.eps files not showing preview in finder

[jenniferk47645559]

After upgrading to Monterey on my Imac all of my .eps files stopped showing the preview in the finder. This is a huge problem, has this happened to anyone else? Any idea on a fix?

[Test Screen Name]

A post that I found discusses what to do since you can't write to /Library/QuickLook in Monterey it says to write to ~/Library/QuickLook instead. https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOS/comments/qkkvbr/esp_file_preview_gone/

Note that ~/Library is a hidden folder, so use Go > Go to folder in Finder, and paste (exactly, including the tilde) ~/Library/QuickLook

[Kencad_85]

That worked! Thank you!

[default36h5e60d02yj]

This worked for me as well! Many thanks!

-Brian

[Randy CorpGraphics]

Excellent! This worked!

[brittsbrew]

It worked!!! Thank you!!!!

[Ken22296766f17w]

I can't find the specific line  "<string>com.adobe.encapsulated-postscript</string>"

I swear Adobe does not use the programs they create. And Apple doesn't give a crap about graphic designers. Nothing is catered to how we use their computers or software.

[Monika Gause]

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Ken22296766f17w  schrieb:

I can't find the specific line  "<string>com.adobe.encapsulated-postscript</string>"

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Are you using Sonoma?

Apple has abandoned EPS, because it's a dinosaur file format with security issues.

[David24672546o27g]

Hi Ken

Please read miss-charlotte's guide carefully - you need to insert that specific line ("<string>com.adobe.encapsulated-postscript</string>"), directly underneath the line "<string>com.adobe.illustrator.ai-image</string>" - it needs to match the tabbing (indent) also.

It works well for Monterey and Ventura as stated and I have used this method many times now after applying security updates.

Thank you again Miss Charlotte!

miss-charlotte  Contributor , Nov 09, 2022

This in link below worked for me in Monterey/Ventura.

• Copy the "Illustrator.qlgenerator" from "/System/Library/QuickLook" to your desktop or any other folder you have read/write access to.
• Open "Illustrator.qlgenerator" by right clicking it and select "Show package contents".
• Open "Info.plist" in the "Contents" folder with a text editor.
• Find the line "<string>com.adobe.illustrator.ai-image</string>"
• Insert "<string>com.adobe.encapsulated-postscript</string>"

[Ken22296766f17w]

I cannot find that specific line my friend. 

[David24672546o27g]

Hi Ken

it should look like the screengrab below

[JPAhonen]

If you're using a Mac, it really is time to let EPS go. I held onto EPS for ages, but it's obvious now that Apple's moved on from supporting this format. So what did I do? I converted all those EPS files to Illustrator files. I've laid out how I did it with batch processing in another post which I will link below. It was a bit of a hassle at first, but now my files are showing up just right in Finder, and I'm not stuck fiddling with those "code" fixes that ended up causing more problems than they solved.

So, if you're working with an Apple Silicon Mac, my advice is simple: say goodbye to EPS and hello to AI. Trust me, you'll be glad you did. This batch processing thing is pretty straightforward and clears up all those annoying issues once and for all, without messing up MacOS codes that could prevent your from seeing other files (it happened to me). 

Here's my post about the batch processing: 
https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/eps-files-not-showing-preview-in-finder/m-p/1...

[Ken22296766f17w]

Thank you very much for this. But I refuse to take all these extra steps to make up for Apple's shortsightedness. The silicon valley code heads don't work in our field of buisness, they don't use our workflow, and they don't care. Same goes for Adobe. They removed the pantone colour system from the software – Just ridiculous. I'm tired of waiting on slow computers. My brand new M2 Ultra mac is slower than my old mac when working on complex design files created with Adobe garbage software. The softare and workflow is old technology that they've been milking for years. I'm 25+ years using this software and it's remains frustrating and tedious. 

[JPAhonen]

It's pretty clear that these workarounds won't hold up forever, or they'll just end up causing more problems down the line. I gave the code change trick a shot on my M1 Mac Mini, and yeah, it worked at first. But then, my files started acting up and wouldn't preview right. Fixing it was a nightmare—had to do a full MacOS reinstall to sort things out. Ended up just converting EPS files to AI because it was the path of least resistance. Took me a couple of hours to batch process everything, but looking back, it was totally worth it. I mean, you can keep fighting the good fight against this, but Apple's not gonna budge on this one, trust me. EPS is ancient history, and while we all love a good workaround, you'll likely spend more time dodging and weaving than if you just bite the bullet and do what I did.

I completely skipped Ventura because of its bugs and spent way too much time trying to make EPS files play nice, especially getting thumbnails to show up in Finder. Total waste of time. All it took was gathering all my EPS files in one folder, setting up a 'save as AI' action, and letting batch processing do its thing. Let my computer churn through it for a few hours—I had loads of EPS files—and now, all my AI files show up just fine, previews and all, no hiccups.

