An EPS or PostScript file feels anonymous - it is just vector artwork - but PostScript was designed to be prepared and printed by a specific person on a specific machine, and it records that. The DSC header comments name the user the file was prepared for and often the exact path it was saved from, and an EPS exported from Adobe apps carries the same XMP, IPTC and preview metadata a JPEG does. This page covers classic EPS (.eps), raw PostScript (.ps) and legacy Illustrator EPS (.ai); modern .ai files are really PDFs and are read by the PDF path instead.
Scan a EPS / PostScript fileThe DSC header comments are the core. The %%For field records the user the document was prepared for - almost always a login name written by the application or a printer driver - and the %%Title field is frequently the original file path, which leaks the author's username, drive layout, and the project or client folder it was saved from. The scan also reads %%Author, the %%Creator application and version (for legacy Illustrator, the exact AI version and build number), %%Routing (which can carry an email or department), %%Copyright, the free-form creation and modification dates, and the DocumentFonts list, which reveals the typefaces installed on the author's machine.
An EPS saved from Adobe apps is far richer than a plain vector file. The scan pulls a full standalone XMP packet, an embedded Photoshop image-resource block with its IPTC record (By-line, Credit, Contact, and City/State/Country), and a pdfmark DOCINFO dictionary in the PostScript body - the Author, Creator and Producer that ExifTool does not read on PostScript files. Because those are run through the same XMP and IPTC engines used for photos, an EPS can be as identifying as a JPEG.
Preview images and embedded rasters carry their own metadata. A binary DOS-EPS embeds a TIFF preview that can hold its own EXIF and GPS, which the scan reads through the image parser; a WMF preview is itself a signal the file was saved on Windows. Embedded JPEG and PNG artwork - including ASCII85-armoured and AI12 zlib-compressed streams - is decoded and checked for capture metadata. The embedded ICC colour profile is decoded too, naming the operating-system platform that created it, the monitor or printer device, and its calibration date - an author-OS signal no other tool surfaces from an EPS.
Finally, a Type 1 font program embedded in a resource block can carry a /Notice string that names the foundry and sometimes the licensee. Taken together these fields mean a vector file handed off to a client or a print shop can quietly disclose who made it, on which machine, and from which folder - none of which is visible when you open the artwork.
This is a selection. The full field manual documents the fields read from each format.
It reads classic EPS (.eps, .epsf, .epsi), raw PostScript (.ps), print spool files (.prn), and legacy Adobe Illustrator EPS (.ai files that begin with %!PS). Note that modern .ai files are actually PDFs saved with an Illustrator wrapper - those are read by the PDF path, which surfaces PDF-style metadata instead.
The DSC header comments carry the name it was prepared for, the author, the creating application and version, routing and copyright strings, and creation and modification dates. An EPS exported from Adobe apps adds a full XMP packet, a Photoshop IPTC block, an ICC colour profile, and a preview image - so it can be as revealing as a JPEG.
Often, yes. The %%For header records the user the file was prepared for - usually a login name written by the application or printer driver - and the %%Title header is frequently the original file path, which leaks your username, drive layout, and the project or client folder it was saved from.
It can. A binary DOS-EPS embeds a TIFF preview that can hold its own EXIF and GPS, embedded JPEG or PNG artwork is run through the image parser for its capture metadata, and an embedded Photoshop IPTC block can carry city, state and country. The ICC profile also names the operating system of the machine that created it.
There is no one-click strip for EPS the way there is for a JPEG - the metadata is spread across DSC comments, an XMP packet, a Photoshop block and an ICC profile. Re-exporting from your design app with no preview and no XMP, or opening the file in a text editor to delete the %% header comments and the %Begin.../%End... blocks, is the practical route. Because this scan runs in your browser, you can confirm what survives.
File X-Ray reads EPS / PostScript files entirely in your browser - the file never leaves your device. This format is inspected, not modified. Scan a file now.