CDR — CorelDRAW Format: a Ready .cdr File from an OSM Map, No Import Step

CDR is the native vector format of CorelDRAW, alive since 1989 and fundamentally remaining closed-proprietary. Unlike SVG (open W3C standard) or PDF (ISO 32000), the CDR specification has never been published — Corel Corporation guards it as a commercial secret. For tools outside the Corel ecosystem this creates a practical problem: there is no ready-made way to write a CDR file. For a long time we honestly shipped a ZIP archive with SVG and an import guide — and openly explained why. Since August 2026 that chapter is closed: the CDR export on osm2cdr.ru delivers a ready .cdr file. Download it and open it in CorelDRAW with a double click — no import step, no intermediate formats. Layers arrive as separate named groups in the map's language, colours are CMYK out of the box, and labels stay editable text.

History: Canadian Corel and the RIFF era

CorelDRAW 1.0 shipped in January 1989 at Canadian Corel Corporation (Ottawa, founded by Michael Cowpland in 1985). It was one of the first full-featured vector editors for PC — a competitor to Adobe Illustrator (then Mac-only) on Windows 2.0. The first CDR version was a proprietary binary format with its own structure, heavily dependent on Windows GDI calls.

In version 3 (1992) Corel moved to RIFF (Resource Interchange File Format) — a Microsoft container used for AVI and WAV. This gave modularity: a CDR file became a sequence of named "chunks", each with its own structure. Magic bytes in the first four characters — RIFF, then four bytes of size, then CDR*vrsn — format and version identifier. Versions 3–13 (CDR3–X3) — all on RIFF.

CorelDRAW X4 (version 14, 2008) — transition to ZIP container with XML description over internal RIFF data. An aesthetic makeover: ZIP is easy to open with standard utilities, see the structure, but not understand the specific binary blocks without reverse engineering. From X4 to today's CorelDRAW 2024 (version 25) — all use ZIP+XML+binary hybrid.

The fundamental difference from AI and EPS — Corel has never published a CDR specification. A commercial decision sustaining vendor lock-in. The reverse-engineering community tried: project sK1 (since 2006) built a partial CDR reader (up to X3), LibreOffice Draw via libcdr reads most versions through X4. But an open writer — the producing component — the community never shipped.

In 2026 CorelDRAW Graphics Suite is an active commercial product. Especially popular in Eastern Europe and Russia — historically in the 1990s-2000s CorelDRAW was more accessible and cheaper than Illustrator, and remains the standard in many post-Soviet print and sticker studios.

What's inside CDR (based on reverse engineering)

Structure of CDR X4+ (per photopea CDR-specification):

my-design.cdr (this is a ZIP archive):
├── content/
│   ├── riffData.cdr    # binary RIFF with geometry and styles
│   └── metadata.xml    # manifest with version info and parameters
├── word/
│   └── document.xml    # XML description of objects (CorelDRAW X8+)
├── thumbnails/
│   └── tn_color.png    # preview
└── [Content_Types].xml

In riffData.cdr lives the main geometry — paths, fills, strokes, text. RIFF structure: RIFF magic → size → CDRG (graphic) or CDRV (versioning) type → sections mcfg (model config), outl (outline), fild (fill), obj (objects), and so on. Coordinates in twips (1/1440 inch) — a Microsoft Word legacy.

The XML part (introduced with CorelDRAW X8) describes document structure, pages, layers in a more human-readable form. Helps CorelDRAW parse faster without full RIFF deserialization.

Pitfalls in reverse engineering abound: each major version (X4, X5, X6, X7, X8, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024) added its own chunk types. A reader written for X4 will partially break on 2024.

How OSM2CDR delivers a real .cdr

A story we tell honestly — the way we used to honestly explain the opposite.

How it was. There is no ready-made way to write CDR: Corel doesn't license an SDK to third parties, open-source tools can only read the format, and CorelDRAW itself won't run on a server — it lives on Windows and macOS. So we shipped a ZIP archive: the map in SVG plus a step-by-step guide, and the user did File → Import in CorelDRAW and saved the result as CDR themselves. Lossless, but with extra steps — and we refused on principle to ship a file with a .cdr extension: a renamed SVG posing as CDR is a deception in our book.

How it is now. We studied the format's internals — through the community's open research and our own experiments, validating every step in real CorelDRAW — and built our own CDR writer. The export now delivers a ready .cdr file that CorelDRAW opens with a double click, not a single dialog. Inside:

• Named layers in the map's language. Roads_Streets, Buildings, Water_Bodies — separate groups in Object Manager, human-readable names (spaces become underscores). Hide what you don't need with one click.
• Colours — CMYK out of the box. Print-ready, no manual RGB conversion.
• Labels — editable text. Street and place names edit as regular text; geometry stays curves with no rasterisation.
• Gradients and raster underlays are in place, page-frame clipping is preserved.

The file arrives in a baseline version of the format: after editing, save it via File → Save As — CorelDRAW writes the document in your version's format, and from then on it behaves like a regular CorelDRAW file. We don't promise compatibility with the old RIFF line (X3 and earlier) — the file targets modern versions.

The honesty stands for the edge case too: if the ready .cdr cannot be built (a rare fallback), the service ships the old ZIP with the map in SVG plus a step-by-step guide — layers, colours and labels are preserved that way as well.

Who needs CDR

Eastern European print specialist. Main audience. Studios in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Czech Republic historically work in CorelDRAW. A matter of inertia and cost: in the 1990s CorelDRAW was 3–4× cheaper than Illustrator, and entire designer generations were trained on it.

Sticker and souvenir studio. Vinyl plotters, laser engravers for metal, wood mills — most post-Soviet manufacturing equipment accepts CDR as native. A city map on a sticker, engraved plaque, corporate mug — almost always starts as CDR in the studio.

