I'm new to inkscape, and I'm having trouble saving in eps format. When I try to open the eps in another program it turns out blurry and rasterized. In reading through the help forum, I saw that this is often due to transparency or filters, but I don't see where I have used any of those things.

I've checked that opacity is at 100% and the A value for all fills and strokes is at 255. Everything is flat color - no gradients. There's no blur or text and only the one layer, and when I check the layer menu it shows blend mode normal and opacity at 100%. Even when I try to convert a simple curve to eps it comes out rasterized.

I can't think of anything else to try - Any suggestions?

Thanks!

vbrad wrote:I can't think of anything else to try - Any suggestions?

You could attach the SVG file here to allow others to take a look…

vbrad wrote:I'm new to inkscape, and I'm having trouble saving in eps format. When I try to open the eps in another program it turns out blurry and rasterized.

… or maybe it's an issue with your chosen EPS viewer - what OS/platform are you working on, and which EPS viewer / program did you use to check the file?

Okay - I've attached one of the svg files I was trying to convert. I was trying to open it in Scribus, and I use Windows 7 OS.

Thanks for your help!

It's definitely not an Inkscape issue, nor one with the EPS file: the file exported by Inkscape 0.48.2 to EPS is fully vector (you can view it in a normal text editor - it's plain-text EPS, no embedded bitmaps).

vbrad wrote: I was trying to open it in Scribus, and I use Windows 7 OS.

Consider asking in the Scribus forum for an explanation why the EPS preview gets rendered visibly rasterized on-canvas even with full preview resolution [1]. On the other hand - why don't you import the SVG itself into Scribus? (tested with Scribus 1.4.0rc6 on Mac OS X 10.5.8).

[1] the rasterized preview occurs when importing the EPS file into an image frame. In my test opening the EPS file via 'Scribus > File > Open' or importing it as vector file (Scribus > File > Import > Vector file) converts the EPS file contents into a group of paths in Scribus.

Importing as a vector file in Scribus seems to work. I had been importing into an image frame before. That should take care of my problem for now - but its strange, when I try to view the eps file in a text editor - I use MS Word - it comes out rasterized too.

Could it be the settings I'm using when I save it as an eps? I don't think I can attach an eps file to this comment - is there any other way to show you the file I'm getting?

I really appreciate your help!

I'm not an expert on EPS by any means, but will share my method that seems to work, for me anyway. I export the file from Inkscape (at 300 dpi), then open the png file in GIMP, then I use the file 'save as' function to save it as an EPS file (I think my version of Gimp saves as an EPS 8 file. That works fine.
Note: Inkscape and Gimp can't view the EPS file, so I downloaded the open source Ghostviewer (and Ghostwriter) if I want to view it as an EPS file. EPS does seem to do some 'strange' things, and it may also depend on the version you are using. Some programs can't handle the newest EPS 10 version, so it might rasterize it if it can't handle it.

Greetings Inkscaplogists ! Having been asked to supply my work in .eps format I downloaded Inkscape, so I'm completely new to it. But like vbrad in October last year I am having problems with rasterizing when the .svg is saved as .eps. I have tried Scribus, Ghostviewer, and, as flamingolady suggests GIMP. I've found in Inkscape Tips & Tricks that it may well be somethingto do with transparency but, I am unable to discover how to recognise if my document contains transparent layers because I don't undertand the instruction. Can someone guide me please ? Thanks. Quinky

Welcome to the forum, Quinky

Hhhm....I'm not quite clear how you could not know what transparency is in the image, if you created it. But if you want to upload the SVG somewhere and give us a link (or attach to next reply) we could look at it for you. If it does contain transparency, we can tell you how to get rid of it. But in some, and probably many cases it could negatively impact the image. It's hard to know without seeing the image though.

One clue for which objects contain transparency, is which objects look rasterized after saving as EPS. Or once you open the SVG, you can select each object, and look in the bottom left corner of the window. If either the Fill or Stroke show any checkerboard pattern, that indicates it contains some transparency. It's hard to see the checkerboard though, if it contains only a tiny bit of transparency, and in that case you can open the Fill and Stroke dialog and check the A (alpha) value. 255 is zero transparency. And you'll also need to check the Opacity level, which needs to be 100%.

Once you identify the objects, it depends on how transparency is used. If it's a solid but partially transparent fill, you can use the Dropper tool. If it's a gradient which includes transparency, it might be a lot harder to "fix", depending on how complex the gradient is. You can still use Dropper tool, but you would use it to set the gradient stops.

If the issue is transparency applied to layers, that potentially could involve a lot of work (since that would mean everything in that layer needs to be tweaked). Also, if the issue is transparency in a layer, you won't see any transparency indications as I describe above (checkerboard, A value, Opacity). Open Layers dialog and select each layer, then look towards the bottom of the dialog for Opacity.

If the issue is transparency in a filter or blur, that may not be "fixable" in an acceptable manner. You also might not see any transparency indications as I described in the case of a filter (necessarily) either. Instead, look at the status bar, where you'll see if it has a filter.

Once we get past identifying the objects or layers with transparency, and how the transparency is applied, I (or someone) can give you steps for using the Dropper tool to fix it

But having said all that, maybe the problem is not transparency? Because I think you would know if you used any transparency....unless it happened in a filter.....?

Well, let us know how it goes

Much appreciate your response brynn, thank you.
After much trial and error with Inkscape and Scribus I think I have solved my problem, though I am not quite certain how ! I can now recognise transparancy through the document properties box. What confused me initially was the instruction under 'Pick' after selecting the Dropper tool . . .
"Pick both the color and the alpha (transparency) under cursor; otherwise pick only the visible color premultiplied by alpha." I am still not certain I know what that is saying, particularly 'premultiplied by alpha'.
Still, it's good to know there's a whole host of folk on the forum whose brains I can call upon on my immense voyage of discovery. Thanks again. Quinky.

Hi! I am having much the same problem now for days but not getting anywhere...
The attached file is an svg, that, when I save it as an eps, turns out totally blurry in LaTeX or Preview or any other viewer I have tried. It looks fine as an eps in Inkscape itself. I have not introduced any filters or transparent elements that I know of.
Totally stumped, anyone have any ideas how I can get a figure I can put in a Latex document that does not look blurry?

Thanks for any help!

Hello there,
you have two raster images embedded, the blurring is the result of the implementation -namely interpolation between pixels- of the programs displaying raster images.
If you want to save it as a pdf without blurring, then here is the solution:
http://www.inkscapeforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=15829&p=58820#p59223.
Maybe there is an eps equivalent?
(As far as I know inkscape development builds changed the renderer to the interpolated look, so it would look blurred in those versions too.)


Or just replace the raster parts with vectors.
Tiled clones can reproduce them quiclky.

Thanks very much, I had no idea the image was rasterized. It turns out that even though I saved the figure in Matlab as an eps, Matlab turns `hi res' images into raster anyway. Thanks again for your help.

More follow up in case it helps anyone: I found that if you popen the eps file in a text editor there is a field for each raster graphic that is embedded in the file that says "Interpolate true" change that to 'false' and your problems are over!

Helpful link for all who come across this issue:
http://blog.linuxgrrl.com/2013/08/12/ho ... -software/