Convert old graphic documents into an editable form

Feb 21, '03 09:18:00AM

Contributed by: bass

I'm still hamstrung by old graphic files from OS 9 / OS 8.1 in lots of different formats, such as ClarisDraw. I still use these documents because they have value, and there's a lot of inertia to convert some of them into Illustrator. Yeah, I'm lazy!

So I've been trying to figure out how to convert these files to Illustrator 10 in an editable format, so I can still optimize and edit objects etc. in OS X, and never have to run Classic again. Well I've found a way, and I'm not sure it's been published here so here it goes. First, the downside, you'll need Adobe Acrobat 5 (not Acrobat Reader), your original OS 9 graphic software of choice, and an OS X graphic application as well. I used ClarisDraw with Illustrator and Freehand in this test.

  1. Start Classic, make sure all your printer extensions are enable such as Laserwriter8 and desktop printer spooler etc. Restart Classic if they're not.

  2. Go to the Applications -> Adobe Acrobat 5.0 -> AdobePS folder. Start up the Desktop Printer Utility and assign a new desktop printer using Laserwriter 8 and Translator (Postscript). You'll then see a dialogue box indicating the PPD file (printer description) and destination. I left them as is, and simply clicked on "create" and assign a name to the printer, in my case "convert".

  3. Now start up your Classic graphic app. and load up your file, simply print and choose the new "convert" printer, your file will be saved at your set location.

  4. Go to Illustrator in X, now open your file with its .ps extension. Voila! You now have a graphic file which you can manipulate and edit in Illustrator.
I only found one file (out of 25) which didn't convert 100% well, and the difference was so small as to be insignificant. I know this is probably a very unique problem I had, and pertains to a small percentage of users, but it would be interesting to see if other users can do this with old figures/graphic files on antiquated formats.

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