While there are plenty of uncertainties out there in the world (like whether or not there's a future for FreeHand, GoLive, etc.), there are also some things we're quite sure of -- like the fact that there are plenty of dedicated and passionate FreeHand users out there.
So I thought some of you might be interested in reading a blog that Richard Hubbard has been working on. Richard is a long-time FreeHand user and like many others, cares deeply about the future of the program. A short while ago, Richard contacted me asking if he could interview me on my thoughts about FreeHand. As my own dediated readers know, I'm never shy about sharing ideas or concepts that I myself am passionate about, so of course, I accepted. You can read my interview on the FreeHand blog.
But while that might be quasi-interesting (my own commentary that is), I was quite impressed that Richard reached out to Adobe and to the Illustrator team and actually managed to get an interview with two friends of mine -- Phil Guindi, who is the Product Manager for Illustrator, and Terry Hemphill -- who is the Product Marketing Manager for Illustrator.
Richard shares his conversation with those two on his blog as well, and it does offer a wonderful insight into Adobe's thought process on the whole issue. While the interview doesn't reveal any juicy information, it certainly does offer this: a comfort on some level that Adobe isn't simply making rash decisions. I was actually surprised by the candor of the interview, and am impressed by Adobe's willingness to communicate on some level with the users with regards to this issue.
Kudos to both Richard and to Adobe on this one. Well done.
The FreeHand blog can be found here.
A blog about Adobe Illustrator and design in general
October 29, 2006
October 20, 2006
PEN 10.06 - The Art of the Dash
Well, I finally went ahead and did it. It seems as though everyone is podcasting these days, isn't it? Well, here's my offering -- I hope you like it! Feedback is of course, always welcome!
Pen is a video podcast that focuses on Illustrator and related content. It's for that reason that I call it "infinitely scalable content". Special thanks to the Creative Professional Association for sponsoring this.
The link to the video podcast -- formatted for the iPod and iTunes -- is here.
NEW! I've added an iTunes subscription link here.
NEW! Due to popular demand, and because I just want to be different, I've decided to provide my readers with a text version of PEN - The Vector Podcast. So I guess you can call it a simulcast. You get both the video, AND the PDF, all for the same low price. Now how can you possibly beat that? The link to the PDF is here.
Pen is a video podcast that focuses on Illustrator and related content. It's for that reason that I call it "infinitely scalable content". Special thanks to the Creative Professional Association for sponsoring this.
The link to the video podcast -- formatted for the iPod and iTunes -- is here.
NEW! I've added an iTunes subscription link here.
NEW! Due to popular demand, and because I just want to be different, I've decided to provide my readers with a text version of PEN - The Vector Podcast. So I guess you can call it a simulcast. You get both the video, AND the PDF, all for the same low price. Now how can you possibly beat that? The link to the PDF is here.
October 16, 2006
I WON! I WON! I WON!
I can't even believe it!
I've been selected as one of five finalists by American Way Magazine as this year's Road Warrior MVP. Each year, American Way Magazine (the magazine of American Airlines) has a search to crown someone as a Road Warrior MVP. The entry required filling out a questionairre, answering an essay question, and coming up with a cute "Top 10" list, among other things as well (you can read my entry by following the link at the end of this post).
I just couldn't believe it when my phone rang and it was American Way Magazine informing me that I had been selected as a top 5 finalist from over 10,000 entries. Sweet!
As most of you already know, I do quite a bit of traveling while speaking and appearing at seminars, trade shows, and conferences. What you might not know about me is that for an entire year, while working at Adobe, I was living in San Jose, CA while my wife and family lived at home in Long Island, NY. And each week, I'd fly out to the west coast to work, then fly home for the weekend with the family. Thank goodness that's over (I am now firmly settled back east where I belong), but let's just say I know what it means to be a road warrior :)
In any case, where as in years past American Way Magazine chose their own Road Warrior winner, this year they are doing the "American Idol" thing and opening it up to online voting to determine who of the top 5 finalists will be crowned this year's Road Warrior MVP.
