Introduction

An updated version of FreeHand MX is now available online. This updated release includes the following:

• Fixes for issues identified since the release of FreeHand MX (see below)
• Product activation.

The version 11.0.1 updated release will not modify your existing FreeHand MX installation. Instead, it will install in a separate directory and will appear in the program menu as “FreeHand MXa” and will use the same preferences. We recommend that you delete your old version of FreeHand before you install FreeHand MX version 11.0.1. Both versions can reside on the same system, but there are some issues with removing the previous version on Windows. For more information about this potential issue please refer to Uninstalling FreeHand MX will remove the icons and preferences (TechNote tn_18864).

Note: If you purchased and downloaded FreeHand MX from the Macromedia store, you already received the updated version of FreeHand MX. You can verify your version by the program menu. If the program menu lists FreeHand MXa, then you have the updated version.

Platforms supported

The FreeHand MX version 11.0.1 updated release is available for download now on the following operating systems:

• Macintosh ® OS X 10.2.6
• Microsoft ® Windows 98 SE, Windows XP and Windows 2000

New serial number

The 11.0.1 update installs using a new serial number, which is provided at the time you download. This also includes product activation; an anonymous, secure and hassle-free process that authenticates licensed users during the installation process. The process is slightly different than previous installations, but does not affect the ability to use your software as you always have.

Release notes

Please be sure to read the FreeHand MX Update Release Notes prior to installation. The release notes contain more details about the issues addressed in this update, as well as late-breaking information and known issues about Macromedia FreeHand MX.

Bug fixes for both Windows and Macintosh:

• Carriage returns having no character associated with them will no longer carry a style property. This fixes a problem with text blocks having two or more colors associated with the text. Under certain circumstances, the user could create a text block with an unexpected color associated with it. Copying and pasting the text block to a new document would post a color that was not apparently associated with the text block. The color could not be removed. FreeHand will no longer allow this to happen, and opening documents that have this problem will be healed.
• Composite paths having gradient fill handles that extend past the bounding box of the objects, will no longer overprint when they are set to knock out.
• Alpha channels on placed images and raster effects are now preserved when exported to GIF or PNG format.
• Export to Photoshop 5 format with the option to “Include layers” will no longer cause layer objects to duplicate themselves on all layers.
• Pasting attributes to one end object of a blend will now automatically update and redraw. Moving the object is no longer required.
• Copying attributes from a text block object to a non-text block object will no longer add text attributes to a non-text block object.
• Setting the Anti-alias export setup to OFF when exporting a GIF will correctly export a GIF with AA off.
• For RGB colors mixed in the mixer, RGB values over 125 will no longer increment by a value of one when dropped onto the Swatch list. For example, the color: 128 R 129G 130B will no longer increment to 129R 130G 131B when dropped into the color list.
• FreeHand should no longer crash when trying to print a page containing a master page lens object, with a child page lens object over the master page lens.
• Find and Replace will now find named colors and replace the color on a 1 bit TIFF.
• The problem with some small shapes collapsing like deflated balloons when cut with the knife tool has been improved. We have reduced the sensitivity of when points are merged from within 1 point of each other to 1/2 point. This fixes the problem as reported but really small shapes may still display this problem.
• FreeHand MX version 11.0.1 will honor the style setting for “stroke only” or “fill only” instead of setting the style behavior to “fill and stroke” when opening legacy documents.
• Objects containing spot colors, pasted into the Graphic Hose will no longer generate extra spot plates at print time when sprayed into a new document. The colors will automatically show up in the color list when sprayed on a new page. Spot colors will always migrate to the color list when pasted.
• The Align buttons have been enabled in the following cases: when there are at least 2 unlocked objects; when there is at least one unlocked object and one locked object; when there is at least one unlocked path with more than one point sub-selected.
• Composite paths will no longer forget stroke width changes made via the Thicker and Thinner stroke commands when the object is moved on the page.
• A lens over a master page object will no longer become opaque when snapshot is selected.
• The Polygon Inspector now allows the entry of 2 sides on Windows. On both Macintosh and Windows, values less than 2 will set to 2. Entering a “0” on the Mac will no longer crash.
• TIFF image files having alpha channels will correctly print out at a higher resolution. A 72 dpi image reduced by 50% will now print correctly at 144 dpi as it did in FreeHand 10.
• Report Generator now correctly reports all new styles included in the document.
• When opening some legacy files, some objects, when selected and moved with the arrow key, would seem to move in a unconventional direction. Opening the document will heal the transform matrix problem and the objects will move correctly with the arrow keys.
• A corrupt styles problem when opening some legacy documents has been corrected. Opening the document will heal the corrupt styles and the code causing the corruption problem has been fixed.
• Exporting raster effects objects using CMYK colors has been improved. Setting the Document Settings: Raster Effects Settings: to “Optimal CMYK Rendering” and choosing Convert colors to CMYK in the PDF Export options settings, will create a PDF that now looks correct on screen.
• Composite paths from other applications will no longer have sub-paths containing styles that are out of sync with the composite path. A color shift would happen with certain sub-paths of the main path when composite paths were ungrouped. Opening these documents will sync the styles to the main composite path.
• An issue for legacy documents containing corrupt styles has been fixed. Exporting these files to EPS would cause FreeHand to exit.
• A bitmap on the Background Layer when in keyline mode will no longer disappear.
• The ability to move an object to another layer using the “move to layer” option when when the preference, “Clicking on layer name moves selected objects” (Prefs:Panels:), is deselected has been restored.
• Deleting a point on a sub-selected path that is a component of a Composite Path will no longer cause the object to disappear.
• Spot to Spot gradients will now print correctly when producing separations.
• Moving groups containing 5000+ objects will no longer take an extremely long time.
• Composite paths having their colors altered using the Color Xtras will no longer revert their colors when moved.
• Entering an illegal value in the Roughen Xtra will no longer crash FreeHand.
• A connector line embedded as an inline graphic in a text block will no longer corrupt the document. If a document was saved with this object in FreeHand MX, opening the file in FreeHand MX version 11.0.1 will heal the document.
• Adding a master page to a document will no longer affect the stacking order of ungrouped objects when the objects are sent to the back of a layer.
• Creating a lens filled object and using “Snapshot” over a Master page object will no longer crash the application.
• The Roughen Tool option for “Rough” has been fixed. Moving from “Smooth” back to “Rough” will now be selectable.
• Documents containing an empty clip group will no longer cause a crash.
• Legacy documents having one bit TIFFS will no longer place with extra white space around the image causing misplacement on the page. FreeHand will recognize files saved with the old behavior and open with the images clipped. However, the same image imported into FreeHand MX version 11.0.1 or MX will no longer be clipped; the whole image will be displayed.
• Setting the blur/fade amount of a Glow raster effect to zero a second time with no longer cause FreeHand to crash on the Mac or leave the UI in a bad state on Windows.
• FreeHand will no longer crash after printing if the RIP has flattened Print Settings larger than 65535 bytes. Certain EFI Fiery RIPs and plugin combinations have reported this problem. The fix allows any length of settings.
• When releasing brushes, the number of groups have been reduced in certain cases. The number of groups still depends on the number and type of brush tips.

