in Word.
Going from Word to CorelDRAW is slightly different but no more than with e.g. Adobe Illustrator. Depending on the content a copy/paste may be all you need, or you may prefere to create a PDF file and then open the PDF file in CorelDRAW for further editing.

CorelDRAW (the vector part) can import dwg and dxf files.

The inner workings of dwg based CAD software and illustration software such as CorelDRAW and Adobe Illustrator are different in some ways so you may need to "repair" items sometimes, or some things may not convert properly at all or in a way you don't want.

Generally speaking I have found CorelDRAW to have a better compatibility with AutoCAD files than Adobe Illustrator.

Erin said:

2. How compatible are the Corel files with client and teaming partners that you share information with?  Are you able to send and receive files via email or do they need to be uploaded on an FTP site?

This will depend on the file size and the file format of the files you want to share and on the software the client and teaming partners are using. No more different than with e.g. AutoCAD and Word. CorelDRAW supports a large number of file formats so I would not worry too much about that in general.

Erin said:

3. Are the file sizes manageable (i.e. are we going to need additional storage to support both CAD and Corel-enhanced drawings?

This will depend on the contents of the file, but any file format you add will need extra storage compared to not having that file (I know, this is stating the obvious). Sometimes the CorelDRAW files are larger than the AutoCAD files, sometimes they are smaller depending on how the CAD drawing was created and what is in it. If you are going to create a CorelDRAW version of a lot of CAD files then you definitely need additional storage, but the same would apply to any graphics software you would use for this.

Erin said:

4. Is CorelDraw able to handle geo-referenced mapping?

No in the sense that it cannot handle georeferences. I.e. it can import geo-tiff etc. files because it can import tiff and jpeg files but it will not maintain the georeference associated with it. It also cannot handle shapefiles and other GIS specific file formats (e.g. GML) You would need to convert a shapefile to e.g. a dxf/dwg file first before you can import it into CorelDRAW

I'm using CorelDRAW myself to enhance CAD output in publications. CAD output still does not match the quality of illustration software in file formats other than PDF files. And even with PDF files CorelDRAW etc. is still better.

If you need more clarifications or have additional questions feel free to ask.