Business cards and brand identity. A business card with an office district map is a typical order. CorelDRAW is ideal for small-run layout: typeset, business card template, a map opened in one click — done in half an hour.

Signs and navigational plaques. City wayfinding, road signs with district maps, information stands for parks — produced largely on CorelDRAW-friendly equipment.

CDR-reading software

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite. Paid, ~269 USD/year subscription or ~580 USD one-time (Suite 2024). Windows, macOS (since 2019, limited). The format's reference. Current version 2024 (internal 25). coreldraw.com

Affinity Designer. Paid, ~70 USD one-time. Windows, macOS, iPad. Imports CDR (after v2.4) via partial libcdr parser. Compatibility through X3 (RIFF era) good, X4+ reads with limits. affinity.serif.com/designer

LibreOffice Draw. Free, GPL. Imports CDR via libcdr (up to X4). Not the most featureful vector editor, but opens CDR without CorelDRAW. libreoffice.org

Inkscape. Free, GPL. Imports CDR via libcdr backend (same as LibreOffice). Through X3 — fine, X4+ — losses. Got a CDR file and no CorelDRAW — Inkscape shows the contents, completeness not guaranteed.

photopea. Free, browser web app. Read-only CDR view via JavaScript parser based on photopea spec. Handy for quick "what's in this file" without installs.

CorelDRAW Mobile. Free iOS/Android, limited features. Opens CDR from Corel cloud, doesn't fully handle local files.

Our .cdr targets CorelDRAW. Working in another editor — better grab SVG or AI from the same export: the same layer set in an open or widely supported format.

Pros and cons

Pros. Industry standard in Eastern European print. Excellent typography control — CorelDRAW historically strong at text. Native printable: CMYK, Pantone spot colors, print dialogs tuned for typography. One file holds graphics, text, and print metadata.

Cons. Closed proprietary format — the main downside. Vendor lock-in: open-source tools work via reverse engineering with losses. No Linux CorelDRAW (Mac version limited). CorelDRAW Suite price comparable to Adobe — no saving.

CDR vs AI vs SVG: regional competition

Detailed CorelDRAW workflow for maps — in a separate article. How to open CDR — the CDR file guide.

How to make a CDR map from OpenStreetMap

Step 1. On osm2cdr.ru pick CDR from the format dropdown. Vector / Print category.

Step 2. Draw the area. For a business card or sticker — 0.3–0.8 km. For a poster — 1–3 km. For an atlas — 5–10 km.

Step 3. Style. standard — start for brand recoloring. minimal gives a muted palette out of the gate. vintage looks good on stickers and souvenirs.

Step 4. Layers. Keep separate buildings/roads/water/green — in CorelDRAW they arrive as named groups in the map's language, easy recolor. Uncheck unneeded ones for thematic maps.

Step 5. Click Export. The status page shows the progress and within 30–60 seconds serves the ready .cdr file.

Step 6. Open the file with a double click (or File → Open in CorelDRAW). The map appears on canvas with all layers — no import dialogs.

Step 7. Edit and save: File → Save As writes the document in your CorelDRAW version's format.

Get a .cdr Map of the Kremlin in 60 Seconds

Pitfalls

Fonts. On opening the file CorelDRAW looks for fonts on your machine. Missing font — it automatically substitutes a similar one and warns; you can change the font manually after opening.

Baseline format version. The file arrives in a baseline version of the CDR format. That's fine: after editing, File → Save As — and CorelDRAW writes the document in your version's format.

Old CorelDRAW versions. The file targets modern versions. We don't promise compatibility with the RIFF line (X3, 2006 and earlier) — if that's your environment, grab the SVG export and import it.

Large areas and large files. A fully detailed big-city center map is a heavy vector document; CorelDRAW won't open it instantly. For large areas the level of detail is automatically reduced so the file reliably opens in the editor.

Got a ZIP instead of .cdr. A rare fallback: when the ready .cdr cannot be built, the service ships a ZIP with the map in SVG plus a step-by-step guide. Open INSTRUCTIONS.html from the archive, or straight away: in CorelDRAW, File → Import → map.svg — layers, colours and labels are preserved.

FAQ

Is this real CDR? Yes. The export delivers a ready .cdr file that CorelDRAW opens with a double click: named layers, CMYK colours, editable labels, gradients, raster underlays and page-frame clipping. Not a renamed SVG and not an archive — we spoke out against that kind of fakery through the whole ZIP era, and the rules haven't changed.

Does this work in CorelDRAW 2024? Yes. We validate the ready file in real CorelDRAW — double click, zero dialogs.

Do I need a CorelDRAW subscription? To work with .cdr — yes, you need CorelDRAW itself (paid). No CorelDRAW — grab SVG from the same export: an open format with the same layer set, readable by Inkscape, Affinity Designer and any modern vector editor.

Mac? The file opens the same way — with a double click. CorelDRAW for Mac exists since 2019 but is functionally limited; the full workflow is smoother on Windows.

CDR on Linux? No native CorelDRAW on Linux. Viewing CDR — LibreOffice Draw or Inkscape via libcdr, completeness not guaranteed. On Linux it's safer to order SVG right away.

Will Inkscape open this? Inkscape reads CDR via libcdr with possible losses — for work outside CorelDRAW, better order the SVG export: the same content in an open format.

Related

• CorelDRAW and OSM: workflow from import to print
• How to open a CDR file without CorelDRAW
• SVG — open W3C web standard
• AI — Adobe Illustrator format
• CDR format landing

Sources

• photopea CDR-specification — github.com/photopea/CDR-specification
• Wikipedia, CorelDRAW — en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CorelDRAW
• libcdr (LibreOffice CDR import) — github.com/LibreOffice/libcdr
• sK1 Project — UniConvertor — sk1project.net