illustrator vs freehand
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- myra
What do you use and why is it better than the other one?
I use freehand and I'm thinking of getting illustrator.
- horton0
because thankfully AI3.0 is what i was trained on.
the switch for you is inevitable, i'd say better sooner than later.
- Mimio0
If you're drawing complex stuff for Flash use Freehand. Otherwise Illustrator is much better and more productive since it couples well with Photoshop.
- st33d0
Used both. Illy wins IMO. The interface is just so much more intuitive.
- horton0
illustrator cs3 is going to be much more compatible with flash.
- version30
corel, better node and anchor control, smart grouping through multiple layers, exports to ttf, bitstreams font navigator, 50 billion fonts on disk 2, oh and the kicker that sells em everyday...
multiple pages without some whack 3rd party thing, smart objects, intelligent alignment etc, etc, and about 100 other high quality reasonsadobes bullying the market does not make their products any better
- myra0
Sorry, I should have put corel into the competition too.
- version30
as far as flash, corel also couples with an add-on app called corel rave for simple animations and such, i never use it though, corel also exports to swf as well, has for years
imagine quark, illustrator, and freehand all in one application, it still wouldn't have all the bells and whistles that corel does
- Sven_sk0
I used FH before I switched firms and now I use AI. I used to love FH but now I think AI is better. But both get the job done. Its whatever you feel the most comfortable working in and can use to get the best results OR which program most of your vendors prefer to get the best results on their end.
- JesseJensen0
Sounds like corel is on auto pilot. If you want a great tool without being distracted by a bunch of bullshit, choose Illustrator.
- Rand0
I used both
nobody ever mentions one HUGE plus for freehand: multiple pages of multiple sizes. If you do a letterhead, envelope, mailing label and 15 business cards imagine how much easier that is
- version30
please explain how said features would be considered auto pilot?
i'd like to think my billing comes from my effort in an application, not arguing with it to get it to do things other apps can do easily. i personally don't bill for frustration
at the end of the day, pantone is pantone, inches are inches, and corel is more efficient
- JesseJensen0
Do what you gotta do, man.
- version30
what other application will allow you to scan in a handwriting sample, convert it to vector, and create a ttf font file all from one box?
- Mimio0
So do you guys put your multiple page format documents into pdf? How do you deliver them?
- myra0
We deliver multiple page documents as pdf's from freehand. But we do mostly web, so that's usually just information design.
- ninjasavant0
I use corel and illustrator.
For the average person I agree that Corel wins hands down for its versatility alone. You can have multiple different page sizes in corel also. And like v4 said its more than most people even need who have the whole CS3 suite. Its color picker is absolutely garbage from a usability standpoint though. It has some nice color tricks but they are too cumbersome. Just applying a gradient is maddening. And I'm not too keen on how it handles transparency. For that reason I prefer doing illustration in Illustrator but Corel for other stuff that lies in the middle of Illy and InDesign.
Freehand is a dead stick though so it might be time to look into something with a future.
- version30
it has a "prepare for publisher" option and several industry standards as far as page layout/size goes. That will give a job sheet including font sizes and colors, automatically converts text to curves or bundles the fonts with the job based on your choice. i print in CA all the time and my pdfs from KS haven't caused a problem.
and because i actually buy my software the upgrade from 12 to x3 will only be around $160 and i've had 12 for about 3 years now.
i started on 7 as a beta tester, we did that so my boss could get a discount on our corel license
years later, i love her for that