How to preview psd, eps and ai files without adobe?

[blue moon]

I just spent the whole morning looking for good piece of software that will let the employees preview the psd, eps and ai files. There is a rather limited number of companies offering something that will work and I am not sure which route to take. Either the company is too small and I do't trust to install their product or not sure how effective it will be. . .

Any suggestions on what the sales ppl and the CSRs can use to prview the art for the orders?

thanx,

pierre

[im_mcguire]

You could use an iPad with procreate to look at all of that.

Or even the combination of procreate and Affinity designer.  Both are cheap and will give you all the viewing capabilities you need.

Affinity Designer for desktop is also a great alternative to the adobe products.

[mk162]

You may end up with 2-3 pieces of software.  You could be headed for trouble with software that allows editing.  It my edit the file upon opening and when the file is resaved it will be incorrect.  I would see if you could find a previewer program for each, rather than 1 program that works for all(also, they are raster and vector, so that might be a prob).

[3Deep]

Why not have the art department Jpeg/png the files and send to a network/viewing computer inside the production area with a large monitor, is there any need for production to see files before they go to the art department?

[blue moon]

agreed, it should be preview only!
Yes, art dpt can create jpgs, but that removes the sales ppl from being able to quote quickly. Additionally, we have Adobe licenses, but would prefer not to use them for sale ppl and the production manager. They just need to be able to see what's going on in case the artwork in the production material is not enough.
Windows 10 will give a limited preview in the preview pane of the exploroer, but it is not big enough to count the colors for quoting. Adobe Reader will view .ai files, so that's good. IrfanView will preview all, but requires a ghostscript installation and I am trying really hard to keep the computer as lean as possible. It is looking like we might have to go that route. Se we are installing multiple pieces of software one way or another. . .

pierre

[blue moon]

You could use an iPad with procreate to look at all of that.

Or even the combination of procreate and Affinity designer.  Both are cheap and will give you all the viewing capabilities you need.

Affinity Designer for desktop is also a great alternative to the adobe products.

nah, that's too complicated. I don't mind paying for a good solution, just trying to make everybody's life easier and more streamlined. Few years back when every penny counted, something like it would work. We are past that stage and have a little bit of money we can spend on making the life easier and more efficient.

pierre

[royster13]

Gmail will preview files you mention....

[screenxpress]

Holy Crap, I didn't know that, lol

I just did a test using my Gmail account and attached the following files, all of which "viewed" correctly when opening the email and checking each of the attachments.  No download was needed:

.eps
.png
.jpg
.pdf
.psd
.ai

The only one that would not work was a .CDR file.

Good to know, Thanks

[Shanarchy]

I had mystic thumbs on my old computer. I'm thinking you are looking for something like that so you can view a thumbnail of the file on your desktop without opening, like how a jpg would?

[screenxpress]

I thought he was trying to have Sales people preview art (misc file types) sent in from potential customers to check the quality of their submissions, not generate art (or file) to go out.  But maybe I'm wrong, lol.

In reading on Mystic Thumbs ($29.95), it looks like it can open any (?) file type and create a thumbnail size file for distribution.  Do I have that right?  If so, then I guess that would work too for viewing, but I was sure impressed that Gmail could display all the file types, except 1, that I threw at it.

[inkman996]

I see a full view of all files sent to our drop box, ps, eps, illustrator.

[blue moon]

I thought he was trying to have Sales people preview art (misc file types) sent in from potential customers to check the quality of their submissions, not generate art (or file) to go out.  But maybe I'm wrong, lol.

In reading on Mystic Thumbs ($29.95), it looks like it can open any (?) file type and create a thumbnail size file for distribution.  Do I have that right?  If so, then I guess that would work too for viewing, but I was sure impressed that Gmail could display all the file types, except 1, that I threw at it.

This might be the ticket! Anybody here using it?
It will preview thumbs and give a quick view option. Saving to download folder and then opening will be required, but it's one piece of software and easy to preview (and find later).
Anybody know something that would work straight out of Outlook?

pierre

[3Deep]

I've used a program call File Opener and it opens many type of files, they did have a free download at one time check them out.

[GoWestRob]

I use this online tool from 3M for EPS -
https://promote.3m.com/art_viewer/

It's not perfect but it's free and quick!

[Maff]

Yeah similarly to the Gmail option, Google drive will preview artboards in illustrator and psd documents.

Ideally you want Adobe Bridge which will also show previews of all Adobe files, but I'm not sure you can use just that program without all the rest of the CC

If that Mystic program works out let us know, my sales guys would love that option.

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