Illustrator CS5

[Albacore]

Well it came out this week with numerous enhancements like the following:
Draw accurately in perspective, create variable-width strokes, paint with lifelike brushes.

The two bits that I really like is the way that you can draw and object on a 2D plane and then when your drag it onto the new perspective grid it snap to that perspective. See in operation here: http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/ill...D=0&npObjID=17

The other features that I would use a lot would be the ability to draw line and shapes only inside that object and the ease of placing an object behind with a click of a button. See it in operation here: http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/ill...D=0&npObjID=13

Will I buy it for myself, think not! I will try and get my employers to buy it but that will be like "f_rting against thunder" as they think that AI CS is enough to do my work.

[iamtheblues]

This looks like a substantial improvement on CS4...very tempting.
Thanks for the links.
Saludos,
Bob.

[handrawn]

create variable width strokes: that is the ability to sculpt and edit your own stroke shapes on the fly

and the perspective drawing, very useful.... shape builder tool could speed a lot of things up....too

it looks good...

[jvila]

WOW, It is like an autoclipview, I think It should be posted in Dear xara....
Thanks Albacore.

[Albacore]

Yes that's taking the Pathfinder to a new level Jvila. Also for anyone doing cartoons that create variable width strokes tool would be very handy indeed. Still nearly £200 pounds for an upgrade to me is an awful lot of freelance work to get my money back.

[georgetroy]

I knew this was just out and I have been reading some of the reviews. Of course the updates make it more of a bloat from the CS$ version which I have. The upgrades are steep in price. I have spent a lot on Illy over the years, why I'm not sure. I use the Extreme Path plug-in to help in node editing. My request for years has been A b-spline tool and scanning ability, of course you are supposed to use Photoshop for that. Creature House Expression 3 has had variable stokes for 10 years. That stroke is not exactly the same as Illustrator where you pull on a stroke like liquid ink, which Real Draw has.

Without a doubt if you need to learn the program there is more tutorials on Illustrator and Photoshop than any other programs out there. I think I will wait a while to upgrade and give it time to shakedown with the tutorials that I think will be forthcoming.

[pauland]

All of the these illustrator drawing features are all very well, but as an illustration program how good is it at publishing websites?

See my point - major features left out and neglected - you wont find Xara wasting their time with that new illustrator nonsense. While Xara continues to makes strides in the important stuff - web publishing, it's leaving illustrator way behind the game. Who needs illustration features in a vector drawing program anyway.. ? Nobody is going to pay to get that kind of stuff until it adds web publishing to the mix.

;-)

[handrawn]

I rather think adobe's web publishing is in another program of theirs - illustrator is geared for printing first and foremost...

I also think vector is just as useful, if not more so, for print than web

[pauland]

I rather think adobe's web publishing is in another program of theirs - illustrator is geared for printing first and foremost...

Yes, that's where they've got it wrong - nobody want an illustrator program that doesn't publish to the web, so they shoul include Dreamweaver as part of illustrator and sell Dreamweaver Lite.

I also think vector is just as useful, if not more so, for print than web

Nah, if it isn't a web publishing feature, it's pointless.

;-)

[handrawn]

well Paul, I'm not going to defend adobe's business model, but it is as it is ...

the second comment you make -it's ironic right