Expert: Kevin Stohlmeyer - 9/22/2009

Question
I should begin by saying I have little to no experience with Adobe Illustrator, and some experience with Photoshop.  I use a MAC OS X version 10.4.11

I have Adobe Illustrator CS2 version 12.0.1 and Photoshop CS2 version 9.0.2

I have a logo file that I would like to use in a different color.  It is an EPS file but when I open it in Illustrator I cannot select any part of the image (when I click on any of the tools, actually, a pencil with a line through it appears and no functions are usable).  The logo is black and white.

I know I can change the color in Photoshop, but the problem I have is in preserving the transparent background.  When I save the new file (even as a Photoshop EPS file) the image box becomes white and affects how I can use it in documents.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Answer
Hi Jimmy,

It sounds like you have a Photoshop EPS and not an Illustrator EPS file. You can open the file in both apps, but changing the color of a bitmap image is easier in Photoshop. When you save out of Photoshop, try saving as a .PSD (Photoshop Doc) with the image on its own layer with no background turned on.

Thanks

Kevin