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Saving Illustrator EPS doesn't crop to artboard

Community Beginner ,
Jan 05, 2022 Jan 05, 2022

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When saving an EPS form an Illustrator AI file and selecting use artboards and range one it won't crop to the artboard. All the art outside the artboard appears. I have used this method for years and now its not working. Is there a new setting I am missing?

Using Illustrator CC

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

Community Expert , Jan 05, 2022 Jan 05, 2022

Which options do you select when saving?

How do you open the EPS?

 

There can be 2 files in an EPS. If you save to the current version EPS, then this is the case. When opening the EPS in Illustrator you don't even see the actual EPS.

 

https://www.vektorgarten.de/eps-file-format-zombie.html

2 files in one (explained with the example of PDF): Please see this about Illustrator files: https://youtu.be/IpDh8Y7q8yE

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Community Expert ,
Jan 05, 2022 Jan 05, 2022

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Which options do you select when saving?

How do you open the EPS?

 

There can be 2 files in an EPS. If you save to the current version EPS, then this is the case. When opening the EPS in Illustrator you don't even see the actual EPS.

 

https://www.vektorgarten.de/eps-file-format-zombie.html

2 files in one (explained with the example of PDF): Please see this about Illustrator files: https://youtu.be/IpDh8Y7q8yE

Illustrator has a special way of saving native files. You should know this in order to be able to set the correct options and to recover some of your artwork when things go wrong. More info about saving files in Illustrator Saving safely: http://vektorgarten.de/illustrator-saving-safely.html ...

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Community Expert ,
Jan 05, 2022 Jan 05, 2022

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Exported EPS from Illustrator always ignores the artboard and creates a bounding box that encompasses all the artwork UNLESS you select "Use Artboards" on the Export dialog box. This is legacy behaviour and has not changed. Selecting "Use Artboards" will define a bounding box that equals the artboard size, so if you were to place that in InDesign, that is all you will see. The art objects are still technically all there, so if you open the EPS in Illustrator, you will see they haven't been cropped. This is normal behaviour.

 

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Community Beginner ,
Jan 05, 2022 Jan 05, 2022

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I then distill it to a PDF. The reason for my process is to achieve a high quality art with a reasonble file size. Thank you Brad for the explanation. It is working as you have described.

 

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Community Expert ,
Jan 05, 2022 Jan 05, 2022

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I then distill it to a PDF.

Why? This is an odd workflow, fraught with problems even years ago. Certainly not a necessary way this day and age. Just save the file directly to PDF from Illustrator.

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Community Beginner ,
Jan 05, 2022 Jan 05, 2022

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Because it significantly reduces the size of the file without compromising the quality. It is helpful when you are sending the files via email.

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Community Expert ,
Jan 05, 2022 Jan 05, 2022

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quote

This is legacy behaviour and has not changed. Selecting "Use Artboards" will define a bounding box that equals the artboard size, so if you were to place that in InDesign, that is all you will see. The art objects are still technically all there, so if you open the EPS in Illustrator, you will see they haven't been cropped.


By Brad @ Roaring Mouse

 

That is not what is happening.

 

Illustrator saves EPS with 2 data forks. The EPS part of the file will have only the artboard in it when you specify "Use Artboard". The EPS part of the file will be used in InDesign and all other applications that are not Illustrator.

But when you open that EPS in Illustrator, it will not use the EPS part. It will use the embedded AI file. The AI file will be embedded when you specify an EPS version that is higher than EPS 8.

 

If you save an EPS version 3 there will only be the EPS part and then there will only be the objects on the artboard. And since there will be no AI file, this will also be considerably smaller. But of course no longer fully editable. Every feature that is not supported by 20 years old EPS file format will be lost: transparency, brushes, effects, all the live features ...

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Community Expert ,
Jan 05, 2022 Jan 05, 2022

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"That is not what is happening"

 

I'm aware of all that. 🙂 My first Illustrator was v1.1

At issue for the OP, was they were getting a bounding box they weren't expecting. My answer speaks to that.

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