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Hello, I need to save an eps file to be sent to a publishing company. It should be a file that anyone there can open (it won't go first to the graphics people but the editors). I tried opening in Photoshop and saving as a tiff but it was HUGE. Any advice on what format to save the eps? I'm a novice user, so please dumb your answer down!
Thanks,
Diakea
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A pdf file.
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You can check out Preferences and de-select "Save PDF compatable file" or similar in Illustrator. Do not embed images in the .eps in Illustrator. Instead, link to images. These are a few options to look at in Illustrator. Why not send them a PDF? Smaller and less hassle for them.
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Er, followup. I misread your post, I thought you wanted to save to a smaller .eps. Sorry. PDF would be a good alternative as stated in previous posts.
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Thanks for your input guys! In fact, that is what I ended up doing--sending a pdf. I am hopeful that they will want to publish mydesign (for a book cover), so I wanted to send them a "working" file. I figure if they do want to publish, they can tell me what kind of file to send. Thanks again for the advice.
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PDF is not meant for editing. They might be able to make changes or adjustments to the file, but I would be skeptical if they claimed they do this often and it's "no problem". Editing PDFs is usually a last resort sort of thing. If you want to give them a file that's good quality and can be edited, then you should ignore any issues about file size. Everything is a compromise. All a file can ever be is data. If you want a smaller file, then you must remove data. If you remove data, you are sending them less file than they might need or you want to send.
It's OK to try to trim a few MB here or there. Linking, rather than embedding images is one way. Saving as AI file without PDF compatibility is another. I actually really like that one, since it forces them to use the Illustrator file, not the embedded PDF. Remember to send linked files, too. If you outline fonts, then no need to send fonts or worry about font licensing issues, but then, forget about making type corrections without sending a new file.
Put all files in one folder and ZIP that folder, then send that ZIP file. If it's too big for email, then use FTP or other file sharing services.
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The best way I have found to reduce the size of EPS files is to set the PREVIEW to NONE.
The preview seems to add alot of info to the file and if set to none reduces the size by
over 50%. Saving in a legacy format (i.e. v8) also helps.
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Hello, old post -- anyone know if it is possible to set file save preferences once (especially when saving an EPS) and have them be the default?
thx!
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What if the factory is requesting an eps file only?
The pdf would not be helpful in that case.
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allisonp8207593 wrote
What if the factory is requesting an eps file only?
If you're in that situation, your best course of action would be to ask why they need EPS. There are very few valid reasons left to demand that format, but it is possible they are using legacy equipment/workflow that requires it. On the other hand, you might hear the confession "I dunno . . . that's just what we always used," in which case you might get someone to investigate the possibility of utilizing a better format at both ends of the process.
Format notwithstanding, if the file's size (and therefore its transfer-ability) is the issue, the availability of simple solutions for that problem is much greater now than when this question was first posted almost 9 years ago. Furthermore, there isn't necessarily a 1-to-1 correlation between file format and file size. It's entirely possible your file size could be reduced (or inflated) at the file-contents level well before save-as format even comes into play.