Adobe ships Illustrator 9.0

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June 5, 2000
Web posted at: 10:27 a.m. EDT (1427 GMT)

by Stephen Beale

(IDG) -- Adobe Systems announced on Friday that it is shipping Illustrator 9.0, the latest version of its vector-graphics software. The upgrade adds object transparency, graphic styles and a host of features for Web designers, including a live Pixel Preview mode that lets you see how pages look when rendered on screen.

Illustrator's new transparency features work with objects, groups or layers; you can apply Photoshop-style blending modes along with the transparency, and you can apply different transparency settings to characters, words or paragraphs. You can also convert objects into transparency masks, similar to Photoshop's Alpha channels. For example, if you use a gradient-filled object as a mask, the underlying image shows through in white areas of the object but gradually disappears as the gradient darkens.

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Also borrowing a page from Photoshop, a new Live Effects feature lets you apply Photoshop filters -- including third-party plug-ins -- to objects or layers. The underlying object or layer remains editable, and any effects can be removed or modified. A new Graphic Styles feature lets you define a combination of effects and attributes that can be applied as a single style. Modifying the style automatically causes all styled objects to be changed accordingly.

Web features

Although many of the added features will appeal to print designers, Illustrator 9.0 makes its strongest pitch for the Web. For example, the new Pixel Preview lets you work in a simulated 72-dpi display environment. Objects snap to a 72-dpi grid, and as you zoom in, you can see jagged edges. The Save for Web window, borrowed from ImageReady, lets you compare a bitmapped copy of the image with up to three other versions so you can see the effects of different compression settings.

Illustrator 9.0 now lets you choose from a CMYK or RGB workflow. If you specify a CMYK color in the RGB workflow, the color is rendered in RGB, and vice-versa. You can also specify a Web-safe RGB workflow in which the Color palette displays only Web-safe colors.

This is also the first version of Illustrator to support Macromedia's Flash format. You can export objects as Flash files, or export layers as frames in a Flash animation. Illustrator 9.0 also exports Scalable Vector Graphics format, an emerging Web standard.

Deals galore

The software is available in the U.S. and Canada for an estimated street price (ESP) of $399. Current Illustrator users can upgrade for an ESP of $149. Users of Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, PageMaker and competing products such as Macromedia FreeHand can buy the software for an ESP of $249.

Adobe also offers Illustrator as part of its Adobe Collections software suites: the $999 Adobe Web Collection, which also includes LiveMotion, GoLive, and Photoshop; the $1,599 Adobe Design Collection, which also includes InDesign, Photoshop, and Adobe Acrobat; the $999 Adobe Publishing Collection, which also includes PageMaker Plus, Photoshop, and Acrobat; and the Adobe Dynamic Media Collection, which also includes After Effects, Premiere and Photoshop. The latter is available in a $1,499 standard version and $2,149 production bundle. You can buy the software through Adobe's online store or from authorized resellers.

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