Thu, 17 Sep 2009 FreeHand fans fight on despite Snow Leopard

Andy Shorrock said on Thu, 17 Sep 2009

Aldus Freehand 1.0 - Heavens. Anyone remember Aldus Persuasion? Before M$ 'gave away' copies of PowerPoint? bundled with Word & Excel it was the canine's dangly bits in presentation

Or am I just showing my age again?

Tom said on Thu, 17 Sep 2009

Why didn't Adobe just incorporate the best features of Freehand into Illustrator? The ability to paste objects into other objects was much better that the masking feature in Adobes's software. Also multiple pages and gradient's that followed a curved path were great.
Does Adobe care about its customers any longer?

Nick said on Thu, 17 Sep 2009

My friend who is a respected illustrator still uses FH, and last year I visited a large studio still using FH. They didn't seem that impressed with Illustrator.

mmmmark said on Thu, 17 Sep 2009

I own and use Freehand in my current job and have used it since 2.0 for dtp and technical illustration. I have had to become adept at Illustrator by necessity, but I prefer many features of Freehand. I agree with Tom's assessment and have been frustrated that Adobe didn't at least see the value in including some great features of Freehand into Illustrator. You appease us "somewhat" and at least show deference to the loyal Freehand users of years gone by.

Cartographers still use Freehand and do not like Illustrator for the most part. I do not have direct knowledge of other "niches".

D9 said on Thu, 17 Sep 2009

Oh, yeah, Andy...I remember well the Aldus "suite" of Pagemaker, Freehand & Persuasion! It really was the defining apps for the desktop revolution. Those and that new app Photoshop from this small company named Adobe.

For quite some time, really up until the launch of the CS suite, we used Freehand almost exclusively. Illustrator had numerous bugs and did not accommodate multiple pages. In a lot of ways, Freehand is still superior to Illustrator.

But I guess that's neither here nor there these days, despite this effort.

Gary Piland said on Thu, 17 Sep 2009

I doubt Adobe really cares about Freehand users and what they do or don't want. Adobe is a monopoly - thank you FTC - and probably assumes everyone will kowtow to them and switch to Illustrator.

Now, if someone could offer an illustration program that imported Freehand files in good shape and offered most if not all of the advantages of Freehand, Adobe could be made to understand the dangers of thinking like a monopoly.

And, that somebody could make a fortune in the bargain. Any takers?

FarmerBob said on Thu, 17 Sep 2009

Upon the news of Adobe buying Macromedia, other than crying, I called my MM Tech Rep and asked if Adobe was going to trash FH since it had Ill? He connected me with the new Adobe Prod Rep and I was assured that FH would stay in the product line, be an updated product and not to worry. Like I said, it's Adobe.

I have used FH in every capacity from V1. It was always quicker, faster, and BETTER than Illustrator. I could get the same amount and quality of work done in a fraction of the time. And making changes was a breeze. I have even converted people that started on Ill, and they went nuts. To this day, it's still a bit of a running joke how we now regard Illustrator and Freehand. Matter of fact, my nickname was "The Freehand Guy" by the techs at my service bureau. I have always thought of FH for Graphic Arts and Ill for Fine Art. I don't do fine art.

So knowing Adobe, then reading this, I am not surprised. But will be glad, interested and relieved in FH being in the "wild".

Bez Palmer said on Fri, 18 Sep 2009

FH deserves life. Or rather, those who prefer FH over AI––or anything else-–deserve to have that choice honored and respected by the company that callously bought and killed FH. But that's not what Adobe is all about, apparently. Let's build a grassroots movement to take destiny into our own hands. In order to succeed, we need numbers. 1,800 members in just over a week is a good start, but we need to multiply that by 10--then we might really have a chance. Join today, it's free, at www.freefreehand.org And for the record, the FTC, as well as a number of other government and rights advocacy organizations, have heard from us recently.

vader said on Fri, 18 Sep 2009

freehand is still king! always loved it's simplicity compared to illustrator's stupidly over-precise selection methods.why on earth adobe don't make freehand the basic version of illustrator and illustrator as the more advanced version?

CWA Lammy said on Tue, 29 Sep 2009

Freehand is still useful, and really what would be so hard about someone at Adobe giving us a "one-click" solution to make Ill behave like FH?

I would PAY for Ill if they did that. (I paid for FH, actually paid. Ill gives me so much grief, Adobe should be paying me!