I can no longer insert EPS graphics into PowerPoint
Product Updates disable EPS in Office
In an April 2017 product update, Microsoft disabled the ability to insert Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) graphics into Office documents in order to make Office more secure.
At the time, they published a way of re-enabling EPS via a registry change.
In another update that will roll out in May through June 2018, Microsoft has disabled this registry fix in Office 365, though not in Office 2016, 2013 and 2010.
Result: Updated copies of Office 365 will no longer be able to insert EPS graphics or use any other processes that rely on inserted EPS graphics. Period. Registry changes will not help.
If you prefer to hear the bad news directly from Microsoft, here's their explanation.
For the technically-minded, here's a highly detailed description of how the EPS security attack works.
After an update that disables EPS, you may still see EPS listed as one of the available file types in the Insert Picture dialog box, but if you choose an EPS file, there will be no warning, but the file will not be imported or it will be imported as a box with a red-x graphic and a message about how the picture cannot be displayed.
What Office versions are affected?
The 2017 update that disables EPS but that can be over-ridden via a registry fix
- Affects Office 2010, 2013 and 2016/365.
- Has affected Office 2007 since 2015.
- Has no effect on Mac Office 2011 or 2016.
The 2018 update that cannot be over-ridden via a registry fix seems to affect only Windows Office 365 (but not Office 2016).
What about existing documents that include EPS graphics
Since (approximately) Office 2002, PowerPoint has converted EPS graphics to EMF format at the time of import, so it's unlikely that you'll encounter any documents that include unconverted EPS graphics.
However for older files or possibly newer files that make use of a registry change (see below) that enables EPS to be inserted as-is and not converted to EMF, you'll probably see a Red X image instead of the EPS graphics when you open these PPT/PPTX files into PowerPoint after the April 2017 update has been applied.
If you have Office 365, you may as well stop reading now.
You can no longer insert EPS graphics into PowerPoint or other Office documents.
There's nothing you can do about it.
Microsoft has spoken.
Sorry.
If you are NOT using Office365 and NEED to continue using EPS on Windows
Microsoft strongly recommends against turning on the EPS filter at this time, but if you need to use EPS graphics and understand that inserting EPS from an unknown source can be a serious security risk, you can so so by following the instructions in Security settings for graphic filters for Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Office 2016, Microsoft Office 2013, Microsoft Office 2010, and the 2007 Microsoft Office system
Changing the registry entries described there will enable you to insert EPS graphics as before; and as before, the EPS will be converted to EMF graphics upon insert. That MS page is rather confusing, so here's our somewhat simplified explanation.
But before we go there, here's a kinder, gentler way. Kind gentleman that he is, Jamie Garroch has written an add-in that will make the necessary registry changes for you. Unless you're the kind of person who insists on changing your car's brake shoes yourself, even though the trained mechanic next door begs you to let her do it for free, you want to stop reading now and use Jamie's add-in.
And a reminder, even Jamie's magic isn't strong enough to defeat Microsoft's "No EPS in Office 365" dictat.
Ah. You're still here? OK. Forward into the Registry!
WARNING: The fixes described here involve editing your computer's registry and assume you have some experience doing so. If the instructions don't make sense, you may want to find someone to do the registry editing for you. Making mistakes can disable your computer.
On with the show then ...
First, quit PowerPoint if it's running. It'd be a good idea to restart Windows before proceeding also.
To re-enable EPS imports, you must first create a registry entry named AllowListEnabled and set its value to 1. This tells PowerPoint to look for a list of graphics filters that you specifically want to allow.
- For a 32-bit Windows computer create AllowListEnabled under: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Common\Security\AllowLists\GraphicsFilterImport
- For a 64-bit Windows computer create AllowListEnabled under: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Office\Common\Security\AllowLists\GraphicsFilterImport
- If you're IT/Admin staff using Group Policy settings to configure PowerPoint for multiple users, see the link above for details.
Note: When I tested this, on a Windows 7/64-bit computer, there were only registry keys down to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Office\Common. I had to add the remaining keys: Security\AllowLists\GraphicsFilterImport myself.
Once you have found (or created) the full key described above, and created the AllowListEnabled DWORD value and set it to 1, you'll need to add additional values.
For each filter you want to enable, add a new REG_SZ entry.
The name of the entry is the name of the filter (see table below) and the value of the entry is the file version for the version of Office you have(also from the table below). Note: the table lists the filter names and versions for English file versions only.
| Type | Description | O 2016/365 | O 2013 | O 2010 | O 2007 |
| EPS | EPSIMP32.FLT | 2012.1600.4309.1000 | 2012.1500.4420.1023 | 2010.1400.4740.1000 | 2006.1200.4518.1000 |
| CGM | CGMIMP32.FLT | NA | NA | 2010.1400.4740.1000 | 2006.1200.4518.1000 |
| WPG | WPGIMP32.FLT | 2012.1600.4266.1001 | 2012.1500.4420.1023 | 2010.1400.4740.1000 | 2006.1200.4518.1000 |
These filters are not disabled by the security update so do not need an entry in the registry to enable them again.
Bitmap (.bmp)
Graphics Interchange Format (.gif)
Joint Photographic Experts Group (.jpg, .jpeg)
Macintosh PICT (.pict)
Portable Network Graphics (.png)
Note When you set the AllowListEnabled value to 1, the default list of enabled graphic filters is removed. To re-enable the default graphic filters and add the CGMIMP32.FLT graphic filter, you must specify the filters in the "Allow List."
The following table shows an example Allow List (in this case, for Office 2016/365):
| Name | Type | Data |
| AllowListEnabled | REG_DWORD | 1 |
| EPSIMP32.FLT | REG_SZ | 2012.1600.4309.1000 |
| GIFIMP32.FLT | REG_SZ | 2012.1600.4266.1001 |
| JPEGIM32.FLT | REG_SZ | 2012.1600.4333.1000 |
| PICTIM32.FLT | REG_SZ | 2012.1600.4266.1001 |
| PNG32.FLT | REG_SZ | 2012.1600.4333.1000 |
But I don't WANT my EPS graphics converted to EMF
For various reasons, you may need PowerPoint to treat EPS files according to the Adobe specification for EPS rather than converting them to EMF files. If so, you'll need to make yet another change to the registry.
- Restart Windows, but do NOT start PowerPoint yet.
- Start REGEDIT
- Go to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\PowerPoint\Options\
If you have PowerPoint 2013, substitute 15.0 for 16.0 above.
If you have PowerPoint 2010, substitute 14.0 for 16.0 above.
If you have PowerPoint 2007, substitute 12.0 for 16.0 above. - Add a new DWORD named PrintMode and set its value to 1
- Close REGEDIT.
Now when you start PowerPoint and insert an EPS, PowerPoint will no longer convert it to EMF, or rather it'll be converted to a special EMF "wrapper" and then passed through to the PostScript printer or Acrobat as expected.