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NOVEMBER 19, 2003 Adobe Illustrator CS
And on the more major workflow side of things, Illustrator CS has two powerful features going for it. First is the ability to create templates. Honestly, I don't know why Illustrator didn't have this feature before, especially given that creating new default document files was always such a pain and also pretty limiting. Now you can create an unlimited number of startup documents with custom zooms, swatches, brushes, styles, artboard dimensions, etc., all accessible from a new command (Shift-Command-N) called "New from Template." This allows you to select a template to start with and creates a new document from it, rather than modifying the original.  [an error occurred while processing this directive]Of course, a template can also contain text boxes, preset text, layers, graphics and other elements as well.The other major new workflow feature is support for Adobe Version Cue. I can't get into Version Cue too much here because it really requires a separate review, and, frankly, this one's getting a bit long as it is. But, in short, Version Cue is one of the central features tying together all of the new applications in the Creative Suite. It provides centralized management of projects, files and file versions and also incorporates version notes and the ability to rank files as final version, current version, draft and the like. It's designed for environments where multiple users will be working with the same files and modifying them and provides easy, automated naming conventions to help avoid the confusion that can occur in these situations. (It can also be used in single-user environments as well if for no other reason than you simply want centralized file management.) Version Cue is only available when purchasing the entire Creative Suite as a bundle, though you can access it features as long as somebody accessible to you on a network has Version Cue running. As for integration, Illustrator CS further expands support for the Photoshop format. We've already discussed the shared type engine and support for Photoshop transparency. But it also allows you to import 16-bit Photoshop files, downconverting the bit depth on import so that you don't have to save a copy of your work in 8 bits beforehand. And you can also link duotone and tritone PDF images. And the rest Beyond the areas we've covered, Illustrator does include a number of new features. For effects, it has a new one called Scribble, which allows you, with a single click, to convert strokes and fills into scribbly forms. It offers a number of presets, though you can also go in and tweak settings to generate your own hand-drawn effect.  It also includes enhancements in the area of PDF, including compatibility with Acrobat 6.0 and the Adobe PDF 1.5 format, layers, security, printer's marks and bleeds. For printing, the new version unifies the functions of the Separations Setup and Page Setup dialogs into a single dialog. It also offers interactive print preview, new tiling controls and several general enhancements for performance and workflow. Adobe also claims that the new version offers more reliable printing, though I have not had a chance to test this to any degree where I would feel comfortable verifying it. Other somewhat major new enhancements include support for XMP and expanded scripting capabilities, including the ability to script all of the new features in Illustrator CS. The bottom line There's no doubt in my mind that Illustrator CS is worthy of a full version upgrade. The new 3D features are immense, as are the vastly--and shockingly--expanded typographical features. There's nothing about this program that I don't like better than its predecessor, which is a whole lot more than I can say about quote-unquote "major" updates from other developers recently. At times flashy, at other times subtle, the new features in Illustrator CS bring dramatic improvements to this application that will ease the burden in your daily workflow and expand your creative potential. Yes, there are some flaws, which I covered above, as well as some features that are still missing from this software, such as an effective tracing tool for converting raster images to vector objects. But this is still a fantastic vector drawing program. Except for purposes of comparison, I haven't even bothered to launch my old copy of Illustrator since the new version arrived. I give Illustrator CS a Strong Buy recommendation as both an upgrade and as a standalone purchase. Illustrator CS is available now for Mac OS X and Windows for $499 for the full version or $169 as an upgrade. Competitive upgrades run $349 from Freehand or CorelDraw. It's also available as a component in the Adobe Creative Suite for $1,299 for the Premium Edition (Photoshop CS, Illustrator CS, InDesign CS, Golive CS, Acrobat 6.0 Professional and Version Cue) or $999 for the standard version (Photoshop CS, Illustrator CS, InDesign CS and Version Cue). Upgrade pricing is also available for the Creative SUite for users of Adobe Photoshop. For more information, visit http://www.adobe.com. Contact the author: Dave Nagel is the producer of Creative Mac and Digital Media Designer; host of several World Wide User Groups, including Synthetik Studio Artist, Adobe Photoshop, Apple DVD Studio Pro, Mac OS, Adobe InDesign, Adobe LiveMotion, Creative Mac and Digital Media Designer; and executive producer of the Digital Media Net family of publications. You can reach him at dnagel@digitalmedianet.com. 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