Mac OS 10.6.6 & Freehand MX

Anyone out there that can help me? I have MX installed but cannot upgrade to 11.0.1 or 11.0.2 on my Intell based Imac. I spent at least 12 hours on the phone with Adobe and their final evaluation was to forget Freehand and spend $200 for Illustrator. They are telling me that I can't use MX on MacOS 10.6.6, I know that it is not true, because I'm using it now...I just can't upgrade, so that I can use a pressure sensitive Wacom pad, which is how I draw for ALL my design work. I also have MX installed on a G5 tower running OS 10.5.8 and it supports the Wacom pad. I have never used Illustrator, except for transfering files for use in Freehand. I purchased my retail copy of MX off Ebay, because my version 10 did not support the Wacom, how could they have overlooked such an important feature in 10? Now I have the upgraded MX 11.0 and it does not support Wacom on my newest Intel Imac running 10.6.6. The more I update the more I wish I still had my G3 running Freehand 8. When I started in the design/Ilustration world after the Art Institute of Pittsburgh in '83 I had a set af Mars pens and a pad of vellum....ahh those where the days! But now I'm just rambling! Any suggestions that don't entail working on a Windows based PC?

The best route is to download and install the FH 11.0.2 trial version. The application is the full working version. Without a serial number it expires in 30 days.
http://www.adobe.com/products/freehand/
Normally when FH is reinstalled it does not overwrite the Settings folder. However, just to be safe, make a backup copy of your Settings folder and its contents found here.
Users/(Username)/Library/Application Support/ Macromedia/ FreeHand MX/ 11/ English/ Settings
Have your serial number at hand.
Install FH 11.0.2 from the trial version installer.
Launch FH. If it asks for your serial number, enter it.
View the splash screen or ‘About FreeHand’ to make sure you have the 11.0.2 version.
Check your preferences, graphic hoses, etc. to see if they need to be reinstalled. If they do, quit FH.
Copy any settings files you want to keep from your previous installation into your new settings folder. This might include toolbars, preferences, keyboard shortcuts, graphic hose files, etc.
Save a copy of the FH installer to CD or DVD to have on hand in case you ever need to reinstall in the future. Save the contents of your Settings folder while you’re at it.
Judy Arndt
FH 11.0.2
Mac OS 10.6.6
Mac Pro Quad-Core Intel Xeon

Similar Messages

R.I.P. FreeHand

The depth of my hatred for Adobe tonight is nearly boundless.
Like most longtime FreeHand users, I greeted Adobe's purchase of
FreeHand with a sense of foreboding and dismay. I hoped that Adobe
would continue to support and develop this extraordinary drawing
tool. Stupid me. FreeHand ran circles around that lumpy piece of
junk called Illustrator. Always did, always will. Macromedia knew
this when they bought FreeHand from Aldus (Remember them? Aldus
pretty much invented desktop publishing), eons ago, way back in the
1990s. And then Adobe got so big and powerful that the FTC allowed
Adobe to buy FreeHand and gut Macromedia's dead carcass. Corporate
feeding frenzies rule our nasty, modern world.
FreeHand MX 11.0.x was working well up to or around Mac OSX
10.2.x. I recently bit the bullet and "upgraded" to OSX 10.4.x (aka
"Tiger" -- argh, Apple, ditch the cat names, OK? Since most of
those big cats are on the brink of extinction, naming your flagship
OS after an endangered species is a weird, ironic marketing
choice).
All hell has broken loose since I "upgraded." Simply turning
on FreeHand's "snap to grid" and turning it off again is now
impossible. Adobe offers a lame "TechNotes" workaround that doesn't
truly work.
Adobe doesn't care. And why should it? Adobe only wants us
all to buy their version of some fabulous next new thing -- like
"CS" (aka "Creative Suite" -- an Orwellian doublethink marketing
campaign if ever there was one). Adobe is nothing more than another
money-grubbing corporate nightmare. Customer loyalty and
trustworthy products don't figure in Adobe's bottom line... let
alone respect or commitment to the venerable art of graphic design.
I used to love getting up in the morning. I used to love
turning on my Mac and making art. I thought I was the luckiest man
in the world! I could make art and design and pay my bills! Stupid
naive me.
Hours of my life melted away forever this afternoon. I'll
never get them back. I was just trying to make some graphic design
for a paying client. For every five minutes I spend on an idea
these days, I spend an hour or so trying to make software express
it. The ratio of art to product is crazy... especially considering
the stupid amount of money Adobe charges for products that never do
what Adobe says they'll do. It's all snake oil and trickery.
I wish I could go back to FreeHand 3.1. It was a brilliant
piece of software. R.I.P. FreeHand. Rest in peace. Shame on Adobe.
Shame. I'm tired and sad tonight, and my deadline is shot to hell.
I used to make digital art, but now I'm just another digital ditch
digger. Just another consumer, hooked on this never-ending heroin
spiral of "upgrade" after never-ending "upgrade."
I looked at the very first serious drawing I ever made with a
vector drawing program (FreeHand 2.0) tonight. You can see it
here. From a
purely technical point of view, it's not a bad drawing... and the
technology that made it possible is gone forever. Bought and sold
by the jerks who own the code.
OK. I'm done with this rant. Thanks for reading it. I guess
I'll go check my email now... an inbox full of more image-based
spam peddling pump 'n dump stock market scams. I used to love the
'net, almost as much as I used to love drawing with FreeHand.

