Hi, Jeff !  Yes, some people want the PS (or PRN) file for edit. But for this, firts it's neccesary to have the correct printer driver or the PPD of the printer. If you don't have the printer driver, the result can be incorrect. And also, some people believe that the PS it's the same than the EPS; both are postscript, but have some differences. The EPS is independent of any device, and can have an image header, for example.

If what they want is to edit the original file, the best file format is an PDF, specially if it's form Macintosh.

Hey Everyone, thanks for you input, however, some of you seem to be missing my point. I have tried (three times in fact) to create a CorelDraw eps file of the logo that they could open. The first one was cmyk and they could 'open' it (sample picture included), the other two were greyscale and rgb respectively they could not open either of them. In my attached picture of export to eps, I am showing the setup I chose for the cmyk version, in the other two I did choose the correct colour option, i.e. RGB or GREYSCALE.

I have no idea what they are trying to do at their end, whether it is to 'open' or to 'place' them or whatever, all I know is they could not use them. I will ask the sales rep to find out for me what they are trying to do with the file and see if that will shed some light on the issue. I am including a picture of what I am choosing in my eps export dialogue box. I used Postscript Level 1 figuring that would eliminate potential problems if their software is older. I will post back once I hear something from them. Thanks again all.

niagaramouse:

I have no idea what they are trying to do at their end, whether it is to 'open' or to 'place' them or whatever,

Sherron, these are incredibly different things... that's why we need to sort out what they are doing with your files.

niagaramouse:

all I know is they could not use them.

I suspect they are trying to open them then, which creates many potential problems. EPS files were not designed to be opened, only placed.

Haha I see Foster posted first. ARGH!

Jeff Harrison:

Haha I see Foster posted first. ARGH!

Ha, ha, I have the same "problem" with RIchard "Fluid". Keeps coming just a few seconds ahead of me sometimes

Back to the issue, Sherron now this is going on at two threads
I beleive you Have to ask your client what they like to do. And also ask them about their workflow. You will not be able to help your client, or make your client happy if you dont know their workflow in this case. Its actually very important. And no, the client isnt always right...

Okay you fantastic guys out there, I have just fired off an email to my contact at this agency telling her what my experts, you guys, have said plus asking her why they want eps and what their work flow is. Let's see if I get a response. I will keep you posted. Stefan thanks for the heads-up.

Jeff, maybe Foster types faster

niagaramouse:

I have just fired off an email to my contact at this agency

FosterCoburn:

The clip art you downloaded is most likely an Adobe Illustrator file. Often
they are supplied with the EPS extension. This is the source of your
contact's confusion.

It was also the source of my confusion, thanks for clearing that up. So far no answer from the client's agency. I will give them another day then call and email again. Thanks Foster.

Here is my follow-up:

I wrote this to the agency:   I have been talking to experts in the field of printing and graphics about the eps files I sent you and your problems opening them. I am told that eps are not meant to be ‘opened’ they are only meant to be ‘placed’ for printing regardless of what graphics program created them. These experts are not surprised that you have trouble opening them. They also say if you want to be able to modify them you should not be asking for them as an eps but in a different format, which I can provide.

What is your work flow when you receive an eps file? Your message says your graphics dept. opened them and saved them as an illustrator file. If you tell me what version of Illustrator you are using and whether or not it is a MAC or PC I can create the logo in that format and eliminate the need for eps files and these problems.

This is their reply:  For best quality and flexibility of use, please provide the logo as a CMYK vector based .ai or .eps file. The logo should be created in a manner that would allow it to be placed on colour backgrounds (if necessary) and making sure that all type is converted to outlines. Regardless of where the electronic files come from, we always open the files to ensure that trapping and other print related settings are correct. We want to make sure that our print projects are sent to our printers accurately and correctly the first time, so that our clients are happy with the results.

We use Macs with the most current Adobe Creative Suite 3 products at our agency.

They did not really address the eps issue in my question but to It appears I can resolve my export to eps problem by just sending them an Illustrator file, which is what I will do. Thanks for all your comments everyone, I will check to see if you have comments about their response.

niagaramouse:

They did not really address the eps issue in my question but to It appears I can resolve my export to eps problem by just sending them an Illustrator file, which is what I will do. Thanks for all your comments everyone, I will check to see if you have comments about their response.

This is what I said before. But if you want to send a CorelDRAW file as AI, you can have some problems. Try Publish to PDF instead export as AI. The AI format from CorelDRAW is good for Illustrator 8 or earlier, but for Illustrator CS or above, it's better to publish as PDF, using PDF for prepress. Anyway, send also the EPS file created with CorelDRAW. What they want is to place a vector file with transparent background. In both file format, remember to convert text to curves ("convert to outlines") when export to eps or publish to pdf

Ariel:

Try Publish to PDF instead export as AI. The AI format from CorelDRAW is good for Illustrator 8 or earlier, but for Illustrator CS or above, it's better to publish as PDF,

Ariel my problem  is they will not accept a PDF file! Their newer Illustrator should be able to import an older version, no? as with CorelDraw with X3 we would be able to import older Corel files without problems. Most software programs allow you to import forward but not backward.

if you save as older Corel version (or as older Illustrator version) something can change. It's not a safe way. But you can open the PDF with illustrator and save as AI cs3

Yes their Adobe Illustrator CS3 should be able to open a Adobe Illustrator 8 file.

As a side note, (I get they DONT like to have PDF  )   a PDF is very good to use when sending back and forth between Coreldraw and Illustrator. (Especially if you have a gradient in an EPS file from Illustrator. To get as uncompressed and sent as PDF). Thing is that they would be able to open the PDF file in illustrator, and then rename it as an Illustrator file, if I am not misstaken myself. That is what I do, I open the PDF files in CorelDRAW and make my changes to a document and save back to either PDF or CorelDRAW .cdr file.

But to make it easy for you: yes save as Illustrator 8 file.

Oh, you could do, what I would have done, is to send together with the Ai-illustrator file, a PDF as well. (In CorelDRAW Save as PDF). In case they say something is wrong. Then ask them to try open the PDF instead. And rename it from there.

Stefan I am going to take your advice and send a pdf along with the ai file. Since they have Illustrator there is no reason why they should not be able to open and resave it to their own specs.

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PERSISTENT HELP