.co.uk Review

While Adobe Illustrator has traditionally been reserved for the print and prepress marketplace, recent versions have targeted a broader audience, including a growing contingent of new-school Web designers. With the latest incarnation of Illustrator, Adobe aims to please both print and prepress designers, as well as cutting-edge Web designer communities. If you’re looking for a greater Web focus from your vector graphics program, look no further than Illustrator 10 .

For those concerned about Illustrator becoming too Web-focused, don’t fret. All of Illustrator’s previously existing drawing and text tools remain intact. Version 10 also introduces improved tools for drawing lines, arcs, and grids. These new drawing tools will maximise your productivity and provide an easy way to create the shapes you want.

In addition to the new drawing tools, Adobe has jumped on the graphics symbol bandwagon by allowing users to save any text object or graphic object as a symbol. Once objects are saved in the Symbol palette, they can be reused infinitely, thus providing easier management of files and decreased file size. Users will fall in love with the simple drag-and-drop usability of the symbols, while the newly added Symbol Sprayer lets you easily add multiple instances of a symbol directly into the document.

Adobe has also undertaken the task of minimising the monotony of tedious and repetitive design tasks. By taking advantage of Illustrator-supported scripting languages, users can easily automate repetitive tasks by writing scripts directly in Illustrator. Any of the three popular scripting languages--Visual Basic Script, JavaScript, or AppleScript--can be used. When creating a design, users can assign a text object or graphic object to a variable. These variables can then pull information from any ODBC-compliant database. With this type of power, users can easily create templates for documents such as Web pages or product catalogues.

In this latest version of Illustrator 10, Adobe has managed to enhance its existing drawing tools with powerful productivity aids. By focusing on important workflow, productivity, and database-connectivity features, Adobe has given the user more time to explore new creative possibilities.--Rich Ting, .com

Manufacturer's Description

Building on tools introduced in Illustrator 9.0, Adobe Illustrator 10.0 delivers integrated tools for laying out Web pages and creating superior vector- or raster-based Web graphics. Exercise your creative freedom with new live distortion options that let you bend, twist, warp, and otherwise distort design elements while retaining their editability. Add realistic-looking lens flares to your artwork that are fully editable with the new flare tool. Adobe Illustrator 10.0 also adds numerous new features that help you produce quality artwork in record time.

Produce graphics for the Web and other emerging media, like wireless devices, using symbol tools that easily create repeating graphics and keep file size small. Illustrator 10.0's image map generates URL links quickly and easily. New slicing options create object-based slices that update automatically if you make changes. You can also custom optimize slices in a Web layout and even specify CSS layer options when exporting sliced HTML pages. Improved export support for SVG and Macromedia Flash files, as well as other enhancements to existing features, further streamline workflow.

A variety of viewing settings allow you to preview in real time how elements will be rasterized and look on the Web, which text and strokes will overprint or be converted to outlines, and more. You can also control anti-aliasing of text using a new rasterize live effect. New path direction options in Illustrator 10.0 offer better consistency with Photoshop. With full support for data-driven graphics and tighter integration with other Adobe applications, Illustrator 10.0 comes packed with practical features that automate complex tasks and help you meet impossible deadlines.