Adobe latest FreeHand MX upgrade, Would you pay?

[Jack PNG]

Dear FreeHand User all over the world,
To upgrade Freehand MX (The world most user friendly vector software).
We need numbers, the shareholders needs to know how much is the return if
Adobe is going to upgarde FreeHand MX.
If FreeHand Users all over the world puts his/her name on this list that they
will pay for an upgrade as soon as it is available. If the numbers is in
millions. Adobe shareholders may reconsider their decision.
Let us all show our genuine interest. Just type "Yes, I will upgrade my
FreeHand MX with Adobe"
Keep our fingers cross.

FreeHand User Since 1990
Jack Png

[plummerdesign]

yes

[Armadillo]

An upgrade? Just another version number like Macromedia did?

No! A year ago I would have said yes. Bygones are bygones.

Jukka

[040767]

Yes, I will upgrade my FreeHand MX with Adobe if it is more than an interface change ;-)

[d.m.gold]

YES!
i will upgrade my FH MX with Adobe.
still using it everyday and it works AWESOME.

[John Gallagher]

yes

[Ryan Padyachie]

YES!

[FH Addict]

Yes, I will upgrade my FreeHand MX with Adobe.
As long FreeHand works with MAC OSX I will never switch to Illustrator.

[davecc]

I'll be willing to pay double price just to get a working copy with Leopard.

[Jack PNG]

Hi Guys,
Thanks for your prompt respond. Yes! the numbers are coming in. If you are a
FreeHand User and hope to get a New Upgrade, a new version that is competible
to the latest Mac OSX Leopard or Windows Vista then be counted. We need the
numbers. Spread this link to as many FreeHand User as possible in your
community, get them to come in. Remember we are being watch.

[Judy Arndt]

Yes

[Arzallus]

yes
in spain we are hundreds and hundreds.

[Les ua Niall]

Yes

[darrel]

Post by Jack PNG
If the numbers is in
millions. Adobe shareholders may reconsider their decision.

Probably not. What are your options? The only viable option is Adobe
Illustrator. So, there is really no compelling reason for Adobe to care
about Freehand anymore.

Better solution? Vote for politicians that think monopolies are not the best
direction for our economic system. ;o)

Also, is Png really your last name? If so...that is so geeky cool!

-Darrel

[Jack PNG]

Hi Darrel and all FreeHand users around the world,
For what FreeHand has given me since 1990 when I first start using vector
software. My whole livelihood is much dependant on it. It is such a complete
software, from creative to production, every detail is taken care. I know Adobe
has announce the end of life for Freehand and after trying out Illustrator for
the last 6 months, What I get is knowing what I have lost in FreeHand even
more. There are so many things that are essential in a design, DTP software
that is missing in Illustrator. The construction is so different, as a FreeHand
user, I feel I am moving backward. Why should this happen, why do we have to
endure this kind of unfair monopoly. Why should our century of learning become
of Nothing. How can this happen to millions of people across the world. What
has the world become of. Still, after more than four years without an upgrade,
our beloved FreeHand is still so valid. Bravo to the people behind this
software. My one voice may be too small to be heard, but if millions who like
me feel the same way and is willing to join me in this quest. Like I said,
anything is possible.

[darrel]

Post by Jack PNG
Why should our century of learning become
of Nothing. How can this happen to millions of people across the world.

It's called big business. ;o)

I love Freehand as much as anyone. I still use it as my main illustration
program.

That said, I'm not wasting time with Adobe anymore. They don't care, and
don't need to care about Freehand users. They bought the competition
outright and did what any company in that position would do: kill it.

I'd suggest it'd be better for us to put our efforts elsewhere...start
working with some of the open source vector illustration products. Support
some of the 3rd party options, etc.

-Darrel

[Jack PNG]

Hi Darrel and FH users all over the world,
I do this because I think I owe it the software that gave me my livelihood for
so many years. That least I could do is to fight for the name of FreeHand. I
want Adobe to know they have made a BIG mistake by freezing out a wonderful
software. I want the share holders to know that they have made a BIG mistake by
allowing this decision to take place. So if you are a true FH user and truely
love the software. Do this for FreeHand. What are you waiting for, step forward
and be counted!!

[darrel]

Post by Jack PNG
I want the share holders to know that they have made a BIG mistake by
allowing this decision to take place.

But they haven't made a big mistake. In terms of maximizing profits,
Freehand was pure dead weight. The code base was antiquated, the dev team
was threadbare, and Adobe already owned the market leading competing
product.

Alas, Adobe did make the right decision in terms of the shareholders.

Which is a bummer for us and Freehand, of course.

