EPS Files

[bluesnow]

I must be missing something. I am using Photoshop CS6 and am unable to save something as an EPS file with a transparent background. I'm starting with a PSD file and every setting I've tried results in an EPS file with a white background. I've done it right before but can't seem to do it now.

[voetzoeker]

The only way to save an EPS file with a transparent background, is to create a Cliping Path from the path you created.

If you do not have a path, but simply a image with transparent background, there is no need to save it as EPS, but you can easily save it as tiff or PNG

[JollyRoger]

Just curious, Vtz - wouldn't it be more prudent to handle EPS files in Ai?

[bluesnow]

I suppose I should just take the easy way out and use TIFF or PNG. I was trying to use EPS because Wysmommy had requested a logo in EPS format. I had the logo but needed to convert it.

I'll have to look into clipping paths and see what they're all about.

Thanks

[voetzoeker]

Absolutely JR, as EPS is a vector based format it would be much more obvious to use a vector based program to create it

@ Bluesnow the only need to save your logo in EPS format, opposit to PNG or Tiff is when you have logos created with a path,
this way the vector path is saved in the eps file and you can scale the file when placed in PS without any qaulity loss.

[bluesnow]

So if I have logos created with a path I can't save them as TIFF or PNG? Or is it just that I'd lose the path information and therefore not be able to scale without some loss in quality?

Do you create logos with a path just so they can be scaled? Or is there some other reason to have a path in a logo?

[voetzoeker]

Yes if you save your PS file with a path, as Tiff or PNG you'll lose the path and vector info

The path of a logo will always have a smooth curve, no matter how much you'll upscale

vector vs raster

[attachment=25213:Vector_vs_raster.png]

[bluesnow]

Ah hah! I would like to find out more about clipping paths now so I can save as EPS.

[voetzoeker]

When you have created your path.
Open the Paths palette. Go to the options Menu (Little Triangle - top right) and select 'Save Path' and give it a name if you wish.
Go Back to the Paths Options Menu and select 'Clipping Path...'. Select the path you saved from the pull down menu.
Save as Photoshop EPS and check the option "Include vector data"

[Kernie]

Voetz has been spot on in his explanations, but to add my 2 cents...

I see no reason to save a raster image as an EPS. For raster files with transparency, use PNG. For raster files without transparency, use JPEG.

Saving a raster logo as an EPS does not automatically convert it to a vector path format. I've encountered dozens upon dozens of uninformed "designers" who have provided me with (what they believe is) a "vector EPS" version of a logo, only to open the file in Illustrator and discover that is simply a raster image of the logo saved in the EPS format. It's extremely frustrating.

EPS should be used when you have a vector drawing of your logo or illustration and want to preserve its vector paths. This will allow you to scale it to any size without every pixellating the image (as V's example above demonstrates). These types of vector EPS files are best created in Adobe Illustrator. EPS is preferred to Illustrator's .AI format because EPS is readable by several other programs, while AI's are mostly only useful if the user has Illustrator. If I receive a vector EPS file, say for example a title treatment or logotype for a film, I have the ability to alter all paths, change colors, and essentially "break" the artwork apart into all of the layers that the original designer has used to create the file. A true vector EPS allows me the greatest flexibility to do what I want with the file.

As a personal anecdote, I'm often surprised by how many people in the design field are flabbergasted by both vector and EPS. I've provided vector EPS files along with raster JPGs and PNGs (the rasters are mainly for reference) to several local printing companies and in 90% of the cases, the people at these companies are clueless about how to handle EPS. If they would actually familiarize themselves with the formats that are involved in running their businesses, they would realize that using the EPS is the best possible option for achieving the highest print quality with the optimal flexibility for editing or altering the file. In most cases, they didn't know what the EPS was, assumed it was useless, and deleted it. Then they would call me and wonder why the low-res reference JPG didn't print out well as an 8 foot by 4 foot banner. I have to bite my tongue and kindly explain that the "useless" file they deleted because they didn't know how to use it was essentially the most important file I could have sent them.

Okay, thanks for letting me rant about EPS files... that's been bottling up inside for a while.