More info on exporting to EPS

[Olly Betts]

On Mon, May 15, 2006 at 09:19:25PM +0100, Brian Clipstone wrote:
> I am running Windows 98, when I export to EPS (any size file), Photoshop
> gives me the error message "Could not open C:\ ......filename.eps because
> the parser module cannot parse the file".

Unfortunately I doubt I can do much about that.  EPS is a tricky format
to import because it's actually a full-blown programming language.  The
files we generate are (at least as far as I can tell) valid EPS, but
import filters seem to make assumptions.  If I knew what those
assumptions were I might be able to address it, but Photoshop doesn't
come with source code so I can't just read that, and the error message
gives no useful information.

Best bet is to try a different format.  SVG is much better defined, so
if Photoshop can import that it's a good choice.  DXF isn't too bad
(there are a number of things that aren't in the official spec that you
need to know, but Leandro managed to work them out.)

If there are other useful vector export formats, I can look at adding
them.  Directly exporting to bitmap formats is possible too, but it's
generally better to work with a vector format if you can.

> I tried all versions of Aven upto 1.0.38.  Version 1.1.7 shows in Windows
> Explorer as a 0K file, but in fact has at least 30 lines of characters the
> same as the other versions, but end abruptly.

1.1.7 has a bug - it doesn't properly close the file after finishing
the export operation.  As a work-around, if you quit Aven you should
find that the file then gets closed and the missing lines written.
This is fixed in my working copy (along with a number of other things)
- I just need to find time to put together another release.

Cheers,
    Olly