I hate to be a downer, but reality sunk in quite a while ago for me
regarding this. ;o)

-Darrel

[FH Addict]

[q][i]Originally posted by: [b][b]Newsgroup User[/b][/b][/i]
Freehand was pure dead weight. The code base was antiquated, the dev team
was threadbare

-Darrel


[/q]

On my Mac OS Tiger and Leopard, FreeHand is faster when opening, working and
quiting. Its weight is only 35 Mo. Is there something wrong with Illustrator :
slow, heavy, and it takes an undefined time when quiting ;-) and its weight is
300 Mo
Do I miss something?

[SMUD]

Dear Jack,

I have 10 copies of Freehand MX to upgrade for Leopard (new hardware due to be
purchased next spring) YES!!! I will pay to upgrade if Adobe would continue my
only drawing solution (I need to print postscript without font grief from MX).
I will not switch to Illustrator (being using since Freehand 1). We have
hundreds of thousands of files for over twenty years (engineers expect us to be
able to update material from 1989!).

Lola Durbrow

[FH Addict]

Jack, your fight, our fight to keep FreeHand alive started a while ago : http://www.enrichdesign.com/freehand.html
But I agree we should never stop to dismiss ;-) Keep on the fight!!!!

[Jack PNG]

Hi FH Addict,
As we all are aware FreeHand is still one of Adobe Product Line. The
shareholders still own it, they can do anything with it. They can still have an
ExtraOrdinary AGM and turn the whole decision around. But for that to happen we
must present a genuine case, where millions of FreeHand users are ready to
commit. It is all about the bottom line. Show them the money. Say "YES I will
upgrade" and keep our finger cross. I am a little part of FH, FH heart is still
beating.

[darrel]

Post by Jack PNG
As we all are aware FreeHand is still one of Adobe Product Line. The
shareholders still own it, they can do anything with it.

They could, but their interests aren't in a specific illustration program.
Their interests are in profits.

Let's not forget that Macromedia also gave up on Freehand many releases ago,
so this isn't anything new.

I'm all for continuing the 'fight' and welcome the enthusiasm...I guess I'm
being a bit more pragmatic about it these days ;o)

-Darrel

[kiski]

Yeah, I'd put money for an upgrade on Freehand. I am hesitating on getting
Illustrator until absolutely necessary.

However, understand that the Adobe Board of Directors must make the company
money or the shareholders kick them out. Why would they want two similar
programs competing against each other? It's not a conspiracy. Just some times
it seems like it! ;-)

[John Gallagher]

I recently went on an 2 day Illustrator training course, paid for by my work as
the reality of "no more FreeHand" has set in, and while the chap taking course
knew his stuff and explained everything really well, I found the actual
software falling well short. I asked some pretty awkward questions too, usually
to be met with a reply of "yes you can do that in Illustrator" followed by at
least 5 clicks, a few menu scrolls and an arcane set of names to achieve a 2
clicks solution in FH. I'm still using Freehand for 60% of my work with Quark
XPress taking up 30% and Photoshop accounting for the remainder. Even the
mighty InDesign can't do some things Quark can, this all conquering Adobe
stranglehold is not a good thing.

[Jack PNG]

Thank you guys for sharing your experience. I would like to point out one small
but important thing. Draw a text block in illustrator, type some text, then try
moving the text block with your pointer tool. It will move if you point to the
text baseline or the perimeter of the text block but if you point anywhere
inside the text block, it will not move. You can say, this is small matter but
this is how human behave and react. If it is a text block, why shouldn't the
inside of the block not be treated as a whole object. Illustrator users who has
never use FreeHand will never know what they are missing. This is only one of
many many small things FreeHand users have enjoyed for a good many many
years... and still enjoying.

[John Gallagher]

Yeah, my main stumbling block with Illus[b]traitor[/b] is those 3 damn pointers
and selecting anything be it text or object, also it was funny seeing the Adobe
approved trainer on the course trying to diss FreeHand's multiple page option
by saying "well what is it, is it a page layout package or is it a drawing
package"? Eh, it's both you bozo!
:grin;

[Wayne Knetter]

yes i will pay for upgrade, I have been using Freehand 8 for 10 years, starting with version 3. it's my livelihood, it what puts food on the table and pays my rent

[bpotash]

Yes Yes, A Thousand Times YES!!! Freehand is the best and easiest interface
and for total project workflow. Illustrator is CLUNKY, full of bells and
whistles but much less intuitive (like using a chainsaw to cut butter) - hence,
SLOWER THAN FREEHAND. I'd much rather see them discontinue Illustrator. I had
to do usability studies back in the 80s when these two apps first appeared. The
time comparisons which my artists completed similar tasks were almost 2 to 1,
Freehand is faster to use than Illustrator. Freehand is enormously more
intuitive and MORE SIMILAR to Photoshop CS3 and Flash CS3 in user experience
than Illustrator.

