À propos des fichiers EPS

EPS (Encapsulated PostScript · Format d'image)

Lancement 1987 Par Adobe Systems

Encapsulated PostScript (.eps) est un format de fichier pris en charge par KaijuConverter pour l’archivage, l’échange professionnel et la conversion multiplateforme.

Famille

Raster & Vector Images

Extension

.eps

Type MIME

application/postscript, image/x-eps

Utilisable comme

Entrée

L'histoire

COMMENT EPS
A VU LE JOUR.

1985

1987

2020

EPS — Encapsulated PostScript — was Adobe’s way of letting PostScript code travel inside other documents. PostScript itself (1985) was a full page-description programming language used to drive laser printers. A raw PostScript file could do wild things like draw dynamically and print whole books. EPS (1987) was a disciplined subset: one page only, bounding box declared up front, no changes to the printer’s state, safely droppable into a QuarkXPress or PageMaker layout.

For two decades EPS was the vector logo format. Every agency handoff, every brand manual, every print shop expected "send me the EPS". Then PDF ate the world — a PDF can do everything EPS does and more, with better preview and compression — and Adobe themselves deprecated EPS as an import format in Illustrator 2020. EPS still works, but it’s a slowly fading legacy choice for most new work.

CURIOSITÉS ET
ANECDOTES.

An EPS file is technically a program written in PostScript, a stack-based language similar to Forth.

Every EPS begins with a magic line: "%!PS-Adobe-3.0 EPSF-3.0" — grep for it and you can spot them in a filesystem.

EPS files can include a low-res bitmap preview (TIFF or WMF) for editors that cannot render PostScript.

Because EPS is code, a malicious EPS could historically execute arbitrary PostScript operations — Illustrator 2020 dropped imports largely for security.

The "Encapsulated" in the name means "safe to embed in another document" — unencapsulated PostScript could reset the printer.

POINTS FORTS ET
LIMITES.

Points forts

Vector-based — infinite resolution with no rasterization artifacts.
Preserves exact CMYK colors, spot inks, and print-ready metadata.
Universally accepted by professional prepress and sign-making workflows.
Self-contained — fonts and images can be embedded inside the file.

Limites

Legacy format — Illustrator 2020+ deprecated EPS import for security reasons.
No built-in support for transparency — a longstanding pain point for designers.
Web browsers do not render EPS; previews are often a low-res TIFF thumbnail.
PostScript parsing is slow and memory-hungry compared to modern vector formats.
Newer work is better handed off as PDF or SVG.

Tailles et poids typiques

Simple logo (few paths)

10-80 KB

Complex vector illustration

500 KB - 5 MB

Full-page layout with embedded images

10-100 MB

Spécifications techniques

MIME type: application/postscript
Extensions: .eps, .epsf, .epsi
Standard: Adobe EPS Specification 3.0 (1992)
Language: PostScript Level 2 / 3
Bounding box: Required in header (%%BoundingBox)

CONVERTIR DEPUIS
EPS

eps jpg eps png eps webp eps avif eps gif eps bmp eps tiff eps ico eps pdf eps ai

CONVERTIR EN
EPS

jpg eps png eps webp eps gif eps bmp eps tiff eps

Cas d'usage courants

Print production, legacy vector graphics, stock illustrations.