Adobe Illustrator 5.5 for Macintosh

Adobe Illustrator has long had a reputation for having the best line and shape tools, but it lacked the numerical position, size, and alignment controls that turned artists toward FreeHand. With version 5.0, and now 5.5, Adobe has added more controls.

With 5.5, Adobe has refined a few elements and released a true PowerPC-native application alongside the 68000 code. Illustrator has a fluidity that comes, no doubt, from being continually refined rather than overhauled. Although Illustrator is still unable to import TIFF images (the EPS version of my map was 8 MB compared to the 3-MB TIFF), the Illustrator file itself was only 40 KB. The process of creating my test using Illustrator entailed a few more steps than when using either Corel or FreeHand, but it felt quick due to relatively rare screen redraws.

To create the ad, I began a new document and placed the EPS-file map. I then combined two rectangles into a single object to contain the blend, copied and enlarged the map, and then masked it with an ellipse. Illustrator's masks cannot be stroked or filled, so I created a matching ellipse to carry the outline. I also used a mask to create the type-filled rectangles. I filled one with blue for the background, and I stroked the other with black and brought it to the front. These extra steps are not required in FreeHand or Corel; in those programs, a PowerClipped or Pasted Inside image is placed in front of the fill and behind the stroked outline, which requires only a single shape. The problem is that masked elements can be selected even if they're not visible. I've selected them accidentally far more often than intentionally.

The last step in creating a first draft, inserting the black type, was simple. The composite proof printed in 14 minutes, on a much faster printer than was available to the P C.

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Illustration: Adobe Illustrator 5.5's Mac interface, showing its visual and numerical control capability for creating color blends. The character palette displays Illustrator's intricate text-control features.