[Jack PNG]

Thank you guys for coming in and lending your support. To many, this may seem a
unless cause but we all know that so long as there are buyers out there willing
to pay and is still waiting for that impossible to happen, there is always a
possibility. Our time spend here sharing our experience are for a good cause.
On the other hand, I may be right to think that Illustrator was mend to be use
purely for illustration purposes and nothing else. Where as, Freehand was mend
to be a all round software from creative to production. FreeHand multiple page
function has never threaten Pagemaker when they first start, so introducing
multipage for illustrator will not ever have any threat to InDesign as well. If
Adobe is willing to listen and start implementing some of the good things that
are mentioned in FH Forums all over the internet, The people who going to gain
from this are both FH and Illustrator users.
Adobe must realise by now, if they want to successfully convert FreeHand User
into using Illustrator, they must redesign Illustrator from ground Zero. A
friend of my once said, writing a program is not difficult but writing a good
one, is. The foundation is always the most important of all, get that wrong,
everything else are not going to work properly. Give us an Upgrade or make
Illustrator more user friendly.

[John Gallagher]

If they just made FH Intel compatible I'd be happy enough... [i]oh and ironed out some of the bugs... and allowed you to colour groups like it used to... and... that's about it[/i]

[Armadillo]

Post by John Gallagher
If they just made FH Intel compatible

But it has been since version 3. ;-)

Jukka

[darrel]

Post by John Gallagher
If they just made FH Intel compatible

Is it not? It's running on my MacBook.

-Darrel

[geminius]

Yes, I will upgrade my FreeHand MX.

[edwardb]

I'd buy it... absolutely,
But do not wait too long.
EdB

[John Gallagher]

Boy! don't I look stoopid?

[JETLT]

I would like to point out one small but important thing. Draw a text block in

illustrator, type some text, then try moving the text block with your pointer
tool. It will move if you point to the text baseline or the perimeter of the
text block but if you point anywhere inside the text block, it will not move.

Go to Edit>Preferences>Type and turn off the Type Object Selection By Path
Only option.

Jack, you do your own cause more damage than good when you don't check your
facts. This is exactly the kind of thing that makes Illustrator devotees think
FreeHand users are merely whining because they are too lazy to learn another
program that is "no better than Illustrator."

Now let me give you one: In FreeHand, select an object. Now move it
numerically, not in terms of vertical and horizontal, but in terms of direction
and distance.

Now wouldn't you say that functionality is pretty dang basic?

Look: In alot of important and basic ways, FreeHand is a better vector drawing
interface than Illustrator ever will be. But the ugly truth is, that's not
really saying much.

"FreeHand Addict"? You guys are addicted to mediocrity. (Never mind that AI
"addicts" are addicted to worse.) "Give me FreeHand or give me death"? Give me
a break. "Monopoly"? Look up the meaning. If this were an illegal monopoly the
FTC would be all over it.

If you can't stand Illustrator, give Corel or Canvas a go. Reward them for
also being better than Illustrator, and for surviving despite its market share.
Moreover, do your homework. Make LEGITIMATE and SUBSTANTIVE comparisons between
FH and AI, so that Adobe (and more importantly, Illustrator users) will
understand that the complaints are based on meaningful fact, not mere
habituated favoritism.

And finally: Post those comparisons where they can make a difference. You guys
are just preaching to the choir here. " Millions"? Where do you get that
figure? I count 18 different responders in 13 days. Criminy, there's more
interest than that in some of the most mundane single threads in the
Illustrator forums.

JET

[Jack PNG]

Hi JETLT, Don't get too upset and start using words that wise man would aviod.
Thanks for pointing out on the Preference option setting,"Go to
Edit>Preferences>Type and turn off the Type Object Selection By Path Only
option." I will try out and will come back to report the finding. May I ask one
small question, how do you get your files, eg. imported images, links files and
fonts to your printer for production when the work is completed. InDesign uses
Package, FH uses Collect for Output. What does Illustrator use? Thanks for your
time again. Appreciate your pointer.

[Jack PNG]

Hi JETLT,
"Go to Edit>Preferences>Type and turn off the Type Object Selection By Path
Only option."
I tried out on both PC and on Mac, Illustrator CS3. No it didn't work. By
default, this option is not turn on.
So, I still don't understand how you can overcome the small and important user
friendly problem.
Anyone out there can confirm this, would appreciate. Thanks

[darrel]

Post by JETLT
"FreeHand Addict"? You guys are addicted to mediocrity. (Never mind that AI
"addicts" are addicted to worse.) "Give me FreeHand or give me death"? Give me
a break. "Monopoly"? Look up the meaning. If this were an illegal monopoly the
FTC would be all over it.

