In Word 2010 (Win 7) when I import .eps files, the graphics import filter alters the color encoding in the original file. (The problem predates Office 2010.) Can someone explain how the graphics import filter works? That is, how can I control what colors will be supported? Thanks.

EPS graphics merely embed postscript code into the document, which Word passes directly to the printer. Word makes no changes to the EPS data, so the problem is either: (a) the data in the EPS file are not what you believe they should be; or (b) the printer is not decoding the data correctly.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

When I create an image in Illustrator encoded with RGB 51:102:153 and import it into Word, the color does not appear as 51:102:153 in Word. I can see this visually when I compare the imported color to color elsewhere in the document (for example, table cell shading that was encoded by Word). So, are you saying that there are settings in Illustrator that are incorrect?

When I create a .pdf from the Word file with the imported image, I can open the the .pdf in Illustrator to see what has happened to the color. The color in the image that was originally encoded 51:102:153 by Illustrator is changed to 31:97:205 in the .pdf output. The color in the table shading that was encoded by Word as 51:102:153 stays the same, i.e., it retains the Word color encoding.

There's a couple of different issues here.

First, has Illustrator been calibrated to your printer? If so, Word, not being a graphics app is unlikely to display the same colours the same way.

Second, What colour space is Illustrator configured for (IIRC Word approximates sRGB)? Even then, Word only works with an 8-bit RGB colour depth - CMYK gets converted to 8-bit RGB.

Third, even if Illustrator has not been calibrated to your printer, Illustrator's programmers might have opted for a different on-screen representation of the colours than Microsoft did for Word. If you insert an autoshape into Word and set its colours to 51:102:153, you should be able to compare that directly with Illustrator on screen.

Fourth, EPS graphics typically include a relatively low-res preview version of the image for display in apps like Word (IIRC jpg format). If the printer the image gets printed on is not postscript-capable, it's the preview image that gets printed. Given what happens with jpg compression, I wouldn't be at all surprised if some colours get munged.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

1) I believe the "printer" in this case is the Acrobat Distiller. Since Illustrator and Acrobat are both part of CS5, I assume they are configured to work together. So you suggest that Word is unlikely to display colors the same way as these two apps. That's exactly the question I'm asking. Yet when I output a color encoded by Word, it appears in the pdf correctly. It's only when I import an eps image that the color shifts.

2) Illustrator tells me it is in RGB color mode. I don't know whether it is producing 8-bit color. How can one determine that?

3, 4) The on-screen representation is similar to the printed output. That is, the two colors do not match.

So, I still don't understand where the problem is.

Moreover, you write: "EPS graphics merely embed postscript code into the document". That may be, but in the printed output, the type appears as outlines, not the original razor-sharp fonts. (When I worked with Word 6, I didn't have this problem - in those days I was using Type 1 postscript fonts.) This result suggests that somewhere in the publishing process (file import, or pdf printing) the fonts are being changed. Can you comment on this behavior?

Aha, I double-checked to make sure that Illustrator is in RGB color mode (File > Document Color Mode). Now the image is coming through correctly. So, this may have solved the problem. I'll keep working with it.

I had the same issue. My "Document Color Mode" was already set to "RGB Color" in Illustrator. It turned the problem was an option within the EPS export dialog. The option is "Include CMYK PostScript in RGB Files" and unchecking it fixed the colour shift issue.