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Macola · Sep 3, 2002, 01:30 PM

I'm thinking about getting Macromedia Studio MX which includes Freehand. I haven't bothered to upgrade my copy of Illustrator to 10 as yet (mostly because I still need to boot into OS 9 when using Quark). I've never used Freehand before, but I'd like to know if it's equivalent to Illustrator in most respects, especially compatibility with file formats.

Corys · Sep 3, 2002, 10:44 PM

I think freehand featurewise would be close to what AI 8 had...Macromedia really hasn't done much with the program since FH 8 that I can tell..
I think Illustrator is becoming more and more dominate, and FH's share is slipping away..
the carbon version of FH (10) is pretty slow in OSX, and they haven't updated it since it was released (no bugfixes either). which has been over a year.

the one major advantage it has is multi page support, but if you are using quark, that probably wouldn't be a big feature for you.

art_director · Sep 3, 2002, 11:12 PM

i bought freehand 10 when it first came out. dabbled with it here and there but it never really took the place of illustrator. in my opinion, illustrator is a better app. of course freehand has some interesting features but on the whole illustrator is my pick.

you can always try the demo. download it from macromedia or get a copy of the new macaddict (oct. 2002). the demo disk has trial copy.

Macola · Sep 4, 2002, 09:05 AM

Thanks for the feedback. I'll be getting Freehand anyway (as part of Studio MX) but I guess I'll break down at some point and upgrade Illustrator, too.

digimage · Sep 9, 2002, 07:33 PM

Originally posted by Macola:
Thanks for the feedback. I'll be getting Freehand anyway (as part of Studio MX) but I guess I'll break down at some point and upgrade Illustrator, too.

FreeHand will also read practically all fonts out there whereas AI will only read some.

That's the main reason I keep it on my HD.
That and multiple pages.

Macola · Sep 9, 2002, 09:22 PM

Originally posted by digimage:

FreeHand will also read practically all fonts out there whereas AI will only read some.

Yeah, I've had that problem with AI before. I was hoping they would have fixed it by now.

buddhabelly · Sep 9, 2002, 10:42 PM

I've never seen this problem with Illustrator. I have used fonts, which in some applications are just Garamond ITC, w/out the foundry ID, for example, but in Illustrator, as well as most Adobe software (exception is Pagemaker) that they are in fact in the list, just as a different name, ie ITCGaramond.

There is another issue with fonts. It is a limitation on how many fonts a single program can load. I believe illustrator can handle 180-200, can't remember exactly.

Anyhow, I personally can't stand the user interface for most of Macromedia's software. Not necessarily because it's bad (matter of tast), but more likely because I'm very comfortable in Adobe apps. The multiple page support is about the only thing that Freehand has over Illustrator, IMHO.

digimage · Sep 10, 2002, 08:55 AM

Originally posted by buddhabelly:
I've never seen this problem with Illustrator. I have used fonts, which in some applications are just Garamond ITC, w/out the foundry ID, for example, but in Illustrator, as well as most Adobe software (exception is Pagemaker) that they are in fact in the list, just as a different name, ie ITCGaramond.

There is another issue with fonts. It is a limitation on how many fonts a single program can load. I believe illustrator can handle 180-200, can't remember exactly.

I worked at a design studio/print shop for a couple of years, and the clients were forever bringing in FH8 docs with really old or cheap ($5.99 cd) fonts.
AI Wouldn't touch them.
FreeHand read them fine.

Aric · Sep 11, 2002, 05:30 PM

Guess I'm the only one here that likes Freehand. I've been using it since the Aldus days and always liked it better than Illustrator. Could be cause it's the vector program that I learned first. I don't know...but I must say, I have Freehand 10 and Illustrator 10 but still use Freehand 9. 10 seems to be buggy on a couple machines here, just quits all of a sudden. It's a good application in my opinion.

sushiism · Sep 11, 2002, 06:25 PM

aint used illustrator on the mac but i prefer freehands colour/font management by miles.

godzookie2k · Sep 12, 2002, 12:05 PM

I don't go to church because of Freehand. I'm convinced that God sent down Freehand just to make my life miserable.

Occasionally we get Freehand files for ads, when they come in its a tense game of rock paper scissors as to who is going to have to deal with it.

sushiism · Sep 14, 2002, 10:16 AM

ack is freehands so bad then illustrator must be godlike, because I really do enjoy freehand hehe (and thats from using the nasty weird pc ver with toolbar bugs, only just got a mac yesterday)