Adobe is, indeed, a monopoly. A monopoly in a time and period where the
legal/government environment allows it.

Post by JETLT
If you can't stand Illustrator, give Corel or Canvas a go.

I agree. I'd go even further and start working with some of the open source
options.

Of course, given that Adobe is the monopoly, if you want to make a living in
the publishing world, you'll still have to have a copy of AI to get by.

-Darrel

[Judy Arndt]

Post by JETLT
If you can't stand Illustrator, give Corel or Canvas a go.

Unfortunately for Mac users, current versions of neither CorelDraw nor
Canvas are available on the Mac platform.

Even if one tried running either of them on an Intel Mac under Boot Camp for
Windows, I can't imaging the font hassles and copy/paste problems one might
encounter when working in tandem with Mac software such as Photoshop.

Judy Arndt

[Jack PNG]

Hi JETLT,
Have you decided to answer my question and clear the air.
My Problem: "Draw a text block in illustrator, type some text, then try moving
the text block with your pointer tool. It will move if you point to the text
baseline or the perimeter of the text block but if you point anywhere inside
the text block, it will not move."
Your Answer: "Go to Edit>Preferences>Type and turn off the Type Object
Selection By Path Only option."
Tested: I tried out on both PC and on Mac, Illustrator CS3.
Result: No it didn't work. By default, this option is not turn on.
Comments: So, I still don't understand how you can overcome the small and
important user friendly problem.
Anyone out there can confirm this, would appreciate. Thanks

[Mkersh]

I would definitlely buy at least 50 copies here.... we are in the process of upgrading and NEED Freehand MX to ckeep using the literally MILLIONS of files we have here.:smile;

[jmaz]

Yes, absolutely, I'm in!

[bpotash]

Again, having tested Freehand against Illustrator in the creative departments
I've run since 1985, we found it a much more efficient creative tool for
creating SERIES of ads, SERIES of packaging, entire advertising CAMPAIGNS, and
print collateral SERIES. To lose this highly esteemed creative tool is a
SERIOUS mistake on Adobe's part.

The three kingpin applications that my shops have run have been #1 FREEHAND,
#2 PHOTOSHOP, #3 FLASH. Everything else is tertiary from the design/advertising
process point of view. I am now looking into open source replacements for
Freehand. While this may appear extreme, I assure you - trying to replace
Freehand with as clunky of an application as Illustrator is a money losing
proposition for my agency.

[josh kohn]

You bet! I would pay

[LingTing]

Absolutely Yes!!! I have thousands of FH files (20 years worth) and use it
everyday. Also have Illustrator but it sits collecting dust. As long as FH
works on the upcoming hardware and OSs I will use it above anything else.
Long Live FH. The King of Vectors!!

[Bruce Kieffer]

YES. Please!

[Ernie Tomlinson]

Yes, definitely. It is still the easiest to use and works across the board. (Now if only I could figure out why it suddenly won't make text "flow around selection.")

[bpotash]

Yes, I will upgrade my FreeHand MX with Adobe. It's been the most efficient
creative work flow tool for over 20 years. The key is it's efficiency to handle
entire creative projects. If Adobe were paying attention, this would become the
central harness to attach all of it's applications to.

It's interface works more similarly to that of Photoshop and Flash by far,
than does Illustrator. Illustrator is an accurate but cumbersome illustration
tool. Perfect for special effects, yet horrible at switching between Flash and
Photoshop. Yet Freehand does this with ease and acts easily as the central
harness for creative workflow. I wish Adobe would wake up and realize what an
asset this tool really is... and use it as a central creative assembly point.

[Martin S.]

Post by bpotash
Yes, I will upgrade my FreeHand MX with Adobe. It's been the most efficient
creative work flow tool for over 20 years.

While I agree, FH effectively died after version 9 and has since been
declared dead even by Adobe, although they continue to sell it.

FH is no more.

[thumahawk]

I would upgrade of course, but I expect them to ONLY STABILIZE IT and fix
reported bugs and NOT include dumb new features instead! I mean if Adobe begins
hacking around the interface, we end up with something useless like Illustrator!

