TechNote

FreeHand MX emerging issues

Last updated: March 27, 2006

Some users have reported that the following issues are affecting their usage of FreeHand MX. Issues described in this document may prove to be platform or system specific, and may not affect all users. Technical support will update this document as we learn more about any of the issues, so check back frequently.

Note: The FreeHand MX version 11.0.2 updater is now available. Known issues (no longer emerging) can be found in the bottom section of this document.

Note: For Non-English specific emerging issues please check, Non-English FreeHand MX version 11.0.1 emerging issues (TechNote 18986).

Known issues relating to Macintosh OS X version 10.4 (Tiger)
topic update: April 29, 2005

Macromedia and Apple are working together to ensure compatibility between Macromedia products and Mac OS X v10.4 "Tiger". Before choosing to install Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger", users should review the following known issues to determine if they are relevant to their workflow. Macromedia and Apple are working together on these issues:

• The triangle that represents a submenu in the Commands menu is not displaying.
• Colored text, transformed or on a path, has white boxes or blocks around the characters when printed to some printers. In our testing this was seen on a HP DeskJet 5550.
• When defining an Output area and printing the Area (Win) or Print area (Mac), some printers have not limited the print area to the area specified. In our testing this was seen on a HP DeskJet 5550.
• Opening a FreeHand 7 file that contains an embedded PICT file will cause FreeHand to crash.
• Show Grids and Snap to Grid cannot be turned on.
• When dragging the rotation or angle dial for a linear gradient, Halftone panel, calligraphic stroke or other areas in the application, the dial is difficult to adjust or may not function.
• When choosing a color from the pop-up color well in the smudge or shadow dialog box for a second time, the color well appears behind the documents window.

Note: Also refer to Macromedia compatibility with Apple Macintosh OS X v 10.4 (Tiger) (TechNote d2410320) for information about compatibility considerations affecting multiple Macromedia products.

Special characters are substituted when printed (Macintosh only)
topic update: February 1, 2005

Issue

On Mac OS X, some users are reporting that special characters like the Euro symbol and accented characters are missing when printed or exported as an EPS file. Here are a few of the thing you may see with this issue:

• Characters drop out and leave a space where the character should be
• Character substitutes with a square where the character should be

Solution

One successful workaround for this issue is to convert the text to paths._

Cannot paste objects from FreeHand MX to Photoshop CS
topic update: February 1, 2005

Issue

When pasting objects in Photoshop CS as paths, the following error is displayed:

"Could not complete the Paste command because the parser module cannot parse the clipboard."

Solution

Paste objects into Photoshop CS as pixels. This issue has been reported to the engineering team._

Unable to export large files in a raster format such as JPEG or TIFF (Windows only)
topic update: January 31, 2005

Issue

Large files are giving out of memory errors when trying to export the files from FreeHand MX. For example, when exporting a file as JPEG with the settings of Resolution: 300 DPI, Anti aliasing: 2, Include Alpha: selected and Quality: 100% the program will generate an error: "Not enough memory to complete command."

Solution

No workaround has been found for this issue. It has been reported to the engineering team._

Objects that use raster effects like Drop Shadow will not printing separations as expected
topic update: November 30, 2004

Issue

When an object that contains a drop shadow and overlaps, the drop shadow will print separations as a mix of Cyan, Magenta and Yellow.

This occurs even if the shadow color is specified as a single process color like 100% Black. On the other hand if the Drop Shadow does not overlap any object in the document the shadow will separate properly as 100% black.

This can also be seen with other Raster effects like Glow.

Solution

No workaround has been found for this issue. It has been reported to the engineering team._

Gradients that contain spot colors are not being recognized by Acrobat
topic update: November 8, 2004

Issue

Gradients that contain spot colors are recognized by Acrobat as a process color.

Solution

Using the spot colors of the gradient, create a blend between two objects. For example use two lines placed on opposite sides of the problem object to simulate a linear gradient, adjusting the line weight and blend steps to cover the area smoothly with color. Then cut the blend and using the Paste Inside command paste the blend inside the object that originally contained the gradient.

This issue has been reported to the engineering team._

Legacy files that contain joined objects cause FreeHand MX to crash.
topic update: September 2, 2004

Issue

When opening legacy files that contain a joined object the file will cause a crash in FreeHand MX 11.0.2. This does not occur in FreeHand MX (version 11 and 11.0.1).

Solution

Use FreeHand MX (versions 10, 11 or 11.0.1) to split the objectsthen open in FreeHand MX 11.0.2.

A second option is to copy the contents of a file from an earlier version of FreeHand MX 11.0.2. Make sure to use the FreeHand format as your clipboard output format in FreeHand's Export Preferences dialog.

This issue has been reported to the engineering team._

Product activation issue after installing the Flash MX 2004 7.2 Updater (Windows only)
topic update: July 30, 2004

Issue

Some Windows users may experience problems with product activation after installing the Flash 7.2 updater.

