Files in the .eps format (which stands for Encapsulated PostScript) are graphic data and can contain vector graphics, images, and text.
This file type is often used to transfer graphics between different operating systems. In this material we will talk about how to open an eps file on a computer.
Programs for working with eps files
There are a number of programs for working with EPS files, some of them only allow you to view these files, others will allow you to create and edit EPS files yourself.
So, here is a list of these programs:
- Microsoft Word / Open Office Writer / KOffice. If you just want to view the contents of the file and there is no need to edit it, then you can use the usual text editor. To do this, you just need to copy the file and paste it into the document.
- Most programs from Adobe (Photoshop, Acrobat, Illustrator, InDesign). Actually, this format was created by Adobe, so eps files in its applications can be easily opened and edited. Illustrator and this is the basic program for this format.
- CorelDRAW Graphics Suite, Corel PaintShop Pro. Graphic editors from Corel Corporation also recognize eps without any problems.
- Irfan View (Windows) / GIMP (Windows, Linux, MacOS) / Apple Preview (MacOS) / XnView (Windows, Linux, MacOS) – free programs, allowing you to open and view eps files.
- QuarkXPress– a professional program for layout of books, magazines, web pages and more. Of course, it’s stupid to download it just for the sake of working with eps files, but if it suddenly exists, then you can open it in it.
- EPS Viewer. As the name suggests, it is designed specifically for viewing EPS files. It is distributed free of charge; if necessary, it can convert eps to a more common format, such as JPG.
How to use the programs
We will not describe in detail all the software from the list above, since the principle of working with data is simple and in many ways similar. Let's take a closer look at just a few programs in which you can easily open EPS files.
Adobe Photoshop
There is nothing complicated about opening an EPS file in Photoshop. After launching the program, through the menu “File” - “Open” we find the file we need with the eps extension, in the window that appears we indicate the parameters we need for the file to be opened (resolution, anti-aliasing, proportions, etc.), after which the file will open in the program.
Irfan View
A free and small program that recognizes a huge variety of extensions, including eps. Opening of this format Irfan View is also extremely simple. We launch the program and through the menu we find the file we need on the disk.
We hope that the material was useful and helped you.
Digital graphic images are divided according to the method of their creation into raster and vector. Raster images consist of an ordered set of dots (pixels) in a square or rectangular shape. Raster dots allow you to convey smooth transitions in the image, which makes it possible to create a picture in the form of a photograph.
About images in general
The quality of the raster image depends on pixel density per unit length. The higher it is, the more image detail can be conveyed. At the same time, changing the geometric dimensions of the picture, without changing the total number of pixels, leads to a loss of image quality.
In vector graphics, an image is described mathematically using line segments that form irregular geometric shapes of varying complexity on a plane. A contour of this shape is characterized by its thickness and color, and the surface inside the contour is characterized by its fill color. Vector images transformed without loss of quality. When printed, vector graphics are converted to raster with the appropriate raster density, which provides high quality printed image.
Images in EPS format
The EPS (Encapsulated PostScript File) file recording format is designed for saving complex single-page graphic images, which can simultaneously contain:
The EPS format, developed by Adobe Systems, is based on the PostScript (PS) graphic description language, which, in turn, was developed by the same company to manage first laser printers from Apple. The PostScript language allows you to create a program for displaying complex graphic objects: layouts, illustrations, and other graphic and line images. It ensures their high-quality printing on a printer in the form that the user sees them on the monitor screen, working in a graphics editor or desktop publishing program.
The EPS format supports various color spaces, such as Grayscale, Lab, RGB or CMYK, which makes this file format widely used in the printing industry. Files saved in EPS have long become a standard for transferring digital images between different graphic programs, both within the same operating system, and in different systems, for example, between Windows and Mac OS.
How to open and edit EPS files
The EPS format was originally created by Adobe Systems for a vector graphics editor. Adobe Illustrator. Today this editor is a must-have component any professional set of programs for organizing a desktop publishing system. Vector images downloaded from the Internet can always be opened, edited and saved without any difficulty in any of its versions.
Along with Illustrator, Adobe's suite of desktop publishing applications includes the following are its main components:
The listed programs have their own file recording formats (INDD, PSD, PDF). The EPS recording format is used in this set as an intermediate means of storing and converting graphics, which ensures the interaction of desktop publishing programs with each other.
Layout program Indesign does not open EPS files directly, but can import (insert) them into an already open document, which allows you to combine text and pictures on one layout page. It is possible to export the finished layout page by page back to EPS in order to open it, for example, in the same Illustrator.
In a similar way, you can open EPS files by importing them into documents opened in other programs for laying out publication layouts or creating simple text documents such as QuarkXPress, Pagemaker, Scribus, MS Office, OpenOffice, and then export the finished pages with texts and pictures back to EPS.
EPS file in Photoshop can be opened directly or exported to an already open document via the clipboard. However, it can be opened without changes only if the file contains only a raster image. When opening an EPS file, all vector components and fonts will be rasterized: converted from vector to raster recording form. In this case, the contour lines of vector elements, without taking into account their thickness and fill color inside the contour, can be saved in a separate list of PATH elements.
In Photoshop, the EPS format can be used to save two or three color images created using simple spot colors. In EPS, you can save a raster image with a vector “clipping” path that separates the useful part of the image from its background without removing the latter. Raster images with “clipping” are used in layout when you need to place on the page only the image of an object without its background or to ensure that the text flows smoothly around this object along its outline.
Similarly, EPS can be opened not only by Photoshop, but also practically in all modern graphic editors raster images such as GIMP, CorelDraw Graphics Suite, PaintShop Pro and so on.
How to view downloaded EPS
If you need to download an EPS file and view it on your monitor screen, you can use a graphic file viewer or viewer: from the English Viewers. Viewers are faster graphic editors, but have fewer options for editing pictures or do not have them at all. Before viewing, a vector image is usually converted to the raster format JPG, BMP, GIF or PNG.
Among programs from Adobe as a viewer Adobe Bridge is usually used. It allows you to open and view files of all recording formats used in Adobe's desktop publishing suite. Files are viewed as is, without any intermediate conversion. Graphic files you can select and transfer for editing to the editor appropriate for the file type. In addition, files can be moved between folders, renamed, deleted, and so on.
You can open and view EPS in Adobe Acrobat. The image will be converted to PDF format, which significantly increases the waiting time before viewing the picture.
ACDSee program its capabilities are very similar to Adobe Bridge. Being independent software product ACDSee has the ability to edit some types of images.
Among the freely distributed viewers, you can pay attention to programs such as IrfanView, Fresh View, XnView, FileViewPro and the like. These programs tend to run very quickly and are designed to view a wide variety of multimedia files. You can also open and view files in EPS format through online services on the Internet.
We hope we helped you resolve your EPS file problem. If you don't know where you can download an application from our list, click on the link (this is the name of the program) - you will find more detailed information regarding where to download a secure installation version of the required application.
What else could cause problems?
There may be more reasons why you cannot open an EPS file (not just the lack of an appropriate application).
Firstly- the EPS file may not be linked correctly (incompatible) with installed application for its maintenance. In this case, you need to change this connection yourself. For this purpose, click right button mouse over the EPS file you want to edit, click the option "To open with" and then select the program you installed from the list. After this action, problems with opening the EPS file should completely disappear.
Secondly- the file you want to open may simply be damaged. In this case, it would be best to find a new version of it, or download it again from the same source (perhaps for some reason in the previous session the download of the EPS file did not finish and it could not be opened correctly).
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