[Navale]

[q][i]Originally posted by: [b][b]thumahawk[/b][/b][/i]
I would upgrade of course, but I expect them to ONLY STABILIZE IT and fix
reported bugs and NOT include dumb new features instead! I mean if Adobe begins
hacking around the interface, we end up with something useless like
Illustrator![/q]

Agree and I have said it before on this board. But I don?t understand the
members reminding us of Illustrator every time we ask for a FH upgrade in the
FH section? I left Illustrator many years ago and will never go back as I now
have a better program that will last until I retire. A few bugs less and it
would be perfect. Yes I would pay for this to happen even if Adobe should have
done it for free years ago...

[Gudrunanna]

[q][i]Originally posted by: [b][b]Navale[/b][/b][/i]
[Q][I]Originally posted by: [B][B]thumahawk[/B][/B][/I]
I would upgrade of course, but I expect them to ONLY STABILIZE IT and fix
reported bugs and NOT include dumb new features instead! I mean if Adobe begins
hacking around the interface, we end up with something useless like
Illustrator![/Q]

Agree and I have said it before on this board. But I don?t understand the
members reminding us of Illustrator every time we ask for a FH upgrade in the
FH section? I left Illustrator many years ago and will never go back as I now
have a better program that will last until I retire. A few bugs less and it
would be perfect. Yes I would pay for this to happen even if Adobe should have
done it for free years ago...

[/q]

[darrel]

Post by Navale
Agree and I have said it before on this board. But I don?t understand the
members reminding us of Illustrator every time we ask for a FH upgrade in the
FH section?

We hate to see so many folks living on fumes of hope. ;o)

-Darrel

[Gudrunanna]

Yes of course i would pay for an upgrade.
I hate to be forced in to using Illustrator. I have been in the advertising
business for 20 ears and i have been using Freehand since version 3.
I am running a small grafic design company in Iceland and
all people that work for me these days are using illustrator.
So i have to use and know Illustrator to being able to guide my people or
finish or change files or make more work in the same stile. When i do my own
design work i use Freehand. I hate Illustrator interface. I miss paste inside.
I do not like all this extra lines and frames and it is difficult to chose
things that is near to other things.

But i know that i have to use Illustrator in the future. I am trying to be
open minded about it but I will use Freehand as long as I can.

I think i am hoping for a mirracle and maby all of a sudden Adobe will deside
to upgrade Freehand.

I have often looked at this forum
Gudrun

[maeric]

Yes, Absolutely I'd upgrade my FreehandMX!

I just stumbled on this thread... great.

[John Gallagher]

scenario#1:

One day, the government says you can still drive, but you have to use this
'here' model that you have tried but, can't make work. We are the government -
this is the law - you lose.

Next!

[John Gallagher]

scenario#1:

One day, the government says you can still drive, but you have to use this
'here' model that you have tried but, can't make work. We are the government -
this is the law - you lose.

Next!

[Ben Pease]

I agree with pretty much everything that's been said, and I'd also pay for a
good upgrade of FreeHand.
Not to dilute the arguement, but another approach worth considering might be
for Adobe to upgrade Illustrator so
its Preferences had REAL settings for appearance, behaviors, (for those of us
who wanted it) to make Illustrator work like FreeHand. For years, FreeHand's
preferences have given us 40-60 settings to customize; you could even make it
behave like Illustrator. Whereas Illustrator's preferences STILL have a dozen
panels with, maybe half a dozen settings which might affect ease of use). Give
us real choices and think well about how to simplify tools so it doesn't take
three pen cursors to do our work, and the transition may be bearable. To a
large extent, it's the arrogance of "things work only this [clumsy] way" which
drives me nuts.

Also in Illustrator provide an option to turn off all the filters we choose
not to use, either individually or as a batch.

Plus adopt all 150+ items on Judy's list of things we all wish Illustrator
could do. Not too much to ask.

[darrel]

Post by Ben Pease
Plus adopt all 150+ items on Judy's list of things we all wish Illustrator
could do. Not too much to ask.

hehe.

What makes all this dreaming futile is that Adobe is the market leader. They
OWN the vector illustration market. You really can't convince the market
leader to improve their product. There's simply no business reason to do so
(see: Quark, Intuit, Microsoft, Autodesk, etc.)

If people really want to see a better product, we need to support the
runner-up, whatever that may be. Perhaps Corel, perhaps an open source
project, etc.

For instance, perhaps every FH user could donate $10 to the inkscape
project:

http://www.inkscape.org/

Or commit to buying product X if they added features a b and c to it.

I understand the wishful thinking. I think the same, too. As long as we all
realize it's just that...wishful thinking ;o)

-Darrel

[Armadillo]

Post by darrel
If people really want to see a better product, we need to support the
runner-up, whatever that may be. Perhaps Corel, perhaps an open source
project, etc.

I supported Corel long enough but switched to FreeHand. I still think Corel is better in many ways, for example outline editing is far better. But unfortunately Corel was not reliable in production. It may be now but I rather use Illustrator.