Greetings and thanks to everyone who's posted to this thread.
Interesting insights and opinions here. Special thanks to those of
you who sent private messages of condolence and support via my
site. I took a few days off and I'm feeling a little better.
I stopped in here off and on and decided to wade in again
with what will probably be another longwinded epic-style post. I
tend toward verbosity, especially with a subject like this. In
addition to raising my blood pressure a notch or two, the subject
of FreeHand's demise sparks some passion in me. This will be a long
post because I want to attempt clarity. Clarity sometimes takes
time.
Navale's post regarding the fact that Adobe charges full
price for a broken FreeHand is spot on, as is darrel's car
metaphor. If GM sold a car, and the engine exploded when a buyer
first turned the key, well, that would be the lead story on the
evening news. Congress would launch an investigation. I think
there's a federal law somewhere that requires carmakers to make
parts available for 10 years after a car is released to the public.
I could be wrong, but I think that's true. Anyway, there's no
parallel in the software world... no protection for consumers. It's
buyer beware and blame the consumer if things don't work as
advertised. While the speed of software development makes a ten
year 'parts' guarantee impractical, I don't think some sort of
mandated guarantee of maybe 3 years is unreasonable.
I appreciate Judy Arndt's post. "Keep in mind that if Adobe
is going to put it's logo on a FreeHand box, the product is going
to have to live up to Adobe standards." Well said, Judy. As for the
EPS, PDF, OpenType, and "old code" issues, well, I could discuss
that at greater length later. The short version is that there are
workarounds which worked prior to Mac OSX 10.4. Adobe's FreeHand
product page states that FreeHand is compatible with Mac OSX 10.4.
I took that statement to be true, without following the "emerging
issues" link. Stupid me. I took Adobe at it's word without reading
the fine money grubbing print.
Adobe has a major PR problem with FreeHand and chooses to
blow it off. Frankly, this astonishes me. Maybe Adobe thinks we'll
just fade away. Maybe Adobe is correct in that assumption. For
better or worse, Adobe now owns FreeHand. FreeHand is a spectacular
vector drawing tool (and I still contend that it runs circles
around Illustrator -- old code and all -- don't even get me started
about Illustrator's lumpy old legacy code). There's a market for
FreeHand and no more competition (thank you FTC; nice to know
you're watching out for consumers -- not).
I know no figures on the number of people who use (and maybe
even love) FreeHand, but I suspect it's easily in the hundreds of
thousands... maybe even millions. Why would Adobe abandon a product
it now owns and shun a substantial market? Maybe it's just
corporate spite? The trouble is, we just don't know. Adobe is
silent. There's a major communication break between Adobe and
FreeHand users. I want somebody at Adobe to tell us the truth...
either Adobe will support and develop FreeHand or ignore and
therefore kill it. I want to read a letter on Adobe's FreeHand web
page from somebody in a position to tell me what the hell is going
on with a product in which I've invested thousands of dollars and
thousands of files... a product I still want to buy.
Quick note to doentz here: Yeah, I loved Fontographer too.
Call me paranoid if you like, but I sometimes think Fontographer
was way too brilliant to be allowed to exist in a market-driven
world where Adobe owns just about every font and there's no room
for people to freely make and distribute their own creations. From
