Difference between svg and eps and how they work in InDesign & Illustrator

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
April 10, 2022
8 replies
2903 views

Hi,

I have a subscription to vecteezy, which has many vector images for downloading. The zip file contains a jpeg, pdf and eps file. I find the eps filesalmost impossible to work with in InDesign, and if I open in Illustrator, I can't seem to select different objects in the image, say a group of music notes. If I convert to an svg file online, then I can work with the individual elements(music notes in this case).

I am very confused as to which vector files I can use, especially in InDesign. What process do you recommend. Thanks in advance.

How to

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer Frans v.d. Geest

Use the PDF would be the best advice. EPS is an old deprecated format and SVG support is somewhat buggy in InDesign sometimes.

Scott Falkner

Community Expert

Can you share a sample file> Ideally both EPS and PDF.

I suspect the EPS file is the best place to start. Yes, EPS is a dead format and, apart from a few edge cases, has no place in a print workflow. But EPS was, for a long time, the native format for Illustrator files. A Lot of people still use it to save Illustartor artwork. It might be the format that best preserves the structure of the original file, if it was made in Illustrator.

Frans v.d. Geest

Community Expert

Strongly disagree on EPS! As mentioned there is also a PDF file, best to use that.

Brad @ Roaring Mouse

Community Expert

ONLY if the PDF was saved with the right settings, and depends on what program created the PDF. Some programs make REALLY poor PDFs. Since there is no indication how these files were saved, it's best to look at both.

Brad @ Roaring Mouse

Community Expert

One caveat about the PDF version you received: The PDF, depending on how it was saved and from what program, may have lost some file structure the creator used, e.g. Layers, etc. especially if it was saved in an older PDF version that flattens effects. If the file was saved from Illustrator, and they used the "Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities" option, this is your best possible situation as this will open back in Illustrator, structure intact.

Look at the Document Properties > Description and this will suually show what application created it and PDf version.

But don't discount the EPS yet. Depending on how the creator of the graphic prepared that file, it may actually contain the original Illustrator file structure as well, despite the fact the EPS part of the file may be flattened/compromised and not something you should use when there are much better formats to use in this era. So my advice is to Open both files and use the one that seems the most "intact". If it's the EPS, immediately save it as .AI to use as your working file going foward... do you edits/etc, and then save as either .AI or .PDF as necessary for placing in InDesign. Just NEVER save as EPS from now on.

JR Boulay

Community Expert

"SVG in InDesign should only be used for electronically supplied formats like EPUB but never for print."

Willi Adelberger can you explain why?

Acrobate du PDF, InDesigner et Photoshopographe

rob day

Community Expert

I don’t think you have to completely avoid .SVG for print, but it has significant color limitations—it can only be saved as RGB color and cannot include a profile, which is needed for accurate RGB conversions to the final printer color space.

It would work if your InDesign document had sRGB as its assigned RGB profile and you exported the ID doc as PDF/X-4, which requires RGB profiles to be embedded

L

Laubender

Community Expert

Hi sheana2014,

if the SVG file is working for you best, open the SVG file in Illustrator and save it as an Illustrator file.

If you have to convert the color to CMYK do that in Illustrator, save and place either the Illustrator file in InDesign or save it as PDF/X-4 and use that in InDesign.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

rob day

Community Expert

Hi @sheana2014 , is the .EPS a vector or image file? It could be either—it’s possible to save an image out of Photoshop as an EPS. If it is a image, that would explain why you cannot open it into Illustrator and select vector paths. Can you share a sample of the .EPS version?