How to Convert to a Later Version of EPS

Collaborating with others may prompt you to resave EPS files for compatibility

Adobe Systems designed Encapsulated PostScript to provide an interchange file format that enables graphic designers to incorporate PostScript-format artwork into other programs, including page layout and word processing software. As the EPS format has evolved along with the programs that produce it, some of the software that processes EPS content expects to see data compatible with recent EPS standards. In response, you may wish to resave an existing file you created with older software to make it conform to a later EPS version.

Things You'll Need

• Current graphics software

Instructions

1. Create a duplicate of your original EPS document. Open the duplicate file in a current version of the program in which you created it or a current version of another application capable of reading and saving EPS files.

2. Verify the procedure your application uses to save older files in newer versions of their file formats. For example, Adobe Illustrator includes version compatibility as an option in its "Save As" dialogue box, principally so designers can save down to provide compatibility with an older standard.

3. Save your EPS file in the newer file format. Close the file.

4. Integrate your resaved file into your graphics production workflow. Test your file by printing it to a PostScript output device that uses a current version of the PostScript Raster Image Processor or by creating an Acrobat PDF file from your layout or word-processing document.

Tips & Warnings

• If your file goes to a colleague or service bureau for final output, check with the person responsible for preflighting and processing your artwork to assure your resaved document complies with the expected standard.

• Never save over your only copy of an existing document, even if you think you'll never need it again.

• By default, most graphics programs save new files in the most-recent version of the file format they support. However, if you use "Save" instead of "Save As" to process an existing document, you may be resaving in the same file format version.

References

• Adobe Systems; Encapsulated PostScript File Format Specification Version 3.0; May 1992
• Adobe Systems: Using Adobe Illustrator CS5

Resources

• A First Guide to PostScript
• Prepressure.com: The EPS File Format
• Designer-Info.com: EPS Format -- Understanding EPS
• MyDesignPrimer.com: EPS: A Confusing File Format?
• The Adobe Illustrator CS5 Wow! Book; Sharon Steuer
• Real World Adobe Illustrator CS5; Mordy Golding