How to export PostScript or EPS from a page layout

Both formats are built in: Layout by Zaweba exports PostScript and EPS. PostScript comes out as level 3, sized from a .ppd printer description, with text as outlines in RGB, CMYK or grey. EPS export writes one file per page, each with a TIFF preview so it shows as a picture when placed in other programs.

Most print work now goes as PDF, but PostScript and EPS haven't disappeared. Some print rooms, sign makers, older RIPs and archive workflows still ask for them, and an advert slot in a publication sometimes specifies EPS. When that request arrives, you can meet it without a separate program.

PostScript or EPS: which one

PostScript is a whole print job. It describes every page for a particular device, which is why it's sized from that device's .ppd file. You'd send it to a printer or RIP that takes PostScript, or keep it as a print-ready file for a specific machine.

EPS is a single page meant to be placed inside something else. A logo, an advert or a diagram saved as EPS can be dropped into another layout or illustration program. That's why Layout makes one EPS per page and adds a TIFF preview: the program you place it in shows the preview on screen while the real artwork prints.

Exporting PostScript

Get the printer description first. A .ppd file comes from the printer maker or the print shop, and it tells Layout the page sizes and capabilities of that device. Choose the PostScript export, point it at the .ppd, and choose the colour: RGB, CMYK or grey. For commercial print, CMYK is normally right; grey suits single colour jobs.

Text goes out as outlines, so the receiving device doesn't need your fonts. That avoids font substitution, though it does mean the text in the file can't be edited or searched any more. Keep your Layout document as the master.

Exporting EPS

Choose EPS export and Layout writes a file for each page. If you only need one page, such as a single advert, set up that page on its own or pick the page you need and ignore the rest. Name files sensibly, since a folder of numbered EPS files is hard to sort through later.

Check the result by placing an EPS into another document. The TIFF preview should appear; if it looks right and the page prints correctly, the export has done its job.

Avoiding the usual problems

Run preflight before any export. Layout's live preflight watches for missing fonts and pictures, low resolution pictures, RGB in print and bleed problems, and any of those will carry straight into a PostScript or EPS file.

Set bleed in the document if the artwork runs off the edge. Bleed is set per edge in Layout, and an advert that should bleed needs it in the file.

Mind transparency and effects. Older formats were designed before soft shadows and feathering were common, so preview carefully and print a proof when the page uses them.

Remember that Layout's colour management is basic: CMYK is worked out from a built-in model, and ICC profiles aren't used. If the print shop has strict colour requirements, talk to them first.

When PDF is the better choice

If the printer will accept a PDF, that's usually the safer file. Layout's PDF exporter has press, PDF/X-1a style and PDF/X-4 style presets, keeps spot inks, and adds crop and bleed marks. File > Check a PDF can test a finished PDF against PDF/X rules, though it isn't a certified validator.

For files that need to be placed in other programs, SVG export per page and high resolution PNG or TIFF are other options.

Layout by Zaweba keeps PostScript and EPS to hand for the jobs that ask for them, and PDF ready for the rest.