Adobe Illustrator 10.0

For those concerned about Illustrator becoming too Web focused, don't fret. All of Illustrator's previously existing drawing and text tools remain intact. Version 10 also introduces improved tools for drawing lines, arcs, and grids. These new drawing tools will maximize your productivity and provide an easy way to create the shapes you want.

In addition to the new drawing tools, Adobe has jumped on the graphics symbol bandwagon by allowing users to save any text object or graphic object as a symbol. Once objects are saved in the Symbol palette, they can be reused infinitely, thus providing easier management of files and decreased file size. Users will fall in love with the simple drag-and-drop usability of the symbols, while the newly added Symbol Sprayer lets you easily add multiple instances of a symbol directly into the document.

Adobe has also undertaken the task of minimizing the monotony of tedious and repetitive design tasks. By taking advantage of Illustrator-supported scripting languages, users can easily automate repetitive tasks by writing scripts directly in Illustrator. Any of the three popular scripting languages--Visual Basic Script, JavaScript, or AppleScript--can be used. When creating a design, users can assign a text object or graphic object to a variable. These variables can then pull information from any ODBC-compliant database. With this type of power, users can easily create templates for documents such as Web pages or product catalogs.

In this latest version of Illustrator 10, Adobe has managed to enhance its existing drawing tools with powerful productivity aids. By focusing on important workflow, productivity, and database-connectivity features, Adobe has given the user more time to explore new creative possibilities. --Rich Ting

Amazon.com Product Description
Building on tools introduced in Illustrator 9.0, Adobe Illustrator 10.0 delivers integrated tools for laying out Web pages and creating superior vector- or raster-based Web graphics. Exercise your creative freedom with new live distortion options that let you bend, twist, warp, and otherwise distort design elements while retaining their editability. Add realistic-looking lens flares to your artwork that are fully editable with the new flare tool. Adobe Illustrator 10.0 also adds numerous new features that help you produce quality artwork in record time.

Produce graphics for the Web and other emerging media, like wireless devices, using symbol tools that easily create repeating graphics and keep file size small. Illustrator 10.0's image map generates URL links quickly and easily. New slicing options create object-based slices that update automatically if you make changes. You can also custom optimize slices in a Web layout and even specify CSS layer options when exporting sliced HTML pages. Improved export support for SVG and Macromedia Flash files, as well as other enhancements to existing features, further streamline workflow.

A variety of viewing settings allow you to preview in real time how elements will be rasterized and look on the Web, which text and strokes will overprint or be converted to outlines, and more. You can also control anti-aliasing of text using a new rasterize live effect. New path direction options in Illustrator 10.0 offer better consistency with Photoshop. With full support for data-driven graphics and tighter integration with other Adobe applications, Illustrator 10.0 comes packed with practical features that automate complex tasks and help you meet impossible deadlines.

Yes, it has a serious learning curve. No, it is not a paint program. Yes, it has some flaws and a few bugs. No, you still have to have some artistic ability to use it.

I've tried Freehand, Expression, Corel Draw and several other rivals. They are not bad programs, but they lack the completeness, the immediacy, and the sense of control that you get in Illustrator. If you are serious, you would be hard pressed to do better.


Great, but not without flaws   February 13, 2003
Thomas Hochmann (Albuquerque, NM)
11 out of 14 found this review helpful

Seeing as the other "review" here is not particularly helpful or easy on the eyes, I figured I'd write a brief one of my own that will hopefully be useful to someone. :)

Illustrator is, simply, an extremely powerful piece of software. It has some amazing features, both in terms of power and in terms of usability. There are multiple ways to do just about everything, depending on what suits your style of working. You could also spend hours customizing the interface and setting things up the way you like (this could be a pro or a con, depending on how much you value your productivity).

While Illustrator gets high marks for raw power, there is one area where Adobe needs to improve it: stability. I've experienced a few crashes running it under Mac OS X, often while doing very simple operations (i.e. switching between Illustrator and another running task). Illustrator is not multitasking friendly, from my experience. It also doesn't seem to take very good advantage of having a dual processor machine, which is a bit of a shame.

Honestly, though, the stability issues are not enough to warrant less than 5 stars for Illustrator. You can do some amazing stuff with this software, given enough time to learn how to harness all the tools... and given the creative talent to do them justice. Artistic ability not included. :)


BEST VERSION YET   April 13, 2002
2 out of 12 found this review helpful

THEY HAVE ADDED PROCESSES TO THIS VERSION WILL MAKE ADJUSTMENTS WITHOUT HAVING TO GO BACK AND FORTH TO PHOTOSHOP...