Customer Reviews

Macromedia FreeHand MX for Windows & Macintosh

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

A good and complete book for beginners and intermediate users