Adobe's point of view, such freedom is way too dangerous.
Capitalism run amok.
Curtcarto's post was interesting. Yes, software development
always takes time. I know this; I've seen it first hand... and
maybe that's what's going on with Adobe FreeHand. The point is, we
don't know! All indications from Adobe don't look good. Adobe is
silent. Adobe still charges full price for a broken FreeHand, but
doesn't list it in its main Products page (you have to dig to the
"view all products" link). If an updated version of FreeHand will
indeed join Adobe's product line - with full support and commitment
- you'd never know it by cruising through Adobe's corporate site.
R.I.P. FreeHand.
Argh. I'm gonna stop typing pretty soon. I'm tired and sad.
Before I go, I want to post a little more background about my life
with FreeHand. Maybe this will help readers understand why I'm so
passionate about FreeHand.
I became aware of FreeHand way back around 1986 - shortly
after Aldus PageMaker launched a revolutionary concept called
"desktop publishing." Prior to that, I made art the old fashioned
way... you know, I threw paint at a canvas or scribbled stuff on
real live paper with pen and ink and oil pastels. I beta-tested
FHv.7 for some of the guys who wrote the original FreeHand code. I
bought FreeHand v1.0 and later used v2.0 at a design firm that
employed me to make illustrations for their clients.
With FreeHand v3.1, Aldus nailed the interface and features.
It was a stunning and elegant piece of work. It made Illustrator
look like the junky copycat it is to this very day. If Adobe
offered a Mac OSX compatible version of FreeHand 3.1, I'd buy it in
two seconds flat. Adobe could market it as "FreeHand Lite" - heh.
And then things started getting ugly and convoluted.
Illustrator was emerging as a serious competitor in the vector art
world, while Aldus was loosing track of everything that made it
great. Too many cooks in the kitchen... it happens all the time.
The dot com bubble started to pop and nobody gave a flying fart
about art and vision or related nonsense. It was all about money.
I beta-tested FreeHand 4.0 (which was code named "Roadrunner"
at the time). It was a wreck... a screaming, flaming car crash. It
pulled the rug out from under every user who had invested time and
money and trust in FreeHand. I told the development team that if it
was released as written, loyal customers would scream bloody
murder, jump ship and buy Illustrator. I said, "If your intention
is to kill FreeHand, release this version immediately."
By this time, Aldus was dead. Macromedia owned Freehand and
released it as FreeHand 5.0. Loyal FreeHand customers screamed
bloody murder, jumped ship and bought Illustrator. FreeHand's
market share (not to mention its art and vision) was a sad memory.
Macromedia dorked around with FreeHand for a decade or so.
Version 5 was pretty dismal, but almost useable. By version 7, it
was almost OK. By versions 9 and 10, it was almost interesting.
Through all these versions, Macromedia didn't fix the stuff that
didn't work in previous versions... they just tacked on new
"features" nobody wanted and nobody used. Illustrator followed the
same development path, but by this time it was too late for
FreeHand. Illustrator ruled.
A buddy of mine just sent me an email. His message punched
through... one of two legitimate emails and 56 spams. He said:
"Maybe its time to start associating Adobe with Microsoft in
software's "Evil Overlord" category."
Argh. Welcome to the future. Adobe launches a new marketing
tool called "Adobe Youth Voices" on its home page. Socially
conscious work that can only be expressed by kids who buy Adobe
products. It's all so sick.

