[sheldonc]

This was a real interesting development to me, but I can't say I'm terribly shocked. Adobe and Macromedia have been head-to-head since the beginning. And right now the political clime is such that any anti-trust actions that aren't enormously blatant (like Intel buying AMD, or Microsoft buying everyone else) would go through with nary a hitch. Adobe is striking at an opportune time to leverage itself against the ultimate peer acquisition/annihilation machine, Microsoft.
Maybe they'll sell Freehand to Corel...

[fahlman]

Multi-page layouts? What are you drawing in FreeHand, it is an illustration program you know, that requires multi-page layouts? Unless someone can tell me, I don't know what it would be. I've been using Illustrator since 3.2 and have never thought to myself, I sure do wish Illustrator had the capability do have multiple pages. That's fourteen years without the thought ever crossing my mind.

[Uncle_Deercamp]

This has to be the funniest article I've ever read. And the spewing in the forum is even better.

[SDLeary]

No, Aldus was only the publisher. The creator was Altsys, and they took it back at the time of merger because they thought that Adobe would not promote it. Adobe after all had Illustrator.
Steven Leary

[robertRoss]

In reply to:

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I've been using Illustrator since 3.2 and have never thought to myself, I sure do wish Illustrator had the capability do have multiple pages. That's fourteen years without the thought ever crossing my mind.

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Different strokes for different folks. Modern programs are so diverse and deep that people can use them in quite different ways to get the jobs they need to complete done. If you haven't thought of it, it doesn't mean it's not valid.

[osequis]

Adobedia?, Macrobe?, PDFlash?, DreamLive?, Freelustrator?, Ilustrhand?... Let's see the mutants this merge will generate... I really like the idea of Flash with PDF flexibility!

[tomottoe]

Fahlman:
Here's a perfect example:
When I start doing a logo exploration, I can easily reel off a hundred iterations that I need to print to evaluate. With Illustrator, I can either (A) make groups of logos that fit in a letter-size space and drag them on and off the page area (and go thru the print dialog box 5 or 10 times), or (B) save multiple files (and go thru the open AND print dialog box 5 or 10 times!). With Freehand I could have all my first pass attempts organized in one file. I think it's a better workflow.

[Uncle_Deercamp]

Too bad Freehand will be put out to pasture (let's be real here folks - you know it's going to happen), or better yet, sold off to a company like Creature House or Corel (who'll manage to F it up it in no time).
Good riddance to a weak program. Even if it could do multiple pages.

[orgreeno]

I think it's fairly safe to say that, if it were not for Flash, this acquisition would not be taking place at all. And if it were to happen sans Flash, it would be at a fraction of the 3.4 Billion Adobe is paying.

[pcmeissner]

The multi-page function of Freehand was very useful. But I also enjoy being able to import an native illustrator file into indesign. That may get a little complicated if the AI file had multiple pages. Therefore, I don't think AI will ever have multi-page ability.

[robertRoss]

I wonder what effect this will have on pricing since two competitors are now two entitites?

[bdew]

Macromedia wants to become a biiger company, and was/is counting on server solutions such as Breeze and Flex to get it there. Dreamweaver and Online are no longer selling like they used to, and I bet that Adobe saw the potential behind these two products, as well as Cold Fusion, and decided to purchase Macromedia. Just look at how well WebEx is doing and perhaps the only way Adobe saw themselves getting into this field was by purchasing macromedia.

[ndelc]

With the release of Freehand 8, MM started having a bit of an identity crisis with FH. It started morphing in to an illustration/page layout program, and it was actually pretty good at it (page layout). There were a few years where I actually preferred FH to Pagemaker with regards to page layout.

[imjeffp]

In reply to:

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The multi-page function of Freehand was very useful. But I also enjoy being able to import an native illustrator file into indesign. That may get a little complicated if the AI file had multiple pages. Therefore, I don't think AI will ever have multi-page ability.

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InD imports multi-page PDFs just fine, though.
I miss doing the tri-fold brochure, postcard and t-shirt all in a single file.