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Designer and Photo will not display this .eps file correctly...


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This is the first time I've run across this problem (note that this is a licensed image and cannot be reused).  Designer will not display this image correctly.  I know it is good because it will display correctly with online .eps file viewers (specifically: https://epsviewer.org/onlineviewer.aspx ). I am using Designer and Photo version 1.8.3.641.  Both display the file exactly the same (at least as far as I can see).

I can't upload the file because it is 17+MB in size.  Even zipped, it is 3.3MB.  Using 7zip I can get it down to 2.1MB.  Arrrgh!

If an Affinity developer would like me to, I could email it to them.

Below is a .jpg file of what it is supposed to look like.  It looks nothing like this in Designer or Photo.  I have the .jpg file (as you can see) and it is working for now, but I would prefer to have the .eps so that I can easily edit it.

Anyway, while I have a work-around, I wanted to let the devs know there is a problem with, at least, this .eps file.  I have not run into any problems with other .eps files that I license.  Any help/fixes would be appreciated.

Scott

GRHK1R eps file in Designer - Resized.jpg

GRHK1R - Resized.jpg

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Hi @GlueFactoryBJJ,

Sorry to see you're having trouble!

Unfortunately standard EPS files do not support transparency of any kind. When saving EPS files from Illustrator (most commonly for upload to Stock websites), Illustrator actually embeds an .Ai file into the EPS 'wrapper' & it is this .Ai file that contains the transparency and other unsupported EPS properties.

The same behaviour will be found in the Affinity apps, as Adobe keep .Ai files as a proprietary 'locked down' format, Affinity apps cannot read or open these files - which is why the file shown in your screenshot does not open correctly.
This somewhat deceiving setting for EPS export in Illustrator is the cause for this confusion, as many users now expect EPS files to contain transparency - which simply isn't possible based on the EPS specification.

This has caused Adobe to have a stranglehold on the Stock EPS market, as they will essentially only be compatible with Illustrator. We recommend using other formats from Stock sites where possible, such as PDF or PSD as these both support transparency natively.

Please Note: I am now out of the office until Tuesday 2nd April on annual leave.

If you require urgent assistance, please create a new thread and a member of our team will be sure to assist asap.

Many thanks :)

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18 hours ago, Dan C said:

Unfortunately standard EPS files do not support transparency of any kind. When saving EPS files from Illustrator (most commonly for upload to Stock websites), Illustrator actually embeds an .Ai file into the EPS 'wrapper' & it is this .Ai file that contains the transparency and other unsupported EPS properties.

The same behaviour will be found in the Affinity apps, as Adobe keep .Ai files as a proprietary 'locked down' format, Affinity apps cannot read or open these files - which is why the file shown in your screenshot does not open correctly.
This somewhat deceiving setting for EPS export in Illustrator is the cause for this confusion, as many users now expect EPS files to contain transparency - which simply isn't possible based on the EPS specification.

This has caused Adobe to have a stranglehold on the Stock EPS market, as they will essentially only be compatible with Illustrator. We recommend using other formats from Stock sites where possible, such as PDF or PSD as these both support transparency natively.

I guess I should have included this pic to show what it looks like when I disable ONE group of the many layers in the .eps file.  As you can see, there is A LOT of information available in this file.  The problem is that I cannot get the word "SEAL" and "TED STATES" to appear.  I can find all of the other letters, but nowhere can I find the missing letters.

Also, if the .eps files were so locked down, then how is it that a free web site can create its own .eps file reader to accurately display the .eps file and allow you to download it?  The "correct" version (the .jpg file) above was created from this .eps file with the website I linked to.

I can see every layer except for that with the missing letters.  In the "screen capture" of the problem in Designer/Photo's display of the file, you can see that the reflection of the seal is mostly complete.  At least it displays all of the letters surrounding the seal. 

Are you saying that the only part of the .eps file that is in a .ai file is the part with the missing letters?  Perhaps you could clarify this?

I have also attached a screen capture where I have resized the Layers panel and show the individual layers where all of the letters that surround the seal are located and displayed.  I cannot find the layers with the "missing" letters.  But the free website can...

Any help would be appreciated, but I still think this is a bug that Affinity should fix. 

Scott

Clipboard02.jpg

Clipboard03.jpg

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6 hours ago, GlueFactoryBJJ said:

I still think this is a bug that Affinity should fix.

@GlueFactoryBJJ

Did you read what @Dan C wrote in his reply to you:

On 7/31/2020 at 9:07 AM, Dan C said:

Adobe keep .Ai files as a proprietary 'locked down' format

Because of this, Serif/Affinity cannot "fix" this, sorry!

Jeff

Win 10 Pro, i7 6700K, 32Gb RAM, NVidia GTX1660 Ti and Intel HD530 Graphics

Long-time user of Serif products, chiefly PagePlus and PhotoPlus, but also WebPlus, CraftArtistProfessional and DrawPlus.  Delighted to be using Affinity Designer, Photo, and now Publisher, version 1 and now version 2.

iPad Pro (12.9") (iOS 17.4) running Affinity Photo and Designer version 1 and all three version 2 apps.

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On 8/1/2020 at 3:57 AM, emmrecs01 said:

@GlueFactoryBJJ

Did you read what @Dan C wrote in his reply to you:

Because of this, Serif/Affinity cannot "fix" this, sorry!

Jeff

Did you even read what I said?  If this were an Illustrator export/import issue, then why is MOST of the data there, but not all?  Why would only some text be visible, but the rest behind some Illustrator barrier?  Also, again, if this were an Illustrator export/import issue, then why can other software apparently "get around" this .ai file barrier?

I've been working with computers, software, and IT since the late 1970s and have been a beta tester for more software than I care to recall and this problem has all the earmarks of a BUG, not a mystical locked file format incompatibility problem. 

Postscript is a "Page Description Language" (PDL).  The first, in fact.  To be able to read/write it is a pretty straight forward process (it's text that can be read by anyone with a programmer text editor), especially since it has been around since the mid-1980s and the current version (3.0) since 1992.  What is it that the other (free) programs on the internet know that Affinity doesn't? 

This is readily available technology and there is nothing in the format that is still under patent (the patent expired at least 8 years ago, 1984 + 20 years = 2004 or 1992 + 20 years = 2012).

You should be careful when you say "cannot", when the answer is probably "isn't a priority".

Anyway, my $.02...

Scott

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On 8/1/2020 at 11:20 AM, Lagarto said:

I think you have a point here. The problems you have experienced do not seem to have anything to do with "Adobe proprietary format" but unfortunately it seems that this has become a kind of a standard explanation for all kinds of rendering issues that Affinity apps have with the EPS file format. It is true, though, that when this file is saved in Illustrator in PDF format, Designer has no problems in opening the file, and it would be good for all if stock object sites would have PDF as one of the file formats for vector objects.

I got interested enough to get the file in question for closer examination, and opened it also in some of the rival apps, and got the following results:

...

So as a workaround, I suggest that you install Inkscape and export the file in either SVG or PDF format and then open the file in Designer. This shows the SVG export opened in Designer and at least all objects seem to be there:
I recommend that you post the file for Affinity developers for examination. It may be that Affinity is not interested in putting much development effort in EPS format, but they should at least have a look on this.

Wow!  Thanks for all of that work!  A great illustration (no pun intended) of why this is a bug and not an, as you said, "Adobe proprietary format" issue.

I'll download Inkscape and use it to output a .svg file and see if Designer can read it then.

Again, thanks for your work/time!

Scott

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