Tutorial on Embedding EPS Picture

This tutorial uses Microsoft PowerPoint 97 as an example to illustrate the embedding of an EPS calendar picture to make do it yourself calendar. The process is quite straightforward and can be adapted to other document preparation software.

Step 1: Start a new presentation. A little note here is that for Page Setup, change size to be same as paper size to be able to have better control on margins. The default tends to leave too much margin area. Refer to the illustration below.

Step 2: On menu, choose Insert | Picture | From File... to insert the calendar picture. See illustration below.

Step 3: In the Insert Picture dialog, select the EPS calendar picture file and click Insert. Unless you downloaded the EPS calendar with optional preview, only a frame is shown in the preview area, since Windows is not able to generate a preview for an EPS picture. This is normal. See illustration below. For Microsoft Office XP and 2003, please see note below.

Step 4: Again, since Windows can not generate a preview of EPS picture, only a frame is shown if you didn't download the EPS calendar with optional preview. The message inside states that the picture will print correctly on a PostScript printer. Just position the frame to desired place. If desired, you may change the size of the picture, but please do not change the aspect ratio since that will distort the text inside. Then other decorations can be inserted by repeating Steps 2 and 3, or drawings can be added. If you downloaded a monthly calendar with preview, you can also add notes to specific dates as needed. The EPS calendars are also transparent when printed on a PostScript printer in the sense that any background picture or text will show through the white portion of the calendar. In the illustration below, a clip art picture of a lion was inserted.

Step 5: If you have a PostScript printer, Just choose "File | Print..." or click the printer button on the toolbar to print the calendar you just designed. However, most low cost printers are not PostScript printers. In this case, you need to use the "Add Printer" wizard to install the driver for a color PostScript printer, such as Tektronics Phaser 480, and set it to print to the "FILE:" port. When you print to this printer, a PostScript file containing the output pages will be generated and you can use the free ghostscript and gsview to print and view this file. When you print from gsview, of all drivers come with ghostscript, if there is no exact match to your printer, the "mswinpr2" driver usually works for a Windows printer. For new versions of gsview, choose Windows GDI printer. If you downloaded the EPS calendar with optional preview, you can alternatively print directly to a non-PostScript printer, albeit with reduced quality. The illustration below is a picture of a print out of the calendar designed in Step 4. This picture is generated with gsview.

Note on Office XP and Office 2003: Office XP and Office 2003 will not use preview contained in EPS file but will use a built-in (poor quality) PostScript interpreter to create one. It fails on the first Chinese character in the EPS file generated by ccal and is only able to show a frame. Printing will only work with a PostScript printer or with use of ghostscript and gsview.

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