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Graphics for Print or the Web

Update of Macromedia FreeHand makes it easy to design for print and the Web.

By Cameron Crouch, PCWorld   

Macromedia realizes this and has added better Web production to its illustration tool. On Monday, Macromedia announced FreeHand 9, the latest version of this vector graphics creation product. Available March 1 for $399, or a $149 upgrade, FreeHand 9 offers enhanced illustration and productivity features and more importantly, better integration with Flash, Macromedia's Web authoring tool.

To encourage use of FreeHand 9 with Flash 4, Macromedia also offers a Flash 4 FreeHand 9 studio for $499, along with an upgrade from FreeHand 8 to the full studio for $199.

First released in 1988, FreeHand is a print graphics product that has been moving toward the Web, says Brian Schmidt, product manager for FreeHand.

"A couple years ago, only 40 percent of our users were doing both print and the Web," he says. "Now it's about 80 percent."

Design for the Web

FreeHand creates graphics for print while Flash creates Web sites with animation, Schmidt says.

In the current version of FreeHand, you can export files in the Flash swf format. FreeHand 9 adds further integration with Flash such that you can design graphics in FreeHand and then add Web-based motion, sound, and interactivity with the Flash authoring tool.

"You can create an animation in FreeHand that you can use in Flash," Schmidt says. "You can also export static vector files as Flash files and use them directly on a Web site."

FreeHand is known for drawing. With FreeHand 9, you can group drawn elements and release them as layers in Flash in a sequence or building effect.

FreeHand 9 includes the Macromedia Symbol Library, a database for frequently used graphics.

"You can create a smaller FreeHand or Flash file because the graphic is represented only once," Schmidt says.

FreeHand 9 also supports new Flash features such as high quality printing. FreeHand files exported as Flash onto a Web site can then be printed in high quality using the latest version of the Flash Player.

Beyond Flash movies, FreeHand 9 exports Adobe PDF, GIF, JPEG, and PNG files.

FreeHand 9 can also export Photoshop 5 files. "You can create layers [in FreeHand] and maintain them when you go into Photoshop," Schmidt says.

Of course, Adobe's popular vector graphics program, Illustrator, has long supported the Photoshop file format. Illustrator can also export swf files.

Better Design Tools

FreeHand 9 adds improvements for print design as well. Adjustable perspective grids let you place graphics at three-dimensional angles that look realistic. A new envelope tool lets you wrap a line around text or an object and drag it out to warp or distort the image.

While many of its features compare with Illustrator, FreeHand does offer multipage layout tools not found in Illustrator.

"With FreeHand 8 you had to drag pages around in a small window," Schmidt says. "Now you can use the view you're already working in and just select a page to move it."

FreeHand 9 also has a magic wand tool for better control over autotrace.

"You just click on an area of color and get that path; it keeps you from having to use the pen tool to place points by hand," Schmidt says.