Does anyone actually like Freehand?

[Ratbag]

heheh. :P

No seriously I would like a debate on its merits vs other programs. I dislike the program myself, but would like to hear various peoples opinions. In NZ my impression is that all the design schools have tutors that are freehand-happy so they churn out design students who the create crap files in a crap program which the rest of the industry, like pre-press guys like me who like programs like illustrator have to then deal with and make work.
Seriously, its slow, its clunky, it gives less feedback about what you have actually selected (unless you go into 10, then you have a program thats even slower and, they went and changed all the keyboard shortcuts!) and it can't even display graphics nicely!
Anyway I notice this forum is a little slow and wonder if it's because freehand users don't have problems with their beloved program because its the best and I just don't know that, or, as I suspect, everyone avoids it like the plague like I do.

[RobR]

I don't like it as well, but I have to use it from time to time, normally the reason I use it is customer driven.

I vote to do away with it :twisted:

[almaink]

The only Freehand files I see anymore are from the UK and India. I don't get to use it much anymore an I am thankful as I never did like it's interface. We never upgraded past v10.

[Rixter]

Freehand sucks!!!!!
Like other people I only get files created in Freehand from clients but I convert them into Illustrator files.

Im with RobR but not to vote but instaed lets take it out the back a put one in its head and take it out gangland style!

[ArtMachine]

FreeHand does not suck. I have used it since day 1 and version 1.0 created by Altsys:

http://www.freehandsource.com/_frame...h1/fh1_01.html

Currently using 8 and 10. Illustrator as well. Each has its individual strengths and weaknesses.

[Rixter]

Freehand sucks form a prepress perspective for me.
Designer and others may like it..... like coreldraw buts thats another forum!!!!!

[Cory]

from my standpoint, freehand has given me nothing but problems from version 9 on..

[Lammy]

Frehand is a'ight. I was always more impressed with it than illustrator. It always seemed a more robust app. Now it seems like it should fall somewhere between illustrator and indesign. Most of the problems I've had with Freehand are a lack of understanding. But in the end It's about the same debate as PC vs Mac.

I'll give freehand this. . . . It always came with a bunch of decent clip art and a but load of fonts.

[pmkprog]

Freehand is definitely slower than Illustrator.
But it still has features that Illustrator doesn't.
We have customers that still continually work in it for labels.
The worst project i have ever experienced with the program was a plastic ware catalog from South America and all of the pages had to be imposed. The desinger was inconsistent with rule weights and I had to continually go back into the file and export each page as an EPS so i could paginate forms in Quark. It took forever!

[Ratbag]

More things I don't like about freehand:
Wants to re-import pictures every time you open a file annoying, and even worse if the designer hasn't included the links.
Not sure about this, but it seems it can't open eps files for editing beyond a certain complexity, even if it's the app that created them!
Slow and unresponsive especially with keyboard shortcuts. How many people have moved objects when they were trying to zoom in instead?
I can never know what orientation its going to print a ps file despite numerous experiments with the settings.
You can't put guides on the pasteboard unlike with every other application. This leads designers to make their entire job somewhere in the middle of the paper, which I have to fix.

Moot opinion: Multiple pages and a bit of dtp functionality leads people to do their entire jobs in freehand - Argh!

Anyway, what?s good about it? What?s it got over the Illustrator/InDesign(or Quark) combo?