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NZ Macguide Issue 3 Adobe was criticised, a few years ago, for insufficiently addressing web designers' needs - this has been well and truly redressed with the latest slew of features packed into the latest OS X-native versions of adobe software from the design powerhouse.  | Illustrator 10 opens many formats, including AutoCad, Corel Draw, BMP etcetera. | The good news
Web features include web safe colour palettes, the excellent Save For web ?? la Photoshop 6, slicing (vector or raster based) and export, even of individual slices, in Flash, SVG, GIF, JPEG, PNG or HTML formats. Illustrator 10's SVG format has its one filter set including drop shadow. Other new features include selective type anti-aliasing and comprehensive preview modes, plus you can work in either RGB or CMYK from the outset.  | CMYK or RGB from the start, but still no multi-page support. | An interesting new feature is the Symbol tool for managing repeating graphics via the new symbol palette, which holds a few samples (and you can instantly add your own). Symbols can be individually placed (or even sprayed) onto a page and, if you break their links, re-stroked, filled and otherwise manipulated. The Symbol Sprayer palette is a tear-off with other tools popping out - Symbol Shifter, Sizer, Scruncher, Spinner, Stainer and Screener, allowing fast, somewhat generic manipulation of symbols. Graphics can now be data driven so they update automatically when the information changes. This feature is scriptable with AppleScript, Javascript or even Microsoft Visual BASIC. Improvements include better compound shape handling, beefed up and extended layer support and more live distortion tools including liquefy ...in fact, most of the tools do more, more effectively.  New drawing tools help with the creation of basic shapes, so you can make simple shapes without using the pen tool.
You can drag out basic rectangular grids or circular grids with new grid tools and the grids are very flexible; the grids can then be turned into guides.
Distortion tools can be applied to any type of object, even text. There are 15 Distort effects facilitate envelope distortions like those in Photoshop 6, and you can change them any time further down the track any time by adjusting your Effects settings. Mesh wraps can be created and remain editable. The new Liquid tool provides bulges, twirls etcetera in a completely interactive manner, with the results seeming natural and unforced. In use
Illustrator 10 seems speedy under OS X, but seventeen-inch monitors quickly become cluttered with the number of palettes available, and even 21" monitors start to look small, so you may have to get used to working with just the palettes you need. There is still no multi-page support, with Adobe obviously hoping you'll use their other new product, the latest InDesign, for this, and drag-and-drop from one layer to another, or from one document to another, is still missing - this would be relatively easy to fix in a free update (here's hoping). However, Illustrator does everything an illustrator needs, and with considerable aplomb. © Parkside Media 2002
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