Macromedia FreeHand MX for Windows & Macintosh [Paperback]

Sandee Cohen (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0321186508 | ISBN-13: 978-0321186508 | Publication Date: May 1, 2003 | Edition: 1

The latest of Macromedia¿s award-winning software packages to join the MX family, Macromedia FreeHand MX brings the popular vector-based drawing and layout program into the present day. Whether you¿ve built your career on FreeHand and can¿t wait to master the software¿s new features or you¿re just learning FreeHand for the first time, there¿s no faster way to get up and running with Macromedia FreeHand MX than Macromedia FreeHand MX for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide. Updated by best-selling author Sandee Cohen to include plenty of new step-by-step how-tos and screenshots specific to Macromedia FreeHand MX, this task-based reference is the perfect tool for learning this visual program. The first few chapters provide an overview of the program before walking you through how to create sophisticated artwork using Macromedia FreeHand MX¿s many powerful features: layers and layering, points and paths, working in color, strokes and fills, creating text and text effects, and more. The final chapters explain printing, preferences and using artwork with other applications and the Web.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The latest of Macromedia's award-winning software packages to join the MX family, Macromedia FreeHand MX brings the popular vector-based drawing and layout program into the present day. Whether you've built your career on FreeHand and can't wait to master the software's new features or you're just learning FreeHand for the first time, there's no faster way to get up and running with Macromedia FreeHand MX than Macromedia FreeHand MX for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide. Updated by best-selling author Sandee Cohen to include plenty of new step-by-step how-tos and screenshots specific to Macromedia FreeHand MX, this task-based reference is the perfect tool for learning this visual program. The first few chapters provide an overview of the program before walking you through how to create sophisticated artwork using Macromedia FreeHand MX's many powerful features: layers and layering, points and paths, working in color, strokes and fills, creating text and text effects, and more. The final chapters explain printing, preferences and using artwork with other applications and the Web.

About the Author

@AUTHBIO= Sandee Cohen is the graphics curriculum coordinator at the New School University Computer Instruction Center in New York City. In addition, she is also a frequent speaker at the Seybold, Thunder Lizard, and Macworld Expo conferences. She is the author of Macromedia Fireworks MX for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide, Macromedia FreeHand 10 for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide, and InDesign 2 for Macintosh and Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide.

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Peachpit Press; 1 edition (May 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321186508
• ISBN-13: 978-0321186508
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,373,004 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Adaptation of help file not quite a QuickStart, November 24, 2003

By 

entity (Johannesburg, South Africa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Macromedia FreeHand MX for Windows & Macintosh (Paperback)

I would have rated this book a one. I settled for two stars as I did actually learn a few things from it. This book is quite obviously an adaptation of a FreeHand 10 book (which I understand Sandee has written) as there are some remnants of v.10 functionality that has been changed and updated in MX. Ms. Cohen seems to have missed these. Inconsistencies, unnecessary repetition, gaping holes (Polygon options in the Object panel) and incorrect information - Page coordinates start at the top left of the page?
As an educator myself I find the sequence of information to be unintuitive; working with views before you even have anything on a page to view becomes a bit conceptual and difficult to grasp for the beginner.
Sandee, like almost everyone who writes a book on computer illustration, claims she has the answers to master the ever confusing Pen tool and Bézier curves, I understand them yet found myself reading Chapter 6's eight pages over and over again to figure out what her amazing insight was, especially with regard to connector curves. If you have never worked with a vector illustration package before, I would not recommend this book, you'd do better to print out the help file (which suffers from the same problems as this book), in fact, since they are so similar, I wonder if it's this book that is based on the help file or vice-versa. This book provides (almost) complete step-by-step instructions on using each tool and panel and Xtra and whatever (with some useful advanced functionality) but very little real life application or examples. It will probably serve me as a reference tool for particular functionality on certain tools but little else.

4.0 out of 5 stars FreeHand reference book, October 28, 2009

By 

Mark Gelotte - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Macromedia FreeHand MX for Windows & Macintosh (Paperback)

I am an experienced FreeHand designer who uses it extensively along with Illustrator, so in commenting on this book that is 6 years old for a 6 year old application is only because there is little else to read when using FreeHand MX. This is clearly a reference book and although laid out in a manner for a newcomer to learn FreeHand, it is for the intermediate or even long-time user who needs to refer to little-used or more hidden features. I would tend to agree with the first reviewer who, as an educator, would not recommend this for his beginner student classroom but for anyone else who is in the graphics profession, I find it indispensable as a quick reference particularly in the midst of a project and needing quick advice. It is thorough, easy to follow, and I have had no problem searching the book for a specific explanation. As to inconsistencies, a few details as mentioned by the other reviewer but not a stumbling block in my reading as it might be in a classroom.

This book is arranged in step-by-step instructions on using each tool and panel feature with added "Tip" sections at the end of each instruction, however this book does not contain any Gallery sections or Color art as in the more recent VQS books. Be sure to look at the Table of Contents in the Amazon "Look Inside" window, as the 29 Chapters are laid out in progression from beginner to advanced. FreeHand's page layout feature (similar to Quark or InDesign) is in chapters near the end of the book and it finishes with Web and Flash Animation chapters. The Appendix has Keyboard Shortcuts and setting Custom Preferences.

With FreeHand under Adobe ownership, it is now being sold on their website only. Although not being upgraded by Adobe, FreeHand still runs well under Mac OSX Snow Leopard (with the Adobe 10.6 fix) and in Windows 7 (with Compatibility mode) so a reference book like this is a valuable resource for the thousands of FreeHand users who prefer its speed and ease to that of Illustrator. Especially with the price for used editions of this book so inexpensive, it is worth having a reference like this nearby.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars FreeHand MX Visual QuickStart Guide, March 30, 2007

By 

Bonaccorsi Rosaria - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Macromedia FreeHand MX for Windows & Macintosh (Paperback)

A good and complete book for beginners and intermediate users