Northlite Designs Book and Software Reviews

Flash integration enhancements

Not only can you now import flash SWF files to be part of a web presentation created in FreeHand, but you can also choose a frame of the movie that will be printed when the presentation is printed. When done editing, these movies can also be exported from FreeHand.

The object panel is used to set attributes for the imported movies, including which frame of the movie to use as a preview on the presentation.

Editing imported movies in Flash

Imported Flash SWF files can now be edited in Flash without leaving FreeHand. Select the imported movie you wish to edit, and in the object panel click the Edit in Flash button. Choose the .fla file for the movie, edit in Flash, and it will be automatically updated in FreeHand.

Answers panel...what Answers panel?

In the What's New section (Help > What's New in FreeHand MX), the answers panel is mentioned, and even has a screenshot. Don't look for it though, as it has been removed. Unfortunately they forgot to remove it from What's New and I spent a long time hunting for it since I didn't seem to have it on either my desktop or laptop installation. A trip to the Macromedia FreeHand forum and a search for "answers panel" cleared it up, but not before I was beginning to think I was blind, or crazy.

New illustration features

There are some new and powerful additions to the tools in FreeHand MX.

Extrude tool

Applying 3D extrusion to objects using the new extrusion tool is fast. You can adjust lighting, vanishing point, shading, by using handles and the object panel. And it all stays entirely editable.

You can also do wireframes:

Adding multiple attributes

With FreeHand MX, multiple strokes or fills can be applied to an object. This is accomplished in the object panel. Just like layers, their place in the stacking order in the panel determines their position on the object. Click the add stroke or add fill button on the object palette to add another. Here you can see the blue calligraphic stroke is under the 4 pt basic stroke.

Multiple fills can also be added by clicking the add fill button in the object panel. Here a tiled fill was layered over the basic red fill. you can drag the fills and strokes in the panel to change their order in the image. This particular combination isn't something you would probably ever want to do, but it gives you an idea of the possibilities here!

You can add as many fills as you want, and arrange them in the stacking order in the object panel.

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