Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!munnari.oz.au!uhccux!waikato.ac.nz!phil
From: phil@waikato.ac.nz
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.apps
Subject: Re: Freehand vs Illustrator
Message-ID: <1991Jan22.095553.2775@waikato.ac.nz>
Date: 21 Jan 91 20:55:51 GMT
References: <47@owl.ukc.ac.uk>
Organization: University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
Lines: 33

In article <47@owl.ukc.ac.uk>, rej@ukc.ac.uk (R.E.Jones) writes:
> 
> I am trying to decide whether to buy Aldus Freehand or Adobe Illustrator.
> Unfortunately, nowhere round here seems to be able to provide a demo copy
> of either of these programs!
> I'd be most grateful for any advice/opinions/experience on these two packages,
> particularly Illustrator. I have used Freehand and quite liked it.

My impression is that computer-oriented people prefer FreeHand, while more
artistically-inclined people prefer Illustrator, whose tools and usage seem
more intuitive to them.  I prefer Illustrator's look and feel, but I possibly
have a more artistic streak than most computer buffs.  In an all out features
war, FreeHand wins, though.  Illustrator's Autotrace is better, FreeHand can
wrap text around a curve (or any shape).

> The package would be used in a technical/educational environment, i.e. largely
> for drawing diagrams of varying complexity, though it would also be used to a
> lesser extent for other purposes, e.g. cover sheets. At the moment colour
> capabilities are not that important, although this might change in the near
> future.
> 
> [By the way, simpler drawing programs such as MacDraw are not up to the job.]

A cheap solution might be to try SuperPaint 2.0.  It has a "Bezier Curve" which
has similar control points to Illustrator and FreeHand, but the result is
QuickDraw rather than PostScript.  It is in no way as powerful as FreeHand or
Illustrator, but it does the job pretty well.  The editing operations on a
Bezier curve are suprisingly simple yet powerful, after using FreeHand or
Illustrator.
-- 
Phil Etheridge (phil@waikato.ac.nz)                 /\  /\   -+-,--, .--, ._
Computer Services/Mathematics & Statistics         /  \/  \  / /--< /--  /
University of Waikato, Hamilton, NZ.              /        \/ /__.) \_  /