The Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) file format is used to transfer PostScript language artwork between applications, and is supported by most illustration and page-layout programs. Typically, EPS files represent single illustrations or tables that are placed into your layout, but an EPS file can also represent a complete page.

Because they are based on the PostScript language, EPS files can contain both vector and bitmap graphics. Since PostScript cannot normally be displayed on‑screen, InDesign creates a bitmap preview for an EPS file for on‑screen display. If you print a page with an EPS file to a non-PostScript printer, only this screen-resolution preview will be printed. InDesign recognizes clipping paths in Photoshop-created EPS files.

When you import an EPS file, any spot colors it contains are added to the Swatches panel in InDesign. EPS allows for prepress-quality resolution, precision, and color. This format includes all of the color and image data required to color-separate DCS images embedded in the EPS graphic. EPS isn’t ideal for online publishing in HTML, but it works well for online publishing in PDF.

EPS files can contain Open Prepress Interface (OPI) comments, which let you use fast, low‑resolution versions (proxies) of images for positioning on a page. For final output, either InDesign or your prepress service provider can automatically replace the proxies with high-resolution versions.