Micrografx convert to PaintshopPro x7

[paintshop2014]

Brand new to Paint Shop Pro -- got the latest version PSP7 today.

For 14 years I have nursed Micrografx through varying iterations of Windows. At 8.1, it is hobbling along, but probably not for long. Was learning GIMP, but way back when, MG had a CorelDraw component. So I thought it might contain some of the same terms and elements, and it does.

Question is: I have .ppf files. As a landscape designer, I created custom objects (i think they're called symbols here). Because MG became buggy and was losing my palettes (docks here i think), I put the all in one big file and kept them unflattened. When I have a document open, I just toggle between this big file of symbols and pluck one out, paste it, resize it, and done.

A big part of the problem is terminology, which I'll learn. Learning GIMP helped a lot. Also MG kept these files in transparency through .tif format. I know .png will do that here. But that only works one file with a symbol at a time. MG didn't have a way to set transparency, or at least i never needed to use it. The big file of symbols is saved in MG format or .ppf

It would save me days of work if there were a way to convert that big file of active symbols into a PSP file. Suggestions?

[photodrawken]

For 14 years I have nursed Micrografx through varying iterations of Windows.

Wow! God bless you sir, you've done what I've always wondered about. I cut my teeth on MGX Designer and Picture Publisher, and remember them with great fondness.

I assume that you're using MGX PictPub for raster images, correct?

Here are a couple of suggestions:

1. Within PictPub, can you save the PPF images as a TIF with transparency? Either as one big TIF or separate ones?
2. If you could create a sample PPF file with just a couple of those images, zip it up, and attach it to a message here, those of us using various other applications can try and see if something else can open it.
3. You can download and install a trial copy of Corel's Designer and see if it will import your PPF file and export it to a more common format with transparency such as PNG.
4. Similarly, if you've got MGX Designer installed, can you import the PPF into it and export from that program?