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Adobe Illustrator 9.0
Reviewed by Nathan Segal.The first vector drawing program available, Illustrator became an industry standard, and there are many die hard users who won't use anything else. Version 9 of the program offers more flexibility, better integration, along with new object effects. One of the most important changes to Illustrator 9 is its ability to work with web design projects, which offers such features as the Pixel Preview command, web safe colors when working in RGB mode, Web Optimization, Release to Layers command, and more. Other options include the Simplify command, Effects menu, and Transparency palette. Pixels are now supported as a measurement method and the new Pixel Preview mode allows you to preview your vector objects as they would appear in a web browser. When working in the Pixel Preview mode, objects snap by default to the nearest pixel edge in the document. Looking at the Save for Web dialog is almost the same as the Save to Web dialog in Photoshop. It allows you to preview up to four different optimization settings for output to either JPEG, GIF, PNG-8 or PNG-24 format files. You can adjust the resulting image quality, file size, blur, number of colors in the image, etc. When using the new Release to Layers feature, Illustrator will take all the objects on a given layer and assign each object its own layer, which can be useful for web animation programs such as Macromedia Flash. Holding down the Shift key as you use the command will create a sequence of layers, again useful for animation The Export to Flash (SWF format), gives you the option of exporting the entire graphic as one object, to export each layer to a single SWF file, or to export each layer to individual SWF files.
A new feature in this version is the Simplify command, which reduces the number of points in a path. To access this feature, create a path, then choose Object: Path: Simplify. In this case, I used the Auto Trace tool to select the points in the path then used the Simplify command. The original path is shown in red and the simplified path is shown in blue. The Simplify command reduced the number of points from 259 to 133. The result isn't perfect, though, and still needs a considerable amount of editing. The new Effects menu offers options to convert type and graphic objects to create editable rectangular or elliptical objects, that can be utilized to create web buttons. Additionally, the Stylize commands let you apply special effects such as drop shadows, glows, and more to type and graphic objects. Even after the Style is applied, you can continue to reshape, transform and retype the objects and the Styles will update with your edits. Be aware that commands under the Effects menu are duplicated in the Filters menu, the difference between the two is that only the commands in the Effects menu are editable. To eliminate confusion, though, it would be better to combine both menus into one. Illustrator 9 introduces the new Transparency palette to apply varying levels of transparency to any object, bitmap or type character. Transparency also applies to layers, groups of objects, knockout shapes, stroke and fill. You can create special effects, such as confining blending to a group of objects while leaving outside colors unaffected, create graduated transparencies on blends, use opacity masks on one layer to affect layers and objects below that layer, etc.
Using the Transparency palette, the magenta circle makes use of the Overlay setting and an Opacity of 50 percent. Illustrator 9 introduces two new types of Masking, Opacity and Layer Clipping Masks. Opacity Masks allow masking of underlying artwork, using the change in luminosity of the overlying artwork to affect the objects beneath. Colors, patterns, and gradients in the mask are visible on the underlying artwork. A Clipping Mask, in contrast, is created from an object or a group of objects that creates a shape that masks underlying artwork, clipping it to the shape of the mask. To add greater blending and softening of edges, the new Feather effect softens transitions between foreground and background objects.
An example of an opacity mask with feathering applied to the edge of the star. Layers take on a new approach as you can now sort your layers in a hierarchy, similar to that found in applications like 3D Studio Max. You can nest layers inside other layers, grouping important elements together. Also, these groups can be collapsed as well.
The new Layers palette with the Cucumber layer open and displaying the layers it contains. Illustrator 9 will open Photoshop files complete with masks, blending
modes, transparency, and converting layers to separate Illustrator objects.
Exported Illustrator files retain layers, opacity masks, transparency,
blending, and type that remains editable. While the new version of Illustrator offers more choices for design, there are some issues that need to be addressed. Currently, there is no support for multiple page layouts, or a History palette that allows you to retrace your steps. The Auto Trace tool needs some work as well. Every time I used it, my computer would slow down and sometimes even hang. Overall, I liked what the new version had to offer and if you are a seasoned Illustrator veteran, it is an upgrade worth the price. Note: When purchasing Illustrator, make sure you have the current version (9.0.2). You will need to download and install the 9.0.1 update first. The 9.0.1 update fixes problems with file integrity, resolution for Window Shade issues, program stability, reduced "Out of memory" errors, performance enhancements, and optimization to take advantage of Macintosh G4 Velocity Engine and Intel® Pentium® III processors. The 9.0.2 update includes plug-ins to solve compatibility issues with importing Photoshop 6.0 files into Illustrator 9.0. For more information, visit the download page at: http://www.adobe.com/products/illustrator/update.html Pricing and Availability System Requirements
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