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Participant
June 3, 2008
Question

Removing unwanted white background in .eps file

  • June 3, 2008
  • 11 replies
  • 51010 views
Hello, I'm trying to save a logo designed in illustrator cs3 (mac) as an eps file with a transparent background. I do Save As > .eps, and then select the Tiff 8-color, Transparency options.

Unfortunately, every time I try to open the .eps file in Photoshop, it gives me an unwanted white background behind part of the logo. Any ideas on how to get rid of that white background and make the whole logo transparent?

Thank you.
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    11 replies

    Participating Frequently
    July 10, 2008
    >You still get the white background behind the logo even though I saved it to the PNG format.

    Not necessarily.

    Your image has to have a transparent background in the first place, then if you save a PNG and you have "Transparency" checked on, you'll get a transparent PNG.
    Participating Frequently
    July 10, 2008
    >if you select
    Macintosh 8 bit color--NO TRANSPARENCY

    Wrong.

    Us, Mac people use "Macintosh 8 bit color" all of the time, everyday, and transparency is available.
    Participant
    October 15, 2010

    I am a Mac user and I wasn't able to have transparency until I switched my color to TIFF 8 bit.  How do you use Mac 8 bit on your system and have transparency?

    Participant
    July 10, 2008
    note the settings shown when you 'save as' EPS--if you select

    PREVIEW
    TIFF 8 bit color (then transparent is available)

    if you select
    Macintosh 8 bit color--NO TRANSPARENCY

    using 8 bit color tiff will achieve the effect that you desite--I just tried it AI CS3 placed into INDD CS3

    the only other way you'll get white background is if you are using 'raster art'
    Participant
    July 9, 2008
    You still get the white background behind the logo even though I saved it to the PNG format.
    Participating Frequently
    July 9, 2008
    >I thought they were supposed to be .eps?

    "They" certainly meant Illustrator eps.

    >Unfortunately, every time I try to open the .eps file in Photoshop, it gives me an unwanted white background behind part of the logo

    That's normal, that's how Photoshop works; that's why it should be saved as Illustrator eps, or .ai like Scott says.
    Known Participant
    July 9, 2008
    If you want to use the image in PowerPoint, export the file in the PNG file format -- which supports transparent backgrounds.

    :) Mordy
    Participant
    July 9, 2008
    How about if you want to use the image in PowerPoint?
    Participant
    June 20, 2008
    On a related note, what do most designers do who import such a logo provided to them as an eps when they need to place it on a colored background?

    Clipping paths in Photoshop? Traces in Illustrator?
    I would love to learn the preferred method!

    Thanks,
    D
    Scott Falkner
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    June 3, 2008
    Depends on what you'll do with them. If you're going to rasterize the artwork in Photoshop, then AI is better because it supports transparency. If you're placing in InDesign, then AI is better for hte same reason. If you're using a program that does not support AI, then PDF might be better than EPS (again: same reason). About the only justification for EPS is QuarkXPress, although the next version is supposed to offer native AI support. AFT.
    Participant
    June 3, 2008
    Is the new standard to save logos as .ai files now? I thought they were supposed to be .eps?