Freehand MX and Leopard

Have any of you out here had the opportunity to try Freehand
MX on a beta of OSX Leopard by chance? I hope Leopard doesn't break
it any more than Tiger did.. :-(

> When I go to the print dialog box, I set "Adobe PDF 8.0"
as the printer (as I
> always have), and try to "Save as postscript" it appears
to work and then I
> get the error message "Could not complete your request
because both source
> paths of a blend must be open or closed." - and the file
created is completely
> BLANK.
I saw the same error message before I had properly set up my
Postscript
printers.
Check the Adobe site for updates to the CS3 applications.
http://www.adobe.com/go/kb402859
For anyone having trouble printing to a Postscript file with
older versions
of Acrobat Pro/Distiller, I was able to set up a Postscript
formatting
printer using the Adobe PPD file.
First read the Apple article:
"Mac OS X: How to Add a Postscript Formatting Printer"
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=34886
This was my setup.
System Preferences>Fax & Print>Add printer "+"
button.
In the next dialog, choose and/or enter
IP
Protocol: Line Printer Daemon - LPD
Address: localhost
Queue: Adobe PDF
Name: Adobe PDF
Print Using>"Select driver to use...": Adobe PDF 3015.102
Click "Add" and close window.
Now in the FreeHand print dialog, select "Adobe PDF" as the
printer, and
under the PDF dropdown menu, select "Save as Postscript".
This works fine here on an iBook, Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard),
FreeHand 11.0.2.
Judy Arndt

Freehand MXa text pixelated problem

In Freehand Mxa text that's alng a path or rotated get's scrambled (pixelated) on the Mac.
I've tried Freehand Mxa on the PC windows XP and there it's not???
What's causing text to scramble on the mac?
Are there any solutions to it?
Daniel Hoogendoorn
PS
Freehand Mxa-Snow leopard act's the same

It's a known issue. See this technote:
http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/191/tn_19153.html
My workaround is to put a hairline stroke on the letters while adjusting kerning, baseline shift, etc. The stroke forces redraw of the letters.

Pdf and vector files will not open in Adobe Illustrator after Yosemite Update

I updated my OS on recommendation from apple. Pdf and vector files will not open in adobe illustrator now. Am i using the latest OS?

Linda Feltner wrote:
> I cannot import or open vector files in Freehand 10. I
just get large
> Xs instead of the image. I have a MAC OS 10.3.9,
Freehand 10. I'm
> trying to import some small files that are either .ai or
.eps files
> (all are vector) that open fine in Illustrator 10 (so I
know they
> work), but I can't use them in that program. I've tried
adjusting in
> Freehand Preferences the 'convert editable EPS files" ,
on and off. I
> tried adjusting the 'Embed...." selection on and off.
Can anyone tell
> me what thing I'm doing wrong. I have two files, they
are map
> boundaries, that need to scale and adjust their color
and line width
> over an aerial map. This can't be difficult, but I must
be
> overlooking something. Many thanks in advance. Linda
>
Freehand can't convert EPS files into editable vectors. I
usually run
EPS files through Illustrator and then into Frehand. If you
don't have
Illustrator you can convert the EPS into a PDF and that
Freehand will
sometimes convert into editable vectors (though it does
involve a lot
more clean up than going through Illustrator.)

Vector files will not open in Freehand10

I cannot import or open vector files in Freehand 10. I just
get large Xs instead of the image.
I have a MAC OS 10.3.9, Freehand 10. I'm trying to import
some small files that are either .ai or .eps files (all are vector)
that open fine in Illustrator 10 (so I know they work), but I can't
use them in that program.
I've tried adjusting in Freehand Preferences the 'convert
editable EPS files" , on and off. I tried adjusting the 'Embed...."
selection on and off.
Can anyone tell me what thing I'm doing wrong. I have two
files, they are map boundaries, that need to scale and adjust their
color and line width over an aerial map. This can't be difficult,
but I must be overlooking something.
Many thanks in advance.
Linda

