Illustrator vs. Freehand?

[reuber1]

Before I get the good ol' "search the web" answer, let me say that I have done that alreadyand most of what I can find are undecisive articles that are reviews of either product and I've been hard pressed to find a good comparison between the two. Anyway, since I'm certain that Illustrator is better than Freehand (or more powerful), what is it that Illustrator has that Freehand doesn't? I never took an Illustration class in school because http://www.graphicdesignforum.com/emoticons/ibf-iamstupid.gif but just a simple answer would be sweet since I'm in the market to learn a program. The Internet is a good source to find information IF there wasn't so much and IF so much of it wasn't all crap.

[Kool]

I can't really answer your question on a feature by feature basis. The only thing I ever use it for is to open files. Macromedia pretty much dominates the web world so you know most of their talent is working on the next version of Dream Weaver and Flash. Freehand in my opinion suffers from the same problem as another fine program Corel Draw and that is compatability. Printers are notoriously cheap and most would rather send a customer away than buy new software. Using Freehand will limit the number of printers you can use. Everybody accepts Illustrator files. /emoticons/cool.gif

http://home.comcast.net/~rnick9/signew.jpg

'You don't like your job, you don't strike. You go in every day and do it really half-assed. That's the American way.' H. J. Simpson

[PrintDriver]

The Illustrator interface is much more intuitive than Freehand.
Like Kool, I only use Freehand to open files sent to me. I don't design in it.
I certainly DON'T like Freehand's multipage function. People try to use it as a layout program. Bad people. Bad.

PrintDriver is a large format digital print dude. His advice/opinions may not apply to the 4color/offset/web world of printing

[Drawing a Blank]

I use both programs depending on what the final product is going to be.


I agree with the sentiments above about printing. If you are going to be doing work that will be sent to printers than Illustrator is the way to go (everbody accepts illustrator). I've also found that Illustratorgenerally has better tools for generating special effects so I usually domost of my logos/graphic design illustrations in Illustrator.I useFreehand when simple line drawings are the end result. It may be because I learned Freehand to do just that type of work (patent illustrations), but I findFreehand has better features for selecting lines and point, adjustingpoint handles and selection in general.


Oh well that's my 2 cents.


"Oooh Benson; you are so mercifully free from the ravages of intelligence."

[3howards]

i hate freehand and try to avoid it at all costs. my use of freehand is limited to opening client files. for printing, illustrator is the way to go.

[ears]

I use both FreeHand and Illustrator, and I would not be satisfied using just one of them. The serious illustrator-designer should be fluent in both and know the strengths and weaknesses of each program. Certain shops, clients, and printers only use one or the other, so if you are working professionally you should know both intimately: you should be able to 'think' differently in each program.

I have been using both programs since Illustrator 3.0 and FreeHand 3.1, both of which came out in 1991. If you look at these early versions, FreeHand was so clearly superior that you wonder how Illustrator survived (FreeHand, for example, had layers and Illustrator didn't). In part, I imagine Illustrator survived by copying FreeHand's features, and later the best innovations in Illustrator were borrowed from other Adobe products. Both programs became better because of the competition. I'm glad we have both.

Today I use FreeHand 5.5, FreeHand 9, Illustrator 8, and Illustrator 10. I find myself using Illustrator primarily for clients' work and FreeHand for my own work. I prefer FreeHand because it supports multiple pages in multiple sizes, far better text control and style sheets, superior autotrace, a useful search-and-replace feature, and superb interface customization. On the other hand, who could live without Illustrator's actions, smart guides, and its superior gradients and blends? And plug-ins are available for each program that aren't available for the other one. You should know both Illustrator and FreeHand, and you should play around with as many plug-ins as you can get your hands on! An advanced user can do things in one program that aren't possible in the other. An advanced user can also cut their production time in half or more by knowing how to flow artwork through multiple programs (Photoshop, Illustrator, Streamline, FreeHand, Flash, various CAD, 3D, and GIS programs, and more) to take advantage of various strengths. Don't tie yourself down; experiment with everything. Experiment!

I should end with a caveat, though: I tried using FreeHand 10 once and I hated it. Macromedia changed the interface dramatically, and in my opinion it was not an improvement. I've heard that FreeHand MX is even worse, although I still need to try the program to verify the rumor. So I'm sticking with FreeHand 9. Both programs have had bad versions in the past: FreeHand 4 and Illustrator 7, for example.

While you should know both Illustrator and FreeHand, you should also try earlier versions of both programs so that you will know which interface is best for you and understand how the programs evolved. The key to using any software well is to understand the thinking that went into its creation, what that thinking makes possible and what it hinders. As we know too well, not all so-called 'upgrades' are improvements; often the interface gets worse and the software becomes increasingly bloated, which is why FreeHand 5.5 and Illustrator 6 are still a pleasure to use despite their limitations.

[reuber1]

Thanks for all the input everybody. I've just started picking up Freehand MXand using that (having some issues with the extrude tool and wireframing vectors; I got a topicpost in the Macromedia product forum about it if anyone thinks they can help) and minus that one issue it's working relatively well for me. I'm mainly using it to do layout for Flash sites, but I'm also going to start doing a lot more vector works with it, as opposed to having Photoshop being my one stop shop for my projects. And I'm considering using it for layout instead of QuarkXpress, because I f'ing hate Quark.

[PrintDriver]

Good post Ears. Welcome to the Forum!

We stopped at Freehand 8 but have kept Illustrator up to CS.
Freehand does have some good export filters and we haven't had any trouble opening Freehand .ai or .eps files though we like to try to keep things in the format of creation just to avoid crazy crap when going to the rip. (hard copy, hard copy hard copy is very important).

The Freehand multipage function does add to my work day though. Designers use it as a multipage doc and send me files with upwards of 40 pages with stuff in different scales for output. To make it all work, I have to separate it out into single page docs to avoid wastage of print media. But the same is true for Quark and InDesign. Any doc should always be at the same scale on all pages.

All programs are good.

PrintDriver is a large format digital print dude. His advice/opinions may not apply to the 4color/offset/web world of printing

[SarahRar]

My advice would be to go with Illustrator... but really it depends on what you are going to use the program for.

I think all in all... illustrator and freehand are only to be used for vector graphics, not page layout purposes. I prefer illustrator, for one because of learning it through school, but also because it's so similar to the functions and short cuts of photoshop.

Once you learn the functions of one, the other comes quickly. Through a new job, I picked up on the necessities of Freehand - but when receiving any files from agencies and outside designers, in a year of work, I haven't received one Freehand document.

So, industry speaking, ILLUSTRATOR is your program. But it's helpful to know both and then you can decided which works best for your personal work. I would choose Quark or Indesign for page layout. >: )