CDK Converter

Extract text from CDK files

Select File
Drop or upload your .CDK file

Online File Converter

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How to extract text from your CDK file

Click the "Select File" button above, and choose your CDK file.
You’ll see a preview, if available.
Click the "Convert file to..." button to extract text information.

Convert CDK to another file type

To convert your CDK file to another format, you need Studio 5000 or other Data software.

Convert a file to CDK

To convert other file formats to the "PLC Configuration File" file type, you need software like Studio 5000 or a similar tool.

About CDK files

The .CDK extension acts as a container for three distinctly incompatible data types: industrial automation configurations, legacy desktop publishing layouts, and retro game archives.

1. Industrial Automation (Rockwell/ABB): The most critical use case is the ControlLogix Drive Kernel or ABB PLC configuration. These are proprietary, binary-heavy files used to configure hardware parameters for factory machinery.

The Problem: These files are strictly locked down. Opening them requires expensive, seat-licensed software like Studio 5000 or ABB Control Builder. You cannot simply view them in a text editor to check parameters, and they generally lack cross-compatibility between firmware versions.
The Solution: For documentation and analysis, the goal is to extract the configuration logic into human-readable formats like TXT, XML, or CSV. This allows for version comparison and auditing without needing the original engineering workstation.

2. Legacy DTP (Calamus): In the 1990s, Calamus SL on the Atari ST used .CDK for vector-based document layouts.

The Problem: Modern vector tools like Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape do not support the native Calamus format. Users often find these files on old backups but cannot access the content.
The Solution: The only viable path is converting these legacy layouts to PDF or standard image formats like TIFF or PNG for archiving. This often requires running the original software in an emulator simply to print the file to a virtual driver.

3. Gaming (Neo Geo/DotEmu): Finally, .CDK files appear as encrypted data containers for Neo Geo CD emulators or DotEmu releases.

The Problem: These are heavily encrypted assets (audio/textures) specific to the game engine executable. They are not meant to be user-edited.
The Solution: There is rarely a need to convert these unless you are a modder extracting assets to WAV or PNG.

Convert.Guru analyzes your CDK file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.

Users also converted XDC, EPB and SVB files.

FAQ

If you want to convert CDK file to , you can use Studio 5000 or similar software from the "Industrial Automation Configuration" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….

To convert files to CDK, try Studio 5000 or another comparable tool in the "Industrial Automation Configuration" category.

The CDK Converter Story

The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our CDK converter.