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Opening Freehand files

New Here ,
May 07, 2012 May 07, 2012

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Hello

I saee that my Illustrator CS5 has a script which is for opening Freehand files  - I click and it saks me to select the FH file to open - but they are all greyed out... is this s a problem with Lion or is there a workaround?

Thanks

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Engaged ,
May 07, 2012 May 07, 2012

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In Illustrator CS5 you can just open the files, no need for a script.

As for Illy CS6: it will no longer open Freehand files of any kind. They must be first saved as an EPS from Freehand, then open in Illustrator.

TIP: for people with Macs, better keep an old system running as long as possible on Snow Leopard with CS5. Freehand is officially dead

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Advocate ,
May 07, 2012 May 07, 2012

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Hi stickleback6

Illustrator CS5 supports opening Freehand formats *.fh7, *.fh8, *.fh9, *.fh10, *.fh11, *.ft11

Illustrator CS6 has no support any longer for Freehand formats.

WhatĀ“s the FreehandĀ“s version of the file your are trying to open in Illustrator CS5?


Gustavo.

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Enthusiast ,
May 07, 2012 May 07, 2012

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Gustavo, how do you know this for sure?

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LEGEND ,
May 07, 2012 May 07, 2012

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Gustavo is a community professional and besides the specifications of Illustrator CS 6 are out and you can check this out for yourself by downloading the trial version of Illustrator CS 6 and try opening any Freehand file.

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Engaged ,
May 08, 2012 May 08, 2012

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I too would like a definitive answer for this. Is it true that CS6 has dropped support for opening FreeHand files? Is it OS related (I'm still running 10.6.8 because of Apple's decission to drop Rosetta in Lion)? If true, can someone (preferably an Adobe employee) please explain the reasoning? and why have I seen nothing about this until this thread?

TIA

Les

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Engaged ,
May 08, 2012 May 08, 2012

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Sorry I wasn't able to reply earlier.... but yes it is true, Illustrator CS6 does NOT open Freehand files any longer. I know this as fact since I'm working with Illustrator CS6 this morning (Germany) in another window as I write this.

Proof:

a) if you try to open a Freehand file through the dialog box, all Freehand files are greyed  as "All readable documents".

b) if you click on the list menu, Freehand is truly no longer there as a supported format.

c) if you drag and drop a Freehand file on the Illustrator icon in the dock, you will receive an error dialog: The file "Logo_Multi.fh11" is an unknown format and cannot be opened."

My version of Freehand is MX 11.02 --- Just go up to the Freehand Menu and choose "About Freehand"... the version number appears in red for about a second before the credits start to roll.

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Engaged ,
May 08, 2012 May 08, 2012

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What OS are you running DocPixel?

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Engaged ,
May 08, 2012 May 08, 2012

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@Les -- OSX Snow Leopard 10.6.8

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Engaged ,
May 08, 2012 May 08, 2012

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Thanks Doc, me too, so will need to keep 5.1 on board for the forseeable future. I just can't believe Adobe kept stum on this issue when it clearly is crucial information for so many people's workflows.

Thanks

Les

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Participant ,
May 08, 2012 May 08, 2012

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I don't understand why Adobe would drop File>Open/Import support for Freehand. More than a few experienced Illustrator users migrated over from Freehand and have old FH-based art files they might want to use from time to time. For example, certain versions of Freehand had fairly decent collections of vector-based clip art while Adobe has never really put much effort into bundling similar goodies into Illustrator.

I wonder if the move to 64-bit code forced the elimination of Freehand support. Did Adobe drop File>Open/Import support for any other notable applications in Illustrator CS6?

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Advocate ,
May 08, 2012 May 08, 2012

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"Did Adobe drop File>Open/Import support for any other notable applications in Illustrator CS6?"

No. Just Freehand support.

Illustrator CS6 also added to support for opening Idea files (made by the Adobe Ideas App).

Gustavo.

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Participant ,
May 08, 2012 May 08, 2012

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I don't know too much about the Adobe Ideas app other than my Android phone might not be big enough for me to create little sketchy things good enough to bother importing into Illustrator and/or Photoshop. Obviously the app is geared for tablet use. The "work on up to 10 layers for no extra charge" thing scares me a little. It has me thinking of a scenario where I'm smearing my finger on the screen and suddenly run into a scenario where I have to break out the credit card in the middle of a mobile improv creative session. Tablets are popular with a lot of people, but I don't have much use for them given all the limitations in storage capacity, connectivity, etc. I'd rather use a notebook with full computer functions rather than something primarily built for media consumption. I can plug my Wacom tablet into a notebook.

