Updated : 2021
File and open command in Photoshop
select the eps file via your file explorer / browser
Set the width and height
Set the resolution
Set the color mode / image mode to CMYK or RGB or LAB or grayscale
Set anti-aliased to ON (or not)
Constrain proportions to ON (or not)
How to open EPS vector artworks in Photoshop. You can use the file open as well as file place command to open and load eps vector artworks into Photoshop. You can also use the combination of Photoshop and Illustrator to edit the eps shapes and use as native custom shapes in Photoshop.
File menu in Photoshop
Open
Browse for eps files and select and click open
Set size etc and click OK
The EPS artworks can be used as standard layers in Photoshop. They can be loaded via the file open command as well as the file place command but the thing to remember is that they will then be raster artworks and not a vector.
File and open command in Adobe Illustrator
Select EPS file and open
Edit menu and copy
Back into Photoshop, select the shape layer option
To use them as vectors directly in Photoshop is not possible other than using them as a font (the sets on this site contain the fonts and EPS format) but the way around this is to bring them into Photoshop and then edit them in Adobe Illustrator and then copy the results back into Photoshop - of course, there are, as with most things Photoshop and Illustrator, many ways to do this such as editing the contents or just using Illustrator in the first place and copying the contents into Photoshop.
If the artwork has been copied back into Photoshop (from Illustrator) as a shape layer, you can then save it as a custom shape
Go to the photoshop toolbar
Select the direct selection tool
Select all the points
Goto edit menu
Define custom shape
You can now use the eps artwork as a vector and as a native custom shape in Photoshop
Go to the place command (linked is probably the best choice)
Find eps file in your files
Click Place
Size as required as well as rotate in current opened document
The eps file can then be re-sized and rotated and effects applied etc in Photoshop. The placed eps file is a smart object
There are two options, place embedded and place linked. Embedded is great if you are wishing to use a shape you want to be unique to your current work and if you want those edits to the placed file only to be reflected in that file. If you want consistency then the linked is great as any edits to the linked file will be reflected in all files. Of course, other factors may be more important to you such as file size.
Window menu and properties
Select the eps shape
Use the convert to linked (if you used the place embed) and save the artwork to a new eps file (the embed option means you are not overwriting the original eps source file)
Click edit contents
Edit in Adobe Illustrator
Save to the same eps file (even though Illustrator persists in setting it to AI by default)
If you use the place linked command, you can edit the content via the properties - simply click the edit contents button in the layer panel (though this does require the association to be set correctly otherwise a totally different application will open such as the preview application on the mac - you will have to use the open with command to reassociate the EPS file).
file place (linked) command into Photoshop
browse for eps files
click place
size as required
go to the layers panel
double click the small smart object icon or go to the right side menu and use edit contents
modify the design in Adobe Illustrator
file save
You can also use the smart objects menu command and the edit contents command (found in the layers panel menu or smart objects menu in layer menu) or just double clicking the thumbnail. The result is opened in Adobe Illustrator
Even better approach to opening the eps file in Photoshop, is to open it initially in another application such as Illustrator
start illustrator
file open in Adobe Illustrator
select eps file
copy
go to Photoshop
edit menu paste
select the shape layer option
You can now modify the points of the eps design, something that was not available just by the file open and file place