Free online AI to PS converter

A legacy RIP, PostScript printer, or print spooler may accept .ps files but not native Illustrator artwork. Conversion creates a PostScript page-description file for that output workflow while retaining compatible vector and text content.

AI and PS formats

AI is Adobe Illustrator’s native artwork format. Illustrator users use it to store editable paths, fills, strokes, text, layers, artboards, placed images, and Illustrator-specific appearance data.

Recent AI files can include a PDF-compatible representation. This option improves interchange with applications that cannot interpret Illustrator’s private editing data; if a converter cannot open an AI file, reopen it in Illustrator and save a copy with Create PDF Compatible File enabled.

PS is PostScript, a page-description language and file format used by PostScript printers, RIPs, and older publishing or prepress systems. It represents pages as instructions for drawing vectors, text, and raster images rather than preserving Illustrator’s complete editable document structure.

PS can preserve sharp vector output at any print resolution, but it is primarily an output format. It does not retain Illustrator layers, live effects, artboard metadata, or editable appearance settings in their native form.

Convert an AI file to PS

To convert without installing software, upload the .ai file to 101convert.com, select PS as the target format, start the conversion, and download the resulting .ps file. Check the converted file in the receiving RIP or PostScript application before sending production work.

Adobe Illustrator is the most reliable desktop option for files that use Illustrator-only features. Open the file, select the required artboard or print range, then use File → Print. Select a PostScript-capable printer or PostScript file destination, enable Print to File or Save as File where available, choose PostScript output, and save the file with a .ps extension.

Set the page size, orientation, scaling, and artboard range to match the receiving device. A multi-artboard document can produce multiple PostScript pages, so do not assume that the first artboard is the only page in the output.

Output limitations

Use the PostScript level required by the destination device. PostScript Level 3 generally handles compressed images and gradients better than older Level 2 workflows, but an older RIP may require Level 2 output.

PostScript has limited support for modern transparency. Opacity, blend modes, transparency masks, drop shadows, and other live effects may be flattened, rasterized, or rendered differently; inspect overprints, gradients, and transparent objects in a proof before production.

Keep linked images available while creating the PS file, or embed them in a copy of the artwork. Missing links can result in low-resolution previews, substitutions, or absent images.

Font handling depends on the selected printer driver, PostScript settings, and font license. Embed fonts when permitted; if the destination cannot access the required fonts, convert text to outlines in a duplicate AI file. Outlining prevents font substitution but removes editable text and may increase file size.

Keep the original .ai file for later edits. Reopening a PS file cannot restore Illustrator-native layers, editable effects, or original artboard information.