The rival CorelDRAW application still offers Freehand import support. However, the mileage varies on how well Freehand artwork is imported. It's already challenging enough making CorelDRAW and Adobe Illustrator play nice in how they trade files between each other. For instance, neither one knows how to properly import each other's interactive gradient fills. Other apps besides Freehand are arguably lapsing into obsurity or dying. Neither Illustrator or CorelDRAW can import ACD Canvas art files, Canvas was formerly developed by Deneba. Micrographix Designer was (sort of) turned into Corel Designer -the last couple or so versions are really modified builds of CorelDRAW rather than the old Micrographix product.

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Engaged ,
May 08, 2012 May 08, 2012

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I would still love to hear from a Senior Adobe employee on this issue. I have about 23 years worth of FreeHand files that I continue to use/update as I go forward (and yes I am converting to Ai as I go) but I can't just sit down and go through the thousands of illustrations that I've done in that time and convert them all in one sitting! I need to know that Adobe will continue to offer the ability to 'convert as required' going forward.

Les

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Engaged ,
May 08, 2012 May 08, 2012

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@Les --- Well, all I can say is welcome to the "Old Club". I also have some 400k + Freehand files from over 23 years of using it. Fact is, I doubt any Senior Employee is ever going to reply here satisfactorily, and even if they did, it would boil down to, "live with (without) it".

I will say again: hope you can keep your current Mac running smoothly on OSX 10.6.8, and also keep your last version of Illustrator, whether CS5 or below.

TIP 1: you should know that you can have both the new CS6 and any older version installed at the same time on your Mac.

TIP 2: if you need to purchase a new Mac, you won't be able to "downgrade" to Snow Leopard, HOWEVER... you could virtualize Snow Leopard and/or Win7 and Freehand in Parallels 7. Google it for instructions (Hint: http://forums.macrumors.com). You "could" also Screen Share to your old Mac if it's still running.

Summary: whether we like it or not, Freehand and it's files are officially dead moving forward, and there is nothing it appears that any of us can do about it. I've been a member and donor to FreeFreehand.org for a few years. While they are currently in "moderated" talks with Adobe after filing suit against them, I seriously and realistically don't expect a positive outcome for quite a while... if sadly to say... ever.

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Engaged ,
May 09, 2012 May 09, 2012

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@Doc__ Well, I refuse to lie down and take a kickin' over this. We know they know how to implement this functionality, as the last 2 iterations of illustrator can attest to. So I think if enough of us yell long enough & loud enough maybe, just maybe they will reinstate that functionality again! (I'm endeavoring to be a glass half full kind of bloke here!).

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Engaged ,
May 09, 2012 May 09, 2012

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@Les -- I admire your outlook... however, as I mentioned, FreeFreehand.org with a membership of some 10,000 (?) has been trying to wrangle something out of Adobe for some 3-4 years now. Technically speaking, Freehand is STILL the better vector program, even though Illustrator can "do more", it's only because Freehand has cease to be updated since 2006. For layout stuff and working with text, it is far and away still better than Illustrator CS6.

Just sayin': Illustrator CS6 by itself is 630mb, where as Freehand is only 44mb. It's amazing how much and how many logos and projects over 20 years I/we have produced with that "little" but extremely powerful program. Very sad to see it die like this.

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Engaged ,
May 09, 2012 May 09, 2012

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@Doc__But I'm not asking them to resurect FreeHand! I'm merely asking that they reinstate a functionality that I, perhaps naively, assumed would be ongoing, so that the people who emigrated from FreeHand (the 'old' country) to illustrator (the 'new world') would still have recourse to their work from a previous life!

Couldn't agree more, with all your other sentiments

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Advocate ,
May 15, 2012 May 15, 2012

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Can anyone send me please 1 freehand document to make a test?

gustavodelvechio@gmail.com

Thank you

Gustavo.

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Engaged ,
May 15, 2012 May 15, 2012

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...OK 3 simple boxes in a simple A4 page.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2407686/3Boxes.fh11.zip

BTW: you CAN open Freehand files, but they have to be saved as Freehand Editable EPS first, OR exported as legacy .ai files. But that's not the point. "Native" Freehand files with the extension .fh(xx) will not open.

Also, we often used a trick to get certain elements into Illustrator from a FH document by using "Copy Special" as "EPS" or "EPS for Photoshop 4/5". Illustrator no longer recognizes or parces the contents of the clipboard.

This is on OSX 10.6.8... may be different on a Winbox(?)

Have Fun

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Advocate ,
May 16, 2012 May 16, 2012

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Thank you Doc

Gustavo.

