EPS file

The secret of EPS files

The secret lies in the fact that the images used are EPS files. EPS files are often used, especially in the graphics sector. The abbreviation EPS stands for Encapsulated PostScript, by the way. The great advantage of an image saved as an EPS file is that the quality of the image always remains the same when enlarging or reducing it. No matter how the image is enlarged or reduced, no harm is done to the quality.

Structure of an EPS file

We already said it, an EPS file is a graphic file. And that file is built in a special way. The structure of this file consists of so-called vector information. And that information is actually a mathematical equation with which the image can be made so large that it can be used razor-sharp for, among other things, billboards that you see along the highway.

Those vectors we're talking about here are actually paths defined by a start and end point. And such a path can have any shape that can be defined between two or more such points.

Put more simply, it doesn't matter if the image needs to be enlarged 1000x, the quality will always be sharp, clear, and very detailed. So that's in short the secret behind the quality of logos or illustrations you see on, for example, billboards along the highway or in the city.

How do you recognize an EPS file?

The next question that might come to mind is, 'How do I recognize an EPS file?' That's honestly fairly simple. It's because all types of files can be recognized by the specific extension they have. So you always recognize a WORD document by the extension .doc or .docx, you recognize a POWERPOINT document by the extension .ppt, and an EXCEL document by the extension .xlsx (or other variants thereof). That's also the case with an EPS file, so you can also recognize it by the extension. An EPS file can be recognized by the extension .eps. However, there are a number of other extensions that, like an EPS file, can also contain vector that is composed of lines and anchor points and can therefore also be infinitely enlarged. These are the PDF, SVG, and AI files, recognizable by the extensions .pdf, .ai, and .svg.

Opening and editing EPS files

If you want to get started with, for example, editing an EPS file, you need to realize a few things. For example, you can't just open or edit an EPS file in any program. Opening and editing an EPS file can best be done with programs that are really meant for graphic editing. Some such programs include Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign.

If you just want to view an EPS file, you don't need to purchase a package like Adobe Illustrator for that. You can view EPS files with a package like Ghostview or Irfanview. Another application with which you can convert a file to an EPS file is Image Vectorizer.

There are also some free packages available with which you can edit such files. You can think of a package like Lunacy or Inkscape, for example.

Creating an EPS file yourself

Another question that might come to mind is 'How do I create an EPS file?'. An EPS file can be created by manually tracing the image in question in a program specially designed for that, such as Adobe Illustrator. That manual tracing is also called 'vectorizing'. This is quite a careful and time-consuming job. And the packages that the experts use for this almost all have a particularly steep learning curve. Don't have time to do this all yourself, or to learn how a package like Adobe Illustrator works in a short time? You can always outsource this work to specialists. The advantage of this is that they do it in a fraction of the time you need and it saves you a lot of time, annoyance, and frustration.

Converting files to an EPS file

Do you have one or more illustrations that are saved as pixel files, for example with the extension .jpg or .png, and you want to use them for print work? Then these will need to be manually traced and converted to an EPS file. As we mentioned, that's a difficult and time-consuming job, especially if you want to do it accurately, it will take some time. You also need to have suitable paid professional software. Fortunately, you can outsource this job to companies that specialize in this, such as Logo in Vector.

Advantages and disadvantages

What are actually the advantages and disadvantages of using an EPS file? As a company, you can look excellent with logos or illustrations formatted as an EPS file. You can express your corporate identity razor-sharp to leave the right impression on your customers. That's therefore a great advantage compared to pixel files like JPG and PNG.

A disadvantage is that an EPS file is not easily opened by everyone. You need to use professional software for this. However, it's not a must to want to open this file. For all your advertising purposes, you can send this file just fine to the relevant parties like print shops and sign companies. They can open this file and proceed to production. If you want to use your logo for digital purposes, you can work perfectly fine with a JPG or PNG file yourself.

If you want to convert your pixel file to an EPS file yourself, this is very difficult to do. As we mentioned earlier, converting files to an EPS file is specialized work that requires quite some knowledge and time. Manually converting JPG and PNG files requires quite some knowledge and skill regarding the processing of fonts, colors, and shapes.

Ordering print work

In short, it comes down to the fact that you can't avoid using an EPS file for all professional visual expressions. What's more, if you want to order print work, the company where you place your order will most likely ask you to deliver an EPS file of your logo or illustration. This way, they can enlarge or reduce the file in question without quality loss to offer you the most beautiful and best result.