Re. editing SAS graphics in CorelDraw.

[Geoff Hart <geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>]

     Elizabeth Carmack wrote about how to edit SAS graphics in CorelDraw.
     Unless your software can produce vector graphics (I don't know if SAS
     does), you're generally out of luck trying to edit graphics in any
     software other than the one you created it in. (I'm assuming you don't
     mean editing it as a bitmap... that you can do in any other program
     that will import the SAS output or screen capture.) The reason is that
     the graphics file format is usually stored as a sequence of commands,
     and no two programs share the same commands.

     The problem might be solvable if you go through Postscript. Print the
     SAS graphic to disk as a PostScript file (using your operating
     system's PostScript printer driver), then import the PostScript into
     Corel. This often works, but not always... Corel's PostScript filter
     used to be pretty flaky, but is improving with age. In any event, once
     you've got it into PostScript, software such as DeBabelizer should let
     you manipulate the format further. But be warned: the more
     manipulating you do, the less likely you'll be able to edit the final
     result.

     For an unorthodox solution, but one that should work in all cases,
     simply export the SAS output data as an ASCII file and import it into
     the graphing module of Corel (or any other program... I like
     DeltaGraph Pro). Better still, if you have decent export features in
     your version of SAS, you can export in spreadsheet format and save
     yourself lots of work. This works every time, and lets you use a
     proper graphing program instead of the add-on module for SAS. (I've
     used and like SAS, but it's not DeltaGraph, no way, no how.)

     --Geoff Hart     #8^{)}
     geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca

     Disclaimer: These comments are my own and don't represent the opinions
     of the Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada.