All glossary terms
Technical & Files

What is EPS?

Also known as: Encapsulated PostScript

Encapsulated PostScript — a vector file format predating SVG. Standard for screen-printing handoff because RIP software has decades of EPS support.

In detail

EPS is the print industry's vector workhorse. A single EPS file contains both vector paths (described in PostScript) and an optional raster preview. Screen-printing RIPs (Raster Image Processors) are built around EPS — film output, registration marks, and color separation all use EPS as the canonical exchange format. EPS supports embedded fonts, ICC color profiles, and per-channel separations. Modern alternatives (SVG, PDF) cover most EPS use cases but adoption in legacy print partners lags. When in doubt for screen-printing handoff, export EPS. Modern textile workflows have largely retired EPS in favor of SVG (vector) or PDF (mixed vector + raster), both of which support transparency and modern color spaces that EPS lacks. Keep EPS in the toolkit only when a legacy printer's RIP demands it; otherwise SVG is faster, smaller, and editable in any modern design tool.

Example

A 6-color spot-print design exports as a multi-page EPS: page 1 the registered composite, pages 2-7 the individual color separations with halftone screens, page 8 the registration marks. The print partner's RIP imports the EPS and outputs 6 films.

Related terms

SVG
Scalable Vector Graphics — XML-based vector format and the modern web standard. Used for textile CAD, browser-rendered logos, and embroidery handoff.
TIFF
Tagged Image File Format — the lossless raster format preferred for production textile printing. Supports embedded color profiles, alpha channels, multi-page documents, and 8/16/32-bit depth.
Vectorization
The process of converting a raster (pixel-based) image into a scalable vector (path-based) image. Used in textile design to prepare prints for screen printing, embroidery, and CAD systems.

Go deeper

  • Vectorize patterns for production