What's the best file format to save an Illustrator image to be placed in a Word PDF?

December 7, 2004 10:58 AM

What is the best file format to output an outlined logo from Illustrator v.10. for use in a Word (2002) document that will ultimately be converted to PDF? When I save the logo as an .EPS (as suggested in a previous post) I get a jagged pixilated image in Word. When I export as a TIF I get that inefficient, non-vector, slightly bitmappy look even when done at 300dpi. I am using Windows 2000 and yes, Word must enter the equation.
posted by punkfloyd to computers & internet (11 comments total)

Is it a scaling issue? Word might be resizing the image to fit on the page, and even high res bitmaps look like crap at 66.6%.
posted by ChasFile at 11:03 AM on December 7, 2004

Can you do wmf? That should work, although if you're having trouble with eps, it might not be an improvement. Worth trying, though.
posted by alex_reno at 11:04 AM on December 7, 2004

It's a problem with how you save the EPS or some setting. I haven't figured it out. So if someone knows, please tells us.

The second-best solution is to export in Illustrator as a windows metafile.

(on preview, that's the "wmf" in the above post.)
posted by Mayor Curley at 11:05 AM on December 7, 2004

You'll probably have to sacrifice the quality if you are using MS word.
posted by helvetica at 11:06 AM on December 7, 2004

Unfortunatelty I think helvetica is correct. I have had this issue forever and feel like I have tried everything. I guess Word is the weak link. Outputting said logo to a PDF directly from Illustrator works just fine.
posted by punkfloyd at 11:12 AM on December 7, 2004

If you have the full Acrobat, you can port that good-looking logo from its PDF into the other one.
posted by Mayor Curley at 11:16 AM on December 7, 2004

EPS files consist of two parts: a PostScript program that creates an image, and a low-quality, low-res preview image that can be displayed as a placeholder. So if you import it into Word or Quark or whatever it will never look as good on the screen. What do the Word files look like when you print them out? Or make into a PDF?
posted by grouse at 11:30 AM on December 7, 2004

Holy smokes! grouse you are a genious. I never attempted to go ahead and try to print or .pdf the jagged "preview" image. it comes out clear as a bell at all zoom levels as a pdf.
posted by punkfloyd at 11:46 AM on December 7, 2004

It's been this way forever, on both the Macintosh and Windows platforms. Only starting with Mac OS X 10.3 or later, when the system has the ability to parse and display arbitrary PostScript files (including EPS files), are we starting to see programs that don't need a low-res "native" preview in 'PICT' or WMF format so that applications can display it on screen.

Without the preview, Word would have to include a PostScript interpreter to show you the EPS image in your document. When you print, either to a PostScript printer or to a PDF-making virtual printer, the PostScript interpreter in the device renders the EPS for you, and it comes out like you'd expect.

If you tried printing it to a non-PostScript printer, though, you'd see the jaggies. This isn't an issue when creating PDF files with Adobe's software, as it interprets PostScript correctly by definition, but it might be with other virtual printers.
posted by mdeatherage at 1:14 PM on December 7, 2004

What do you do if your EPS also prints like ass?
posted by Mayor Curley at 1:15 PM on December 7, 2004

If your EPS also prints badly, then there's either no good EPS rasterizer in the print chain (non-PostScript printer and absence of other drivers/software to make up for it), or your EPS is messed.
posted by weston at 5:47 PM on December 7, 2004