The problem with open source projects is that the developers seem to be interested in the software itself not what you can do with it. So usability isn't always too good.

I do support the idea of open source but frankly I do not want to use programs like Inkspace in prodution.

Jukka

[darrel]

Post by Armadillo
The problem with open source projects is that the developers seem to be
interested in the software itself not what you can do with it. So
usability isn't always too good.

It's a bit of a catch-22...people shy away from Open Source software because
they don't thnk it's quite as usable, but it can't become more usable unless
more people use it and contribute their opinion to the project. ;o)

Post by Armadillo
I do support the idea of open source but frankly I do not want to use
programs like Inkspace in prodution.

I really do want to use open source software in production. Alas, you are
correct, in that it's not there yet. Hence my thought that putting some
money/suggestions in to the open source movement might give it some
momentum.

-Darrel

[Armadillo]

Post by darrel

Post by Armadillo
I do support the idea of open source but frankly I do not want to use
programs like Inkspace in prodution.

I really do want to use open source software in production. Alas, you are
correct, in that it's not there yet. Hence my thought that putting some
money/suggestions in to the open source movement might give it some
momentum.

This is drifting way off the subject I know.

As memory serves I (we) have discussed about this before. Anyway, one thing that bothers me in open source projects is projet management. Linux is succesful because of strong management by Linus Torvalds. Unfortunately there are not too many people who have chance for that kind of commitment.

The old joke "A camel is as horse designed by a commitee." can easly be revived as "A camel is a open source horse." ;-)

Jukka

[darrel]

Post by Armadillo
As memory serves I (we) have discussed about this before. Anyway, one
thing that bothers me in open source projects is projet management. Linux
is succesful because of strong management by Linus Torvalds. Unfortunately
there are not too many people who have chance for that kind of commitment.
The old joke "A camel is as horse designed by a commitee." can easly be
revived as "A camel is a open source horse." ;-)

To be fair, I've dealt with lots of very expensive commercial software that
suffered the same.

And, these days, there are a LOT of very well managed OS projects...Firefox,
Drupal, Joomla, VLC, Jquery, Apache, so I think there's hope.

At least more hope in that than Adobe ever updating Freehand. ;o)

-Darrel

[Armadillo]

Post by darrel
At least more hope in that than Adobe ever updating Freehand. ;o)

Yup, but they have helluva lot of catching up to do if they want to even top Illustrator.

I just hope next Illustrator will have more FreeHand features. Anyway, my creativity has not disappeard after changing from FreeHand to Illustrator, Most often it is not the software I use but the clog between the ears.

Jukka

[Armadillo]

Post by Armadillo
Anyway, my creativity has not disappeard after changing from FreeHand to Illustrator

But obviously my typing has. ;-)

Jukka

[goncalocabral1353]

Yes, I will upgrade my FreeHand MX with Adobe.

Please do it.
In my country (Portugal) 99% of the design/brand/advertising companies uses Freehand.
Tanx.

[Jack PNG]

Dear FreeHand friends, Thank you for coming here to be a voice for FreeHand. I
think the software deserve that. Whoever the person is or a group of people who
give life to this software, have done an incredible job. It has given so many
people around the world a livelihood they would otherwise may not have.
Unfortunately now, it, FH cannot speak for itself. If it could... This is what
it might have said, "Why in the world would you want to sell me away, while
millions need me? Why put me in a Freezer? What is the all this for?."
Companies who get people into the path of learning must at least have some
responsibility in ensuring that these people do not end up being obsolete. We
welcome healthy competition, which will lead to better products and services.
But this is not healthy, putting millions out there thinking, what they are
going to do next, especially those already pass their learning years. Learning
is a process that take time. Learning to trust takes more than time. How can we
trust Adobe if Adobe would not care to think about this. Some people are born
smarter, they pick up learning real fast, this group will care less what really
happen out there. If A is good, I will stay with A. Tomorrow B come along and
if B give me better stuff, OK, I will switch to B but how many of us are born
like that. Learning to use a software well takes time. Anyway, to cut the story
short, learning curve is a painful task, mind you, so please make that a little
easier. We want to trust you, we know you do the right thing. We are still
keeping our fingers cross. Keep the numbers coming in. So far we are doing
fine. Be counted if you want to see the impossible happen. Adobe will upgrade
FreeHand!

[Munny Robot]

Yes, I will upgrade my FreeHand MX with Adobe

[Munny Robot]

Yes, I will upgrade my FreeHand MX with Adobe

[Fauve]

YES!

