From time to time I have clients provide me with an Encapsulated Post Script file (.eps) of their logo usually. This is a vector based file which allows their logo to be scalable to whatever size we need it to be without loosing clarity of the image. It is truly a beautiful thing, however, the newer Adobe Illustrator opts to save the .eps file in such a way that if you try to open the file with an older version of Illustrator you get the estranged error message "Can't Open the illustration. The file was generated by a newer version of Illustrator and can not be opened. Please resave it in a format compatible with your version of Illustrator." Now, is it just me, or does that completely make no sense. If I could 'resave' it...wouldn't that mean that I could open it in the first place?
Up until today, I have always had to waste time back tracking the logo to see if either...one, the client could resave it for me...(how embarrassing) or two, remember what networking design buddies I know who have newer versions of Illustrator. That, my friend, was until today...today I drew the proverbial line in the sand, and the EPS error message stops here and now.
Through some research, and trial and error I have discovered the 'way round' the EPS nightmare. It is relatively simple. It does require a professional version of Acrobat, but it doesn't need to be the most current. (Mine is 6.0.2). Open Acrobat under the Advanced tab you will find Acrobat Distiller. Open Distiller, and then open the misbehaving .eps file...select the high resoultion pdf option. Distiller will save the file in the same folder as the original with a .pdf extension. You will then be able to open the file in Illustrator. Eureka! We have discovered the undiscovered country...okay, well probably not. But it is a wonderful little trick that might just save you some time and aggravation. And we could all use a little of that in our lives I am sure.
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Nice post. Adobe is famous for not thinking things all the way through. Like the current CS4 that you can't make a PDF out of using the print command. I have used your EPS fixer before. I think you can also save it back out of Acrobat as an EPS that will play well with others. Thanks gain!
ReplyDeleteNice, but very old trick.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't have Acrobat professional you could also just put the image in your Indesign or Quark Xpress file and export as a PDF. Open this PDF in Illustrator. Ofcourse you'll lose most of the 'new' filters (like shadows).
Best is to never use EPS ever again, since it is prone to error anyway.
ThanX A life saver
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