I'm reading all these replies and getting excited because I realise there are lots of us still out there with years of Freehand work determined not to give in. I just cannot bear to 'throw' this work away and why should we? I don't have the experience to know how to handle this sort of situation but you have my full support in whatever action you decide is the way to go forward

YES!

Yes, I have Adobe FHmx and still use it as often as possible. It is a well thought out program, I would upgrade even if the only improvement is in the area of bringing the mechanics, underlying program code, and export and import abilities up-to-date.

I just upgraded to snow leopard (a new mac) and I WANT MY FREEHAND! It is the best--most efficient all around program there ever was. As a freelance designer, all my old files are in Freehand. I use Illustrator and Indesign too--but they are cumbersome and cannot do it all like Freehand.

Give me my FREEHAND! Please update!

Yes, I will upgrade my FreeHand MX with Adobe.

WE NEED TO KEEP FREEHAND GOING. IT'S STILL THE BEST APP EVER.

Hear us roar!

;-)

Where are the anti monopoly laws??? Why Microsoft is always is fined and the ADOBE not?

To buy a rival company to get the product and then shut it isn't that controlling the market???

Why don't they keep booth programs??? I have booth!!!! Keep FREEHAND IN THE PACKAGE!! Give it some upgrade, keep it simple.

i absolutely agree with joemuller - we must stay focused and motivated so that Adobe know that we're still here, fighting for what we know is right. if we continue to make our voices heard and we are incessant with our demands, things will happen more quickly.

is everybody on this thread signed up to http://www.freefreehand.org? if not, PLEASE do so! if you are, please talk to your fellow designers and agencies - convince them that it is important for FreeHand to be upgraded - not only from a commercial and practical aspect for all of us on this thread, but from a moral objective too.

the faster we build our numbers and support, the quicker we may see some positive action from the corporate organisation that has no consideration for our livelihoods!

Yes

Absolutely, and our company would purchase multiple

copies for all the offices in the company. Plus our IT would have fewer headaches as our Graphics departments still insist on using Freehand. We also purchase and are current on Adobe Creative Suite. Each program has it's strengths and we use all of them.

No!

New website:

http://dumpfreehand.org/forum

@ Nelsonhaha:

I think you missed the point: the issue is not the difference in quality between Freehand and other software; the issue is about the freedom of choice and the arrogance of a multinational company who likes to see the buyers of his software as cattle and not as partners.

A Adobe employee no doubt?

Op 12/04/11 10:01, nelson ha ha ha schreef:

Nope, didn't miss the point.

   

Freehand is dead, get over it!

>

The guy's obviously bored whilst he's waiting for his CS suite to relaunch.

You´re absolutely right, but maybe you´re saying it to the wrong person. Nelsonhaha is either an Adobe-emplyee or just a fool who likes to piss in the pond.

Adobe is just an arrogant monopolist, a greedy octopus who through giving clients no other chance than operating with the clumsy behemoth Illustrator wants to keep the "world" under their thumb and dictate prices. Imho such thing is illegal, Microsoft has been paying huge fine for such behavior, so why not Adobe? I´m surprised the courts dont see it. Maybe we should file mass complaints. Does anyone know were the court is thats responsible for Adobe?  I thought the US despise dictators and throw bombs on them? Well, unless those dictators pay tax in the US I guess... Who´s bread I eat, who´s song I sing, or what?

If you´re writing to the management in educated, well-set words, they dont even bother to answer. I send several letters to several people, its like writing to a Dictator. I sincerely hate people and companies who behave like Adobe does. And because of that I do not buy other Adobe products where I can. I.E. I still use Quark, and dont go for Indesign.

I have Freehand and Illustrator, work with both. In 90% of all cases Freehand is better, so I still use it in 90% of my illustrative work. Still got the far better and easier palettes, still faster, still more self-explaining, still the better table to work on.

I would definitely pay for an updated Freehand, even if it is as much as for Illustrator.

Ignore nelsonhaha, we all have better things to do.

Von: nelson ha ha ha <forums@adobe.com>

Antworten an: <clearspace-1752002819-448323-2-3608274@mail.forums.adobe.com>

Datum: Tue, 12 Apr 2011 03:35:54 -0600

An: Rolf Tumat <rtumat@saartoto.de>

Betreff: Re: Adobe latest FreeHand MX upgrade, Would you pay? Adobe latest FreeHand MX upgrade, Would you pay?

 

Not for long cause in case you didn't know a not to be named company

placed a small little program inside all the freehand updates and freehand

will cease to function

in about three or so months, so good luck "freeing freehand".

>

Small, evil, but ultimately harmless.

Nelson, you just proved your own ignorance.

FreeHand isn't currently being updated at all, so 'all the FreeHand updates' you refer to are all in your own sorry little imagination.

But yes, you are ultimately harmless, and it's great to see so much positive support continuing on here for what has to be one of the most efficient and intuitive pieces of software ever written.

Our studio continues to use it every day. Wouldn't be without it. Not to mention that we have a 20-year archive of FreeHand illustrations that Illustrator still can't cope with. So we NEED FreeHand, regardless.

If any visitors here haven't yet noticed http://www.freefreehand.org (unlikely perhaps, but always worth the reminder), take a look and offer your support NOW. There must be more than enough FreeHand users out there to make a real difference if we all stand together and support the wheels already in motion to release this application.

I believe it is entirely probable that FreeHand can be resurrected. Adobe must realise, sooner or later, that it has to be worth it.

The fact that we're all still using it more than six years after Adobe withdrew support speaks for itself, no?

Regards,

Head

Long Live Freehand!

Great piece by Exploriment - an insightful and intelligent observation. If this doesn't support the case for a valid upgrade or change of ownership, I don't know what does. Adobe really are missing the point with their development. They are sitting on an absolute gem of an application and in their corporate arrogance, they're trying to deny it even exists and can be of benefit to the design community. I really cannot understand the thought process behind the working methods and multiple toolsets in Ai. Just doesn't make sense.

Jules makes a good point.

Out of 12 years of FreeHand artwork, how much will open successfully into Illustrator without the need additional adjustment?

We have a 20-year archive of FreeHand work. I've tried opening files into Illustrator, even following Adobe's guides, but apart from the simplest of cases, the extra work required to pull everything back into shape before it can be used in Illustrator often cannot be justified. It's all a false economy.

That doesn't make Illustrator a bad program; it's just not an adequate substitute for FreeHand and the many years' investment we all have in the latter.

Perhaps we should be making the point to Adobe that they're not just depriving us of a product, but of the ability to continue to work.

How much would that be worth to them in terms of compensation, I wonder?

Regards,

Head