LAST UPDATED JULY 21 2010 - -ENGLISH | DEUTSCH | FRENCH | ESPAÑOL | TURKCE

WHAT IS FreeHand?
FreeHand is quite possibly the best vector drawing application ever made. For those of us who still use it in our every day work as designers, this statement is indisputably true. Despite this, when the competition wished to gain complete control over this lucrative market, thereby securing many millions of dollars in future revenue from designers the world over, FreeHand was buried after being purchased (as part of a larger transaction). In the briefest terms possible, that is what really happened. For now our lawyers have us avoiding any direct accusations, but it isn't hard to guess who we're referring to. However, if your curiosity is piqued you can read more about the FreeHand story here.

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FreeHand IS STILL WORKING
We know FreeHand is working fine in Windows Vista and 7, but we all had our moments of doubt while installing it on Mac OS X 10.6: Will FreeHand still work? There were rumors that it wouldn't. We were relieved to find that it does work in Snow Leopard (after first installing Rosetta, and maybe following Adobes workaround). But the experience reminds us that we hang on the edge — maybe next time it won't work.

Delighted as we are that FreeHand remains one of the most powerful and versatile tools in our arsenal of design applications, there are some bugs when running FreeHand 11.0.2 in Windows and Mac that require complicated workarounds. Some examples include:
• PDF export does not support overprint colors or bleed
• Gradients often break: gradients within an EPS export may contain
• white lines, gradients within a PDF export may get breaks at the edges
• Fonts often don't print correctly,
• (requires conversion to paths prior to printing)
• Does not run natively on Intel Macs

WHAT WE WANT TO ACHIEVE
We want FreeHand to have a future. Not only because we love to work with it, but also because we have thousands of files from the past we may need access to on any given occasion (well, they open in AI, but are converted into chaos). Our wish is a simple one: For those who still use FreeHand today (and don't want to use Illustrator, possible reasons for which are myriad) the application must be brought up to date and maintained, i.e. known bugs fixed and made to work natively on current operating systems. We don't believe this is asking too much.

There are several ways this could happen, depending on the level of monetary funding we can achieve and the degree of cooperation we might realize from the unnamed corporation that owns the FreeHand software code and related patents. All of the options below are on the table at this time:
Updates are provided by the owner to current users for the equivalent of a per-license upgrade fee.
The current owner agrees to release FreeHand code and licensing to the opensource community for maintenance and further development for an agreed-upon price.
Sufficient funds are raised such that legal recourse becomes an available option and the owner is pressured into making a choice: release the code and all rights, or updates must be provided. Call it a class action antitrust lawsuit.

THANK YOU!
A sincere thanks to all FreeHand supporters who have signed up as members. As we continue to work hard in our research and outreach efforts, we encourage you to assist in any way you can think of. Contact organizations and agencies that you know of (such as http://www.eff.org/ and the like) as well as law firms or public representatives you have personal or professional connections with and who may be able to offer assistance or advice. Also, keep forwarding this page using the button at left. We need to grow membership as much and as quickly as we can to achieve our goals, and even those who don't use FreeHand or care about the specific cause we represent should be encouraged to understand how and why this affects them in the big picture.

In all spheres, if these kinds of practices are allowed to take place, regardless of how a profit-based business decision might impact the lives of individuals, we will all suffer as a result. Point of fact: Before we had car seat belts, the U.S. automobile industry fought safety regulations because they felt it would hurt their sales by making cars seem dangerous (go ahead, write Ralph Nader too.) Keep fighting the good fight, FreeHanders!

For even more information, consult our Social Q&A page.

Who is behinD freeFreeHand.org
Thomas Thü Hürlimann, former Art Director of Macworld & Computerworld Switzerland, graphic designer & multimedia artist (Ecliptic, Zugergrafik, Short Encounter), who has worked with FreeHand since 1987 (Aldus version 1.0).
Jabez Palmer of Bez Design, Seattle (founded 1997), whose first experience with MacDraw on a Macintosh Plus in 1986 made an indelible impression on his psyche. Since then his eclectic career points to variety of projects including illustration, graphic design for print, and web design & animation.
Mark Gelotte is a book designer and illustrator of Gelotte Book Design. A designer since the late 1970's, he began computer arts with Aldus FreeHand 3 on up to the present FreeHand MX. As a user of Adobe products, Mark is a strong believer in healthy competition and that a variety of graphic applications are essential to the design community.