JPG to EPS Converter

Adobe published version 3.0 of the Encapsulated PostScript specification in 1992, and for the next two decades EPS was how graphics moved between applications: illustration programs, page layout software, image setters and TeX. The classic LaTeX route, latex followed by dvips, still accepts nothing but EPS for \includegraphics. Thesis templates, journal style files and print-shop job tickets written in that era often ask for EPS figures by name.

The JPG itself is fine for those jobs, it just arrives in the wrong envelope. Converting puts the photo inside an EPS with a bounding box, so every tool that reads EPS places it at the size you intend.

The most common surprise is expecting EPS to make a picture sharp at any size. EPS is a container that can hold vector paths, but a JPG has only pixels, so that is all the EPS can contain. Placed at 300 DPI it prints crisply at the sizes in the table above; stretched to a poster it blurs exactly as the JPG would.

If the JPG is a logo, diagram or signature rather than a photo, tracing gives you real vector shapes instead. How to convert PNG to SVG explains when tracing works, and the same advice applies to JPG sources with clean edges.

Two settings decide whether the EPS behaves in print. DPI tag sets the physical size: at 300, a 2100 px wide JPG becomes a 7 inch figure. Color space on Keep original passes a CMYK JPG through unchanged; an ordinary camera JPG stays RGB.

Whether RGB is acceptable depends on the printer. Digital presses and most online print services convert RGB on their side; offset printers with strict prepress rules may ask for CMYK. Ask once, and if CMYK is required, convert in an editor with the profile they give you before you create the EPS.