Hi,

I'm using Inkscape (0.48) under Linux and would like to create some vector art to sell on the microstock sites - so it needs to be saved in '.eps' format.

I've been doing some searching and have read that Inkscape is limited in that if you want to save as eps then any gradients or transarency will cause problems, my art 'style' doesn't need gradients so that's not a problem.

I'm a little confused when it comes to transparency though and have a couple of questions!

1) I've noticed that if i create an object, go to the 'Fill and stroke' dialogue and turn on BOTH a Fill AND a Stroke for the object, save it as an eps then re-open the eps in Inkscape that i can drag the nodes around for the inner fill and the outer stroke independantly of each other and it's a bit of a mess - but i don't seem to be able to delete either one without the other. Is turning the stroke off in the 'Fill and stroke' dialogue (so i'm just left with the fill) classed as using transparency or will if be OK?

2) How can i avoid using transparency in an image, is it enough to go to 'Document properties' and make the 'Background' colour on the 'Page' tab fully opaque (set the alpha channel to '255') or is there something else i need to do (or avoid doing)?

I don't want to have to get hold of a copy of Adobe Illustrator under windows, I'd much rather use Inkscape, it should be more than adequate for what i want (and it's a fantastic program too)!

One last question - when i'm doing the Save As.. eps there's a dialogue that pops up (and another when i open the eps again in Inkscape) - where can i find what these settings do??

Also any hints, tips or links that will help on my quest would be very much appreciated indeed!!

Thanks in advance for your replies!

Ken

Welcome Ken!

And a much belated welcome it is, lol! I noticed that this is your first message posted, but I didn't remember approving it, and I'm looking all over the place trying to figure out who approved it (because I generally do the vast majority of approving new messages). But it turns out that you joined years ago, before we initiated the approval system. So you were automatically exempt! So that mystery solved, and on to your questions

1 -- Not having a stroke on an object does not create transparency. (This is where understanding the differences between vector and raster will help. With vector, you can delete things, and not leave holes in the image, like it happens in raster editors.)

I think I understand what you're describing about the strokes getting turned into fills (after you save as EPS). Objects might be grouped in the EPS, so that you might be able to ungroup, and delete just "the fill" or just "the stroke". Or there's a way to enter the group, so that you wouldn't even have to ungroup. Just hold Ctrl key and click, to select a single object in a group. Or if you double-click the object, you will enter the group. I find that a bit tricky, because I always forget how to get out of the group. I'm sure someone else will jump right in and tell you how, lol.

One thing that might work better for you, is to get into the habit of saving an SVG file of all your images, either before you convert to EPS, or just after. After you Save As EPS, when you try to close the file, I think you probably get a little dialog that says you might lose something, and asks if you want to save the file. You can just click Save As SVG, and that will be a convenient way to always have an SVG of that image. Then if you decide to edit later, you can edit the SVG, which will still retain the strokes as strokes. Then convert the edited SVG to EPS. Of course you'll need to come up with a file naming convention, to help keep things straight.

2 -- Yes, that's a good way to avoid having a transparent background. Just make Inkscape's background opaque! Beyond that, you will have to voluntarily do something to create any transparency. Deleting things does not create transparency, like it does in raster editors (as I already mentioned). If you ever did want to make any full or partial transparency, you would change the A (alpha) slider in the Fill and Stroke dialog, or the Opacity slider at the bottom of the F/S dialog. The A slider should always be at 255 (all the way right) and the Opacity slider should always be at 100% (also all the way right). As long as you don't touch those, you should be fine

I'm not sure what all the options in the Open EPs and Save As EPS dialogs mean. And I can't even see the Open dialog, since I'm not set up to view EPS images. You might be able to find something in Help menu > Inkscape manual > Files, or http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL ... port-Other.

Other members may have other tips for you as well. (I know that flamingolady likes to put images up for sale, and I think she uses that site.)

Brynn,

Thanks for your quick reply!

I signed up for the forum back when i started using Ubuntu but have found Inkscape pretty intuitive so haven't had to ask for advice, until now!