Linda Feltner wrote:
> I cannot import or open vector files in Freehand 10. I
just get large
> Xs instead of the image. I have a MAC OS 10.3.9,
Freehand 10. I'm
> trying to import some small files that are either .ai or
.eps files
> (all are vector) that open fine in Illustrator 10 (so I
know they
> work), but I can't use them in that program. I've tried
adjusting in
> Freehand Preferences the 'convert editable EPS files" ,
on and off. I
> tried adjusting the 'Embed...." selection on and off.
Can anyone tell
> me what thing I'm doing wrong. I have two files, they
are map
> boundaries, that need to scale and adjust their color
and line width
> over an aerial map. This can't be difficult, but I must
be
> overlooking something. Many thanks in advance. Linda
>
Freehand can't convert EPS files into editable vectors. I
usually run
EPS files through Illustrator and then into Frehand. If you
don't have
Illustrator you can convert the EPS into a PDF and that
Freehand will
sometimes convert into editable vectors (though it does
involve a lot
more clean up than going through Illustrator.)

I have a new IMAC with a Maverick platform (I can update to Yosemite). I did all graphics on a G5 Power PC (very old), in Freehand (very old)... How can I open old Freehand files on this new Mac? Can I still open and work in Freehand on this new Mac?

I have a new IMAC with a Maverick platform (I can update to Yosemite). I did all graphics on a G5 Power PC (very old), in Freehand (very old)...
How can I open old Freehand files on this new Mac?
Can I still open and work in Freehand on this new Mac?

Let me see if I've gotten this right! You want to remove an account from BOTH machines? Do this for your new machine first, then for the other.
Click the Apple logo on the top left of the screen, System Preferences, Users and Groups (under Systems), unlock the lock in the window if its locked (you need to know the password), select the user that you wish to remove, and click the - sign next to the + sign for Login options. A window will pop up with some options. Select Delete this user and securely, and click 'Delete user'.
After this, do an update from the App Store.
Thats all there is to it.
For the other machine repeat the process except for one thing. Before you delete the user in this case YOU, you will have to give Administrator priviledges to your son bu checking the box 'Allow user to administer this computer'.
Do NOT do anything from Finder ... if you dont know how to fix the consequences of the problems caused.
There is no need to unauthorize your iTunes account on your new machine. Do it on the old machine though.

My rotate tool won't work? (FreeHand MX, Mac OS 10.6.3)

Hi All,
I recently loaded FreeHand MX on a Macbook Pro. It seems to run pretty happily, except I can't get the "rotate" tool to select. I added this tool to the default toolbar (using "toolbar/customize" but when try to I select it, the cursor reverts almost immediately to an arrow or magnifying glass (whatever it was just now). So to rotate objects I've had to activate View/Transform Handles, or use the Transform dialogue box and type in my values. The former solution actually works pretty well but I'd really like for the basic rotate tool to work!
I read last month in the forum people were having problems with FH and OS 10.6.2; someone said 10.6.3 solved their problem, so I upgraded to 10.6.3 before loading FH MX. But I'm wondering if this is a 10.6.3 compatibility issue, or if there's something I can do to menus, preferences, or restarting, that would make this tool work. I need a solution that doesn't involve reloading the software from my FreeHand disks.
If you can help solve this, much appreciated! Then I'd just have my usual getting-used-to-MX learning curve (I normally run FreeHand 10 on an old G5 and Mac OS 10.4.11).
Thanks!
Ben Pease

Aha! No wonder the transform panel was always open to type in the values as a workaround.
You were correct; I had used the wrong icon. I found the other one (not one I would have immediately recognized from FH10 and earlier) and it works fine.
Thanks again, Judy!