[StevieJV]

Count me in, I still make about 8 hours of new Freehand vector art a day and
have 12 years or so in stock that I have to access.

I'm a year short of my 50th birthday and I don't ever see myself training to
learn a defective new program (illustrator)

[ho72]

What Steve said. I continue to use FH because there really isn't a
viable option. I'd rather scratch with a stick in the dirt than to use
that damned adobe app. Count me in.

[den-chan]

Lets say Adobe did bring Freehand back but it was a little different. Would you
all be happy if Freehand became a Technical drawing app but still did all of
what it can do now? Kind of like how Corel has Corel Draw and Corel Designer.
That way Freehand wouldn't be the same as AI and of course they would market it
different.

[Fauve]

I wouldnt mind that. I mean, it detraacts from the name "freehand" -- as it
should be to be used for MORE than just technical applications. However,
perhaps its the "technical" attributes that I like most about -- exact to the
5th decimal; curve / spline formula not "interrupted" by some membrane box
around it --as Illustrator.

Plenty of other features -- that could be highlighted. Point is as many
designers such as myself -- tranistioned from boards and mechanicals to the
computer -- Freehand provided the drafting table equipped with appropriate
tools to get the job.

I would be more than happy to be a part of a branding consortium or team that
helped reposition Freehand away from Illustrator -- if thats all it
takes....and I would DONATE my time!!!

Perhaps it is time that Freehand's brand evolve.

Den-Chan -- is this something you can put into action -- the thought of
positioning Freehand as more of a techical app? Off the cuff and conceptually
speaking -- I say its more "Davinci" than "Picasso" -- Davinci positioned as
a creative systems app that works for all -- and Picasso positioned as the
artistic anomoly app --- for those that like to live in "design" world forever,
not knowing when to stop, and not concerned with a deadline or getting paid:)




[q][i]Originally posted by: [b][b]den-chan[/b][/b][/i]
Lets say Adobe did bring Freehand back but it was a little different. Would
you all be happy if Freehand became a Technical drawing app but still did all
of what it can do now? Kind of like how Corel has Corel Draw and Corel
Designer. That way Freehand wouldn't be the same as AI and of course they would
market it different.[/q]

[darrel]

Post by Fauve
I would be more than happy to be a part of a branding consortium or team that
helped reposition Freehand away from Illustrator -- if thats all it
takes....and I would DONATE my time!!!

If you are serious about that, perhaps consider donating some of that time
to an OS initiative like Inkscape:

http://www.inkscape.org/

-Darrel

[darrel]

Post by den-chan
Lets say Adobe did bring Freehand back but it was a little different. Would you
all be happy if Freehand became a Technical drawing app but still did all of
what it can do now? Kind of like how Corel has Corel Draw and Corel Designer.
That way Freehand wouldn't be the same as AI and of course they would market it
different.

Well, it's not coming back, but to play along, yea, I think that'd be
interesting. I know it's always been preferred by the tech-drawing crowd
anyways.

-Darrle

[den-chan]

I was just playing with the idea also. I know FH is not coming back. The AI
team is listening to Freehand users for sure but they are also dealing with
people requesting features they like from Flash, Indesign ect. So submit those
feature request you want. Ai is never going to be exactly like freehand but at
least a few of the features can make it in there.

[Fauve]

I have been a user of Freehand since the "Aldus" days. After the great curving
formulas of the ole -- MacDraw, MacDrawPro -- went away, Freehand has ruled.
Just a better package than Illustrator. Would be GLAD to see it kept alive and
more than happy to pay for it. Ideally, it should have been part of the
"Master Collection" as those of us that are fighting to keep are DESIGN
MASTERS!!

[Rory Gilmore]

Yes, I would pay for an update to Freehand MX. Here in New Zealand (and in South Africa where I come from) most people use Freehand. Illustrator just doesn't cut it I'm afraid.

[joyof8]

Yes, I will upgrade my FreeHand MX with Adobe. I'd pay $500.00

[shorenuf]

Yes, I would pay to save Freehand.

[Bembelembe]

Of course I would.
Even though forthcoming Illustrator CS4 will have multipage (to please FH users), this monster will never be so great like Freehand.
I would pay as much as Adobe want's for it!

[davecc]

[q][i]Originally posted by: [b][b]Bembelembe[/b][/b][/i]
Of course I would.
Even though forthcoming Illustrator CS4 will have multipage (to please FH
users), this monster will never be so great like Freehand.
I would pay as much as Adobe want's for it![/q]

I doubt that you would see multipage in CS4 as InDesign already has that
feature.

