I am looking for a solution to read current Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop files into Coreldraw2024. Then I need to export these layered files to an old version of Corel Draw running on Windows 2000. I need suggestions for the Corel versions to buy. My printer is a 24 year old ALPS 5000. I need to spot print each layer seperately to the ALPS. I can acquire whatever versions of Corel are needed for this solution to work. I could also use Windows XP, but the drivers are cluged and complicated. Windows 2000 is native to the printer. I hope somebody can give me a suggestion.
My suggestion is don't do it!
And following yourbadvice how do you suggest I solve this? Not doing it this way is ok if you suggest another way.
You can't solve this issue. You can learn to understand where it works and where it won't work but that's it.
Corel and Adobe program differently for transparency, complex fills and smooth shades.
The files from Corel and Adobe will output to PostScript and True PDF devices, but as the complexity of the file increases cross application compatibility diminishes.
Backward compatibility (in terms of transparency, complex fills and smooth shading, taking current Corel files back to older versions of CorelDRAW) will be limited, with those parameters, 2024 files may go back to 2019 but in my opinion no farther.
Last year I spoke with a guy at a show who figured it out. And he was using Adobe from maybe a few years back .. but fairly recent. Plus two versions of Corel. The trick being which versions. He was running my same ALPS 5000 printer from cluged Windows XP drivers. Native drivers are Windows NT and Windows 2000. Made for business not home use. Sadly I lost his info, but he was printing thermal resin decals for coffee cups with his solution. Simple Adobe drawings with solid colors imported somehow to Corel. All printing is done with 100% black artwork, spot printed by selecting cartridges one per layer of artwork. This gives me white, metallic silver, metallic gold and even brushed aluminum printing. High quality scale model railroad decals made the same way. Drawing is crude with those old tools, hence the desire to use something more modern to generate the artwork. And really tough to hire it out unless it can start out more modern. Wish I had not lost track of him. He knew something about all the versions and features that allows this jumping of the lilly pads!
Simple drawings may work CorelDRAW to Adobe but transparency, complex fills and smooth shades are impossible. For cross application editing.
Same thing for the effects from Draw 2019 and newer and older versions of Draw itself.