Extract text from Picture library files (YAL)
To convert YAL Libraries to another format, you need Arts & Letters Express or other Vector Image software.
To convert other file formats to the "Vector Clipart Archive" file type, you need software like Arts & Letters Express or a similar tool.
A .YAL file is a proprietary Arts & Letters Picture Library or Clipart Library file, originally created by Computer Support Corporation. These files were heavily used in the 1990s and early 2000s within software like Arts & Letters Graphics Editor and Arts & Letters Express to store multi-image collections of vector-based clipart.
Today, .YAL files present a massive compatibility challenge. Because the format is entirely closed, undocumented, and tied to discontinued software, modern graphic editors like Adobe Illustrator and CorelDRAW cannot open or import them. They are not supported by web browsers, and finding a working installation of the original legacy software is incredibly difficult, making the internal clipart effectively locked away.
If you manage to open the library and extract the vector data, the best target formats for conversion are SVG and EPS to preserve infinite scalability, or standard raster formats like PNG and JPG for simple viewing.
Because this file format is essentially a proprietary archive, standard online converters fail to read the complex vector mathematics inside. Only the original software can properly render or export the graphics. If our analysis detects embedded graphic data or standard structures hidden inside the library, partial viewing or extraction may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your YAL file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
If you want to convert YAL file to SVG, AI, EPS, PDF, JPG, CDR, WMF, EMF, SWF, FLA, XFL or SKETCH, you can use Arts & Letters Express or similar software from the "Clipart Library Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert AFPUB, EPS, FIG, VSD, SKETCH, VDX, AFPHOTO, PDF, AFDESIGN, SVG, VSDX or AI files to YAL, try Arts & Letters Express or another comparable tool in the "Clipart Library Storage" category.
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 YAL converter.