EPS2PDF       Help File

eps2pdf  is a freeware application to convert encapsulated postscript (eps) files to the Portable Document File (PDF) format. 

It requires an installation of the UNIX Ghostscript package, i.e. /usr/local/bin/gs must exist (and work).

The main goal was to make the conversion of many eps files as convenient as possible. You can drop many files and entire folders at once onto the eps2pdf icon (e.g. in the Dock or in the Finder toolbar). 
You can pick files and folders with the standard open dialog. 
And you can use AppleScript.

Installation:

Just copy the application from the disk image to your applications folder (or somewhere else). 

New in version 1.2:

Many conversion problems have been solved, e.g.
- bounding-box of EPS files with Macintosh linebreaks is handled correctly
- EPS files with binary junk in the trailer are converted
The user experience has been improved:
- asks before overwriting existing PDF files (with option to skip/overwrite all)
- improved error handling
- works from any location (spaces in path allowed)

New in version 1.1:

- accepts files with ".ps" extension (optionally). But it still uses the epstopdf script !!!
- selecting folders converts every EPS file of the entire subtree of each selected folder
- blanks and other "weird characters" in filenames and paths are treated correctly
- Drag-and-drop files and folders directly onto the application's icon (e.g. in the Dock, Finder toolbar or desktop)
- AppleScript support: just place the "eps2pdf script" into the Finder toolbar or your Scripts folder (in the Library folder) for easy access via the ScriptMenu. 
- smaller button :-)

How to get and install Ghostscript:

An installer for teTeX and ghostscript 6.01 can be downloaded from:
ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/comp/macosx/tex-gs/TeXLive-teTeX.dmg 

The installer let's you choose to install ghostscript only and does not require any Terminal input. 

If you don't mind using the Terminal, you can also download the ghostscript package from:
ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/comp/macosx/tex-gs

Note: ghostscript 7.00 and ghostscript 6.50 work on Mac OS X but might produce PDF that is not displayed correctly by Mac OS X 10.1, though it is displayed correctly by Acrobat 4 and 5. 

Usage:

After starting eps2pdf you can 
- push the 'Convert files...' button
- hit the Return key
- choose 'Convert...' from the 'File' menu

Any of the above will bring up an open panel which let's you select the eps-files you want to convert. (Note: The files must have the extension ".eps" or ".EPS".)
Due to user feedback, eps2pdf includes an option to allow ".ps" extensions. But it still processes them with the epstopdf Script, so this might lead to problems with some Postscript files. This option is turned off by default every time you start eps2pdf, because no preferences are saved.

The selected files will then be converted one by one, which is indicated by a progress bar. The name and location of each converted file will be the same as the original one, where the extension will be changed to ".pdf". 

eps2pdf will show a warning if the conversion of an EPS file failed.

In Version 1.1 and later you can also select folders which causes the conversion of every EPS and PS file of the entire subtree of each selected folder. 
Further, you can drop files and folders onto the eps2pdf icon (e.g. in the Dock or the Finder toolbar).

The "allow .ps extensions" option:

In the main menu of eps2pdf you can choose to allow .ps extensions. This affects the open dialog as well as the conversion of entire folder subtrees via drag-and-drop or AppleScript. Directly dropping files with .ps extension onto the application's icon or the AppleScript will allways convert the files!
The option is turned off by default to avoid annoying people (like myself) who use both LaTeX with dvips and pdfLaTeX.

AppleScript Support:

A convenient way to access AppleScripts is the ScriptMenu. If you do not already have it, get the file "ScriptMenu.menu" from Apple's AppleScript site ( http://www.apple.com/applescript ) !!!
Installation is quite simple: First, copy the ScriptMenu.menu to some location on your hard disk. Then simply drag the file to the right end of the menu.
Most of the stuff you see in the menu is located at /Library/Scripts (you may want to clean this folder up a bit). You can place the eps2pdf script either there or in your user specific ~/Library/Scripts folder.  

Known Limitations:

eps2pdf always converts 'in place', i.e. it will try to generate the PDF file in the same directory as the original EPS file. Therefore you cannot convert EPS files in a read-only directory.
This is o.k. for the typical LaTeX user who wants to have both EPS and PDF files in the same directory anyway. If your needs are different and you really want to be able to select a custom destination folder, please let me know! 

So far, eps2pdf does not offer any kind of customization options. 
If you need more fine tuning, you should try MacGSView, for example.
And you could send me a feature request.

Although eps2pdf now supports many kinds of eps files, it will still fail to convert some. This can even cause the program to unexpectedly quit. 
So far, the only officially unsupported eps files are the ones with a color model called "Duplex" in the German version of Photoshop.
Please let me know, if you encounter problems with the conversion of eps files. 

Acknowledgment:

eps2pdf contains a perl script called 'epstopdf' which is part of the teTeX package.
This script was written by Sebastian Rahtz (for Elsevier Science) and changed by Heiko Oberdiek and Thomas Esser.

Many thanks to the users that provided feedback via email or on VersionTracker.

Disclaimer:

eps2pdf is a freeware application. It worked fine for me, and although I cannot imagine how it could cause real problems, I won't promise anything. 
-> Do not hold me responsible for anything you do with this application. 

Do not hesitate to send me any kind of feedback, feature requests, bug reports, post cards, emails, money, ...

Rudi Schäfer  -  rudi_s Software

Email:  software@rudi-schaefer.com

Download-Site:  http://www.rudi-schaefer.com/software

PS:  The source-code will eventually be available on the web later. If you want to have it now, just drop me an email.

PPS:  The purpose of the button is mainly to provide more feedback to the user than just the change of the menu bar when the program is started or activated.