A few months ago, I blogged about editing eps file on a Mac without an expensive tool. I only did it a couple times and fell back to “Scott edits eps files.” I’m now writing a new chapter which means I don’t have to deal with existing images. Scott offered to convert my image files to eps. (The publisher did it for our Java 8 books.) I wanted to see if I could to it myself. I feel bad using him as my “eps file service.”

With a bit of Googling, I learned that InkScape has a command line that can convert. I also learned that it is a pain to set up, but instructions are online.

Before doing an operation described as a “pain” and that looks like a lot of stops, I decided to try the UI.

1. In PowerPoint, save as and choose PDF
2. Open Inkscape
3. Open > choose the PDF
4. Changed precision field from ‘rough” to “very fine”
5. Click ok
6. Wait a few minutes (The InkScape window “disappeared” during this step.)
7. Get Window back: Right click XQuartz > Options > Desktop on Display 2
8. File > Save as
9. Choose eps as file type
10. Choose all defaults

Well, I’m glad I didn’t fiddle with the command line. The eps file has a shaded background behind all my arrows.

Take two

1. In PowerPoint, save as and choose pnd
2. Open Inkscape
3. Open > choose the png
4. Changed image rendering mode to “smooth”
5. Click ok
6. File > Save as
7. Choose eps as file type
8. Choose all defaults

Same problem. The eps file has a shaded background. The pdf and png did not.

Oh well. If I can’t figure this out, I guess I’m back to Scott as eps exporter.