Installing Freehand 11 on mac os 10.8.2

Dear forum,
I just bought Freehand 11, surprisingly I cannot install it on my Imac intel based.
After searching , Freehand is a dead application which Adobe didn't care at all.
Is there anyway I can use Freehand?
Is there a legal statement that mention Adobe support on Freehand product?
Is it true that Rosetta can't work on mac os 10.8.2?
Ooh my head is start to crack...
Please give me some info.
Regards
Indra

Yes, you can still use FreeHand 11 in OSX 10.8.2 but you have to add a few things first. Mavericks doesn't include Rosetta so you will need two software programs; Parallels and Snow Leopard Server: 1-800-MYAPPLE.
Below, is this post from the FreeHandForums site on how to set up FreeHand with 10.8.2 Mavericks:
Like all Free FreeHand member, I love FH. I can make it do things that seem impossible for any other design application. I have tried all the workarounds to keep using FH (upgrading my 2000 Ethernet G4 to setting up a partition on my MBP to keep Snow Leopard and FH). Rebooting my Mac is really a pain; going back and forth between two computers is better, but still not like the "Good Old (Snow Leopard) Days" and can't be done when I am out of the office with my MBP.
Thanks to my son, I learned that Newegg.com had a special where Parallels 8 was basically free ($19.99 with a $20 rebate). Upon installing Parallels, I learned-to my dismay-that Snow Leopard could not be used in a virtual machine due to licensing issues. Parallels does allow Leopard Server and Snow Leopard Server. But who has that old software which cost between $300 and $500 in it Day?
After my initial excitement, I was really bummed out. All reading this understand.
Then, thanks to macintouch.com, I learned that Apple was selling Snow Leopard Server for $19.99, plus shipping. This unadvertised special is only available by phone, (800) MYAPPLE. Apple will ask if you plan to use the application for business, personal or education. The deliver date was 3-5 weeks out, but it arrived in two weeks. This server package comes with unlimited license.
I installed FH and then create a Macromedia folder inside the Application Support Folder, which is in the Library folder, and place my FreeHand MXa Registration file from my G4 in it.
Bingo, I am back in business with FH. I suggest having 8 mgs of RAM or more. I set up the virtual machine's dock on the left side of the screen and turned off hiding as my MBP dock is at the bottom of the screen. Can't have both at the bottom.
Also, I added all my fonts to the Snow Leopard virtual machine's font folder. It does not recognize the fonts on the Mac.
If you have not installed a Mac server, do not worry. It installs a lot of stuff you will never use on a virtual machine. Really who cares as long as FH runs seemlessly?
The only challenge I have encountered so far, is that on one Mac Mini, I can run in what Parallels calls "Full Coherence" but on my MBP, I can't. This means the virtual machine works as just another app and FH act as though it is running on Maverick, including cut and paste. I am sure I made a mistake in setting the MacBookPro Leopard virtual machine. I will figure it out.
This is a long-winded explanation of how I am now running FH on my MBP with Maverick operating system, but I wanted to be thorough. Plus, I can now run a number of useful legacy applications Apple had abandoned with the demise of Rosetta. And it only cost me $20.50. I hope this help some forum members.
By sebright » Mon Feb 03, 2014 8:51 am
http://freehandforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2067
Be sure to see the link above for the full discussion as there is more.
Besides Parallels, you can use VMWare Fusion and the free VirtualBox. Also don't forget that the registration process was changed by Adobe and a Universal Serial # was issued: FHD110-58402-67227-68568 > Error: Unable to Activate | Macromedia products
Hope this helps and let us all know how it works for you!

Why i can't open freehand files in Windows which are created in Mac??

As i use Mac to operate freehand in my company. But when i open those files at home by using Windows freehand, i can't open them? Why?? Please help..thanks!

Most obvious - make sure the Mac file have the correct ".FH10" file extension.
I use FHMX on Windows7 and regularly open Mac files from FH8 without any dramas.
Try back-saving the Mac files to FH8 (with .FH8 file extension) and opening those on the PC.
Failing that, convert individual layers to PDF open those on the PC and re-assemble the drawing.
Good Luck

How to open Freehand MX with Mac OS 10.6.7?