And just a heads-up, if your M2 Ultra Mac Studio/Pro feels sluggish, something’s definitely off. Interestingly, my older M1 Mac Mini is running like a dream, outperforming expectations. Should you notice any slowness, it might be high time to consider reinstalling your apps or perhaps embarking on a clean MacOS installation. Given the advanced capabilities of your hardware, seamless operation is what you should experience. My hunch? If it’s been a significant period since you’ve performed a clean install, especially if you’ve been applying code tweaks as suggested in forums, you might’ve inadvertently hampered your system’s performance. Apple’s frequent software updates can unexpectedly disrupt previously smooth functionalities. I've personally encountered this when my Finder began behaving erratically with AI, PSD, and INDD files. Converting all files to AI and performing a clean install made my system flawless. Skipping these steps only delays the inevitable, leading to a cycle of troubleshooting instead of enjoying a beautifully running Mac. But you do you of course - I spend over two years fighting this EPS stuff until I gave up and today I could not be happier that I don't need to deal this hassle anymore. 

[JPAhonen]

Here's possibly the best workaround when this "Quicklook Plist Fix" doesn't work:

Ever since I upgraded to Monterey none of the EPS files has shown any thumbnails. I have tried adding that silly code to the Plist-file and done exactly as others have told me here but none of it fixed the issue on my M1 Mac Mini. So I finally had enough. I decided to clean install macOS Monterey so that I can wipe out any "deeper system errors".

After a clean install, all AI-files show thumbnails again (I belive AI thumbnails stopped showing for me when I tried adjusting that Plist-file), but still EPS files show blank thumbnails. Since I'm now so done playing this stupid game with EPS files, I decided to convert them all to AI format, and that was actually a super easy and straightforward process. Here's how you can do it too.

Simply open Illustrator and any file on it. Then open the Actions panel and create a custom action that simply saves the file in AI format and then closes that particular file. After this, you will need to create two folders on the Desktop; one with the EPS files you want to convert and a second where the reformatted AI files will go. 

Now on that Actions window, click that tiny three bars icon at the top right corner, and at the very bottom of the list, you will see "Batch" button. Click that one and simply select your newly created action, choose source folder and export folders. Then hit okay. Now Illustrator will open any files on that first folder and save them as AI file to that second folder and you can just sit and watch.

From now on you can simply just copy-paste all EPS files to that one folder and then simply run a batch action from Illustrator and all files will show up as AI files to that second folder. Voila! 

This is really the only solution I have found working for me, and since AI is the primary format for all of my work anyway, I decided that changing formats was the smartest fix to all of this. I don't want to mess up with QuickLook Plist file yet again since it caused other issues with Finder and hence I had to do a clean install. With this batch action, you can just let Illustrator do all the work for you. However, I do recommend doing the conversions in smaller batches. This way you don't overload Illustrator by exporting hundreds of images at a time.

So this is how I solved this issue. Considering how Apple works these days I would not hold my breath that they will bring EPS thumbnails back so having everything in AI format might be the best way to go forwards. 

[miss-charlotte]

Sorry to hear you went through all that for not. Good idea on the Batch action. I do receive more .ai formats vs .eps these days. Going forward I'll stick with .ai formats.

[Leane Wells]

I'd like to know why are we having to be sleuth programmers for an App and OS we've paid plenty for? And why after several years now, is this non-preview for EPS files not fixed?! I don't have time for this crap. HUGE mistake, whoever made a decision to eliminate whatever it is people are fixing and updating, in their hidden library! HUGE effing mistake. 

[Monika Gause]

You didn't pay for the operating system.

Apple took EPS previews away from you, so you'd have to complain to them.

[j4m1eb]

Just came back to this post after getting a new Mac Studio and relising that I needed to do this again. Just to say if you follow the instructions it works perfectly. The bit that's easy to get wrong is where you copy the edited file to. It's not the libary you got it from in "Macintosh HD/System/library" but the top level library in "Macintosh HD/library"

[Eduard_Reznicek_osobni]

The answer is incorrect because it is not possible to copy the file to the quicklook folder. The user does not have rights to do this and it is not possible to get them.

[j4m1eb]

it's correct and YOU CAN COPY into the correct folder - sorry if you can't make it work but it is correct. 

[Eduard_Reznicek_osobni]

Correction to my answer.
It's OK. You need to follow the instructions exactly and paste it into a different folder than the one you took it from.

[peterm91029285]

I have made all the changes to the Illustrator.qlgenerator file but it will not allow me to copy back into the system folder: /System/Library/QuickLook

Can someone tell me exactly HOW and WHERE the file should go. THX

[peterm91029285]

Found the final step on the previous page:

• Copy "Illustrator.qlgenerator" to "Mac HD/Library/QuickLook".

Its working!

[adamd61503058]

I really hope Aple can sort this out, I work across a network, so using Bridge isn't any use to me as I'd need to load everything into memory which is just not going to happen. And not seeing eps previews is very annoying.

[Kate0101]

I get to the info.plist in the contents folder but cannot open it with any file.  I get a message that says the file has an error.  Any ideas are greatly appreciated!