How to Preview AI and EPS Files in Eagle : Design Asset Library
- Aya
- Aug 20
- 5 min read
Updated: 7 days ago
As a designer, I use Eagle to manage my design assets library.
One of the features I love is that Eagle automatically extracts colors from photos and generates a color palette.
It also allows me to add tags and preview a wide range of file formats — including 3D assets like OBJ and Photoshop PSD files, without having to open them.
Thanks to this, Eagle has become an essential tool for managing design assets of all kinds.
In my daily work as a designer, I use Eagle almost every day. However, there has always been one thing that bothered me: when it comes to .ai (Adobe Illustrator) or .eps files, the preview would not display.
Recently, I finally discovered a way to preview AI and EPS files directly in Eagle, and in this article, I’ll share the method with you.
Note: This guide is based on Windows OS.
Which File Types Supported by Eagle?
Most of the assets I manage in Eagle are vector files.
However, I noticed that for AI and EPS formats, only the file names were displayed, making it difficult to know exactly what kind of illustration each file contained.
I always thought it would be much more convenient if vector files in Eagle could be previewed, just like in Adobe Bridge. And to my surprise, I recently found out that AI and EPS files can actually be previewed as well!
On Eagle’s official Help page, under the FAQ section, I came across a list of file formats that can be directly previewed within the Eagle library.
According to that article, as of 2025, the file types that can be previewed in Eagle without opening them are as follows (for Windows OS).
(I highlighted in yellow the formats I use most often in my design work.)
Image | bmp, eps, gif, heic, heif, hif, icns, ico, jpeg, jpg, png, svg, tif, tiff, ttf, webp, avif, base64 , jfif, insp, jxl, jpe |
3D | fbx, obj, blender, 3ds, 3mf, dae, ifc, ply, stl, glb |
Texture | dds, exr, hdr, tga |
Source | afdesign(Affinity Designer), afphoto(Affinity Photos), afpub(Affinity Publisher), ai(Illustrator), c4d(Cinema 4D), cdr(CorelDRAW), clip(Clip Studio Paint), dwg(AutoCad), graffle(OmniGraffle), idml, indd, indt(InDesign), psb(Photoshop Large Document), psd(Photoshop), skp(SketchUp), xd(Adobe Xd), xmind |
Video | m4v, mp4, webm, mov (only support H.264, H.265 thumbnail only) |
Audio | aac, flac, m4a, mp3, ogg, wav |
Font | ttf, ttc, otf, woff |
RAW | 3fr, arw, cr2, cr3, crw, dng, erf, mrw, nef, nrw, orf, otf, pef, raf, raw, rw2, sr2, srw, x3f |
Office | txt, pdf, potx, ppt, pptx, xls, xlsx, doc, docx, eddx, emmx |
Others | html, mhtml, url |
Wait a second... I noticed that EPS and AI extensions are actually listed by default! (; ･`д･´)
However, in my Eagle library, the previews were not showing up at all.
According to the official Eagle page, there’s a note that says:“If the above formats do not display properly after being imported into Eagle, please reinstall the latest version of Eagle.”
How to Check Your Eagle Version
Come to think of it, I realized that I hadn’t updated Eagle since the very first time I downloaded it. So, I decided to reinstall the latest version right away.
To check your Eagle version, simply go to the hamburger menu in the top-left corner and select “Check Updates.” This will show you whether your current version is up to date.
The latest version appears to be 4.0.0 Build 11, released on June 27, 2025.
I went to Eagle’s official website and downloaded the latest Windows version.
Since Eagle is a one-time purchase software, there was no need to log in with an account.
AI and EPS Formats Previews Still Not Showing Even After Installing the Latest Version of Eagle?
But even after installing the latest version of Eagle, the previews still didn’t show up! When I opened the updated version, nothing had changed — AI and EPS files were still not displaying previews.
👀 Reference：Eagle FAQ : Unable to preview Adobe Illustrator (.ai) files
So, I went back to Eagle’s FAQ page and found a question titled “Unable to preview Adobe Illustrator (.ai) files.”
According to this page, it turns out that on Windows OS, additional settings are required in order to enable AI previews.
How to Install the Plugin to Preview AI & EPS Files in Eagle
To install a plugin in Eagle, go to the top-left menu and select Plugin > Plugin Center.
This will open the Plugin Center.
Honestly, I didn’t even know Eagle supported plugins until now — and to my surprise, there are quite a lot of them available. Best of all, installing plugins is free.✌
In addition to plugins for JSON or dotLottie formats, there are even AI-powered tools to help organize your library.
For enabling previews of AI and EPS files, search for “AI, EPS Format Extension” using the search bar in the top-left corner of the Plugin Center.
If the plugin hasn’t been installed yet, a blue Install button will appear on the right-hand side. Click it to install — no extra cost.
Once the installation is complete, close the Plugin Center by clicking the X button in the top-right corner and return to your library.
At this point, however, AI files still won’t show previews. There’s one more step required.
In your Eagle library, select all the AI/EPS files that don’t display previews (you can press Ctrl + A to select everything, even files that already show previews — it won’t cause any issues).
Then right-click and choose More... > Refresh Thumbnail.
And that’s it! The AI and EPS files will now finally display previews directly in your Eagle library.
This feature is incredibly useful — no more opening files one by one just to see what’s inside!
What to Do if AI/EPS Files Still Don’t Preview in Eagle After Installing the Plugin?
As an example, one of the .ai files I mentioned earlier still wouldn’t show a preview, even after refreshing the thumbnails.
The file itself wasn’t corrupted, so I opened it in Adobe Illustrator, re-saved it as an AI file, and then uploaded it back into my Eagle library. After doing that, the preview finally displayed correctly.
The exact cause is unclear, but if a file format officially supported by Eagle still doesn’t preview even after installing the plugin, try opening the source file, re-saving it, and re-uploading it to Eagle.
Eagle, the Design Asset Management Tool for Designers
That’s a wrap on how to install the Eagle plugin and what to do if AI/EPS previews still don’t show up.
With this setup, I can now preview almost all of my design assets directly in my library, making asset management even more efficient!
If you’d like to learn more about Eagle as a design asset management tool, check out my full article here 👇
Get Eagle today and simplify your design asset management!
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