Solution

After installing the Flash 7.2 updater, users may find other Macromedia products require reactivation. Further reactivations are required each time the application is launched. Ultimately, activation will fail after the product has been reactivated several times. This issue is addressed in the ServiceNote Reactivation failure after upgrading to Flash 7.2 (ServiceNote 19468)._

Wacom pen click will not select colors, layers or styles (Macintosh Only)
topic update: June 29, 2004

Issue

When using the Wacom Intuos II 6" X 8" USB tablet and the pen stylus, the selection of colors, layers or styles will be hindered.

Solution

In our testing we found that by removing the Wacom driver from the system, the issue no longer occurred.

This issue has been reported to the engineering team._

Printing error relating to "PICTWPSTOPS" (Macintosh only)
topic update: May 4, 2004

Issue

When printing a file to a PostScript printer, some customers have reported that one of two things happens.

• The Print Center displays a message that refers to PICTWPSTOPS and then nothing prints.
• The printer status light flashes for a few seconds like it is processing a file then stops with no printed page.

It is possible this issue may be specific to files created in an earlier version of FreeHand.

Solution

The customers who have encountered this issue have been able to print the file after copying the contents of the file to a new document in FreeHand.

This issue has been reported to the engineering team._

Spot to Spot gradients are processed when taken to PDF
topic update: April 15, 2004

Issue

When Exporting a EPS file or Printing to file as a PS file to be distilled using Acrobat Distiller and spot to spot gradients will be converted to process colors in the resulting PDF file.

Solution

There is no known workaround for this issue. This issue has been reported to the engineering team._

A duplicated extruded text will effect the original when attributes are changed
topic update: April 6, 2004

Issue

When you try to Extrude text that has been duplicated, the original is affected when any edits are done to the duplicate. This will happen when the original is no longer selected, on a different layer, and even if the original is locked.

Solution

There is no known workaround for this issue. This issue has been reported to the engineering team._

Font style selection issue when using FontCard (Macintosh Only)
topic update: April 1, 2004

Issue

When using FontCard, a third party font management tool for Macintosh, to select a bold version of a font the font will not have the bold attribute. For example when selecting Helvetica Condensed Bold you will only see Helvetica Condensed on screen.

Solution

Following the selection Helvetica Condensed Bold from the font list a second selection of Bold from the style pop-up will be required.

This issue has been reported to the engineering team._

When working in millimeters the leading values are converting (Windows XP Only)
topic update: March 26, 2004

Issue

When working in Millimeters and defining the leading as +5 for example, it will convert the number to 14.1732 which appears to be points.

NOTE: This has not been seen on all Windows XP systems

Solution

The only solutions we have seen for this is to work in another unit of measurement or enter the value as "p5" or "0p5".

This issue has been reported to the engineering team._

Unable to redefine a style with an objects containing a paste inside selected
topic update: March 10, 2004

Issue

After changing an attribute to an object containing a paste inside the redefine style command will not redefine a style based on the selection. Selecting the command does perform like it is working correctly, but in the end nothing happens.

Solution

There are a couple of things you could do to work around this.

• Cut the contents of the object and redefine the style
• Work with an object that does not contain a paste inside to redefine the style.

This issue has been reported to the engineering team._

Expand Stroke Xtra is losing attribute after moving in FreeHand MX 11.0.2
topic update: March 1, 2004

Issue

After applying an Expand Stroke to a closed path followed by moving the object, the fill attribute will change to a stroke attribute.

Solution

There are two options for working around this issue.

• Use the Expand Path Effect to achieve the same effect.
• Delete the stroke from the object panel, add a fill to match the desired fill. _

Copy Special from FreeHand MX (11.0.1) to Photoshop 7 will cause Photoshop to crash (Macintosh Only)
topic update: December 23, 2003

Issue

When copying content from FreeHand to paste into Photoshop 7, Photoshop will crash if the following conditions are met:

• you do a copy special as EPS, converting RGB to CMYK;
• the FreeHand Export preference for Clipboard formats set to Adobe Illustrator: CMYK or CMYK and RGB.

It seems that FreeHand is creating an Illustrator formatted EPS that Photoshop can not read.

Solution

There are a couple of options to workaround this issue.

1. Set the "Export" preferences for "Clipboard output formats" such that "Convert Colors" is set to "Photoshop 4/5" and choose any EPS format for "Copy Special". FreeHand will then create a Photoshop RGB EPS and Photoshop handles it fine.
2. The preferred approach would be to set your "Export" preferences to anything you want, but choose "EPS for Photoshop 4/5" from the "Copy Special" dialog.

This issue has been reported to the engineering team._

Imported JPEG images are displaying with white stripes in the Print Preview
topic update: December 3, 2003

Issue

In Macintosh OS® X 10.2.x using the Preview option in the Print dialog to preview a file containing a color JPEG, the preview of the JPEG will display with white horizontal lines across the image. This has been reported for both English and Japanese versions of FreeHand.