I recently migrated from an old desktop Mac G4 with OS 10.4 to a new Macbook Pro with OS 10.6.7. With the new machine Freehand MX simply will not open. When I try to open it, its icon appears for a few seconds in the dock, but then disappears. Other apps I migrated run using Rosetta, but maybe FH won't do that.
Any ideas anyone?
Thanks.
DH

Derek sorry. However this link should solve the problem. http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/504/cpsid_50468.html Good Luck

Did latest Mac 10.5.8 update kill Freehand?

Long time FH user, didn't upgrade to Snow Leopard specifically to keep FH running. It's been humming along on my MacBook Pro for 2 years. Yesterday I allowed an automatic Apple system update as I do all the time and now Freehand will no longer start. The icon bounces around in the dock as if it's starting, settles, but never opens on the desktop. Right click on the icon shows 'application not responding.' So I uninstalled/reinstalled, repaired permissions, tried to open on another user account. No luck. Anyone have any ideas? I'm seriously going to have to find an old Tiger Mac just to open my files and convert to Illustrator if I can't get this resolved.

A few questions...
What is this "combo update" to 10.5.8 you are referring to if I reinstall Leopard?
Will reinstalling OS require reinstalling all of my others apps?
Do you know if FH will run on 10.6? Thinking of buying a new Mac just to run FH.
Is there any way to open a FH file not saved as .eps in Illustrator?
I am running 10.5.8 on my Mac Pro Quad and FreeHand runs fine but that was because I cloned my main hard drive onto another drive before I erased the main drive. I installed Leopard and ran the combo update for 10.5.8. (Basically the combo update is all previous 10.5 updates in one installer.)
The old apps can be brought back to the "fresh" main drive through Migration Assistant but I chose to reinstall them by hand including FreeHand just in case. A bit of a hassle but at least everything is running smoothly and I discovered online updates to my graphics software that I hadn't installed before. Plus it feels good to have a clean system.
A big YES on running FreeHand on 10.6! The only catch is you need to download Adobe's patch to the registration problem: http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/504/cpsid_50468.html
If you have illustrator CS4 or 5 you can open a native FreeHand file but it won't always be the same. If you have editable text or gradients or type-on-a-path, these will come out garbled and broken. Look at what happened to my artwork: http://freefreehand.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=8#p25
Hope all this helps.

How to install freehand on Mac OSX 10.8 operating system

How to install freehand on Mac OSX 10.8 operating system

soniamp wrote:
How to install freehand on Mac OSX 10.8 operating system
1. Installing Snow Leopard Server into Parallels for DUMMIES:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1365439
2. Adobe's official patch for Freehand MX to run in Snow Leopard:
http://helpx.adobe.com/freehand/kb/cant-launch-freehand-mx-mac.html
Freehand MX running in Snow Leopard Server installed in Parallels for use in Lion, Mt. Lion and Mavericks:
[click on image to enlarge]

Mac OS 10.7, Rosetta, and Freehand MX

I've heard that in a few months, Mac will release Lion without the Rosetta support. This would mean that Freehand MX, a very powerful, user friendly graphic design application, would be totally killed. There are lots of Mac user designers out there who prefer Freehand MX over Adobe Illustrator. We love the Mac OS, we love Freehand MX, and we love things just as they are. We don't want to use Illustrator and we definitely would not want to run virtual Windows to use Freehand. It's bad enough that Adobe dropped FHMX. And now this?
I'm hoping that there will be a solution soon or else we'll be stuck on Mac OS 10.6.6 (since 10.6.7 messes up the fonts).
Please, Apple. Don't make things harder for loyal Mac/Freehand users.
Thanks!

Jules,
thanks for bringing a little civility to the discussion. I post very rarely on these forums and if I got responses like the one from Thomas my involvment would be even less. Dave, the fight is continuing with FreeFreehand as Jules points out, Apple may not be the villain here but there support would go a long way. Despite Thomas' nihilistic reply there is a strong Freehand user base continuing to produce fantastic work on a daily basis, and the 6000+ membership of FreeFreehand would I think be a small percentage of that.
I'm affraid the solution (to your question) at the moment is to just hang in there with 10.6.8 and Freehand MX and hope that sooner rather than later Adobe sets freehand free. We live in hope.

