After Installation of Monterey no more EPS previews

[nicolea54182876]

Hi there,

After the installation of Monterey all EPS are without preview... What can I do

[Met1]

Don't use eps?

I use them occasionally, but it's an old tech which hasn't seen any update in eons.

Any particular reason you need to use eps - old printer RIP?

[mikefasnyc]

Getty images and many other vector based illustration services use EPS files to distribute artwork.  

[Mike_Gondek]

Open the .eps in Ilustrator and save as .ai then, with pdf compatibility off.  If you need to drop into InDesign or after effects then turn on pdf compatible. Avoid using .eps & pdf compatible  and  your workflow will be more productive.

[mikefasnyc]

Thanks for amazing tip, but I've got hundreds of these things! Maybe I can create a shortcut and process all at once. 

[nicolea54182876]

Sorry, but I am a graphic designer and EPS is still used a lot for illustrations (vector) and for the distribution later.... This tip is not really a help!

[Monika Gause]

This tip is not really a help!

By @nicolea54182876

As a Mac user it's your only option at the moment. Perhaps Apple will implement support for EPS again or someone makes a system extension that does.

But I would take it as a warning sign to change workflows and really only use EPS when absolutely necessary. All modern layout applications are able to use PDF.

[jonr32416655]

I assume you don't work at a national design firm or ad agency? .eps is absolutely common for logo files/graphics, stock vector downloads from places like Shutterstock and Getty, so I'm not sure where you are getting your info. If you download say hundreds of shutterstock vectors it is an inefficient  workflow to change everything from .eps, I'm sure Apple will fix it but it's a pain. But definately email the Shutterstocks of the world and let them now they shouldn't use .eps

[Monika Gause]

I assume you don't work at a national design firm or ad agency?

By @jonr32416655

I assume this isn't meant as a compliment.

Well, you don't have to rely on my word. I assume you don't know Dov Isaacs - just google him. On this page you can read what he has to say about EPS: https://printplanet.com/threads/the-case-against-the-eps-file.268330/

Thinking that EPS is a good idea just because Shutterstock uses it, is just kind of cute. They use that EPS Illustrator 10, which for a lot of files just doesn't make any sense at all. They use EPS because it is supposed to be editable with any vector application. A lot of their files contain transparency and won't be editable in any other vector app than Illustrator (or, in case they have been created in some other app , then that one). And cannot be easily changed to be editable. So it makes no sense to supply them as EPS in the first place (PDF doesn't make so much more sense, but at least transparency would be preserved).

[susanr97390151]

Not to be "cute," but out in the real world we have countless eps files that we work with and do NOT want to rename. They are linked to many years of our labor. Having created eps files since Illustrator was Aldus Freehand, I dare say that eps files have as significant a distinction in layout as do ai files. They function as differently as jpegs and psds. Aldus may be a thing of the past but eps files are not. Mac needs to fix the problem.

[Monika Gause]

 I dare say that eps files have as significant a distinction in layout as do ai files.

By @susanr97390151

Uhm, no. They don't anymore.

They are still needed for antique equipment, but certainly not in layout. Plese read the link I posted.

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

Did you read all the posts?

This is a Mac issue--not Adobe--and a work-around solution was posted on 2022/01/03.

Being an Adobe forum, the only Adobe-related answers are:

• Don't use EPS,
• Work without a desktop preview, or
• Use Adobe Bridge to preview.

[sandikey]

Unfortunately Monterey does not offer a preview for Illustrator files either. At least this is what I experience.
So using AIs instead of EPS does not fix the problem for me. Working with Illustrator PDFs only is not a solution for our agency either. So I really hope that the system will allow previews of EPS and AIs after the next update ... 

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

Did you post a feature request on Apple's support site? I don't think Apple actively reads these forums. 

[twinande]

thank you! it worked!!

[bpfordte]

EPS is still used frequently in design. It's frustrating that Mac would drop preview support for these files.

[StickySteve]

Saying dont use .eps is like saying dont use jpg. We all have them and use them for logos

[Monika Gause]

We all have them and use them for logos

By @StickySteve

There are some rare use cases for saving a logo as an EPS: when you want to hand the logo to some supplier who uses rare and ancient equipment for production. Some weird plotter, milling machine and whatnot.

In your InDesign files it's usually safer to use PDF. InDesign tends to have issues with EPS.

[100pk]

Agree BUT: not anymore: I use .ai all the time (also for importing in ID - just remember to save pdf-compatible) and being able to just replace .eps to .ai makes it clear that the files are essentially the same. Changing .eps filenames to .ai helps a lot and works seamless.

[Atapp]

I'm also using AI since way back. Compression for much smaller file sizes and I can turn layers on/off just like with placed PSD files. The layers trick is not working with the change of the file extension though.

[100pk]

That makes sense, but if you want to make use of layers it would be best to open in Illustrator and resave as .ai anyway.

[JPAhonen]

I was stuggling with this same issue and changing the QuickLooks file did not fix the thumbnail issue on my Mac Mini. So eventually I just gave up and deceided to convert all of my EPS files to AI. Changing just the ending of the file name from EPS to AI is not very smart since that could create issues later on where the file doesn't either open or perform as it shoud. The best solution I have found and what worked for me is to batch convert all of my EPS files to AI with Illustrator batch feature. This way Illustrator simply opens all of your EPS files and then batch saves them as AI files and they are quaranteed to work. I actually wrote more about this solution on another threath which you find here:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/eps-files-not-showing-preview-in-finder/m-p/1...

Obviously this solution might not work for everyone but for me it was the best solution I could think of since it really looks like Apple has abandonded EPS format forever. 

[StickySteve]

Its not about changing file types. I just want to be able to see it. Working in pre press years ago. Font substituation would often happen. AI for a editable, live fonts file. EPS for outlined ready to use file.
Can you imagine not being able to preview jpgs!!!! Yeah tif is better as there lossless and better quality.

[JPAhonen]

I'm sorry to tell you this but it really looks like Apple has removed ability to see EPS thumbnails on the latest macOS versions (Monterey, Ventura) and there's nothing we can really do about it. You could use Bridge to view folders since that should technically show you the thumbnails but that wasn't a solution I wanted.

So ultimately there is no solution as far as I can tell you to this EPS thumbnail stuff. I really tried every single trick and fix I was able to find online and nothing worked on my M1 Mac Mini. Not sure if Intel machines work differently but if you can't see EPS thumbnails after doing the Quicklook fix described here then you are out of luck I'm afraid. 

This thumbnail issue had bothrered me almost a year and eventually I just gave up and created that Illustrator action to save files in AI format and then used Illustrator batch feature to convert all of my EPS files to AI. 

About 95% of my EPS files were purchased from stock sites and I simply needed the ability to quickly see what each of those files consisted. So in my case it was very easy to create multiple folders with EPS files and then let Illustrator batch convert them automatically to AI format. This took me like an hour but now I can view my files as normal but yeah, this all meant giving up on EPS files. That might not work for everyone but sadly I can't think of any other solution if you want those files to show in Finder like jpegs etc.

[Atapp]

I dont know which tricks you've tried but the one posted in this thread is still working.  It's working with my Macbook Pro M1, but it stopped working after the latest Ventura update. 

I compared my edited file with the file in System/Library/Quicklook and noticed some version changes in the info.plist file. So I made the same changes to a copy of the new file and installed it back to User/Library/Quicklook. After a reboot it's working again.