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Answered

Best way to convert 50 pages of EPS to AI?

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
April 13, 2023
3 replies
5525 views

Hi,

I designed a Wire-O spiralbound book in InDesign. Because it's spiral bound, it's 50 pages (that's total, front and back). The client had initially told me to send it in InDesign but now they want me to convert it to AI. The artwork in the book is raster, CMYK.

What is the best way for me to do this? I have converted it as PDF to EPS so far. I need to not mess up the raster art. I would prefer it all to come out in one file, like a multipage AI file, but it's OK if it's 50 separate files, just annoying.

I could download Illustrator but I also see a lot of free online converters, do any of those work OK, does anyone know?

Is there a protocol to send files to create a book (again, it is spiral bound, so the pages are all separate)--such as do I include the bleed marks, slug, etc.? The client knows nothing so I cannot ask.

Thanks!

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Correct answer Brad @ Roaring Mouse

You can do it all in one shot if you open the PDF with All pages checked and the Linked option unchecked. This will give you an Illustrator file with all the pages as artboards inside one document.

The stupid thing here, besides the actual request to do this, is THEY could do that just as easily.

Brad @ Roaring Mouse

Correct answer

Community Expert

You can do it all in one shot if you open the PDF with All pages checked and the Linked option unchecked. This will give you an Illustrator file with all the pages as artboards inside one document.

The stupid thing here, besides the actual request to do this, is THEY could do that just as easily.

V

vixlerAuthor

Inspiring

Thanks yes, I will try that. I did do the linked and was able to save a multipage document "with linked files" but I will try it without checking "linked."

One issue was that a warning box said my document raster effects were going to be 72dpi. The document and art are all 300 dpi. The Documents Raster Effects Settings in AI are at 300. So I'm trying to figure out the issue there.

Monika Gause

Community Expert

Basically at this stage of the job, it's just not a good idea. I don't know why those Chinese printers always want to have AI files, but just "converting" from EPS or PDF to Illustrator files might not get you the right kind of thing.

The client needs to know that this is the equivalent of doing most of the job again. You could place all the pages of the PDF into an AI file and send them that (together with the PDF you placed). But the printer might not like that, becasue they want things native in Illustrator (for whatever reason).

Imaginerie

Community Expert

I didn't know about chinese printers. I never had those. Everytime I finally spoke to the printer in one of those jobs, they were all wanting a PDF. Good to know!

B

Bobby Henderson

Community Expert

Uh, I really like using Adobe Illustrator, but multi-page layout is not its strong suit. InDesign is a far more appropriate choice for laying out a 50 page document. Aside from an INDD file (and package of assets) the second best option would be a multi-page PDF. I'm puzzled by the client requesting the document in Illustrator AI format (especially if the client "knows nothing"). It doesn't make a lot of sense. Is the client going to do the print work themselves? Are they trying to import the artwork into another page layout or graphics application? If not, then a PDF should be good enough for the client to proof.

Multi-page PDF files can be imported into Illustrator on multiple art boards. But various things in a PDF can "break" when placed into Illustrator. Some of this depends on the nature of the art. One downside with using EPS is it does not support transparency. If you already created the layout in InDesign I would fight pretty hard to keep the work in that application environment.

V

vixlerAuthor

Inspiring

Yes they are either printing it themselves or using a printing company, I'm not sure, but they are producing it. I only have one contact, and when I ask printing questions she always says she can't answer--this hss been an experience--they didn't know the margins, specs, anything--I finally bought the book they want to emulate anf measured it with a ruler. I don't know how they do things, it's in China and maybe AI is how it's done there. I have been sending low-res PDFs for them to go over, I've offered the INDD file and high-res PDF, but they want me to convert it all to AI. I don't know much about production. Guess I'll try the multiple artboards, thanks for the info!

Imaginerie

Community Expert

I had one of those client. (several in fact)
Most of the time they are asking for a specific file format, because someone who seemed to have expertise told them so, but they probably forgot the context (a bit like those toothpaste adverts set in a science lab with a very autoritative guy in a white coat 🙂 )

Everytime, I decided to ask them if I could "speak to the printer" eg: bypass them. Yes it's a bit of a hassle, talking on the phone. But if you manage to do it, you can then provide the right files, which will certainly not be .ai (I'll place a bet on that one)
You can sugar-coat it saying, you need to speak to the printer for a question of colour or something relating to the resolution for example. (One trick I used is to ask for the printer phone number to ask for specs for the barcode, something I could tell the client didn't want anything to do with, so they were happy to offload it to me)
Long story short, you need to speak to someone who will handle the job and who knows, not someone who think they know, and don't want to appear stupid in front of a designer's face. Pride and all that.

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