EPS — Encapsulated PostScript — is a PostScript-based graphics format designed for self-contained illustrations such as logos, charts and vector artwork.
It was widely used in publishing and graphics workflows before PDF largely replaced it. EPS files are still common in older artwork, publishing archives and scientific material.
Paintapp opens both normal EPS files and binary DOS EPS files. Illustrator EPS files may also contain editable Illustrator data, which Paintapp uses when available.
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Plain EPS | Opened as a PostScript program |
| DOS EPS | The binary wrapper is unpacked and opened |
| PostScript artwork | Rendered through Paintapp's PostScript interpreter |
| Illustrator EPS | Opened from its editable Illustrator data |
| Editable Illustrator data | Read when embedded in the EPS |
| TIFF previews | Used for thumbnails |
| XMP metadata | Read into File Info |
| Embedded JPEG images | Decoded |
| Fonts | Resolved from Paintapp's fonts and available system fonts |
PostScript language support depends on Paintapp's interpreter. See PostScript for complete operator, color-space, font and filter coverage.
| Limitation | Result |
|---|---|
WMF, PICT and %%BeginPreview previews are not supported | They are ignored |
| Some indexed TIFF previews | May produce blank thumbnails |
| Deferred EPS bounds | May fall back to the default page size |
| Unusually placed EPS bounds | May not be detected |
| PostScript clipping | Currently tracked but not applied |
| PostScript patterns | Not fully implemented |
| Some PostScript operators | Not implemented |
| Some PostScript filters | Not implemented |
| EPS export | Not supported |
Most rendering limitations are limitations of the PostScript interpreter rather than EPS itself. See PostScript for the complete support list.
Most EPS files are executed as PostScript programs. This allows artwork generated using procedures, loops, fonts, images and other PostScript features to be reproduced directly.
EPS files may also contain an old screen preview. Paintapp does not use this preview as the document itself; the actual PostScript artwork is opened instead.
Illustrator EPS files can contain both printable PostScript and a private editable copy of the Illustrator document.
When editable data is available, Paintapp reads it directly. This can preserve:
If the editable data cannot be read, Paintapp falls back to the PostScript artwork.
See Illustrator for Illustrator-specific support.
EPS files normally provide the bounds of their artwork, which Paintapp uses as the document size.
Illustrator EPS files use the Illustrator artboard when available.
If no usable size is available, Paintapp uses the PostScript default page size of 612 × 792 points (US Letter).
Older EPS files may include a separate low-resolution preview because many applications that placed EPS artwork did not have their own PostScript interpreter.
Paintapp supports TIFF previews for thumbnail generation.
The following preview formats are not currently used:
%%BeginPreview embedded previewsThe preview never determines the quality of the opened document. Paintapp renders the actual EPS artwork.
EPS is defined by one short specification, and almost everything else written about it is format-archive material: what the wrapper looks like on disk, which preview kinds exist, and what a reader is expected to do with a file whose PostScript it cannot run.
The interesting EPS files are the ones made as artwork. Ghostscript ships the most famous
single example: tiger.eps, a hand-traced tiger head that has been the test file
for PostScript renderers for decades.
Clipart and logo archives are where EPS is still handed out in bulk, because a print shop asked
for vector artwork rather than a screen image. The scientific side is quieter but larger: a TeX
document from the dvips era includes its figures as EPS, so package examples on
CTAN and the source packages behind older arXiv papers are full of them.
tiger.eps — the classic PostScript test file, from Ghostscript's examples