So what are you waiting for? Follow this link to cast your vote today!
I've been selected as one of five finalists by American Way Magazine as this year's Road Warrior MVP. Each year, American Way Magazine (the magazine of American Airlines) has a search to crown someone as a Road Warrior MVP. The entry required filling out a questionairre, answering an essay question, and coming up with a cute "Top 10" list, among other things as well (you can read my entry by following the link at the end of this post).
I just couldn't believe it when my phone rang and it was American Way Magazine informing me that I had been selected as a top 5 finalist from over 10,000 entries. Sweet!
As most of you already know, I do quite a bit of traveling while speaking and appearing at seminars, trade shows, and conferences. What you might not know about me is that for an entire year, while working at Adobe, I was living in San Jose, CA while my wife and family lived at home in Long Island, NY. And each week, I'd fly out to the west coast to work, then fly home for the weekend with the family. Thank goodness that's over (I am now firmly settled back east where I belong), but let's just say I know what it means to be a road warrior :)
In any case, where as in years past American Way Magazine chose their own Road Warrior winner, this year they are doing the "American Idol" thing and opening it up to online voting to determine who of the top 5 finalists will be crowned this year's Road Warrior MVP.
So what are you waiting for? Follow this link to cast your vote today!
October 6, 2006
On Blogging and Baseball
My sincerest of apologies to my devoted readers. You see, the Mets are in the playoffs. And I don't have a voice left because I used it up by attending Game 1 of the NLDS at Shea Stadium. And while you might ask what this has to do with Illustrator and blogging, well, consider the fact that the time that I would normally spend blogging is now being spent with my son soaking up the excitement of everything Major League Baseball in October has to offer - either in person or at the very least -- in Hi-Def.
So while I still hope to pop in every so often and post something (I'm also working on my new podcast), please forgive if they aren't as often as you'd hope them to be. Hopefully I'll have some semblance of a voice left afterwards to actually RECORD the podcast :)
Until then, Let's Go Mets!
So while I still hope to pop in every so often and post something (I'm also working on my new podcast), please forgive if they aren't as often as you'd hope them to be. Hopefully I'll have some semblance of a voice left afterwards to actually RECORD the podcast :)
Until then, Let's Go Mets!
October 1, 2006
Put Worker 72a to work for you
Only because I've been busy, I have this stack of plugins for Illustrator that I've promised myself I'd take a closer look at. And then I realize it's been like months since I've had them sitting here. Like most of us in life, we know in the back of our minds that "there's gotta be a better way" -- but we're always so caught up in the "now" of things and the work that we need to get done before deadline that we tell ourselves "I'll do it the better way next time, for now, I'll just get it done any way I can".
The sad truth is, the next time presents itself and it's the same story. There are all these cool plugins out there that can really offer a better way to get our work done -- even some that offer capabilities that we've been begging for in Illustrator over the years. So I decided to drop work on some other things I'm working on at the moment (including my first episode of my new podcast which should be out soon - yay!) and give a few of these plugins a try. I'm glad I did.
Worker72a is certainly a unique name for company that makes plugins, but the key word to focus on here is "work" -- because that's what these plugins do. The brains behind Worker72a is Douglas Habben -- whom I've known for quite some time now. (Doug is one of those folks whom I've known since the time of Illustrator 5.5 but whom I've yet to actually meet face to face with.) Doug knows about Illustrator, but more importantly, he knows how people USE Illustrator -- only because he's been using the application for so long. Doug worked at a major production house and has used Illustrator in a real-world packaging and design environment. And now, rather than make feature requests to Adobe for ideas for future versions of Illustrator, he's taken his expertise and has implemented his ideas as Illustrator plugins -- giving us those feature requests in TODAY's version of Illustrator -- CS2.
