Using EPS images in Word 2007 (or later?)

Microsoft Word 2007 does not use the same graphics filter for eps (Encapsulated Post-Script) files as Word 2003 and earlier versions did. Does it matter? YES!

Earlier versions of Word showed a ‘preview’ of an eps image file (assuming one had been generated when the file was created). It wasn’t particularly clear, but that didn’t matter as printing or creating a PDF used the actual image and not the preview.
Word 2007 is different. When you glance at the Word document, you might not notice much of a difference: you will still see a low-resolution preview. It’s when you come to print your document or create a PDF that you run into difficulties – because the image doesn’t look any better than the the preview did. How bad is it? Well, any text on the image may be quite hard to read and the general appearance is that it is very ‘fuzzy’.
I have found:
  • If the images were inserted using Word 2003 in the first place, I can still create a good PDF (using Word 2003), even if I’ve worked on the document using Word 2007 in the meantime.
  • If the images were inserted using Word 2007, there is nothing I can do.
  • It doesn’t matter how the images were inserted into the document, I cannot (usually) successfully create the PDF using Word 2007. (I say ‘usually’ because I did manage once – but the image file was nearly 0.5MB for a 2cm x 1cm image!!)

If you have documents containing images in eps format and are now using Word 2007, create some sample output to check everything is OK.

3 comments:

  1. I'm experiencing this problem exactly, but now, working on Word 2003 is giving me the same (bad)result.

    I'm using Illustrator files, saved as EPS, then inserted into Word in the header and footer.

    If you have any solutions or tips, maybe saving the Illustrator image in a different format?

    Please let me know.

    Thanks.
    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm sorry - I've not had the problem in Word 2003. I tend not to use EPS unless I'm going to convert to PDF or something similar prior to having a document professionally printed. Most standard office/personal printers are quite happy with TIF, PNG or JPEG (depending on what the image is). I try to export (when I can) at the resolution I need rather than resizing in Word for anything containing text. I don't, however, use Illustrator myself, so I rely on what people send me.
    ReplyDelete
  3. save your eps version as illustrator 8, in my computer, the problem has been solve in WORD 2003. Good luck
    ReplyDelete

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