I think keeping a 'master' SVG for me to modify in Inkscape if needed is a very good idea indeed!

I was just playing around again and found that now i CAN delete the objects created by the fill and stroke parts of an object separately after saving as EPS, I don't know why i couldn't do it different earlier this morning but that seems to be sorted.

Have i got this right - If by removing the stroke in the fill & stroke dialogue doesn't add any transparency (it just tells inkscape not to place a stroke object on the picture) then am i right in assuming that the same also true when you have an object with a stroke but no fill - Inkscape just doesn't create a fill object on the page but that this doesn't lead to any transparency??

Thanks again,

Ken

hi Ken,
I also sell on Microstock sites, and I've made many an error, having heard all sorts of things.
You can't use gradients or opacity (and I really wish inkscape could make a vector gradient like AI does, since I can't afford AI and I do like gradients). Opacity means that when you fill a color or stroke, it must be at the full color hue at 255 (look at the fill n stroke menu).
Be sure to save first as an svg, then do the save as, to save the EPS. Not sure what all the things mean on the popup menu, but, I was told to use 'restrick to PS level - then select PostScript level 2', and it works, so I don't question it. lol. It's best to convert all of your text to paths, so I click on that, though in actuality I always convert my texts over to a path because some MS sites won't accept it otherwise. (I also try to keep a copy of the text on a separate, closed layer, that way I can maniuplate it later, and also I will know which font I've used....). I keep the Resolution for rasterization at 300, where possible, check the block 'export area is page' and leave everything else alone. that works well.

Also, when you convert to EPS, you will automatically get a white background filled in as a default, and there's no changing that, you cannot get a transparent background . So, you can either accept it or if you prefer another color of background, then made it yourself and pick your own color. Basically, you need to fill in the entire bounding box area or it will become white, no workarounds for that. (I really wish MS sites would simply allow us to upload the svg, hoping that will happen at some point). I think it's a matter of certan browsers, like IE, that still can't handle svg's.
Those are the major issues with MS sites that I encounter.
BTW good luck, it's slow going on the MS sites right now.

Flamingolady,

thank you for your advice

When you're talking about layers and say 'I also try to keep a copy of the text on a separate, closed layer, that way I can maniuplate it later' do you just mean having a separate layer for your text that you've made invisible in the 'layers' dialogue by clicking on the eye icon next to it?

Also whilst i think of it, many of the bits that i've read say to avoid open paths. They seem to 'export' OK to EPS when i do a Save as, do the MS sites not accept them because they limit what customers who buy the picture from the MS site can do with the image?

Is there an easy way to identify any open paths in a detailed picture, I'm sure i've seen that in Adobe Illustrator you can tell it to identify all open paths for you, it there anything similar in Inkscape?

Have you got any tips for avoiding open paths??

Thanks again,

Ken

ken300 wrote:Have i got this right - If by removing the stroke in the fill & stroke dialogue doesn't add any transparency (it just tells inkscape not to place a stroke object on the picture) then am i right in assuming that the same also true when you have an object with a stroke but no fill - Inkscape just doesn't create a fill object on the page but that this doesn't lead to any transparency??

Yes!

flamingolady wrote:Opacity means that when you fill a color or stroke, it must be at the full color hue at 255 (look at the fill n stroke menu).

Actually Hue is the H slider, if you are using the HSL tab in F/S dialog (or it's the colored circle if you're using the Wheel tab). So you can certainly use the Hue in any way you want, and not have to worry about transparency. It's the A (alpha) value that needs to be 255.

As I mentioned before, there are 2 ways to achieve transparency, or in Ken's and flamingolady's cases, 2 things to avoid. However, if you did happen to use transparency by accident, I don't think the world would explode . But more seriously, and please correct me if I'm wrong, if you accidentally change the A (alpha) value or Opacity, and then saved the file as EPS, doesn't the color just show up as opaque?