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Community Beginner ,
May 16, 2012 May 16, 2012

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DocPixel-BMW, When you say 'you should know that you can have both the new CS6 and any older version installed at the same time on your Mac.', does that mean that if I upgrade to Lion (from 10.6.8) and CS6 (but keep CS5.5) that even within Lion I will be able to open Freehand files using CS5.5?

Thanks, and in hope...

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LEGEND ,
May 16, 2012 May 16, 2012

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I think it is surprising that in all this time Macromedia did not embrace pdf like Illustrator so that one could open the files almost anywhere/

Corel Draw as well.

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Engaged ,
May 17, 2012 May 17, 2012

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Wade_Zimmerman wrote:

I think it is surprising that in all this time Macromedia did not embrace pdf like Illustrator so that one could open the files almost anywhere/

Corel Draw as well.

Uhm... in "all this time"?

Freehand was updated last in 2003 by Macromedia, and was bought in 2005 by Adobe.

If Freehand was ever to "embrace PDF", it would have been logical that Adobe would be the one to do it "in all this time", or? But no: they decided to discontinue updating Freehand instead.

BTW: Freehand did and still does export to PDF. A somewhat large number of my clients do it close to a 100x a day. As for CorelDraw, it also exports to PDF.

And just FYI: Illustrator documents are ONLY able to be opened by other Creative Suite (CS) programs... IF... in the Save dialog, " Create PDF compatible File" is checked. Well you say, "that should always remain checked"... however, that little checkbox decides how many disk drives and backups drives you need if you have literally hundreds of 1000's of files, as I and my clients do (600k+ personally and 8mil +! at one of my packaging partners).

Example: simple box layout 16x6x24cm with one-color 240dpi image front and back, the rest text and vectors.

1) With PDF checked: 8,4mb -- full previews work in OSX and Bridge, and openable in Acrobat Pro;

2) Without PDF: 356kb -- preview is actually the icon, in both OSX and Bridge, and not openable in Acrobat Pro;

3) Freehand: 397mb -- preview full-size in OSX (Quicklook-spacebar) using 1000x1000, 75% JPG in FH prefs (user definable)... which explains the larger file size. Naturally nothing from Adobe, whether Bridge or AcroPro can open the native file.

Size difference: ~21x or over 2000% from FH to AI/PDF. That's more than 40x more hard disk capacity needed incl. 1 (one!) backup!

Tell my clients that, or tell them we could continue to use FH, but at some point we have to move to Illustrator, but with reduced efficiency (Quicklook is THE most used function of OSX around here)... or buy and build out a new server room for PDF viewing. Care to guess what the money guys answer? I'll help: "...uncheck that D*** box!!!"

NOTE: I personally like and use Bridge... but most of my clients hate it, considering it's still rather unstable and crashes often when viewing folders with lots of images, PDFs etc. Not on all Macs, but some... and that's the killer when trying to implement a team-workflow.

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Engaged ,
May 17, 2012 May 17, 2012

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@ W_Z: we've had this run in before re: FH vs. AI. I've adapted... but I can't always say that about my colleagues.

Especially when struggling with simple things in AI like selecting a stroked line (without an Outline Stroke effect)... or adjusting rounded corners (without an effect AND less control on individual corners as in FH... or easy visual identification of grouped objects... or... here it comes: Paste Inside(!)

The "niggling" thing in my colleague's and my mind every day is, "...could I be doing this project faster in Freehand?" That is the basic question and objective... and in our industry... as the managers will tell everyone... is the only thing that matters. Get it done... yesterday... and if you use pen and paper, we don't care.

I've done a simple poll over the last couple of years after the writing was on the wall re: FH's eventual death, as to what we "need" from FH in regards to an update. Here it is:

1) Better PDF compatibility and Export options with PDF 5.1 standards (how ironic!)

2) Data names and recognition of linked file names with more than 32 letters in their name or path.

3) The ability to place PSD's, compressed layered TIFs, and PDFs as linked files.

4) better font previews and font family organization (negligable, because even AI doesn't do it from the Control Bar)

5)... possibly a better drop shadow function... but not really necessary. IF we have to we open the data in AI or PS for "advanced" photo functions, and place it back in... see #2 why that would be needed... no problem.

6) better transparency and recognition of transparent layers from placed data or inside FH.

7) ... naturally, made compatible with current hardware and no need of Rosetta.

That's all. No new interface, features, functions, plugins or changes. * All of the above are less than a team of 5 and 1-year-away possible I would think.

Oh... and BTW: you can keep your Mercury engine: FH is faster at everday live preview editing than ANY of the CS programs, incl. PS-CS6. Imagine that?!

* Pardon us for dreaming.

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