EPS Files

Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) is a standard file format for importing and exporting PostScript files. It is usually a single page PostScript program that describes an illustration or entire page. The purpose of an EPS file is to be included in other pages. Sometimes EPS files are called EPSF files. EPSF simply stands for Encapsulated PostScript Format.

EPS files can be generated by all drawing applications as well as most layout applications. Image manipulation programs like Adobe PhotoShop can also save bitmap images as EPS-files. Some printer drivers are also capable of generating EPS-files as well as PostScript files.

The EPS format (Encapsulated PostScript) was developed by Adobe as one of the file formats in its page description language, PostScript. It is a vector format (not bitmap), thus inherently scalable and moderately device independent, which moves easily across platforms (the language itself is ASCII code).

Think of an EPS file as its own little mini-document. When you place an EPS file into a page layout document it is like placing a page layout within a page layout. It is described using PostScript® - the same as the page layout document itself when it is sent to a PostScript device. It is a set of instructions within a set of instructions. Naturally, then, the fonts would be required to properly interpret the instructions within the EPS file.

Examples of EPS drawing programs are Corel Draw, Adobe Illustrator, and Macromedia (once Aldus) Freehand.