What are some of those "feature requests"? What about a Collect for Output feature? Yeah, we've been asking for that for quite some time now from Adobe. Scoop will collect images, fonts, and even extract embedded images. If you're in the business of handing off files to printers, or other designers, or even archiving jobs to CDs, you'll want to take a closer look at Scoop.
And how many times have we wished we could align individual points on a path -- or delete several anchor points at a time (without breaking the path)? Point Control is a plugin that allows you to do just that, and more.
Adobe InDesign and Acrobat have both been able to view color separations on screen for over 2 versions now. And yet, Illustrator hasn't followed suit. I've given up holding my breath for this functionality and have been quite happy with the SepPreview plugin from Worker72a.
There are other plugins available as well, and it's certainly worth an hour perusing the site, downloading a few demos, and giving these important "work" enhancements a try. Who knows, you just might find something that will let you go home early...
The sad truth is, the next time presents itself and it's the same story. There are all these cool plugins out there that can really offer a better way to get our work done -- even some that offer capabilities that we've been begging for in Illustrator over the years. So I decided to drop work on some other things I'm working on at the moment (including my first episode of my new podcast which should be out soon - yay!) and give a few of these plugins a try. I'm glad I did.
Worker72a is certainly a unique name for company that makes plugins, but the key word to focus on here is "work" -- because that's what these plugins do. The brains behind Worker72a is Douglas Habben -- whom I've known for quite some time now. (Doug is one of those folks whom I've known since the time of Illustrator 5.5 but whom I've yet to actually meet face to face with.) Doug knows about Illustrator, but more importantly, he knows how people USE Illustrator -- only because he's been using the application for so long. Doug worked at a major production house and has used Illustrator in a real-world packaging and design environment. And now, rather than make feature requests to Adobe for ideas for future versions of Illustrator, he's taken his expertise and has implemented his ideas as Illustrator plugins -- giving us those feature requests in TODAY's version of Illustrator -- CS2.
What are some of those "feature requests"? What about a Collect for Output feature? Yeah, we've been asking for that for quite some time now from Adobe. Scoop will collect images, fonts, and even extract embedded images. If you're in the business of handing off files to printers, or other designers, or even archiving jobs to CDs, you'll want to take a closer look at Scoop.
And how many times have we wished we could align individual points on a path -- or delete several anchor points at a time (without breaking the path)? Point Control is a plugin that allows you to do just that, and more.
Adobe InDesign and Acrobat have both been able to view color separations on screen for over 2 versions now. And yet, Illustrator hasn't followed suit. I've given up holding my breath for this functionality and have been quite happy with the SepPreview plugin from Worker72a.
There are other plugins available as well, and it's certainly worth an hour perusing the site, downloading a few demos, and giving these important "work" enhancements a try. Who knows, you just might find something that will let you go home early...
Mac OS X v. 10.4.8 update fixes certain CS2 oddities
After first seeing a post on InDesign Secrets, I downloaded the 10.4.8 update on my Intel-based MacBook Pro. The update fixes certain oddities that I've experienced when using Adobe CS2 applications (which currently run on Rosetta). Mainly, in InDesign CS2, numbers are usually displayed with up to 4 decimal places. But on the Intel machines, the numbers displayed with many more decimal places (up to 16 of them). Needless to say, it was difficult to identify values. Now, with the update installed, I'm happy to report that once again, decimal places are in their proper place. So while I'm still waiting to see those wonderful Adobe apps run in Universal Binary freedom, I can at least get my work done today without issue.
The issue of certain crashes happening in Illustrator (seldom [PARM] crashes) hasn't happened since the update, but I haven't been using it long enough to know if that problem is also solved by the update. Apparently, these were all Rosetta issues, and not Adobe issues (who knew?)...
The issue of certain crashes happening in Illustrator (seldom [PARM] crashes) hasn't happened since the update, but I haven't been using it long enough to know if that problem is also solved by the update. Apparently, these were all Rosetta issues, and not Adobe issues (who knew?)...
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