I could be wrong about this, but I think the warning about not using transparency, means that if you did use any kind of transparency in your image, the resulting EPS file will not show the transparency. I don't think it will break the file, or corrupt the file. It's just that if you used transparency to create some kind of effect, that effect will be lost in the EPS file. If you didn't change the background to opaque, once you save as EPS, background will become opaque. Again, I could be wrong about that, but that's my understanding. (Plus, what better way to learn something than to publicly state something wrongly, and be publically corrected lol !! )

I'm not sure about the open path thing.....unless it has to do with using the image in a cutter machine?? If a path wasn't closed, maybe an object wouldn't be cut out all the way. Are you planning to make images for use on cutters? The only way to avoid them, is to pay attention to what you're doing. I'm not sure if there might be an extension that automatically closes paths....it seems to be ringing a bell....but I'm just not sure . Most all of Inkscape's extensions are found here http://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php ... Repository. But it seems there are some that aren't listed there. If you don't find one there, you could search the internet. Or maybe flamingolady will know?

First, so sorry about using the word 'hue' instead of 'alpha', I'm not the best on using/relaying proper terms (I'm trying to do better, I promise). Brynn's a whiz on terms (and Inky knowledge)! There's a wealth of info on here.

Sadly, transparency will cause the world to explode in the MS world, lol. And there is no workaround for a transparent background. We just all hope that one day we won't have to worry about it all, when they can sell an svg file as an svg file, it doesn't make a lot of sense to sell an svg file as an eps file in my head....

I should have mentioned open paths before, that's a HUGE no no in the MS world, and, it happens a lot without you even knowing or thinking about it. What usually messes me up, I draw say a dog for example, using rectangles and circles to get the basic shape, then I start defining the image and do a path/difference, and voila, I've now got an open path, typically by an arm or leg or neck, and then boom, it gets rejected, then I have to go back and figure out where I screwed up. An even bigger thing is thinking the 'alpha' color is at 255, it looks like the full color when viewing it, then it gets rejected and it takes FOREVER to find the error. Usually the issue is that there is some color at 254 or 253, somehow the glider has gone down a bit and I never realized it. (hate it when that happens). There are ways to try to find it - looking at the xtml (might have spelled that wrong) codes, but that can waste a lot of time. Evidently using AI is easier to find open paths, I haven't found it to be so easy in Inky. I still have a file that was rejected for an open path, and myself and one other user couldn't find the open path, go figure.

Anyway, to clarify the question you asked me about using a separate layer - yes, you are correct, just stick a copy of the text (before you convert it to a path), on a layer that you keep closed by clicking on the eyeball. I usually create a layer that I call 'extras', and stuff all sorts of things there that I might have to refer back to. Sometimes I now put notes there on how I created the image, what filters I used, if I used gimp, and what gimp filters I've used, fonts used, etc).

p.s. If you ever want to talk about the MS world privately, feel free to convo me to talk about specific MS sites, hints, etc, since this site is more for help for using Inky. Do you ever use the MS forum that's just a general forum, the site that's not connected to any specific vendor? I've found that site helpful at times too. And I also use some of the MS sites forums, great info there too.
good luck!

Sadly, transparency will cause the world to explode in the MS world, lol.

So what actually happens if you put transparency in an EPS file?

Both of you,

Thank you both SO much for all your help, you've been very helpful indeed!

Ken

Brynne,
When you save the file as an eps file, it automatically puts in a white background. I don't know of any workaround, but there could be. If you submit files that don't meet the company's standards, then the file gets rejected and you get 'yelled at' by the company, and, if you submit too many then they fire you (well, the equivalent of, since you work for commission, and it's a small commission at that, maybe an avg of $.25 - $.75 per file, so you won't get rich on MS sites). With MS companies, you get an 'approval' rating, and it goes down when your files don't meet standards, like submitting rasterized files, or the file isn't unique enough to be accepted, or whatever their terms are, each company has it's own set of do's and don'ts.

