Exporting a file into another format is the opposite to importing a file.

When a file is exported, the foreign format is generated by the source program. The target program, i.e. the program used for reading the file later, is presented with a file which no longer has to be imported, but only read instead.

What difference, if any, does it actually make which program performs the translation?

There are numerous differences. It is important, for example, which of the two programs is actually capable of performing the translation. IsoDraw has no difficulties in importing or exporting an Illustrator file, for example, though Illustrator is unable to handle IsoDraw files. IsoDraw would have to be used for both importing and exporting files.

The situation is different if a file is to be exchanged between Microsoft Word and MacWrite, for example. Word can both import and export MacWrite files and MacWrite can do the same with Word files. In this case, you can choose which program is to perform the conversion. If you do have a choice, you can carry out a test to see which of the two programs converts best.

A further category is the availability of specific programs on a particular hardware platform. IsoDraw, for example, can generate an Interleaf ASCII file directly. This file can then be transferred from the Macintosh to the workstation using either a floppy disk or a network. The file then only has to be opened in Interleaf. Since Interleaf cannot perform a corresponding conversion, this method had the advantage that the Interleaf user requires no further software or hardware in order to use an illustration.