FreeHand and Lion (Mac Os X 10.7). The game is over

Is sad, but Freehand ends this summer, with Mac Os X 10.7. Lion will drop Rossetta (the emulation code to support legacy Power PC programs). Freehand runs smoothly in Snow Leopard but it hasn't been ported to intel version.

If Freehand has not died yet after such a long time since it was taken from Macromedia, it is because Adobe failed to offer a good alternative solution... Zyldavia
It will cost me 20,000 Euros or more working time... nobble1111
Those Adobe people are just blockheads here obviously having fun hurting other people.
In any case, I have bought one of the last Macs with Snow Leopard recently. I cannot afford to loose thousands of illustrations still making money...nobble1111
I didn't have the time to spend learning Illustrator... Matthew Rawdon
Reading these comments reminds me of the lithographers with whom I worked twenty years ago. Digital prepress has made the skills these talented individuals had about as useful as a 5 1/4 floppy disk. And while the rest of the printing world moved on these people watched, dragged their feet, were unrealistic in their expectations that someone owed them a living based upon mastery of an outdated trade that in some ways offered a better solution.
But that time of "better solution" is over. The number of people graduating from trade programs with a thorough understanding of lithography are about equal to those turning out competent Freehand users.
All of the things I have read in the Freehand forums illustrate to me that those who chose Freehand so long ago, who stayed faithful to Freehand during the Illustrator/Freehand wars, and who had the opportunity to switch to a program that would obviously remain viable not only once, but twice (Freehand's short revival around the time OS X originally came about), have done it under the full light of day, resenting the obvious every step along the way.
The thread-worn arguments have little to do with reality and have crossed into a religious zeal. And yes, I DO have a thorough understanding of the history of Aldus/Macromedia/Adobe and the legal and moral issues of supporting the format. For example, I know it was Macromedia that killed FH and dispersed the development team, not Adobe, but that's just too inconvenient to recognize. (I don't know why Marion D. spends so much time pouring out facts and common sense. It's futile.)
Now that Adobe owns FH in a legal and thoroughly vetted manner they have every right to do with it as they wish. It's easy to bring suit against a company and frivolous suits are filed every day. Yes, it was shocking when Adobe acquired FH, but I've had YEARS to get over it and around the problems at hand, and years of knowing it was very likely to go the way of the Dodo (incidentally, a very nice bird that had every reason to live but was unfortunately made extinct nonetheless).
But the kicker is this one:
And, "dear" Adobe, I have bought Quark now. I dont throw money away money for Indesign to a company ignoring its clients when there is a good alternative!...nobble1111
Seriously? You're going to do the same thing AGAIN? Doesn't this strike you as about the same as using a hammer to swat the fly on your own face? Why do this to yourself simply from spite? It's certainly not because of Quark's track record of fabulous customer service and warm, immediate response to their client base...
The thing is, for better or worse, Illustrator and InDesign are what they are. There will always be ways to improve things, ways to accommodate for some legacy workflows or improve the way customers and a company dialogue. But to drag one's feet kicking and screaming because the industry standards have passed you by is hurting no one but one's own self. It's silly - and guarantees you will join the line of jobseekers alongside the lithographers who did the exact same thing.
A post like this is like preaching Christianity to a Zoroastrian congregation, and it will be met with just as much derision and understanding as so many of Marion's posts. But just like Marian is trying to talk you into recognizing an unpleasant reality, so do I, having seen so many good, close friends suffer economic destruction and personal despair as time and economic principles turned them into antiques. One of the saddest cases I ever saw was a hardworking, good family man with great talent stuck at the last dedicated light table in the building, taping down film to a large sheet of mylar before cutting a standard mask of cheap, orange plastic. He could barely look me in the eye, an alcoholic shell of what he used to be, and one of the most ardent that lithography would never die.

Mac OS 10.6.6 & Freehand MX

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