How to fix .Ai.EPS files preview issue on Sonoma ?

Apple has removed all capability to view or convert .e/ps files in Sonoma with the exception of the Preview application which can still view selected .ai files. This was done because it has come to light that these file types can be used to deliver malware. You will need third-party applications that still support opening .e/ps files such as GIMP, Inkscape, Affinity apps, Pixelmator, etc.

I happened to install the full MacTeX 2023 distribution which also installs Ghostscript and by which the TeXShop application can open and display .e/ps files.

If these file types can deliver malware, why disable Preview? Does Preview allow the malware to unpack itself?

This really sucks because our entire workflow revolves around a closed server where the art team shares these eps files, that they build from scratch, to our team to incorporate into our technical books. Preview allowed for us to quickly identify which files we wanted to drop into InDesign to layout.

This is why people don't upgrade to the latest OS...

I am a fellow user and neither Apple nor Apple product teams participate in these user-supported, public communities. Can't answer product design why questions.

Because Preview is based on Apple's PDFKit framework and that framework has now disabled its Postscript to PDF conversion methods, Preview can no longer display Postscript, or Encapsulated Postscript files. However, the current version of the free Skim PDF reader can still display .e/ps files.

Any app that can preview or read an .eps file can inadvertently launch malware. An EPS is encapsulated data. The only way to display or preview what's in it is to read the contents. Doing that also means the OS or app will read and launch any embedded malware.

Has anybody discovered a fix/solution for how to preview eps files in Sonoma while using t5he MAC File Find? HELP, Please and advance Thank You.

We've brought only one online. Others are boxed. Malware? email has more ever-present danger than an eps. This is another proprietary move.

have bought more MacPros and Studio, i'm hurting. Done with MAC and while not please with WIN file find, search - Adobe CC as well as "other" utilities run fine "there". I'm getting ready to sell off what have become Library Locking Devices that support enterprise assets.

This is another proprietary move.

No, it isn't. EPS is obsolete. Everyone is moving away from this file format. Including Adobe. The two biggest reasons are they don't support transparency, and they're a vector for malware.

I saved a TIFF out to a Photoshop EPS. As expected, there's no desktop icon. However, since I saved the EPS with an 8 bit preview, I did expect Photoshop to display a preview of the image in its own Open dialogue box. Wrong! Even Adobe doesn't care anymore about previewing an EPS file. I get the same generic icon there as on the desktop.

I would suspect that Adobe is aware EPS files can contain malware, so it simply won't read one for preview. Not that the same thing won't happen if the user opens and EPS. But the difference is the user chose to open the file. They can't blame Adobe if it contains malware.

Basically, stop using EPS for anything. It has no necessary use anymore.

Kurt, so sorry to correct you, but you are way out thinking that eps is no longer valid, or is not necessary anymore. It is so totally NOT obsolete. Bit arrogant that! Designers alike use these files often. They are vector files not raster files and give a much better resolution in print, or on screen. Using an Adobe Photoshop file for instance to gain the transparent background needed is only a bodge. EPS will b around for some time to come unless apps like Adobe Illustrator sort a different file format, but keeps the clean vector that Illustrator produces, WITH a preview icon. . . but if they aint listening . . . . .

One option is to use an older OS X like El Capitan via VM for this (El Capitan seems to work better via VMware Fusion VM than Mojave in this respect):

Why ever would you go back to an old operating system? The hassle is so painful!

Taylor510ce wrote:

apps like Adobe Illustrator sort a different file format, but keeps the clean vector that Illustrator produces, WITH a preview icon. . .

There are many new vector file formats. The most popular such formats for end users are PDF and SVG. These new formats are fully supported, with preview icons, by macOS.

And these are designers who haven't caught up to the rest of the world from the early 2000s. That they insist on continuing to use an obsolete format doesn't change the fact it's obsolete.

To be more accurate, as I only glossed over your post the first time:

They are vector files not raster files and give a much better resolution in print, or on screen.

No they aren't. EPS is a container file. The E means encapsulated. An EPS can have vector images, raster images, fonts, PDFs and other file types jammed into one container. We used to send pages to a RIP that way all the time. And that was over 20 years ago. It's changed a lot since then.

Using an Adobe Photoshop file for instance to gain the transparent background needed is only a bodge.

Again, old thinking. Our main client used PSD files for all raster image placement in their flyers, catalogues and such for over 10 years before we retired. They hadn't touched an EPS since switching. Any vector images were placed into InDesign either as a PDF, or directly as an .ai file. Which works because for well over a decade, an Illustrator .ai file actually is a PDF.

EPS will b around for some time to come unless apps like Adobe Illustrator sort a different file format,

Again, an Illustrator file is just a PDF with a different file name extension so they open in Illustrator when you double click one on the desktop. There is zero reason or advantage in saving them out as an EPS.

but keeps the clean vector that Illustrator produces, WITH a preview icon…

And if you simply placed an .ai file into your page layout app, you'll still have a clean vector image and a desktop icon.

Really, truly. Stop using EPS.

I clicked on this message string to look for a fix, as I did for Ventura OS. As you espouse your ivory tower perspective on the virtuosity (or lack thereof) of eps files, there are those of us who live in the real world and get paid to be productive. My workflow includes thousands upon thousands of clean, vector eps files. Some we have been using for upward of 20 years and some I made yesterday. And in the real world we know the differences between eps files and ai files and pdf files, and we know very specifically how and when to use the various file formats. And if we have to place a logo into our layout, and there are 40 versions of that client's logo, we need to see what we are placing or our workflow is stalled without mercy. I live in the print as well as digital world. Can't use svg files for print (duh). Can't use psd files for large format print since we generally don't design 6-foot tall logos.

[Edited by Moderator]

The reality of the matter is Apple has removed the ability to view .e/ps files in Finder, Preview, and any other Apple application by whacking the underlying frameworks that made that view possible in the past. Kurt knows what he is talking about based on his own real world industry and aligned business ownership experience.

You clearly disagreed with Kurt, and if in time, other application vendors (e.g. Adobe) phase out .e/ps handling, you will have a ton of these files that are no longer interoperable. Then, your productivity will meet a quandary.