Windows-only bug fixes:

• Bitmap formats with Anti-alias on will no longer export a bitmap having extra color pixels along the right side.
• Exporting a file containing a JPEG to WMF format will no longer display an X-box when placing the file in a document.
• Some complex shapes with raster effects will no longer clip when printing to PostScript printers.
• Small circles having a dashed stoke applied will no longer look as though they have a flatness value applied. They will display with a smoother stroke.
• In the Swatches panel, hiding the names of the swatches will no longer disable the ability to move colors to the mixer using the right mouse command, show in color mixer.
• A resource leak in Windows has been fixed. Symptoms included the system going to a gray screen after several hours of working in the application.
• The Undo command will no longer fail after removing two or more layers.
• FreeHand MX version 11.0.1 for Windows will now append a .fh11 extension to legacy documents that are saved in the FreeHand MX format.
• Deselecting the Preference, “Clicking on layer name moves selected objects” (Prefs:Panels) will no longer disable the right mouse command, “Move selection to this layer”.
• Docking the Transform panel in the barge will no longer disable the “bleed” field in the document inspector.
• Files containing linear gradients will no longer display incorrect colors or create an error when exported to GIF or PNG.

Macintosh-only bug fixes:

• A crash that some users experienced when exporting to EPS format a large number of pages containing raster effects has been fixed.
• A crash when dragging a file specific enveloped object has been fixed.
• The Welcome movie and What’s new movie will display correctly when logged in as a non-administrator on Macintosh OS X.
• A bug concerning Shortcut Key Commands using any letter key (pressed with the cmd-key down when the corresponding menu item was disabled) has been fixed. FreeHand was interpreting the command as a tool-switching powerkey.
• Deselecting the Clipboard format for Adobe Illustrator ™ will properly gray out the Convert Colors pop-up in Export Preferences.
• The drop/well buttons at the top of the color list can be selected again and can be set to stroke, fill, or stroke and fill. Dragging to these wells or clicking on a color in the list will set the color of a selected object for either stroke, fill, or stroke and fill, according to which button is selected.
• Save as Editable EPS will always save with the included document and will no longer be changed when other EPS formats turn off “Include document”.
• Shortcut keys have been restored to the Quit and Close Document dialogues:
• When using (CMD+W) to close a document that has not been saved, the dialogue presented will respond to the following key commands:
• CMD+D = Don’t Save
• CMD+C or CMD+.= Cancel
• Enter = Save
• When quitting the application that contains an unsaved document (CMD+Q), the dialogue presented will respond to the following key commands:
• CMD+Q = Quit anyway
• CMD+C or CMD+ .= Cancel
• CMD+R or Enter = Review
• The crash caused when leaving the number field empty in Xtras Options dialogues, such as Expand Stroke, Simplify, or Inset Path has been fixed.
• After using “Save as PDF” in the main print dialogue, FreeHand will no longer display a non-PostScript dialogue when using a PostScript printer.
• Warnock Pro (Italic, Light Italic, SmBd Italic, and Bold Italic), Poetica Std, Caflisch Script Pro, and Minion Pro (Roman and Italic) will no longer produce PostScript errors when printed from OS X 10.2.6. This is an Apple bug and requires installing OS X 10.2.6 to fix this problem.
• FreeHand will no longer crash on launch if the user has corrupt fonts installed. If FreeHand detects corrupt fonts, the font will not load into the Font list. Example of these fonts are: Glasgow, Enschede, or Ultimate.
• Certain high ASCII characters in the fonts Charcoal, Chicago and Sand will now correctly convert to paths.
• The ICC profile, Black and White.icc, will crash the application if the user selects Kodak Digital Science in Color Management from the previous selection, “None” or “Color Tables”. FreeHand now ignores this profile.
• The dotted line and the page shadow have been restored to the print preview.
• Tutorial artwork will correctly Preview in FreeHand on OS 10.2 and greater.
• Closed paths that are counterclockwise with a fat stroke and with the line Cap set ROUND will no longer appear to have chunks missing out of the line. Text converted to paths could often display this way.
• FreeHand will no longer crash when opening a file having Fetch information with the ‘TEXT’ 256 resource longer than 255 characters.
• The ability to select “Rough” after having selected “Smooth” in the Roughen tool options has been restored. The workaround has been to select the text instead of the checkbox.