A New Color Feature
There's a new little button in FreeHand MX that isn't mentioned in the marketing pitch. Granted, it's a little thing - it's only a button after all - but I'll sure be giving it a workout. It's called the Change Attribute Color button, and you'll find it in the lower left-hand corner of the Mixer and Tints panel, right next to the Add To Swatches button.
Here's how it works: Say you draw something and you're
going to mix a custom CMYK or RGB color (or any other color model you
choose). The path was done with a default of a black stroke and white
fill, and now you want to create the color for the fill. Go ahead and
mix the color and/or choose a tint, using the Mixer and Tints panel.
Nothing new, right? At this point, you can click the cursor in the color
well and drag it to the object, as you've been able to do for the last
dozen years or so, but what's the fun in that? Instead, schlep up to
the Object panel and click on the fill attribute in the object tree.
Then, back in the Mixer and Tints panel, click the Change Attribute
Color button. There you go, custom fill color without dragging. Need
a special color for the stroke? Create the color, click the attribute,
and click the Change Attribute Color button. Only the stroke changes
color.
So what?
You might think that this falls into the same gray
area of semi-useless tools such as the Lasso, Grabber Hand, and Subselection
tools, but think about it. Let's say that the object you've drawn has
a fairly thick stroke and it's a small object with a very small fill
area. Chances are, when you drag the color swatch onto the object (hoping
you're going to change the fill color) you'll end up changing the stroke
color instead.
And, yes, you could just as easily drag the color swatch onto the Fill or Stroke color wells at the bottom of the Toolbar, but in the arena of creativity wouldn't the workflow be more efficient if you drew the object and selected the fill attribute in the Object panel, and then proceeded to mix the color. Now, it's a matter of moving the mouse less than an inch to apply the color - without precise aim or mouse control. If the color isn't quite right, play with it and apply the revision with the button again. When you decide you're satisfied with the color, just click the Add To Swatches button and you've got a named color for greater control to work with later. You can keep the color descriptive name that FreeHand supplies, or give it a descriptive name of your own liking.
Every issue, we try to bring you some news about the new features, bugs,
workarounds, and other information that can make your FreeHand life
more comfortable.
Connector Lines. This new tool allows you to make flow charts and diagrams much more quickly. A simple click and drag of the tool creates a line from one object to another, ending with an arrowhead pointing to the last object. When you move the object, connector lines move with the object.
Gradient Fill Handles. Boy do I love this addition! Create an object, give it a gradient fill, and select the gradient in the Object Inspector panel. Notice the new handle(s) showing the flow and range of the gradient. Well, don't just notice the handles, move them and see how much more control you now have over tonal artwork.
Gradient Fill Enhancements. There's more to the gradient fills than handles. There are now Behaviors that control how the gradient fills the object: Normal, Repeat, Reflect, and Auto Size. Double-click the Pointer (or Subselect) tool and check the Show Fill Handles option to activate the Fill Handles in the drawing. A Normal Behavior will create a gradient as you are used to seeing in FreeHand, pure and simple. To align the gradient horizontally and vertically and have the full gradient range within the object, use the Auto Size. The Fill Handles will disappear, but you can move the center point to adjust the gradient. Repeat Behavior will duplicate the gradient at the end of the Fill Handle's reach. If you want to repeat and flip a gradient at the same time. This is especially useful for the rendering of cylinders and spheres.
