Issues opening CS3/ Mac .eps and .ait files in CS2/ PC

Hello,

I am having problems opening .eps and .ait files received via gmail in Illustrator. I am working with a designer who is creating using CS3/ Mac. I am using CS2/ PC with Vista.

First, for each file she sends, I am receiving a smaller version of the same file (i.e. 40K vs 300K). Is this automatically generated as I don’t believe she’s forwarding the smaller version? Regardless of file size and zipping, the .eps files are not being recognized by my PC (the file icon is a blank page).

I have had no luck opening the small files no matter where I save them and how I try opening them in Illustrator. The standard error message I am receiving is as follows: “The file “xyz.eps” is an unknown format and cannot be opened.”

I am having the same issues with the larger .eps files and am receiving the following message: “Can’t open the Illustration. The file was generated by a newer version of Illustrator and cannot be opened. Please resave it in a format compatible with your version of Illustrator.” Seems direct enough but I‘m unsure how to do this especially on her setup (CS3/ Mac). If it is indeed on my designer’s end, perhaps someone can help me help her…

Here’s the kicker, I can open the large .eps files in Photoshop via “Rasterize Generic EPS Format!”

If this wasn’t enough, we tried .ait files and again I received a small and large version. The smaller file came up unknown. When I tried to open the larger file (349K) in Illustrator I received the following message: “This is an Adobe Illustrator file that was saved without PDF. To place or open this file in other applications, it should be re-saved from Adobe Illustrator with the “Create PDF Compatible File” option turned on. This option is in the Illustrator Native Format Options dialog box, which appears when saving an Adobe Illustrator file using the Save As Command.” This seems simple enough, I just wanted to verify this is the way to go before passing it on to her.

As an aside, I have no problems opening her CS3/ Mac generated .pdfs in Acrobat 8 Pro, Illustrator, or Photoshop on my machine. .Jpgs and .psds are opening fine as well in PS (from her CS3/ Mac to my CS2/ PC)

If there are any ideas on the root of the problem, I‘m all eyes!

Thanks in Advance!

If there are any ideas on the root of the problem, I‘m all eyes!




Your problem is simple: The sender needs to send you native AI files, back-saved to the previous version, because your software is out of date. All the rest of it is just confusion over EPS and PDF.

The root problem is either your designer (the one saving the files) doesn't know you are using an earlier version, or is not paying attention to the options available when saving the files--or both.

First: If your intent is for you to open the files with Illustrator, save them as native .ai files, not PDF and not EPS. But have her save them in the earlier version format YOU are using.

Second: You are being further confused by your misunderstanding of EPS and PDF.

Generally speaking, EPS is not meant to be opened and modified. Its purpose is to provide a mechanism by which artwork can be imported into programs that cannot directly manipulate its content, as a "closed box" (the operative word is (ENCAPSULATED PostScript). A page layout program or a word processor, for example, does not have the features of the drawing program, and cannot understand all the objects contained in the artwork. But they can usually import the artworks as a "closed box" (EPS) and simply pass that "closed box" along in the print data flow, without having to actually interact with the content inside the "closed box".

Moreover, though, EPS is now considered rather antequated and nowadays is used mainly as a "lowest common denominator" for import into programs or workflows that cannot similarly handle PDF. (In practial terms, that generally means non-Adobe apps.)

Illustrator is a full-blown PostScript interpreter. So it can "crack open" and "dissect" EPS content, and can convert that content into (or back into) objects native to its authoring environment. Some other programs can do that, too, with varying success. But that does not mean it is the same thing as opening a native Illustrator file.

Somewhat like EPS, PDF is also not meant to be edited. It is meant to be viewed directly in Adobe Reader, and/or for a multitude of other things. (Thus its name: Acrobat "jumps through alot of hoops.") Among those "other things" is use as a "container" for import into other programs, similar to the way EPS was used.

Just as Illustrator can "crack open" and translate the content of an EPS file, it can similarly open PDF files. But again, this is not the same thing as having and working with the native Illustrator file. As with EPS, objects in PDF files are "dumbed down" to simpler constructs than the native objects originally created in Illustrator. If your intent is to recieve the files from your designer and have the same full unaltered editing ability as when they were created, you don't want a PDF; you want a native Illustrator file. Ideally, you want to be using the same version of AI as your designer. Just as with any program, later versions tend to introduce new constructs not understood by earlier verisons.

A few years back, Adobe greatly confused the difference between PDF and AI for two purposes: providing a workflow convenience (which, frankly, I consider dubious), and for the sake of marketing hype.

The marketing claim was actually made that "PDF is now Illustrator's native format." The reality is merely that an Illustrator file can now include a "marked off area" into which is written another version of the file in PDF format. Inversely, a PDF file can include a "marked off area" into which is written another version of the content in the native format of whatever program exports the PDF.

In Illustrator, inclusion of this optional second version of the file is the default, both when saving as a truly-native Illustrator file, and when exporting ("Save As..." or "Save a Copy...") as a PDF. Doing so, of course, roughly doubles the file size.

So, taking Adobe InDesign as the most obvious example, when you import ("Place...") an .ai file into an InDesign document, one of two things occurs: If the .ai file contains a PDF version of the artwork in that "marked off area", the AI native content is not what comes in; the PDF content does. The actual native AI content is ignored. If the .ai file does not contain the PDF version, you get an error message.

Similarly, if you open a PDF with Illustrator, one of two things happens: If the PDF contains a native Illustrator version of the artwork in that "marked off area", the AI native content is what comes in; the PDF content is ignored. If the PDF does not contain the native AI version, the PDF content is translated to native AI objects (and result in the "dumbed down" simpler constructs).

Your designer is supposed to understand all this, and send you files appropriate to your need and according to your agreement.

JET

Thanks for taking the time to respond James. A lot of great information that will help me avoid the issue again...Jim