So EPS doesn't support transparency? What if you did put tranparency in an image, and saved as EPS? Let's say you draw a rectangle that's the same dimensions as the page size, and you color it blue, so that the blue rectangle is the background of the image. Then let's say you draw a small circle, and difference it from the blue rectangle, which creates a little tranparent circle. Then you save as EPS. So then what happens is that the circle is not tranparent, but it becomes a white circle?

Or does EPS support transparency, but it's the microstock sites that can't handle the transparency? I just don't understand what's so evil about tranparency.....or why EPS is the only format they can use....??

Brynn, From my understanding, EPS just doesn't support it. Not sure why. Even if you did the circle thing you mentioned, when you save as an EPS it would add a white background, no getting around it. Customers always complain about that too, so you'd think someone would 'fix it'.
The industry has to have one type of file that everyone can view, no matter their op sys, browser, etc.; so far EPS is the only one that fits the bill. It appears that the IE browser is the hold out now, it still can't handle SVG's, so until each and every browser can handle it, they're sticking with EPS files. (at least now at long last I can view the EPS files in Inky, many thanks to the whizzes on here who put specific instructions on how to add that in; I was using the GH Viewer).
On a side note, another thing is that a lot (if not most) illustrators use AI, as AI does not rasterize gradients and some basic filters. I'm wondering why Inky still rasterizes gradients if AI doesn't. It's a bit limiting to not be able to draw with gradients, I wonder if that's ever going to be addressed by the developers? To me, that's the biggest downfall for us, right now, if I could afford AI, I'd use it for my files with gradients. (basically, we end up selling a jpg with the gradient and not the svg). it works.

flamingolady wrote:Even if you did the circle thing you mentioned, when you save as an EPS it would add a white background, no getting around it.

So if you have a blue rectangle with a hole in it. And after you save the EPS, the blue rectangle is still there, but the hole looks white, because the background is no longer transparent, but white? Sorry, I'm too lazy to install GS, so I could view an EPS file, and test myself

flamingolady wrote:The industry has to have one type of file that everyone can view, no matter their op sys, browser.....

I thought that's what PDF does? But if EPS can't support transparency, it seems like it couldn't be the one best type of file, all around.

Maybe someone else could help explain this? The graph at the bottom of this Wikipedia page shows that EPS does support tranparency. What am I missing?

I also have a problem with properly exporting gradients to eps. There is a bug report for this from 2011, and you can give it a vote with the following link: This bug affects me.

Brynn,
yes, if you have a blue rectangle with a transparent hole in it, it will appear white after you export it.

No idea why PDF isn't used, but thinking maybe it doesn't show/handle graphics or text very well.

I'm not aware of a gradient 'bug' when saving as an eps (exporting is for pngs). Gradients in eps files get rasterized so maybe that's why, maybe it's just not intended currently to do gradients in eps files. Also, just as an fyi that I learned the hard way - you can export a png to GIMP, open it, then save it as an eps file, and it will allow the gradient, however the file then becomes a rasterized eps. I believed some (wrong) advice and had to remove a bunch of files and still re-doing some the right way! So basically, if you use Inkscape and want to save as an EPS, stay away from gradients, filters and alpha opacity lower than the full 100, all hues of colors have to be at the full 255 color.
Now maybe you can export a file to AI and add filters and gradients, but I have no knowledge if it works.

Hello,

There is a bug report here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/791013
Let's vote on it.

hmm, interesting that there is a bug report. I have known for a long time to not use the PS level3 when saving as EPS, but don't know why, maybe that's why. I just know I have to use level 2, and it works. I couldn't find a date on when that was submitted.

Hi, sorry to reply that late.
For me, with 0.48.4, postscript level changed nothing, the mapped images instead gradients still occur. When no transparency involved, this should not happen. Transparency will produce rasters in EPS Illustrator too.
The date is 2011-06-01.
To me, this is a show breaker.
I really need to have a fix.
It seems it is not much attention to this kind of bug due to a strong need for developers, probably.
Is there a place to promote and discuss such issues when they are assigned to some milestone?