Learn How to Repair Damaged CorelDRAW CDR File with Ease

CDR file is the default file extension used in CorelDRAW application. It is used for designing graphics, create websites, edit photos and much more. The application is used by several users to make their and designing and development process easy. It is named as CorelDRAW Graphics Suite. Currently, it offers Photo paint, Bitmap image editor, etc. CDR is a file format developed by Corel Corporation and it is mostly used for creating vector graphic images and drawings. Having so many benefits, there are some issues with CDR file as well such as users can’t access their CorelDRAW file if it gets damaged. So, in this article, we are discussing both manual and automated solution i.e Corrupted CDR File Recovery Software to repair corrupted CDR file using simple steps.

Structure of CorelDRAW File

A CDR file is supported by Windows 10 and previous versions of it. This file is also created in Mac OS but due to low demand in the market, the application is no longer available in the market. The file uses VBA as its script language known as macros in CorelDRAW. CDR file extension was initially used for graphic drawings. It is a compressed directory of multiple files. The file consists of XML files, riffdata.CDR file, and root.dat file. If any of the files found missing in the CDR file, then there occurs the need to repair corrupted CDR file.

Applications of CorelDRAW File

CorelDRAW CDR file is supported by several applications such as LibreOffice, Inkspace and much more. Applications like Inkspace and Scribus can convert CDR file into their accessible file formats whereas LibreOffice and Re-lab can read all the versions of CDR files. Users should have knowledge of these applications so that they can recover damaged CorelDRAW CDR file.

Errors Caused in CorelDRAW CDR File

There are various errors possible which can make the CDR files inaccessible. Users can use multiple solutions to repair corrupted CDR file but first, they have to understand the type of errors caused by the file.

• Can’t Open CDR File – This error takes place in the file when the size of the CDR file is too large. In this case, the data file may get damaged due to loss of data within the file.
• I/O Read Error – This kind of error is displayed when a file is opened but some part of the file is left unread. It is caused when some part of the file is lost or corrupted. Users can recover damaged CDR file using the methods discussed in the following section.
• File Bitmap Cannot be Read – The mentioned error is caused if either XML file or root.dat file is not available in the CDR file. The error can also be caused if the file gets damaged or corrupted.

How to Repair Corrupted CDR File Manually

When a CDR file becomes so large or handled abnormally, it increases the chances of CDR file getting damaged. Imagine a designer who designed a complete page and the next time when that user opened that file and it got corrupted. So, it becomes essential for that user to recover CDR file as early as possible.

Method 1 – Recover Corrupted CorelDRAW File using ZIP or RAR Format

To perform the recovery process, the user should have Winrar to decompress the files. As it is a free tool to use then you may find it anywhere. Once the Winrar is installed, perform the following steps to fix corruption:

• Change the file extension of the file to .zip or .rar.
• Now, open the file in Winrar. As the application has a feature to repair corruption of file so this might work.
• Once the file gets open, copy riffdata.CDR from it.
• Finally, create a new CorelDRAW file and import that file.

Method 2 – Repair Corrupted CDR File from Temp Folder

You can also try your luck and search for your file in the temp folder. Implement the steps mentioned below and recover CorelDRAW file:

• Open Run window using Ctrl+R command.
• Type %temp% in it.
• Here, look for the file named with .cdr file extension with the name same as your corrupt file.
• Copy that file to desktop and name it to xyz.cdr.temp to xyz.cdr.
• Now, Import this file in CorelDRAW.

Method 3 – Recover CDR File by Renaming Temp File

• While saving the file second time with “Make Backup on Save” option enabled, the application will name the original file as “Backup of filename.cdr”.
• To save the file again, Windows does not allow to save the same file with the same name at the same location.
• So, the application will save the file as a .tmp file in this case.
• Once the saving process completes, the “Backup of filename.cdr” is deleted and a .tmp file is named as “Backup of filename.cdr”.

After performing this process, it is possible to rename the .tmp file to .zip and extract entire data from it.

Trouble Free Solution to Repair Corrupted CDR File

If any user fails to recover CorelDRAW file using the above mentioned manual procedures then they can opt for a reliable automated solution. In some cases, manual methods also fail to perform if the corruption level is high but the third party tool can easily recover damaged CorelDRAW file whether it is highly corrupted or not. Moreover, it does not consume too much time while performing recovery.

Conclusion

This article explains users the process to recover CorelDRAW file using multiple solutions. Those methods are free to use but have some limitations as well. Using these methods will take so much of time and efforts and also do not ensure that to repair corrupted CDR file properly. If you want an easy and quick solution to perform recovery, then an automated solution is also mentioned in the article.