If a Windows driver for a PostScript printer is installed,
Microsoft Publisher is capable of creating both PostScript print files and
encapsulated PostScript (EPS) graphic files. These options are useful to you
when the service bureau does not have Publisher to print Publisher files for
you.
In some cases, the service bureau may specify that you need to
create an EPS image (this is often the case if the service bureau is running
only Macintosh equipment). In other cases, the service bureau may specify that
you create a PostScript print file. This article lists the major differences
between PostScript print files and EPS graphic files.
EPS is a single-page file format. Although the Windows
PostScript driver allows you to create a multi-page EPS file, that file may be
unusable by other programs. A PostScript print file can contain as many pages
as you want, but it usually cannot be imported by a program's EPS import
filter.
There are several differences between the file headers of
EPS graphics and PostScript print files:
- The first line of an EPS file is similar to:
- The first line of a PostScript file is similar to:
Because the EPS file format allows a tagged image file format
(TIFF) or Windows metafile (WMF) image to be embedded in the PostScript header
to provide a preview image when the file is imported into a document, a section
beginning with:
followed by the preview image may be added to the header
of the EPS file. PostScript print files will lack this section entirely.
EPS files are generally larger than straight PostScript files. The headers for
the PostScript files have a line that begins with:
%%Include Resource: ........
which simply references the standard Windows PostScript dictionary. The
equivalent line in the EPS file begins:
%%Begin Resource:.........
which includes the standard Windows PostScript dictionary.
PostScript files created by Windows usually begin and end with a binary
"CTRL+D" character. This binary character serves to clear the printer's memory
before it downloads the new print job and to clear the printer's memory again
after the print job completes. If the PostScript file is to be printed to a
non-MS-DOS environment (UNIX or Macintosh), those binary characters need to be
removed before the file is sent to the printer.
EPS files do not
contain the "CTRL+D" character, as they are assumed to be part of another
document, not a single document.
"Encapsulated PostScript File Format," pages 1-5, (c) Adobe
Systems, Inc. 1987
For additional information, please see the
following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
163641Â
(http://kbalertz.com/Feedback.aspx?kbNumber=163641/EN-US/
)
PPT: Can't Create EPS File if Using Windows NT PostScript Driver