Import EPS from Adobe PostScript Driver?

[hillsy]

I have created a printer using the generic Adobe driver which I use to create EPS files. These get created fine and I can view them in GSView. However I cannot import them into Xara. Does anyone know what the correct import filter to use is, or if this is even possible?

(and as a side note does anyone else get really, really irritated by the fact that EPS is supposed to be cross-platform etc but just ends up being a huge pain?)

[hillsy]

I have created a printer using the generic Adobe driver which I use to create EPS files. These get created fine and I can view them in GSView. However I cannot import them into Xara. Does anyone know what the correct import filter to use is, or if this is even possible?

(and as a side note does anyone else get really, really irritated by the fact that EPS is supposed to be cross-platform etc but just ends up being a huge pain?)

[gwpriester]

Hello Hillsy

Xara does not import EPS files as EPS files are intended to be placed in a program such as InDesign or QuarkXPress. Xara can import some Adobe *.ai files which are intended to be edited and viewed.

CorelDRAW can open an EPS file using the EPS Interpreted import filter. But the problem is that the imported image is imported in hundreds of tiny slices, which is the way EPS prepares the work for the printer, and so while you can edit the image if need be, it is very difficult.

If you have CorelDRAW, and have to have the image in Xara for whatever reason, export the image from DRAW as Illusatrator *.ai version 8 or 7 and then import into Xara as an Illustrator file.

I hope this helps.

Gary

[jens g.r. benthien]

hillsy,

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> and as a side note does anyone else get really, really irritated by the fact that EPS is supposed to be cross-platform etc but just ends up being a huge pain? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

you are on target! That's the drag with Adobe standards - they look good on paper but not in reality.

Seems you know how to handle GS. So why don't you just convert your *.eps to *.ai and import it into Xara? This is what I always do with CAD files from 3rd parties...

As long as you don't want to alter your parts in Xara later on, this is just perfect. http://jens.highspeedweb.net/samples/cool.gif

[Broon]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> export the image from DRAW as Illusatrator *.ai version 8 or 7 and then import into Xara as an Illustrator file <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Or you can try CMX 5 or 6... Corel's early "presentation" exchange format.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> That's the drag with Adobe standards - they look good on paper but not in reality.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes, but like any company who's careful with their intellectual property, they don't necessarily have to care about satisfying the needs of competitive products perse, only the ones which they have had a long established history and "industry standard" workflow. Like Quark for example. I suppose eps is a language for chosen layout applications and backend stuff and not really intended for competing graphics apps, as Gary mentioned (?).

Wayne

[hillsy]

Thanks all for your thoughts. I don't have access to any other drawing applications so I tried the AI export route from GS. It worked kind of, but didn't seem to bring colours across.

I had to do this for two separate graphics yesterday. Both of them seemed to be turned into black and white by the export/import. So for the first one I exported as a PNG instead and used that. Not ideal, but seemed to work. The second was quite a simple logo, and I was able to break it apart and reapply the appropriate colours. Has anyone else using GS noticed this?

[jens g.r. benthien]

hillsy,

Has anyone else using GS noticed this?

No. If you use 'plot-ai: ai via GNU plot' the colors will be retained. If you use the option 'ps2ai: Adobe Illustrator via ps2ai.ps of GhostScript' not all information of the file will be converted.

However, because the *.ai format doesn't conform to the eps standards (there are too many *.ai formats on the market), a slight colorshift will occur.

[jens g.r. benthien]

Wayne,

Adobe claims to have set **the** standard for eps/PostScript, and they have published this format in their white papers, so others can use this technology. However, Adobe is the only one company that does not stick to the standard - everybody else does.

And no, PostScript is a page description language, so it's not limited to publishing or DTP. All it does is to basically describe vectors or beziers or splines (that's why you can use any object in an illustration or CAD or DTP or 3D package).

If you will open an EPS or PostScript file with Notepad, you can edit the objects manually if you want - something next to impossible with an image file.

[hillsy]

Thanks Jens

Out of interest, using the GNUPlot option still wasn't perfect but it brought colours over well, while ps2ai brought all the shapes over but not the colours! A combination of both brought everything over http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/smile.gif