Which File Type is Best for Me?

Foreign Ink can deliver your materials back to you in a variety of ways. The two that work best are EPS files and PDF files.

If you send us an InDesign or Illustrator file, for example, we can position the finished translation so that is occupies basically the same space as the English in your original file. We can then proceed to the step of producing a finished file that you can actually use.

PDF files are often an excellent solution. They can be opened on almost any platform using Adobe Acrobat Reader. They are generally compact in size and can be emailed easily. Most professional printers can work with PDF files for final output.

EPS files are what professional printers often prefer. It gives them better control and allows for easier troubleshooting. One EPS file usually contains the translated text, but not the graphics, from one page of the original layout file. That file of text is converted into a graphic and inserted back into the original English layout in place of the English. The graphics that were in the English file originally are not disturbed. EPS files tend to be rather large. A one-page EPS will normally be at least 1MB in size.