freeware to open .eps and .ai files

[xviiixi]

does anyone know of any freeware that can open adobe proprietary files?
TIA.

 

[Al Klein]

does anyone know of any freeware that can open adobe proprietary files?

eps - http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=eps&Search=Search

ai - http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=ai&Search=Search

According to them, xnview
<http://perso.wanadoo.fr/pierre.g/xnview/enhome.html>, should work.

 

[Thorsten Duhn]

Hello,

According to them, xnview <http://www.xnview.com/>,
should work.

not really, XnView does bitmaps, ai/eps are vector format, so
XnView can only show the embedded preview images (if available).

Unfortunately Scribus/Inkscape/Zoner Draw don't do the job.
For opening .eps GhostScript/GSView is available, but does not
allow manipulations.

Any other suggestions? I searched for this myself without success.

Regards,
Thorsten

 

[wwwald]

Unfortunately Scribus/Inkscape/Zoner Draw don't do the job.
For opening .eps GhostScript/GSView is available, but does not
allow manipulations.

Scribus can't open the EPS? It should be able to, has worked for me
in the past.

You could try to clean up the EPS using GhostScript/GSView. In
GSView, choose File > Convert, then the "epswrite" device. It will
create a new, cleaned up EPS file. There's also the "eps2eps"
command line script which basically does the same.

Any other suggestions? I searched for this myself without success.

You could convert the EPS to SVG using PSToEdit, it integrates
nicely with GSView. Then again, the EPS->SVG plugin is shareware, so
I should actually be keeping my mouth about it.

Regards,
wwwald

 

[Thorsten Duhn]

Hello,

Scribus can't open the EPS?

sorry, my error, I looked for .ai support in the past, which
really is missing. Any ideas on that?

Regards,
Thorsten

 

[Susan Bugher]

sorry, my error, I looked for .ai support in the past, which
really is missing. Any ideas on that?

Columbus can open some versions.

<http://www.oasys-software.com/produ...columbus/file_formats/high-end_graphics.shtml>

AI - Adobe Illustrator File Format Versions through 7.0

Susan
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[Thorsten Duhn]

Hello,

Columbus can open some versions.
<http://www.oasys-software.com/produ...columbus/file_formats/high-end_graphics.shtml>

but only features viewing in "Personal" version. Do I miss
something?

Regards,
Thorsten

 

[Susan Bugher]

but only features viewing in "Personal" version. Do I miss
something?

No, but the original request was for something to open the files (not
edit them).

BTW - if you're thinking "open" is more ambiguous than "view" I agree.

Susan
--
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[Thorsten Duhn]

Hello,

No, but the original request was for something to open the files (not
edit them).

maybe also my fault, I just jumped into this topic as I searched myself
some weeks ago, and for that I looked for .ai support and editing.

Regards,
Thorsten

 

[wwwald]

Hello,


sorry, my error, I looked for .ai support in the past, which
really is missing. Any ideas on that?

Inkscape comes with an extension to open AI files... it's based on
an "ill2svg" Perl script that might just suit your needs. I don't
think it works out-of-the-box on Windows (it does on Linux, IIRC),
but you can always run the Perl script from command line, for
instance.

It's located in the /share/extensions/ directory of the Inkscape
installation folder.

Afterwards, you can edit the SVG in Inkscape, convert it to EPS, ...
whatever.

Good luck!

wwwald

 

[Thorsten Duhn]

Hello,

Inkscape comes with an extension to open AI files... it's based
on an "ill2svg" Perl script that might just suit your needs. I
don't think it works out-of-the-box on Windows (it does on Linux,
IIRC), but you can always run the Perl script from command line,
for instance.

this may be the solution, even if I find Inkscape a bit unhandy.
Hopefully they start integrating this soon, always need to convert
stuff on the command line is not what I want every day. I'll have
to play around with this - later...

Thanks,
Thorsten

 

[wwwald]

this may be the solution, even if I find Inkscape a bit unhandy.

It's a bit unpolished, yes, then again it's still at 0.43 (almost
0.44). It has got some very powerful features, though.

Hopefully they start integrating this soon, always need to convert
stuff on the command line is not what I want every day.

In fact, it *is* implemented as an extension and in principle it
should work from within Inkscape itself. Currently it only does on
Linux due to some path problems, IIRC.

wwwald

 

[Thorsten Duhn]

Hello,

In fact, it *is* implemented as an extension and in principle it
should work from within Inkscape itself. Currently it only does
on Linux due to some path problems, IIRC.

for the curious, how is it integrated? Just more file types on
file open/import? Or some special script starting (which I can't
see in menus by now)?

