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Text edit EPS files possible?

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Chris Baumbach

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Dec 8, 2002, 3:12:43 PM12/8/02
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Hello,

Is it possible to text-edit EPS files to change simple things like lineweight (stroke width) and color?

Problem:
Our office is working on a large publication with approx 120 EPS files. Our publisher / prepress house has said that many of the EPS lineweights are below the practical limit of their proofers and presses. They have asked us to increase the lineweights to a specified minimum.

We are looking at several ways to automate this. One possibility is to write a script for a text editor such as BBEdit to text-edit the EPS files directly. It seems that there are lines in the EPS file which specify lineweight in points -- "0.07 lw" and so forth. I've changed these in BBEdit, but when I open the file in Illustrator the old lineweights are shown.

I suspect there is some entry in the "Private Data" section at the end of the file that needs to be changed as well but it appears to be scrambled or encrypted.

We would also like to set all colors to black (zero C,Y, and M) with this process as well.

Is there a way to do this or is it a dead end?

Thanks in advance.

Chris Baumbach

Grond

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Dec 9, 2002, 10:26:58 AM12/9/02
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Why can't you open each file and use the Edit > Select Same Line Weights / Same Fill / Stroke and make the changes?

Chris Baumbach

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Dec 9, 2002, 10:38:56 AM12/9/02
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Yes, we could, but it would take a very long time...

There are 120 eps files, and in each file there might be anywhere from three to a dozen lineweights that are below the minimum. We would need to open each file and search for the incorrect lineweights.

If we could write a script to text edit the files it would take care of all of them in a few minutes.

I'm also working on scripting Illustrator to do the above via Applescript. From what I've read so far it looks like the best way to go.

Thanks
Chris

Larry G. Schneider

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Dec 9, 2002, 12:25:53 PM12/9/02
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Chris,

Look at a plugin by Rick Johnson (http://personalpages.tds.net/~graffix). He has one that will reset the minimum line weight to whatever you specify. You could the set up an action in AI to run the plugin and maybe write a script to run the action in a batch mode.
Check it out.

Larry

Chris Baumbach

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Dec 9, 2002, 12:33:59 PM12/9/02
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Larry,

This is perfect, but it only runs on Illustrator versions through 8. I've only seen 9 and 10 in our office, though I might be able to find an older version.

Thanks for the tip. It's a great site.

Chris

Gary Newman

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Dec 9, 2002, 12:51:23 PM12/9/02
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You might send a message directly to Rick. He’s always working on stuff, including updating his plug-ins for AI 10, and he might have a solution for you.

Philippe JACQUES

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Dec 10, 2002, 3:21:44 AM12/10/02
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There is a "low-cost" solution that works for some files (suppose that your files are builf with a small amount of different stroke weight).

select one path with one stroke weight to modify and from there select all the similar weight using the "select->same stroke weight" menu. From there, use the Stroke palette to modify the weight.

The AI select tools is something that is never mentionned as an improvement in the newest versions, but would be mentionned !

Philippe JACQUES
Author of the MagiSign plug-in
<http://www.magisign.com>

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