PDF and SVG files cannot be imported into CorelDraw

• Dec 28, 2012 - 04:40

I made pdf and SVG files from the Reunion example that comes with MuseScore. Then I tried importing the pdf and svg files into Coreldraw, but the fonts seem to be missing. Does anyone know how to import a MuseScore pdf into CorelDraw?

More Details:
I am using MuseScore 1.2

I have tried importing into
CorelDraw X3 in Windows XP
CorelDraw X5 in Windows 7

I also found these fonts on GitHub, and installed them in XP:
mscore1_20.ttf
mscore_20.ttf
I then selected these from the dialog that appears when opening the pdf in CorelDraw. But the problem remains.

In MuseScore, I have tried saving as a ps file, then making a pdf with Adobe Distiller. I also have tried printing to Adobe Acrobat. Neither approach solves the problem.

In CorelDraw, the most common results I get are:
The displayed image seems to be an extremely pixilated placeholder image, or
The notes appear as nonsense characters.

SVG UPDATE: I have also tried exporting the Reunion example as an SVG file. Unfortunately, Chrome, IE, and CorelDraw X5 display the svg file as a jumble of nonsense. CorelDraw X3 hangs when I try to open the file. All of those programs can normally display SVG files. However, both browsers can open the pdf file, whereas Corel cannot, as noted above.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Comments

• Dec 28, 2012 - 14:03

Yes, I have tried svg files -- with no luck -- and I have edited my original post to say that.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Here's the edit to my original post, for your reference:

"SVG UPDATE: I have also tried exporting the Reunion example as an SVG file. Unfortunately, Chrome, IE, and CorelDraw X5 display the svg file as a jumble of nonsense. CorelDraw X3 hangs when I try to open the file. All of those programs can normally display SVG files. However, both browsers can open the pdf file, whereas Corel cannot, as noted above."

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• Dec 28, 2012 - 18:01

I was hoping to make a collection of tunes in Corel -- as a booklet.

Yes, in MuseScore, I can save Reunion as a png file, and open it in Corel. But it's too pixilated, and I don't know how to increase the resolution to 600 or 1200 dpi in MuseScore. And large bitmaps can be cumbersome to work with.

Vector graphics such as svg and pdf are far superior in appearance when printed. And the file size is typically smaller. But while Adobe Reader can open a MuseScore pdf, CorelDraw cannot.

I wonder if the Corel issue with MuseScore pdf files is related to Chrome's inability to display MuseScore svg files. I think it's a problem with fonts in both cases, but that's just a guess.

Any thoughts?

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• Dec 28, 2012 - 18:24

I have been experimenting with DrawPlusX5 since you posted, and this too seems to be unable to render MuseScore PDF's properly, despite having the core fonts installed in Windows. Not only are the music notation characters not displayed properly, but also text elements are displayed as gibberish.

This means there is something strange about MuseScore's PDF encoding, although I have also tried loading a plainsong PDF into Drawplus, and whilst the normal text displays fine, the actual Meinrad font plainsong characters are not displayed properly, which means it is soemthing to do with the way either the PDF format embeds fonts, or the way Corel and Drawplus render them.

I believe there is now a Windows version of the open source PDF Creator application - I have had some success with editing PDFs created with MuseScore on the LInux version of this application, so you may find that this does what you require.

The other option would be to use MuseScore to generate each musical snippet separately, and export them as SVG. I have found, in the past that this seems to work OK.

HTH
Michael

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• Dec 28, 2012 - 16:12

SVG is known not to work because of font issues, but PDF export should work and does for me. I can see why it might not to work create PS and then distill it separately, beause the fonts MuseScore uses are built in to the application. But direct PDF export from MuseScore works fine; fonts are embedded normally. Except, I guess, on certain versions of MacOS where some people find the file comes out empty - but you are apparently using Windows. Have you tried direct PDF export? What went wrong if/whem you did? Can you post one of the files you are having problems with? You say the file opens in a browser, which suggests the problem might be on Corel's end.

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• Dec 28, 2012 - 18:22

Most commercial printers require compliance with the PDF/X-1a:2001 industry standard. The pdf of Reunion that I created from within MuseScore is not compliant. Here are the results of my tests:

1. The file saved in MuseScore as a PDF is not PDF/X-1a:2001 compliant, and it does not open successfully in Corel. But it does display in Adobe Reader, IE, and Chrome.

2. The file printed from MuseScore to Adobe (to generate a pdf) does not display correctly in Adobe Reader, IE, Chrome, or CorelDraw.

3. The file saved from MuseScore as a ps file can be converted in Adobe Distiller to pdf format, and opened in Adobe Reader and Chrome. It is PDF/X-1a:2001 compliant. But it does not display correctly in Corel. The font seems to be missing.

4. The file saved as an svg in MuseScore does not display correctly in Corel or IE or Chrome.

Summary: I cannot get any MuseScore vector graphics to display in Corel.

Is there any way to obtain the current mscore font? Maybe that would do the trick.

Thanks.

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• Dec 28, 2012 - 21:07

Thanks for the link to the fonts. I installed all files with a ttf extension. I did not install any other files. Was that the right thing to do? I'm on Windows XP.

Anyway, installing all the ttf files did not help. CorelDraw still does not display the score correctly. For example, the clefs and all the note heads are missing. Oddly, the stems, beams, slurs, staves, and bar lines are all displayed.

Any idea when version 2.0 will be available?

Thanks.

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• Dec 28, 2012 - 21:45

The display problems you described seem similar to those described in this note and this one , relating to a Microsoft security patch. This was supposedly fixed on 20 December, but you may still have the older patch.

The security patch only affected the nightly (pre-2.0) versions of MuseScore, not 1.2. But perhaps it also affects SVG and/or PDF in 1.2.

You might check into the links above.

Fifist

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• Dec 29, 2012 - 09:36

Sadly the Microsoft Security updates are not relevant in this case.

There is something wrong with the way either MuseScore 1.2 outputs to PDF or the way Corel and Drawplus are parsing the files.

I did have some success with single page SVG export from 1.2 yesterday, but the resulting output is huge, and shrinking it to fit on A4 results in the line thicknesses increasing (why?), but that could be a Drawplus problem. It would be worth you trying that Midi Man.

Version 2 is officially out "early next year" which could mean before Easter, but if things go wrong then could be later.

You can use one of the Nightly Builds available from the download page, which are stable enough for light work. Installing a Nightly Build will not overwrite the 1.2 installation, and the two versions will co-exist quite happily.

HTH
Michael

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