EPS problem

Content
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I have been asked by a client to supply logo in eps format. I designed it in illustrator and exported/saved as .eps no problem. However when viewing the file with various eps viewers it looks terrible. Either grainy or the colors messed up and edges messed up. However when I open the EPS file in illustrator it is perfect and I can resize my logo to any size and have it still look perfect.

Is it normal for an .eps file to look so bad in these other programs? I believe my client uses a mac and adobe indesign, will they see my eps file in indesign as I do in illustrator, or will they see it as a low quality messed up version like in these other so called eps viewers.

So a few questions:
Is .eps the eps the best format for sending my client?

Can I export my .eps from illustrator so it looks perfect accross all .eps viewers (maybe I am missing a finalization step)?
Is there an .eps viewer which will show my vector(eps) file as good as illustrator?

If it would help you help me, I am willing to upload the eps file -even though it seems that the individual objects for making the logo are still present(like an ai file).

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Thanks for the feedback, glad it displays properly in Indesign.

The client wishs to use the logo for digital and print marketing. I did some research and .eps seems to be the standard format for logos to be delivered in. At least that is a common opinion from what I have heard. The client asked for .eps too. I thought the reason it was popular must be because .eps has more compatibility with other programs besides illustrator than native .ai files. If that is not true then I do not know why .eps is chosen over .ai

Your article does say:
EPS can be opened with Vector programs (i.e. Adobe Illustrator, FreeHand, InkScape…). So it is true it is more cross-compatible than .ai?

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Saving in EPS format should be fine to use.

What are the “EPS Viewers” you have been using?

When your client brings the EPS into InDesign, it should keep the smooth vector edges and appear just as you have designed it (providing they have their InDesign display settings set to high resolution).

Be aware though that viewing your EPS in Photoshop or other non-vector based applications will “rasterize” the image, losing that crispness around the edges.

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The previews are probably raster based…
But why your client is requiring EPS format?
I really no longer see the need to use it! (I wrote this blog post in 2008)…

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I’d use .pdf over .eps, because unlike .eps most people can view it.

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I can’t open the EPS in Illustrator because I’m using an older version (CS3) but…

When I place the EPS into an InDesign document it displays perfectly - so I would say there is nothing wrong with your file.

Perhaps the reason why you have received varying results via the EPS viewers is that they do not yet handle the CS4 or CS5 file format?

Nice logo by the way! :slight_smile:

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I have attached a zip file. It contains 2 files.

The .eps file, for you to open and view in whatever program you wish to help determine the quality is ok.

The second file is a png which I have pasted the renders/previews from different programs on -text descriptions also present.

If you can look at these files and help me verify my .eps file is good quality I will be grateful.

Note: the logo is copyrighted and owned by a company. The zip file will be removed once this issue is over.

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Assuming that you designed it in vector format and used CMYK colours, many EPS formats save with an RGB raster ‘preview’ or generate one when placing the file. I wouldn’t rely too much on those previews as they’re typically pretty shocking in comparison to the real file.

Generating a new preview using the design application and making sure that the viewing settings for previews is cranked up will give the best result. If you find that print outs are screwing your file up then I’d investigate further but my guess is it is just the previews freaking you out.