I don't understand why Corel can't fix their .plt export file format. It's been broken for years and will still stay broken until they bother to fix it once and for all. Coreldraw X8.0.0.450 still yields jagged text (bad curves) when exporting and then importing into another program for cutting with a vinyl cutter. It's ONLY the .PLT files from Coreldraw (any version after X3 at least that I can find information on - it might even be broken in earlier versions but I know at one point it USED to work properly. I gave up trying to find out what version this was though) that have this issue and no matter what suggested fixes for changing your .plt file resolution to zero (you can't do this in X7 or X8 by the way, it won't let you dial in 0. It makes you have 0.0001). I've tried ALL suggestions to get this to work and it simply WON'T do what it's supposed to be doing - producing smooth curves. Any other type of export file format doesn't have this issue. It's just .PLT.
Also, there are a LOT of complaints about this out there on the Internet if one Google searches them out and even several on these forums too. WHAT'S IT GOING TO TAKE TO GET COREL TO FIX THE .PLT FILE EXPORT ONCE AND FOR ALL SO IT GIVES SMOOTH EXPORT FILES? (AND YES, I'M SCREAMING!!!)
SVG (good curves ) vs PLT (bad curves) file imported into Sure Cuts a Lot 4 Pro - guess which is the SVG vs the PLT...
Zoomed in at 730% in wireframe view
Thank you for your reply. I originally tried to submit the .plt file also when I uploaded the files originally but it was not allowed as a file type in these forums (which are extremely annoying with all the "ok-got it! pop-ups). I have tried to put all of the files inside a zip file. Hopefully that is accepted on here...we'll see. No password on the zip file of course. Contains all three files, CDR X8, PLT and SVG.
Sometimes I am given old PLT files to open up and work with/edit from customers. These often come from old versions of FlexiSign 8.6 or earlier. Often the customers only have these files and do not have access to the expensive Flexi program to convert them into other formats. A lot of my archive files from previous customers only have .PLT files also - this goes years back. I have FlexiSign 8.6v2, SignGo Pro 1.20 and Sure Cuts A Lot Pro 4. Most times I use pure vector formats, EPS, AI and .CDR without issue. Sometimes all I have to work with are PLT files. Opening and editing an existing PLT file in Corel, Flexi, SignGo and Sure Cuts A Lot goes fairly well, usually no issues. It's just Coreldraw can not now save them out as a PLT file once more to ANY of those programs without it being choppy and with bad curves. That is, until the workaround was recently offered to scale them up, save them out and then back down in the cutting program. I prefer to work with pure vector files whenever possible but sometimes I can't and have to use .PLT. It's just annoying that Corel's implementation of this format has been broken for years and years...it once was not like this. It USED to work perfectly but so long ago I can't remember what specific version.
Zip file below:
PLT_file.zip
Sorry to have to say this Drew, but you are fighting a losing battle. Corel dont even support old versions of their own format anymore so getting Dev $$$'s spent on fixing a file format that isn't that important is extremely unlikely. I argued long and hard that at the very least Corel needed an import filter for older (pre v6) files but we still haven't got that either. Corel has no respect for their customers assets created on their programme. Its all hardnosed commercial decisions and reputation can go hang. If you need to do this then you're going to have to install Windows XP mode and a previous version of Draw that did what you want. I have Draw v12 installed in XP mode as security against the day that Trace v12 stops working in Win7 64 bit (it is very flakey now but workable)
Drew
Had a look at your files and it is true that the PLT is not perfect when compared with the CDR.
I believe the main reason is that the PLT file format doesn't support curves, only lines, and in my opinion the "curves" are acceptable, considering the limitations of PLT.In other words, they are probably as exact as we can expect them to be.
Attached is a file with the object from your original CDR (blue outline) and an object exported to PLT and then imported into Draw again (magenta outline).
For Drew.cdr
Here are two file for you, Drew.
They are exported from version 12 and 8.
Both are almost identical to the one exported from X8 (can not see any difference at all between 12 and X8), so if there has been significantly better results we are talking twenty years ago, or more. [;)]
Version 8 and 12.zip