you can do what you want
Out of context: Reply #19
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- miesvan0
6 of them...
1. FreeHand's knife tool has been a crutial tool for how I use FreeHand to create smooth complex curves, or for just being able to get rid of part of an object very easily. For complex curves I generally start with primitive ellipses or circles. I will create a series of ellipses and precisely overlap the strokes where I want the intersections to occur. Then the beauty of FreeHand's knife tool allows me to select multiple objects at once and cut both obects at their intersection point. Then I simply delete the unwanted portions of the ellipses or circles and join the remaining pieces leaving me with my desired curve.To my knowledge, no other drawing or layout program has the capability and ease of FreeHand's knife too.
2. FreeHand's set of tools: Union, Subtract, Punch, etc. work flawlessly. I use the "Union" tool the most, and it has saved me tons of time in creating more complex objects without having to use the bezigon handles too much... For example, if I'm tracing an image to convert to vector art, I can use as many primitive shapes as possible and trace the image in parts. Use a rectangle for parts that have harder angles instead of having to click down 4 points with the pen or bezigon tool. Then use the method above with the knife tool to create some of the curves, close the objects with the click of a button, overlap them slightly and hit the union button... perfect. No left over parts, no point shift (with snapping off... I don't like snapping at all in any program). Ilustrators set of "pathfinder" tools comes close to FreeHand's functionality, but I've noticed that in Illustrator, it leaves the unwanted parts for whatever reason, and doesn't separate them from the new shape. Very frustrating... because then I have to go back and delete the unwanted parts, and selecting "parts" of an object in Illustrator is an absolute NIGHTMARE.
3. Which brings me to the "Pointer" issue. I'm sure everyone that uses FreeHand knows this already, but what the hell is the need for 2 pointers?? I have NO idea why FreeHand put in an additional pointer... I've never used it. It's completely unwanted. Were they trying to make Illustrator users more comfortable? I have always thought that the way in which Illustrator makes you deal with manipulating and selecting objects is the absolute weakest part of the program hands down. And this is where FreeHand shines. Being able to option-click on an object that is grouped and then being able to select and de-select individual points at will is a HUGE jump in efficiency over Illustrator. I could go on about this, but I think FreeHand users are pretty aware of the selection superiority of FreeHand.
4. Being able to cycle through selecting objects that are on top of one another is key as well. The cntrl-click feature FreeHand has is just wonderful. Then you can also hold SHIFT with the CNTRL key and select multiple levels of objects.
5. I use FreeHand for ALL vector art creation. The ability to copy and paste into Photoshop and Flash is great. Creating a vector object for use in Flash is easy. You can have all of your shapes overlap without having to delete the unwanted segments due to the way Flash handles vector graphics. You can just paste in your art from FreeHand and select and delete the unwanted segments simply in Flash after "breaking apart" the objects pasted in.
6. Here is a tip for people using FreeHand that must have their art end up in Illustrator. Create your LINE ART in FreeHand. (limited amount of fills and NO gradients or blends. You can have fills, but the way Illustrator handles gradients is quite different at the coding level, and you will get unwanted shapes from FreeHand gradients or blends when importing into Illustrator) Simply export your FreeHand document as a "Generic" or "Macintosh" EPS and open it in Illustrator. Don't hassle with drawing in Illustrator, just import and color in Illustrator after drawing the art in FreeHand.