Macromedia FreeHand

Macromedia FreeHand

FreeHand MX on Windows XP.
Developer(s)	Macromedia
Discontinued	MX (11.0.2)
Operating system	Mac OS X, Windows
Type	vector graphics editor
Website	Adobe FreeHand

Macromedia FreeHand is a computer application for creating two-dimensional vector graphics (use of geometrical primitives such as points, lines, curves, and polygons to represent images, also known as geometric modeling), oriented to the professional desktop publishing market. Development has been discontinued^[1][2][3] but it is still available^[4] in versions for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X.

FreeHand is very similar in scope, intended market, and functionality to Adobe Illustrator. It was created by Altsys and licensed to Aldus, which released versions 1 to 4. When Aldus merged with Adobe Systems, because of the overlapping of market with Illustrator, Adobe returned FreeHand to Altsys soon after the merger (after some legal wrangling, and intervention by the Federal Trade Commission). Altsys was later bought by Macromedia, which released FreeHand 5.0, 5.5 (Mac only), 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11/MX. In 2005 Adobe acquired Macromedia, thus returning the FreeHand product to Adobe.

A flexible application, it was used for page layout (especially since version 4 which was based on Altsys Virtuoso for NeXTstep and had multi-page capabilities) as well as the creation and editing of vector graphic files for print and the Web.

Its last version, FreeHand 11, was marketed as FreeHand MX, which showed its integration with the Macromedia MX line of products, which also includes Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Dreamweaver and Macromedia Fireworks and more.

Future

Freehand is a stand-alone application which when used for graphic design to go to prepress, used to be a very strong software application. Some interesting features of Aldus Freehand versions 2 to 5.5 gave the user the ability to print high resolution gradients with high resolution color TIFF files. Macromedia versions 7 through version 9 allows the user to export .gif, .jpeg, pdf, .eps, .ai, and Photoshop files from artwork created. Current use for eBook publishing allows the writer to change high resolution TIFF or EPS image to low resolution jpeg files when creating adobe PDF files. Freehand also had the distinction of being the first major graphic design application to offer layers and non print work areas around the artwork page. Many users are still producing artwork in version 9.

Macromedia did not significantly update FreeHand for Studio MX 2004 and did not include it at all in Studio 8. Many believe this is because Fireworks is intended for web development while FreeHand was not intended for the Web. Others believe that because most of FreeHand's vector imaging features were integrated into Macromedia Fireworks, there was no need for both programs (however, the fact that Macromedia continued to promote FreeHand after Studio 8 was released would seem to suggest otherwise). Fireworks' inability to make vector-oriented .eps or .pdf files suitable for print should confirm this.

Adobe's acquisition of Macromedia also cast doubt on the future of FreeHand, primarily because of Adobe's competing Illustrator product. Adobe initially announced in May 2006 that it planned to continue to support FreeHand and develop it "based on [their] customers' needs".^[5] However, one year later on May 15, 2007, Adobe declared that it would, in fact, discontinue development and support of the program.^[3]

As of Adobe Creative Suite 3 collection, FreeHand files can be directly opened with Adobe Illustrator CS3 and then saved as Illustrator files. However, not all features from Freehand will be imported.

While some users of the program were voicing their concerns, hoping to see Adobe continue to support and develop the package,^[6] the company decided to provide tools and support to ease the transition to Illustrator instead. These concerns from users are mostly based on some perceived feature differences between FreeHand and Illustrator, such as flexible multipage management (where pages can be resized and rearranged over a virtual table when drawing over them), and window list of styles and colors. In September 2009, a user community called "FreeFreeHand Organisation" was founded with the goal to gather enough members that allow taking action for a future of FreeHand.

Even though Adobe has stated that Macromedia FreeHand does not support Windows Vista^[2], FreeHand has been reported to run under Vista without much trouble.^{[citation needed]}

FreeHand has also been proved to be working well in Mac OS X 10.6 called Snow Leopard.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• List of vector graphics editors
• Comparison of vector graphics editors

References

1. ^ "Adobe - FreeHand MX". Adobe official website. Adobe Systems Incorporated. http://www.adobe.com/products/freehand/. Retrieved 19 July 2009. "No updates to FreeHand have been made for over four years, and Adobe has no plans to initiate development to add new features or to support Intel-based Macs and Windows Vista.To support customer workflows, we will continue to sell FreeHand and offer technical and customer support in accordance with our policies." 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Adobe - FreeHand MX: FAQ". Adobe official website. Adobe Systems Incorporated. http://www.adobe.com/products/freehand/productinfo/faq/. Retrieved 19 July 2009. "What are Adobe's plans for the future development of FreeHand MX?
   Adobe does not plan to develop and deliver any new-feature based releases of FreeHand. [...]
   Will Adobe provide ongoing maintenance releases for FreeHand MX?
   At this time, Adobe has no plans to provide maintenance releases, patches, or updates for FreeHand MX.
   Does Adobe plan to deliver a FreeHand MX release to support Intel based Macs?
   Adobe has no plans to deliver a version of FreeHand that natively supports Intel® based Macs. [...]
   Does Adobe plan to provide an update to FreeHand MX that will support Microsoft Windows Vista?Adobe has no plans to deliver a FreeHand MX release that supports Microsoft® Windows® Vista™." 
3. ^ ^{a b} Nack, John (16 May 2007). "John Nack on Adobe: FreeHand no longer updated; moving to Illustrator". Adobe Blogs. Adobe Systems Incorporated. http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2007/05/freehand_no_lon.html. Retrieved 19 July 2009. 
4. ^ "Adobe - FreeHand MX". Adobe official website. Adobe Systems Incorporated. http://www.adobe.com/products/freehand/. Retrieved 24 September 2009. 
5. ^ Dalrymple, Jim (1 June 2006). "Adobe: GoLive and FreeHand development continues - Mac - Macworld UK". Macworld.co.uk. http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=14810&Page=1&pagePos=7. Retrieved 19 July 2009. 
6. ^ http://www.enrichdesign.com/freehand.html

External links

• Official Macromedia FreeHand page
• FreeHand Anonymous
• User community "FreeFreeHand - give FreeHand a future"