Press/Analyst Contact:
Jill Nakashima
Adobe Systems Incorporated
408.536.4288
jnakashi@adobe.com
http://www.adobe.com/
For Immediate Release
Adobe Announces Illustrator 8.0
Industry-Standard Illustration Software Redefines Computer Drawing
San Jose, Calif., (August 24, 1998) (Nasdaq: ADBE) – Adobe Systems
Incorporated today announced Adobe Illustrator 8.0, a powerful,
innovative upgrade that spans the creative needs of professional designers
and business users. This exciting upgrade redefines computer drawing by
offering groundbreaking creativity tools which produce effects never before
seen in a computer drawing application. Illustrator 8.0 software
successfully combines the control and precision of computer drawing with
results closer to those achieved using more traditional methods. Version
8.0 also boasts improved productivity and ease-of-use.
Illustrator 8.0, together with Adobe Photoshop, Adobe PageMaker, Adobe
ImageReady, and Adobe Premiere software, forms an exceptional, tightly
integrated suite of graphics tools for print, Web and video production.
Illustrator 8.0 will be shown in the Adobe booth at the Seybold San
Francisco show September 1-3 and is expected to begin shipping in September
1998.
Superior Integration with Adobe Products and Other Software Tools More than
80% of Illustrator customers rely on at least one other Adobe tool, such as
Photoshop or PageMaker. To help users learn faster and work more
efficiently, Adobe has designed its professional graphics products to work
smoothly together by offering common tools, menus, palettes, and keyboard
shortcuts. Illustrator 8.0 reinforces this integration by incorporating
“Adobe Original” features – such as the Actions Palette, the Navigator
Palette, Free Transform, and the Links Palette – which are available only
in other Adobe applications. For example, Illustrator 8.0 software can now
preserve layers when exporting to Photoshop allowing users to enhance and
manipulate these layers in Photoshop, ImageReady, or Adobe After Effects.
“All of the gorgeous bells and whistles of Illustrator aside, Illustrator
remains faithful to one basic premise: it’s a production tool that
integrates seamlessly with my other core Adobe applications,” says Eve
Elberg, a graphic designer & multimedia instructor in New York City.
“Without this, there would be no way I could accomplish what I do.”
Productivity Enhancements for Faster, High-Quality Results Everyone – from
graphics professionals to Web designers to corporate users – can appreciate
being able to complete projects more quickly. Illustrator 8.0 delivers an
arsenal of new productivity features that help users meet deadlines without
compromising high-quality results. In addition to implementing more than
100 productivity enhancements in response to customer requests, Illustrator
8.0 has several major new features like the Actions palette, the Text
Eyedropper tool, and Smart Guides that offer tremendous productivity gains
that can save literally hundreds of hours for users.
At MAGELLAN Geographix in Santa Barbara, cartographers rely on Adobe
Illustrator because they can be asked to deliver the world in a week. An
official state map of California recently took a half dozen designers 800
hours. “Without the new features and enhancements in Illustrator 8.0,
creating a map of California could easily have taken us an additional 300
hours,” says Rick Woods, vice president of business development.
“Illustrator 8.0 is the ideal software for us; it makes us more productive
and lets us deliver a map to any of our clients under the tightest
deadlines, no matter what platform they work on or what software they use.”
Creativity Tools that Help Express Ideas in Ways Never Before Possible The
boldest innovations in Adobe Illustrator 8.0 software are powerful new
creativity tools not available in other illustration programs. Four new
types of live brushes -Art, Scatter, Calligraphic, and Pattern brushes –
stretch and scatter art and calligraphic strokes along easily editable
paths with precision and control. Users can begin working immediately with
approximately 800 professionally designed brushes that will ship with the
product, or they can easily create their own.
The Gradient Mesh tool is another unique feature that lets users blend
multiple colors in multiple directions and achieve painterly shading
effects not previously possible using illustration software.
“The Gradient Mesh tool opens up a whole new world of possibilities for
creating backgrounds and effects,” says Steve Larracey, senior art director
at Ropkey Graphics in Indianapolis. “This new feature and many others give
us ways to express our ideas we’ve never had before in an illustration
program. Tools like Gradient Mesh and Live Brushes are invaluable as our
creative division grows. We want to help our clients stand out in the
crowd. Illustrator 8.0 just made that a lot easier.”
Accessible Tools for a More Intuitive Creative Process Illustrator 8.0
software provides innovative new tools that make the application easier to
use for professional designers and business users alike. The unique Pencil
tool lets users draw paths onscreen as simply as with pencil on paper.
Curves are smoother than previously possible, and editing paths is as
effortless as drawing a line. Bounding Box editing and new Smooth and Erase
tools also help users easily edit their work.
“With Illustrator 8.0, a novice can pick up the new Pencil tool or one of
the new brushes and dive right in,” says Lyn Bishop, creative director for
Zama Online Design in Sunnyvale, California. “The types of powerful,
intuitive tools offered in Illustrator 8.0 make it much easier for both new
and longtime users to quickly take advantage of innovative new features and
still achieve the same professional-quality results.”
Pricing and Availability
Illustrator 8.0 software is expected to ship in North America in September
for an estimated street price of $375 (U.S.) Registered users of any
version of Adobe Illustrator can upgrade for $129 (U.S.) Additionally, in
the U.S. and Canada, all registered users of Photoshop and PageMaker and
users of other illustration software programs such as CorelDRAW, Macromedia
Freehand, can purchase Illustrator 8.0 for only $199 (U.S.) with proof of
purchase. Customers in the U.S. and Canada who purchased Illustrator 7.0
after July 23rd, are eligible to receive a free upgrade to Illustrator 8.0
with proof of purchase. For information, customers can call Adobe at (800)
649-3875.
French and German versions of Adobe Illustrator 8.0 are expected to ship
within 15 days of the initial release. A Japanese version is in development
and is expected to ship in the fourth quarter of 1998. Availability,
pricing, upgrade, and support policies for localized language versions will
be announced separately. For a complete listing of Adobe international
distributors, please see http://www.adobe.com/international/intlsales.html
on the World Wide Web.
Based in San Jose, California, Adobe Systems Incorporated develops and
supports products to help people express and use information in more
imaginative and meaningful ways across print and electronic media.
Adobe Systems Incorporated
345 Park Avenue
San Jose, CA 95118