Adobe Illustrator 10.0 Upgrade from 7.0 or Higher

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.

Now comes Version 10. This version has the beautiful aqua interface, is much faster than version 9, and a lot of designers will love it for that. Have the problems been fixed? Well, no. As a matter of fact, some are worse. .eps files saved out of 10 as version 8.0 (to hopefully rip better) causes placed files to appear as fragmented, embedded, unnamed, files, causing a total re-design. Files with transparency often rip as solid blocks, or have Pantone colors fall out when used as transparency. While one could argue this is a problem with the rip, it's not the best business ethic to let your customers (production users) have to deal with these hassles, when they should have been ironed out between Adobe and other (rip) software manufacturers. Another feature that appeared in 9.0 is still useless: Automated (batching) actions. Illustrator 10 wants to name every single file the same as the file used in the writing of the action. Making what could be a huge, huge time saver for production works, totally useless. There are also network security issues, where OSX wants to hide AI 10 files when saved to a Windows based server. Adobe also missed the boat in that the save window doesn't allow anything other than the power user window in OSX, and won't allow collumn width adustments. Again, this may all be Apple, (or Windows). But I say iron these issues out before releasing the software and charging users for it, and letting them deal with the headaches.

But before I create a huge laundry list of things wrong with the program, Illustrator does deserve some praise. It's the best looking version to date, that isn't even close. It also makes jumping into basic design easier than ever. And it has many, many web friendly features. Most any designer out there working on basic (or complex) logos, designs and illustrations will find AI 10, for OSX to be the best version to date. So you're likely to see a lot of 5-star reviews from those users.

Bottom line: If you're a designer working in OSX, this is a much faster, and nicer version than 9. But a lot of production workers who use Illustrator day in and day out for print export and rip are going to find the program still has several problems that make it very difficult to use in a production environment.

[I should note that when I say "rip" I am not talking about rasterizing files in Photoshop, but instead using programs such as Cheetah, Color Burst, Autoflo, or Onyx. Industry standards.]


even farther of target...   August 7, 2002
K. Mears (Clearlake, CA United States)
14 out of 16 found this review helpful

I've been a user since the first beta, and things don't look good for Illustrator. The marketing people have been in charge for way too long, and now it is impossible to tell just what this program is supposed to do! It does nothing well. To this "industry standard" (in EXACTLY the way Lotus 123 was sold as "the indusrtry standard" for the last three useless versions), Adobe continues to add a scattering of confused features and tricks, while ignoring years old problems with Illustrator. At this point, the new 'web' features that started flooding in with version 7 have overwhelmed any sense of planning or design., and have caused no end of problems for its print users. One can use 'transparency features' to create neat drop shadows (not suitable for print work as they force the vector work to pixelate before printing is possible), but one still cannot handle multiple pages, master documents, or even file linking in any but the most rudimentary way. While faster than some past versions, there must be SOME reason that Adobe, the people who invented PostScript, produce the absolute slowest PostScript file creator in the field. The only program slower to write a file is InDesign - also by Adobe.

MacroMedia Freehand stepped way ahead of this product 4 or 5 versions ago and has never looked back. The only real benefit to Illustrator is its excellent ability to interpret and edit many .eps files. But a file converter is hardly worth the price.

Illustrator is NO longer a decent prepress tool, and has not been since version 7. It has such a hodge podge of conflicting and incompatible 'features' that I wonder what it IS suited for.

Unless Adobe gets some focus back to it's software, photoshop and GoLive will be the only decent products they make. (and GoLive was purchased as a good thing - who knows where it will be in a year or two).


Finally for MacOs X!!!   October 9, 2001
Charles Haislip (Augusta, GA 30909)
I have tried the beta version and am awaiting shipment of the final version. I have used the prior versions and have to say this is a big improvement. Now, if we can get Photoshop and GoLive in MacOs X, I will never have to switch back to classic.


Finally for MacOs X!!!   October 9, 2001
Charles Haislip (Augusta, GA 30909)
5 out of 15 found this review helpful

I have tried the beta version and am awaiting shipment of the final version. I have used the prior versions and have to say this is a big improvement. Now, if we can get Photoshop and GoLive in MacOs X, I will never have to switch back to classic.