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There are hundreds, if not thousands, of illustration applications for the Mac. Some are free and offer just enough functionality to get you by, and others are so multi-dimensional you need two or three years at college to use them properly.

But most professional Mac illustrators choose either Adobe Illustrator or Macromedia's FreeHand for their bread-and-butter drawing work. Why did these two end up as the top applications?

It is simple. They are not too complex, they offer enough features to get the job done and they interact well with the other professional tools most illustrators use every day, namely photo, page layout and hypertext mark-up language-editing applications. They have also been around since the 1980s so artists are familiar with their capabilities and quirks.

But which is my favourite is something that shifts back and forth.

One will have more features and capability for a while, until the other application releases a new version and leapfrogs into first place - as FreeHand MX has just done.

FreeHand was the first of the Big Two illustration applications to ship as OS X compatible.

In the rush to be first, it left out a few important features, causing it to slip into the No 2 spot for many illustrators.

But about six weeks ago, Macromedia started shipping an upgraded version that enables FreeHand to integrate with other  Macromedia MX applications.

Adobe has focused on integration across its product line for years, forcing Macromedia to play catch-up. Nonetheless, I predict a host of new features will secure FreeHand the No 1 slot for some time to come.

One big change is in the interface. The attribute panels, from which you control the many traits of your drawings parts, are now docked together. No longer must you continuously move panels around the screen to view your work.

Also, the toolbars can be placed along the top like a regular menu bar or hung vertically as in traditional illustration apps.

After you draw an object, you can now assign multiple attributes to its strokes - fills, special effects, transparency and so on - simultaneously. This is a big deal because everything you look at has multiple attributes.

Your hand, for example, has texture, colour and patterns. Your hand also has multiple gradients of colour, and FreeHand now has multiple gradient colour controls.

Once again, this is a big deal when you are trying to create a realistic illustration.

You can further apply colour or texture gradients (blends) between objects.

Just look at the leaves of a tree to appreciate how this feature adds realism.

Previously, the eraser tool would erase the boundary of a drawn object, causing the illustration object to have an incomplete line or path. But the new tool erases portions of an object while keeping it intact as an object, so it retains all its fills and effects.

Artists will chuckle every time they use the new eraser tool, remembering how silly and incomplete the old technology was.

A couple of years ago, FreeHand 9 broke new ground by introducing Perspective Grids to help artists create accurate 3D scenes in perspective.

These vanishing-point grids quickly became a must-have feature. Macromedia has now added a 3D Extrude tool that, once again, makes the artist's work much easier.

Remember, almost everything you see is an extruded rectangle or circle.

Since a number of specialty graphics applications have been stealing users from the traditional illustration programs, FreeHand has now included a few specialty tools of its own.

For instance, the Connector Tool, which makes organisation and flow chart connections, will endear FreeHand to corporate artists.

FreeHand has also improved its ability to make Flash animations. The simplicity of Flash made Freehand the No 1 animation application. FreeHand's new Movie Settings panel simplifies the process even further.

Many artists use FreeHand as a page-layout application and, for these users, FreeHand can now apply bitmap effects, like glow and blur, to line drawings.

And if you need more robust photo-editing tools, it will automatically open FireWorks, Macromedia's photo-editing application, if you have it.

While FreeHand MX is focused on satisfying the needs of professional illustrators, it is still relatively easy to learn.

You can call up a wealth of tutorials from within the application, and since FreeHand has so many fans, there are tutorials for every imaginable trick posted on the Internet.

Simply search the Web for FreeHand tips. You'll also find a treasure trove of free textures, patterns and animations.
E-mail Dave Horrigan at 
horrigan@electriciti.com



FreeHand seizes the lead in top illustrators' race