Thanks,
Thorsten

 

[wwwald]

Hello,


for the curious, how is it integrated? Just more file types on
file open/import? Or some special script starting (which I can't
see in menus by now)?

More file types in the File > Open dialog. The trick is, you need to have
the Perl executable in your path before it appears.

Regards,
wwwald

 

[Thorsten Duhn]

Hello,

[open ai/eps with Inkscape]

[...]
More file types in the File > Open dialog. The trick is, you need
to have the Perl executable in your path before it appears.

I just tried and it does not work. As "extension-errors.log"
states it still does not find Perl (needs also Image::Magick)
even if in path. And it also requires GhostScript installed,
where it can't find that cause it's looking for "gs" and it's
called "gswin32c.exe". Even a current developer build does
not help (but looks better nevertheless, faster and better).

Several FAQs, WiKi and boards were no help, Inkscape is
developed for Linux and the Windows port is not in focus.

Regards,
Thorsten

 

[wwwald]

I just tried and it does not work. As "extension-errors.log"
states it still does not find Perl (needs also Image::Magick)
even if in path.

Well, it works over here with Perl in the path, so there must be something
you're missing. I can't say anything about its performance though, I'm not
an Illustrator user.

And it also requires GhostScript installed,
where it can't find that cause it's looking for "gs" and it's
called "gswin32c.exe". Even a current developer build does
not help (but looks better nevertheless, faster and better).

In what part of the process does GhostScript play a role?

Several FAQs, WiKi and boards were no help, Inkscape is
developed for Linux and the Windows port is not in focus.

Their developers are mainly on Linux, yes, they admit themselves that
there's a need for Windows testers. Why not contribute?

Regards,
wwwald

 

[Thorsten Duhn]

Hello,

Well, it works over here with Perl in the path, so there
must be something you're missing. I can't say anything
about its performance though, I'm not an Illustrator user.

The overall performance of this app is not that well, just
compare file open dialog to any native windows application.
But that's not the point.

I installed Perl and when I now type "perl" into command line
it starts as expected. So my path must be okay. But still
no .ai in file open dialog.

In what part of the process does GhostScript play a role?

As I understand for export. Here's the part from my
"extension-errors.log" (sorry german):

Erweiterung "AI Input": Laden fehlgeschlagen, da die
Abhängigkeiten nicht aufgelöst werden konnten.
Abhängigkeit::
Typ: executable
Speicherort: path
Zeichenkette: perl

Erweiterung "AI Output": Laden fehlgeschlagen, da die
Abhängigkeiten nicht aufgelöst werden konnten.
Abhängigkeit::
Typ: executable
Speicherort: path
Zeichenkette: gs

Maybe translated like this: "Extension 'AI input':
Launching failed, since dependence could not be resolved.
Dependence:: Type: executable Memory place: path Character
string: Perl"

Their developers are mainly on Linux, yes, they admit
themselves that there's a need for Windows testers. Why
not contribute?

I'm very busy and not able to contribute more than testing
and imprecise bug reports. For that I had not very positive
experiences lately on other projects, no bad response, just
ignorance. And I dislike the SF bug tracking system, I cannot
find if my problems are already reported. Can you give some
advise, what/how to contribute for this project?

Regards,
Thorsten

 

[wwwald]

Hello,


The overall performance of this app is not that well, just
compare file open dialog to any native windows application.
But that's not the point.

No, especially since it's basically still alpha software, at 0.44.
The developers are aware of the performance issues, they regularly
pop up on the mailing lists and are heavily discussed.

I installed Perl and when I now type "perl" into command line
it starts as expected. So my path must be okay. But still
no .ai in file open dialog.

That's strange, it does work that way over here, with one of the
latest development versions (June 8th).

As I understand for export. Here's the part from my
"extension-errors.log" (sorry german):

Ah, OK, I was considering input only. You could adapt the

I'm very busy and not able to contribute more than testing
and imprecise bug reports. For that I had not very positive
experiences lately on other projects, no bad response, just
ignorance. And I dislike the SF bug tracking system, I cannot
find if my problems are already reported. Can you give some
advise, what/how to contribute for this project?

I'd suggest to simply subscribe to the mailing lists and
contribute wherever you feel necessary. A lot of development
discussions go on over there.
Another option is IRC, they have an #inkscape channel on Freenode
where most devs hang out.

Kind regards,
wwwald