Could not complete your request because the parser module cannot parse the file

Report · May 11, 2017

Hi,

I've been working with a load of .eps files on Photoshop Elements 8.0 on a Windows 10 64-bit PC. Normally I don't have an issue, however all of a sudden I am receiving an error when trying to open one particular .eps file. It is only 375 kb in size and has been generated by the same statistical software that all of the other .eps files I am working with came from. The error is "Could not complete your request because the parser module cannot parse the file.". I've been searching but cannot find a cause nor a fix. If anyone has any suggestions I would be grateful.

P.S. The reason for working in with .eps is for scientific publications as most journals request this format.

Thanks

Rob

Report · May 11, 2017

Maybe something in the file got corrupted and pse 8 doesn't like it.

Have you tried to see if some other software like IrfanView will open that eps file?

http://www.irfanview.com/

Report · May 11, 2017

Recent versions of Elements don't support the EPS format (an obsolete format).

Photoshop Elements supported file formats

I would recommend using Irfanview as stated by R_Kelly

Open EPS files in Photoshop Elements 11

You'll find many discussions about this, just Google 'Elements eps format support'.

Report · May 12, 2017

Thanks for your comments.
The file opens in Irfanview, suggesting it is a PSE issue rather than a file issue. However the reason I am using photoshop elements for these files is that I need to use the features in PSE to make edits/adjustments to the file rather than just view it.

I have also removed and recreated the file from the original statistical software to see if it was a corruption issue however the newly generated file still won't open. I guess there is something in the exact properties of that graphic that is upsetting Elements.

Unfortunately the Elements eps format support discussions I can find are all related to later versions of PSE (11 onwards) where .eps files are not supported. The workarounds shown do not solve the issue.

I have also tried getting support from the Adobe live chat however they would not give support due to the age of the product.

Report · May 12, 2017

gaspar_zinho wrote
Thanks for your comments.
The file opens in Irfanview, suggesting it is a PSE issue rather than a file issue. However the reason I am using photoshop elements for these files is that I need to use the features in PSE to make edits/adjustments to the file rather than just view it.

Well it's not an issue, it's a decision by Adobe to no longer support the EPS format in Elements.

My question is how do you think your can use Elements to do edits/adjustments to the file?

The eps format (encapsulated Postscript) is not a photo format, it's a page description software used in the printing process. It has been superseded by the PDF format. You'll get more expert advice in the Acrobat forum or even the Indesign forum.

The demands you have seen from Elements users are mostly coming from scrapbookers who had collected in the past many vector eps files to enrich their composition. That was not for editing. Today, they use either .pdf or png. assets for that purpose.

Report · May 12, 2017

While I understand that more recent versions of Elements do not support EPS format, Elements 8 (the version I have) does. Therefore it should not be related to whether current Elements products support it or not and does not explain why I am receiving the error message for this file.

I admit I am probably not a typical user and my technical understanding of the different file formats is certainly not 100%.

I typically use Elements to make adjustments to graphs, maps and other outputs from the R statistical software. The kind of edits I make are additions/removals of text or various parts of the image, combining multiple objects/layers together to create a composite, colour adjustments, cropping, resizing and so forth.

As a potential workaround would creating the original file as .pdf and importing it for editing prior to exporting as .eps for scientific journals offer an alternative workflow?

Thanks for recommending the Acrobat forum. I will give it a try to see if they can offer any insight as to what may be cuausing the parsing problem as I need to make sure this does not become a recurring problem.