Creating EPS that crops to only the artwork on the artboard

[Kurt_He...@adobeforums.com]

I am trying to create an EPS of some artwork for the purpose of running through Distiller to create a PDF. The artboard is letter-size (8.5" x 11"), but the art bleeds off the edges of the artboard in some areas. When I print, it is cropped to what is on the artboard. But when I save as an EPS, the extra areas are included. The result is that the PDF I create includes the bleed elements on the letter-size page.

Hopefully that makes sense. I can't find options to specify that I want the EPS to only include what's within the boundaries of the page/artboard. How can that be done?

I am using Illustrator CS1 (not CS2).

[Shane_V...@adobeforums.com]

Kurt,

I'm just learning all this stuff, but these people are pretty sharp, so maybe I learned something.

If I have my info right, when you save as EPS, it saves the artWORK not so much the artBOARD (Meaning that if you print or import it to another program, you tend to see the artwork, not the artboard). When you save to PDF it saves the BOARD, and everything on it, so your PDF is cropped to the artboard.
I see two options, depending on what you want to do:

1) If you like where your primary artwork is, but have other artwork in the same file that you don't want to print:
Click "Shift + F7" (Or "Alt + W > Layers") to open the Layers palette.
Click "Ctrl + L" to create a new layer.
Move that "don't want to print' artwork to the new layer.
In the Layers palette, double-click on the new layer to select it's Properties and UNcheck "Print".
Now, if you print, only the "Print" capable layers will print, and the one you UNchecked won't.

2) To make sure the artwork and artboard match so nothing gets cut off (I use only ONE layer, but I tested and it looks like it'll work with multiple layers):
Click anywhere in the image area.
Click "Ctrl + A" to Select it All
Click "Ctrl + G" (Or select "Object > Group")to GROUP the art into one object.
Click "Shift + F8" (Or "Window > Transform") to see the Transform Palette.
Record the H and W values on the right side of the palette (The X and Y are the position of your artwork in reference to the artboard).
Click "Alt + Ctrl + P" (Or "File > Document Setup") and select "Artboard" from the droplist in the upper-left corner.
Enter the H and W values you recorded before and click "OK" to make your artboard size match your artwork.
Now you're sized.. time to position:
Since your artwork and artboard are the same size, centering them together should give you exactly what you want:
With everything STILL GROUPED:
Click "Shift + F7" (Or "Window > Align") to get the align palette.
Click the right-triangle in the pallete's upper-right corner and select "Align to Artboard"
With this enabled, click the "Center Horizontally" and "Center Vertically" options... now your artwork and artboard are the same size and place.
You can ungroup by using "Shift + Ctrl + G" (Or "Alt + O > U").

If the second one is what you're after, keep an eye out for my next post.. I'm trying to figure out how to programmatically size and center the artboard to the artwork. Should be a hoot!

Shane

[j.makela]

Just curious, is there a reason you're going the extra step of running
your EPS through Distiller instead of just saving as -> PDF? Or does
CS1 not have the option to save as -> PDF..?

One way to make sure it's sized properly is to just use a mask. Once
you get everything situated, make a new layer on top, draw a rectangle
to the page size you want the PDF to be (8.5 x 11 in this case), center
that shape vertically and horizontally and make sure it's alone in the
topmost layer, make sure everything is unlocked, CTRL-A (select all),
then CTRL-7 (or Object -> Clipping Mask -> Make). Then File -> Save As
-> PDF. Piece O cake.

Unless I'm missing something..

HTH
J