In Macintosh OS® X 10.3.x using the Preview option in the Print dialog to preview a file containing a color JPEG, the preview of the JPEG will be black and white with white horizontal lines across the image.

Solution

At this time we have no workaround for this issue. This appears to be a display only issue and should not be a problem when printing.

The issue has been reported the the engineering team.

Imported EPS images that are rotated appear transparent
topic update: November 10, 2003

Issue

After rotating an imported EPS that is placed on top of other objects, the EPS will appear to be transparent. This is a rendering issue only and will print correctly on output.

Solution

There was no solution found at the time we tested this. This issue has been reported to the program engineers.

PDF's are importing with objects missing or colored black
topic update: October 3, 2003

Issue

Objects with spot colors in PDF's that have been created with Adobe Acrobat 6 on Macintosh OS X (10.2.6) import into FreeHand MX 11.0.1 as missing, white or black. The PDF files created with the Acrobat 6 format have also been reported as having issues with FreeHand MX and even other applications like Illustrator.

This has also been reported with CMYK-TIFF images that have drop shadows applied to them.

Solution

This issue has been communicated to the Engineering team.

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Known Issues

The following issues have been removed from the emerging issues list because the issue is resolved or has been moved to its own TechNote. When appropriate, the TechNote link will be included with the issue.

Unable to select Show Grids and Snap To Grid on Mac OS X 10.4.x
topic update: March 27, 2006

Solution

Change shortcut keys for Show Grid and Snap To Grid. This issue is described in Unable to select Show Grids and Snap To Grid (TechNote 956eb4e6).

Original Issue

Nothing happens when you choose Show Grids or Snap To Grid from the View menu in FreeHand MX 11.0.x on Mac OS X v10.4.x.

The Duplicate keyboard shortcut is not working on Mac OS 10.3.x
topic update: March 1, 2004

Solution

Users will need to redefine the keyboard shortcut to another key combination in FreeHand or at the System Level.

• In the System Preferences select the Keyboard & Mouse preference. Select the Keyboard Shortcuts tab, then disable the Dock keyboard shortcut or redefine to a different command.
• In FreeHand select Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts and change to a different key set or redefine the Duplicate command to another shortcut key._

Original Issue

When using the Command + Option + D keyboard shortcut to duplicate an object on Mac OS® X 10.3.x, the genie option toggles on and off for the System Dock.

EPS files with a clipping path created in Photoshop 7 under Mac OS® X 10.3.1 will not display a preview (Panther)
topic update: March 1, 2004

Solution

This has been resolved in the Mac OS® X 10.3.2 system upgrade from Apple. However, please note that once an EPS has been saved in Mac OS® x 10.3.1, you will need to re-save it from Photoshop before FreeHand will read the file properly._

Original Issue

Users have reported an issue on Mac OS® X 10.3.1 where PostScript files that contain a clipping path created in Photoshop and saved as an EPS file will not display a preview in FreeHand MX and other graphic applications.

Such an image has also been known to crash FreeHand MX on Mac OS® X 10.2.8.

Unable to import an image from a CD or other drive without receiving an error about a PPD (Macintosh Only)
topic update: March 1, 2004

Solution

In our testing we found that the "/" in our test CD was the cause of the PPD error message._

Original Issue

When importing an image from a CD or other drive, you see the following message:
Could not import because the PPD does not contain the required information.

This is due to a special character in the name of the drive. In our testing, we had a CD named "Backup 12/2/2003," which displayed the error message.

PostScript error when printing to some printers from Macintosh OS® X 10.3.x (Panther)
topic update: March 1, 2004

Solution

One copy of the font will need to be removed to prevent the PostScript error from occurring. The issue has been reported to the engineering team._

Original Issue

Various printers will generate a PostScript error when printing files with fonts that have been installed in both the System and Users font folders. Some printers handle this without any incident, while other printers will generate this error.

Rotated text on the Macintosh does not display anti-aliased
topic update: March 1, 2004

Solution

Converting the text to paths will restore the anti-aliased appearance when needed. Printing to a Postscript device will output the fonts correctly. This rendering issue has been reported to the program engineers. This issue is described in Rotated text previewed on the Macintosh displays jagged (TechNote 19153).

Original Issue

When text is rotated on the Macintosh Operating System, it will render as not being anti-aliased.

Exported EPS files are larger than the artwork area
topic update: March 1, 2004

Solution

To maintain the exact dimensions of the selected object, you will want the object and custom document page size to match.

Original Issue

When exporting or saving as an EPS file, the physical size of the object will be larger then the original dimension. For example, a 2-inch by 2-inch square will export as 2.028 by 2.028 inches in the final output.

Object missing from some plates when printing separations
topic update: March 1, 2004

Solution

There is no solution for this issue: raster effects do not support spot colors. We suggest you do not use a raster effect in this situation.

Original Issue

Objects with spot to spot gradients that have a raster effectâ”like the inner glowâ”applied, will not separate properly when sent to a RIP device. In the example that was created, the two spot plates were missing the gradient object.

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