Embbeded images break up as EPS files

[Jason Thorne]

I embed an image and save the document as an EPS file. When I close and open the document again at a later time, the embedded file is broken up into hundreds of smaller sections. What is the reason for this and is there a way to prevent this from happening?

[Gary Newman]

Don’t use any transparency, or, don’t flatten the file, or, don’t save back to Illustrator 8

[bryan Tan]

I think it's due to the transparency objects in your file. When you use transparency and try to save it as any format lower than illustrator 9, it breaks up into tiny little pieces. For me, there was this option about discarding/flattening transparency objects when I save the file. You can try to switch between either to see what happens.