PS 3 and EPS images

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4 total messages Started by Frame Templar Wed, 04 Jun 2003 20:39

#1026

Author: Frame Templar
Date: Wed, 04 Jun 2003 20:39

27 lines
2316 bytes

I'm posting on behalf of a colleague. My colleague's questions appear below. Please share your thoughts.

This issue specifically applies to EPS as saved from Adobe Illustrator 10. Since the subject involves familiarity with PostScript itself, I've posted it here instead of under the Illustrator forum.

###############

Here are the questions I'd like asked regarding Adobe Illustrator 10's saving
and reading-in of PostScript level-2 and level-3 EPS images:

1. PostScript comments ("%%" lines) coming AFTER the "%EOF" line are a
violation of the Document Structuring Conventions. Why does AI 10 insist
on saving EPS image files with a large number of comments (roughly an
additional 15-20% of total file size) after the "%EOF" line that indicates
the End-Of-File?

2. If one removes those comment lines, one is left with a perfectly valid
PostScript level-2 EPS file that non-Adobe tools can handle just fine.
AI 10, however, cannot read that valid EPS level-2 file, instead hanging
when one attempts to load it. Why can't AI 10 handle that perfectly
valid PostScript level-2 EPS file that conforms to Adobe's own
Document Structuring Conventions?

Requiring our EPS image files to be inflated by 15-20% with spurious comment lines gives us a strong incentive to migrate to another graphic editing tool.

###############

My colleague is knowingly working against the advice of Dov Isaacs. At one time, Dov more than strongly recommended against any processing of AI-produced EPS files.

Re: PS 3 and EPS images

#1029

Author: Gunnar Fing Blodgett
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2003 18:00

3 lines
1213 bytes

Try saving the Illustrator file without a preview. We generally strip out any of the Windoze preview crap from our embedded EPS (this involves parsing the text file, but we do it from C++ and it works), including anything before the %!PS and anything after the last %%EOF (or last %%Trailer in the case of Quark and FreeHand files).

Essentially you're right: most of this is extraneous crap. Unfortunately, Illustrator, as mucky as it is, is about as good as anything else on the market.

Re: PS 3 and EPS images

#1030

Author: Frame Templar
Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2003 18:14

11 lines
1490 bytes

Thanks Gunnar. Are you able to read your files back into AI even after stripping out the stuff after %%EOF?

We also try to save out the files with minimal extra parameters in AI 10:
Compatibility: Version 10
Preview: None
PostSript(R): Level 3
All other boxes empty (i.e. no fonts, no CMYK PS, no thumbnails)

We have also become quite aggressive with some of the %% comment lines. Unfortunately, AI 10 can't read the files back in after they have been "streamlined."

I agree that AI is probably the best tool on the market. Some even argue that "smaller isn't always better" when it comes to EPS file size. Larger files do, however, contribute significantly to overhead in some publishing tools.

Re: PS 3 and EPS images

#1043

Author: Gunnar Fing Blodgett
Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 22:18

7 lines
1844 bytes

Frame

Illustrator versions 9 and 10 both read a stripped version 7 EPS file without difficulty (quick as a greased pig, too). In fact, it will read files which have been stripped of the entire prologue and the code between %%BeginSetup/%%EndSetup (excluding the font re-encoding; Illustrator is looking for _TimesNewRomanPSMT, not TimesNewRomanPSMT). We end up with file sizes of under 10k, which is extremely streamlined in the case of templates. You probably don't want to strip the prologue, though, if you're wanting to print rather than open in Illustrator.

Saving without preview is good if you're not placing the EPS in a page layout application. You might try saving in PostScript Level 2 if you're not using level 3 blends; that will save some space. I use embedded fonts and CMYK output simply because our clients send finished pages to remote printers, but if you don't have to worry about 4-color separations and remote proofing fidelity, then you're fine. No thumbnails is good, too.

If you let me know how to get it to you, I can send you a couple of "stripped" files that I've been working with.

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