[John Gallagher]

[q][i]Originally posted by: [b][b]davecc[/b][/b][/i]I doubt that you would see
multipage in CS4 as InDesign already has that feature.[/q]Look! All that is
well and good if you're a user of ID and Traitor, I'm not. I use FreeHand, it
works no matter how bashed and broken it is.
I have been trained in ill-s-traitor (see threads passim) it is nowhere near
as elegant a drawing package as our beloved dinosaur.

[davecc]

[q][i]Originally posted by: [b][b]John Gallagher[/b][/b][/i]
[Q][I]Originally posted by: [B][B]davecc[/B][/B][/I]I doubt that you would see
multipage in CS4 as InDesign already has that feature.[/Q]Look! All that is
well and good if you're a user of ID and Traitor, I'm not. I use FreeHand, it
works no matter how bashed and broken it is.
I have been trained in ill-s-traitor (see threads passim) it is nowhere near
as elegant a drawing package as our beloved dinosaur.

[/q]

Thanks for your kind words. I was just stating my opinion and for your info, I
still use Freehand for all my projects.

[klxus]

Yes, I will upgrade my FreeHand MX with Adobe

klxus

[tvc152k]

YES, I will update 6 seats!

[Herbie03]

Yes, I would pay for 3 upgrades! Bring it on, Adobe.

[ggdesign]

Absolutely I would pay!!

[MurrayRL1955]

I consider Freehand an essential tool in my workflow. I would pay for upgrades
just to keep it working on future Mac OS upgrades, but would prefer if it could
be upgraded to work in with the whole Creative Suite in a more integrated way.

[Litho Mateo]

YES!

Freehand4Life:grin;

[John Gallagher]

I nearlt posted "Get Bent!"


phew, close thing that

[John Gallagher]

I apologise if I came on strong Dave, but when you read some of my earlier
posts, perhaps it'll be clearer. If not ,I am more than happy to enter into a
'private discussion' with you.

This place is far too polite IMO, some of us need to get annoyed!

[janabeth]

Yes, I will upgrade my FreeHand MX with Adobe"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just lay it on me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Using Freehand everyday and smoking the Illustrator user next to me lol,,,poor
unproductive sot!! :-D

[Fauve]

Janabeth...thats funny. "Smoking" the Illustrator user next to me...I like
that one. And how appropriate!!!!!!!

There are two applications I would ban beginners/interns/yeomans from using at
an eSolutions consultancy back in the day.

1.) Dreamweaver -- please; this app in the hands of young designers is just
plain dangerous -- made everyone learn HomeSite first.

2.) Illustrator -- Obvously many reasons here. But put simply it is inferior
to Freehand; and "increases" lack of productivity because people spend too much
trying to figure it out. Meanwhile in Freehand -- you would have been done;
well on your way to "overdelivery"....:)....!!!

[Armadillo]

Post by Fauve
1.) Dreamweaver -- please; this app in the hands of young designers is just
plain dangerous -- made everyone learn HomeSite first.

Hmm, can I smell 'old timer arrogance' here. Dreamweaver may be a bit confusing, misleading, whatever but getting the code just right (as long as it works of course) is not exatly the most important thing after all. I used HomeSite for a while - it is/was a good tool but now I use just Dreamweaver, TopStyle and, last but not least, W3C validator.

I believe that it is not the young designers who make all the uncompatible pages that get at least +200 errors in the validator.

Post by Fauve
2.) Illustrator -- Obvously many reasons here. But put simply it is inferior
to Freehand; and "increases" lack of productivity because people spend too much
trying to figure it out. Meanwhile in Freehand -- you would have been done;
well on your way to "overdelivery"....:)....!!!

Of course the program you have used the most is more productive than the others.

Jukka

[Fauve]

Point taken.

Not arrogant, but lets say "seasoned"..:) The point with Dreamweaver was that
the temptation for designers to skips steps; and not truly understand the code
was nearly always taken by the designers. If there was a change to the design
during breakdown -- they couldnt find it in the code, let it alone know how to
fix

It was just easier for the "whole" team -- designers and developers --that
especially designers understand the code in order to solve UI problems/edits in
UI process.

This was easier to explain, and more importantly get results -- with HomeSite.
Albeit, Dreamweaver has changed/upgraded a great deal.

Used to be a much bigger difference between "editor" and "authoring" tools.

[Armadillo]

Post by Fauve
It was just easier for the "whole" team -- designers and developers --that
especially designers understand the code in order to solve UI problems/edits in
UI process.

Exactly! I just spent a few days in my friend's non-digital advertising agency introducing Dreamweaver. Flash, etc. I force fed some html-code explaining that if all goes well they do not have to ever see it. But if it goes wrong, and it will, they'll save a lot of time and money if they know at least the basics.

Jukka